nick496

So just a heads up for anyone looking to purchase Koni shocks for their E30, I would advise checking your front mounts can take a 22mm socket. I ordered a set of 8641 1021SPORT shocks for the front, and had issues installing them, due to them using a M14 nut, as opposed to an M12, like my set in a previous car. Old vs New I suspect the old shock was a red Koni, but there were no markings on it to confirm. Anywho, so I got the M14 nut on with no issues, using the existing shock mount. But when I went to tighten it, I couldn't get a 22mm socket in there I did try with a filed down socket, but that didn't work either. Ended up contacting Gavin at Euro Italian, and we got out our rulers over the phone, and order a set of new front mounts. Here are the new mounts, 22mm socket fits in fine. So in conclusion, check to see if you can get a 22mm socket in your shock mounts before ordering Konis, otherwise you're probably better off going the Bilstein route.

Cheers Olaf, will check there next time I pull the carpet out and test for leaks. Managed to get my front shocks apart, but when I went to install the spring and top mounts, found that the top nut that I had (19mm), doesn't fit my Koni's. No worries I thought, I'll use a bigger nut... then realised I'd then have to fit a bigger socked in the top. Which did not fit at all. A quick google says that this can happen, and the recommendation is to get shock mounts that support a 22mm nut/socket? http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=335535 Can anyone else confirm?

Just an update on what I've been up to over the past couple of weeks. Ordered replacement ODO gears from garagistic and replaced those. While I had the cluster out, I noticed that the break wear sensor light was removed. So I put that back in, and what do you know, it was permanently on. Had a quick look around the car, and someone had obviously had a go trying to sort this previously, as both front and rears had been cut, and re-joined. Checked the resistances and was still reading a little bit of resistance, even when bypassing the sensors. Out of curiosity, I swapped a spare cluster in. Break wear sensor worked perfectly fine. I know that the resistor for break wear sensor comes loose causing it flicker on and off, but it was firmly attached to the main board. So I just swapped the boards around. Super happy that all my dash lights now work, and all my check panel lights work too. (Brake wear only lights up when starting the car) Swapped the sports seats in, and also put in some black leather door cards that I had floating around. Looks a bit mismatched, with blue fronts, grey rears, and black doorcards, but plan to re-upholster the front seats in black leather much later on. Found a few things when doing all this work Bit of rust in passenger's B column And also the factory running in instructions. Then since she was all back together, took her in for a wof. She failed on fog lights not working (bulbs both gone), split windscreen wipers, and one of the front shocks was leaking. So ordered a pair of Koni sports for the front from George Stock, and they showed up the next day. Date on the box is 07-07-2014, so they've been sitting around for a while, but should be fine. So that's a job for Sunday.

Just noticed that in your engine bay shot, your valve cover vent hose isn't hooked up, and your radiator cap is missing. Very tidy car though, GLWS.

Have flicked you a PM

Just nicer to press, as they use a rocker.

Excellent, cheers guys. The plastic engine cover wasn't on when I got the car, so that will probably be the cause.

Just doing more an update. Engine and transmission mounts arrived from Revshift. Also ordered some replacement ODO gears, as I was ticking over 1KM for every 100KM Got a replacement OBC lightbar for the retrofit, but upon closer inspection it appears the LCD screen has leaked... so that won't be happening for a while, until I either find a replacement, or make one up using an arduino board or something. Since I was feeling lazy on Boxing day, decided to crack the cover off the M52. Found some water in cylinder 6. Is this someone to be particular worried about? Surely it could only have leaked in from the top of the engine, not from a crack in the head? It's been there for a while, judging by the buildup that's in there, have chucked a rag in there, to soak it all up before I remove the spark plug. Also having a look at the coilpack kinda confirms this. It's done around 240KM, and it passed hands a number of times over the past 3 years, so I suspect the maintenance on it has been rather lacking. And the condition of the engine is pretty reflective of this. Lots of buildup: Engine is a nice burgundy colour. The cams appear to have very little scoring, which is a bonus.

Look like E30 bottlecaps painted gold. Only really worth the tyres they have on them, since they were the most common E30 rim.

Ended up loosening the centre ball joint of the lower control arm. That, and I was a bit more forceful this morning. Swapped them over no worries. Off to the shop tomorrow for an alignment.

I've been struggling with these all evening. I have issue. Figured I'd do some reading online and tackle it tomorrow. Cheers for the hints.

So swapped my manual rear windows to electric ones today. Documented the process over here: http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/54729-e30-touring-electric-rear-window-conversion/?p=590648 Then since the seats were out, decided to pull out the carpet. Unsurprisingly, the carpet was a bit damp. But surprisingly, there was no rust in the floor pan. Have left the carpet to dry out, and will wait for that to happen before swapping the seats in.

