jcerecke

About a year ago I took my car to the west coast and had it parked next to the ocean for a couple days with it pouring with rain at the same time and when it came time to go I couldnt start it. Somehow I eventually got it going and took it to the mechanics when I got back and he found one of the sparkplug leads had a hole in the insulation and was arcing to something so he overhauled the whole ignition system and replaced all the leads, and distributor cap, I think maybe he did the plugs too, but I'm pretty sure he left the original rotor. Will try and look for the invoice to double check. The other day when I took my distributor cap off to look for moisture I found the clips didn't really seem to fit snugly in anywhere, but none the less I got it seated and firmly attached so didn't think much of it. It's possible (not sure how likely) but definitely possible that I first noticed this happening not long after one of my visits to the mechanic. But as it's intermittent I couldnt really pin it to him.

So I replaced the fuel filter because that was the easiest thing I could do. Nothing changed... Now if it was the blocked baffle, could I unbolt the muffler and try to run the car and see if it makes a difference? At the moment it seems like the intermittent problem is not so intermittent anymore. I noticed that when I increase the throttle, theres a little piston-like thing that moves in and out... just wondering what it is, and whether it's moving at the right time. I took a video of it to show what I mean. Also the backfiring noise sounds like it's coming from the engine bay somewhere, not the back of the car. (which I'm going to assume also points to blocked baffle). Anyway, can I just unbolt the thing and see what happens? and is it possible to screw that up? haha. Cheers for all the suggestions people. I tried to shoot into DCH Motorsport last week but we're flatout at work at the moment and next week.

Also thought I'd mention if I floor it while it's doing it's thing, it sounds sort of like it's backfiring, except it's not very loud... not really sure how loud it's meant to be though. But it definitely comes from the exhaust. Just goes pop... pop pop... pop.

Hey, So this has been happened for aaaaaaages to my '85 320i, but I've just never gotten around to doing anything about it. I've read up a couple of posts on e30s cutting out etc while you drive, but mine doesnt cut out altogether. It just looses all or most of it's power. Pretty much I'll be going along, and then suddenly revs drop off to idle and car starts to slow down, and so I take my foot off the gas and put it back on, revs surge to 2K-ish, and then drop down to idle. I pull over. Stationary it does the same thing (usually). So I just sit there and try revving the engine every 20s until it fires back up. And it usually does after 2-5mins. BUT... I've tried and tried and tried and can not find any constant in terms of when it does it, and what I may or may not do to get it going again. Usually when it fires back into life it's fine again for another couple of weeks... sometimes it's not. Sometimes I have power up to about 4k driving along (but quite sluggish), sometimes I have no power (above idle). Sometimes it happens in the rain (more often than not), but it has also happened 2hrs into a drive over arthurs pass. That time it was sluggish and ran to about 3.5K all the way back, and loosing all power completely at times (back to idle) which is where I would pull over and wait, and then it would be right again after a while but only to about 3.5K which it would just refuse to go over. Today it happened again! Well actually it happened yesterday but it happened again today too. I thought (silly me) that it could be a damp distributor cap, so it pulled it off and gave everything a wipe down, and had such a mission getting it back on (screw driver was just not long enough haha). But that didn't change a thing. I did notice though that if I slowly eased up the throttle the revs would climb and sit at about 2k, and then if I kept pushing it (while stationary) it would go back to idle speed. I tried flooring it and it would sort of start to climb (assuming to 2k) and but before it could get there I had already given it too much gas and it dropped off to idle again, so I kept my foot flat on the throttle, and it would jump up to 2k then straight back down, and then 2seconds later, do the same thing, over and over. There was one occasion where it would rev completely normally all the way up to as far as I wanted to push it (6ish-K) while stationary, but as soon as it was under load (moving) it would struggle to get above 2K. Everytime it has happened though (bloody murphy) it has been outside of my mechanics operating hours, or I have been nowhere near his workshop (like arthurs pass), or on the way to his workshop it comes right and it's back to 100% fine again. I didn't really care before because it would always come right, but now it's starting to become a real pain in the arse. I'm not that mechanically minded so go easy, but I am also keen to learn new things. Cheers for any insight... at all... anything.

Well said. I love my car.

No... it's not.

Haha good point. I'm not really that worried.

Lower frequency needs to move more air to achieve the same volume, and it does that by moving the cone a greater distance. So if it's installed in the flimsy door card then it's probably going to rip it to shreds in no time. And the flexing of the door cards will introduce unwanted noise. Also the lower the freqency, the less directional it is, although everything the 8s will be doing will be directional anyway so that doesnt really matter. But since the midrange is more directional, I'd rather it sounds like it's coming from the left and right, rather than the left and my feet hence closer. My headunit is doing a 3 way crossover for me, and I have a passive crossover for the 5.25s+tweeters. And if thats not enough, the 4ch amp has HP/LP filters on it too I already have the 8s in my car and working fine, but they're just in speaker cabs sitting on my back seat.

The problem I have with putting anything in the rear is with my subs going, the pressure will push the cones of my rear speakers and distort them. Or am I mistaken? Who said anything about having 6x9s? They're not an option for obvious SQ reasons. My subs are doing the lows lol. What else can they do? They're going up to 80hz. My subs are 2x 600w 10" Rockford dvc somethings. (power/punch, cant remember which is which but they're the better ones) in a smallish sealed elclosure. They're being run by a soundstream 1500d amp at 1 or 4 ohms. Can't remember. But the amp supposedly puts out the same wattage at both speaker resistences, although I have no idea how. Front 5.25"+tweeter and 8"s are being run by a soundstream 4x60w. I'm really really set on the 8"s eh. I mean... I already have them. Although that DLS stuff looks really good. I think I might try put the 8s where my 5.25s are at the moment, and put the 5.25s in the door card with a bit of reinforcing.

The RFID reader I bought comes with 5 tags. Unfortunately it was a cheapo (US$28 incl shipping) off ebay and didn't have much in the way of specs or anything, so I'm hoping if I ever loose all 5 I'll be able to buy others locally and program them. I reckon I'll mount the reader under one of the centre console tray/pocket things so I just jump in the car and chuck my tag in the tray. I believe it comes with a "master tag" which you swipe and then swipe a tag you want to enable/disable on the reader. And you can have up to 500 different tags. And the really cool bit is the tags I got are round with depressions in them so you can put a cirular logo on it, so I'll stick a BMW logo in there and make it look stockish haha. Yeah it is a kit. Im a pretty decent solderer, but if I can't work it out then I have a mate who's a big electronics geek. Now to look for a cool illuminated button!

Ok so I've been doing some research into a system thats secure (enough) and also completely keyless. So far I have this: My existing uniden keyless entry triggers a 60sec timer relay that power up an RFID reader inside the car when I unlock the car. I get in the car and swipe the tag. The RFID reads tag and disengages immobiliser currently hooked up to a really obvious switch under my floormat. RFID also triggers ACC and/or ON states that the keyed ignition would normally switch. And then hold a push button to start! Now I my old motor needs to crank over a few times before it gets going sometimes and this would be fine with this setup, I can hold the button in as long as I need to crank it. But I though about making it more sophisticated: What if the RFID just turns off immobiliser, then the push button (just momentary, not held) turned on ACC/ON and then started cranking (via relays and such) and stopped cranking when this device sees my car idling! And then I could use the same button as a kill switch too. I'd add some way off having acc on without turning the motor on too. One thing I'm not sure of though: Steering column lock. This is mechanical? Which means I would need to completely get rid of it or (more ideally) disengage it on RFID relay with actuator or something. But I've heard tampering with it is bad since if you don't do it very well it could accidentally engage while driving? I would really like to build this system in parallel to the key ignition if at all possible. But is there a way to get rid of just the steering column lock without the key ignition? Or any other solutions? I was thinking maybe if I get really annoyed with this problem I could stick the key in the ignition, turn it so the lock is disengaged and then pull the key out (no prob as key is pretty worn). Of course I would need to cut all switches so the cars not permanently in the ON state. So what do you think? Also please tell me anything else I have blatently forgotten to think of!

Alpine Type R 5.25in + tweeter SPR-13S I'm not convinced going to 6.5" would satisfy me. 8" is small enough as it is to go down to 80hz.