So since I had today off work, decided to look into converting the rear windows to electric. As it seems like most of the poverty spec tourings had electric fronts, and manual rear windows. Didn't manage to find anything definitive about the process online (as most people either wanted to go to manual windows because racecar, or because they had all manual windows to start with, and no loom) So before you get too excited, first take out your center console and peel back the carpet to see if you have provisions for all 4 windows on the rear. (I got pretty excited at this point) Then you need to source electric motors, and also the rear door loom. This runs from the B pillar through to the door. You'll also need 4 window switches, and also the small switch that controls power to the rear of the loom. (All from a 4 door) To make your life easy, you can also grab a centre console from a sedan also, so that you have the holes all ready to go. So pull out your B pillar cover, and you'll see this connector hiding away Just unplug it and pull it out. I found it easier to pull it all out via the door. Then you'll need to remove the old regulator If it's all working, just wind the window down until you can see these 2 bolts, and undo those Electric verses Manual Install of the electric windows is basically reverse of removal. Only difference is that you need 3 nuts instead of 2 bolts. Just to note, that the rear windows will only work if you have switches installed at both the center console, and in the door. As I think it runs a 12V circuit between them. You will also need to have the smaller switch in the loop. This basically just allows the 12V to run through the rear window circuit also. Now you can enjoy your electric rear windows Edited due to the attachment editor throwing a wobbly.

Lol, I think it would be the same pickup. I'll be sure to have a good look through it. Though judging by the rest of it, it should be pretty clean.

Went up to Auckland yesterday and gathered a bunch of parts. Having a wagon is really handy. Was a long day (Left at 9AM, and got back around 6PM). Got some sports seats, in not too bad condition Some spare bumpers (just in case) E34 Sump and pickup for the swap, plus a spare oil filter housing (I've not had a good experience previously with these) A spare M52B28 manifold (mine made a nice crack noise while I was pulling the engine out) And a period looking head unit

M52TU (so E46). Not the E36 M52.

Fair point Andy, will keep an eye out for an M40 one. Like to have everything all legal, and the less hassle at cert time the bettter. I've been around Hamilton for a few years, just lurk around on the forums mostly haha.

Drats, I was hoping I could just use this box, albeit at the wrong angle and having to mess with the linkage. Yeah Andy, this was Ian's one.

I thought that this one, as a factory 320i manual, would have the G240, but with a different bellhousing to suit the M20? Love your build, aiming to end up where you were before your most recent swap. Cheer Blair, was reading up on yours, didn't realise you started with a 320i also. Your's sounds like it will be good too, based on your previous E30.

Ah, that's me getting confused with between the DME and EWS thanks for clearing that up. So can just cut those wires for removal?

So after deciding that I'd rather keep an E30 touring than a sedan long term, I set out to look for one. Ended up getting the 320i that had been for sale in Wellington since the start of the year. It seemed in reasonable shape, with no leaks (water into the car), fairly straight, and aside from the rust in the tailgate, there was no other rust in the normal E30 places, so it sounded like a good buy (with well looked after touring being hard to find), and being manual, would be easy enough to swap an M20B25 in later. Driving it back home, got into Taupo, it started making a nice rattling noise, just under 1500RPM. Since I'd managed to get that far and fearing the worst, just babied it home, and got back to Hamilton without it blowing up. Taking a look under the distribution rotor, it looks as though the belt tensoner needed replacing, and the belt was walking it way off (that's rubber), which put a bit of a downer on the purchase. The next weekend, the wife decided that she wanted a wheelbarrow, and the touring was well suited to the task. Then not too much later on, the alternator wore out, and that needed to be replaced too. So with both those issues in mind, I decided to replace it... with an M52B28. Managed to pick up an E36 328i with a blown trans for a good price, so pulled the motor out of that. E30 eyeing up it's new heart. At this stage, just waiting to save up a bit more money to order a bunch of new parts (water pump, clutch, etc) for the swap. Reading up online, it sounds like the G240 gearbox will bolt up to the engine, though being from behind an M20, it will bolt up on an angle like the G260 gearbox. Does that sound right?

So after successfully removing the engine out of the E36 donor, just wanting to check how much of the loom I need to pull out from the inside of the E36 to retain the EWS when it goes into the E30. I know you can get EWS deleted from the ECU, but wanting to retain it just to keep costs down. I've found the EWS side of things, but not sure I'm supposed to just cut the wires, or if I need the whole loom? (I think I just cut the wires) Under the steering wheel Under the glovebox Anything else I need to take from this fuse box? Thanks

I had wondered that, seeing as it was no longer listed on their site, but never bothered to drive past.

Pick a part in Hamilton? Also on the lookout for one.

Owning the E30's, I definitely prefer without the sunroof. Mostly due to them developing rust, having issues with clogged drains, leaks, and other old car fun. That said, it hasn't put me off having an E30 with a sunroof, but was happy that the E46 I got didn't have one.