At the moment I have components up front and 2x 10"'s in my boot space. Have taken out the rears because... well I don't sit in the back and they were stock. 10"s are going up to 80hz and my fronts couldn't really get down that low so I've wound them up to 250hz and above and bridged the gap with 2x 8" peerless 4ohm woofers. at the moment I've got the 8"s mounted in bookshelf speaker cabs sitting on the back seat. Where can I put them?! I know I can't cut the rear shelf holes bigger, and spacers won't really work easily because the top of the shelf isn't flat. I also thought about sticking them in the front door cards but since they're only doing 80-250hz I thought it wouldn't be a solid enough mounting place and it's not exactly a sealed enclosure either. Considered putting them where the 5.25" fronts are and putting those in the door? Am I allowed to cut the kickpanel hole bigger? I'm assuming having the 5.25"s closer to me would be better since they're doing the highmids and the 8"s are doing lowmids. Any ideas or suggestions!?! cheers.

All fixed!! Yuss! I took it into the mechanic and told him to sort out the steering only as I couldnt really afford all of it, and then I head off to ashburton and my dad goes to the mechanic and tells him that he wants my car out with a warrant, so the mechanic fixes it all up and has it ready and my dad pays, and then my brother wants to take it to queenstown so he puts a new spare tire in the boot, and gets a wheel alignment and I didn't pay for a cent of it all! Damn am I happy! My dad's a generous guy. Total bill came to $1200ish because of a ceased bolt on one end of the tie rod or something. Thread closed! woo!

I took my car into my trusty mechanic so he could fix my windscreen and do a wof on my car and he found a whole bunch of problems! I have a 1985 320i E30. The mechanic says the steering wheel has play in it and needs an overhaul and it's not worth using secondhand parts because the same thing could happen in 6months time. He can't find a 2nd hand windscreen either. And he said I need new brake lines or something... can't really remember this one. My boss has kindly been informed of my predicament (since the mechanic is a good friend of his and services all our work vehicles) and has offered me $300 towards fixing since I've been working so hard Now I fully trust the mechanic, but he's not exactly a bmw/euro specialist. He's actually a 4wd specialist. But is there anything he doesn't know that some of you lot know that can help me/him? I've tried trademe for a windscreen but as of yet I've found nothing in even the south island. I'm still tossing up whether it's worth it or not... help!? haha. *sigh* Mechanic gave me a rough quote of $900-1000 for getting it up to warrant standard. I'm not even really sure what I'm asking, it might be more just venting my frustration... oh well.

Damnit I'd be keen if I had some cash.... layby haha? *sigh* I know nothing about tire specs, so have no idea what half this thread is talking about, but hey, they look cool... and thats all that matters right?!

I have no mechanical knowledge whatsoever but my '85 320 (manual) would be really sluggish when it was cold, and would just refuse to go over 4.5k revs(ish) unless it had been running for 3-4mins and after the mechanic replaced the distributor cap, ignition leads and spark plugs, it's been sweet.

Hey, Used my car on the weekend without any problems, then went out of town for 4 days and left the car behind, and now when I get back it wont start. It's a 1985 320 e30. When I turn the key to on all the dash lights, light up, and the stereo comes on etc. But when I go to start the car, I can only hear a whirring sound ( I assume fuel pump) but nothing else happens. I've recently (a month or two ago) had the distributor cap, ignition leads and spark plugs all replaced. Whats the most likely problem? Or what could I check to narrow it down? Cheers

haha who knows? I think I'm just going through a bit of a drought at the moment. I mean I have plenty of friends, just not many I want to hang out with lol.

yeah, I'll attack it this weekend... oh wait I'm going to the westcoast...next weekend! Or maybe I'll do it over there. also to people in chch, wouldnt mind meeting up with some people for a beer/bbq before it gets too cold. I need all the friends I can get haha

Yeah I had thought about that, and that was the first thing my brother pointed out when he saw it. I haven't actually looked into it. Thats lower down the priority list I think. Btw, they're just driving lights, not fogs. And when I was talking about debadging, I was meaning the ///M only.

Yeah, thats really annoying me. Do you think there will be much of a difference in paint fade? Whats the best way of unsticking it? I was thinking heatgun.

Hi all, just an introduction. My names Josh, I'm 20yo and from CHCH. About 4 months ago I bought my first car. Wanted something cool, so I got this: It's done 96,000miles which if I remember correctly is about 160,000km. So far I've replaced the ignition system, and a couple of vacuum hoses. And I've put a new sound system in. Next up is a small bit of rust around the lefthand taillights. Also thinking about getting rid of the lightwipers. Anyway, thats me and my car. Chur Josh