aramoana

The E30 is a never ending source of entertainment. I got it back from the shop and it looks like a million bucks. Unfortunately, someone ran over my phone and now I can't take any pictures. I took the front calipers off, painted them with VHT caliper paint and installed new dust boots, slide pins and seals then re-installed them back in the car. I bled the brake system, but when I took it for a run, it felt really spongey. I rebled them to no avail, until I saw brake fluid gushing out of the passenger rear drum. I took apart the drum and it turned out that somehow I had bent the thick steel plate that locates the brake shoe, as well as bending the brake shoe metal, which allowed the drum piston to fully extend and pump fluid out. Comical really. It was time for new brake shoes anyway. I finally pulled out the blower fan (64111373766) and it was properly shot, but fortunately the fan in my car was also put in '94 to '02 Z3's and have got a used replacement en route courtesy of @BM WORLD. Problem: The dashboard is cracked Solution: Pull the bloody thing out and fill it and paint it to look like new. However, can someone guide me on what filler I should be using? I havent been able to nail down a good flexible non shrinking filler. Also, does anyone know how to get the patterning on the filled areas? Ive seen people use patches of fabric as templates. Im wondering if anyone has gone down this route and can advise me. I need some help from the more experienced mechanics here When I turn the key in the ignition, I have to really twist it in order for the contacts to touch and for the car to start. Sometimes the contacts break and the car dies. I haven't taken anything apart yet, but I'm wondering if anyone has some guidance on what I should do to address this, or what is causing this issue.

I feel like a child and its the night before christmas. Since my last update, many parts have been ordered, I finally got a wheel alignment, the Z3 rack was installed and the car has disappeared into the paint shop for a few weeks. The shop called to tell me that she was all ready to be picked up, but I wasn't around and they all wanted to get out early for the long weekend so I will pick it up on Tuesday. Im positively brimming with excitement. I'll post more photos once I get the car back, but for the m oment. Before After While its a bit hard to tell in this photo, the dents are all gone, the car is a uniform Sterling Silver and all of the stone chips are gone. It should look the part once I get it back and can take photos of it completely reassembled. What blows me away is that this car lived outdoors in a driveway for almost a decade not getting used, and it has no rust, anywhere. I feel that I lucked out with this one.

Much has happened since my last update. Most significantly, I discovered why I was quoted 10k to repaint the car. The prep work required for a good paint job is ridiculous. I spent many many hours sanding, filling, sanding, filling and sanding some more before I was satisfied with the surface to paint it. I got very lucky with my spray gun set up. I had been watching trademe for a while looking for air compressors and spray guns, and I eventually found what I was after - a guy who had bought all the right, top quality gear brand new but didn't want it anymore and was flicking it cheap. I got a toolshed 50L 13CFM belt driven compressor, a W400 IWATA, a .8mm Finixa and a whole bunch of paint prep gear all for less than half of what it would have been brand new. I got 2L of DeBeer paint from LinkUp paints for $328 (ouch), which turned out to be more than i needed. Sanding down the rusted stone chips Leveling the paint with filler A couple base coats later Note mistake number 1 and 2 of many - The hard tape line on the pillar and not removing the rear window. In order to remedy the result of this, I came back 2 weeks later and removed the window, and did the blending into the roof properly like I should have done initially. Scuffed up the new clear coat and remedied any defects I could find while I was there. Also took the time this time around to do the entire rear of the car, as well as the boot lip area. Should protect it from rust for a bit with how many coats went on. You might notice a car next to the BMW covered in drapes. Its my dads 1962 Jaguar S-Type. Very nice. Another task which was massively satisfying was cleaning off the old glue to install the new bonnet foam. Prepsol did a wondrous job of it and made short work of the old adhesive. Cant forget the little black square. It didn't line up with anything for me, so on it went. Looks smashing! Because the Z3 rack had been sitting in my garage since September, I wanted to get it in. Draining the old PS fluid was well overdue as it had turned into a black viscous oil, fargone from the nice red ATF it was meant to be. I tried bending the e30 pipes to match the new angles, but cocked it up and ended up just getting some teflon fittings and braided Dash-6 hose. Wasn't cheap, the new pipes cost me $405, which was mostly the right angle fittings. Im going to need new boots With that all sorted and a new outer tie rod, I went for a wheel alignment, which has been on my to do list since I got the car. Unfortunately, it was confirmed that something was amiss. The wheel alignment went fine, but when driving, the car will pull to one side after a hard turn. If the hard turn is left, the car will not re-center and instead pull to the left like it is misaligned. If the hard full lock turn is to the right, it will pull to the right. The only thing I can think of is the strut top mount bearings being shot, which was also suggested by the gentleman at the tyre shop. So I ordered all of the required bits from Schmiedmann Because the rear of my transmission has let a lot of oil out, Im going to replace the rear seal as well.

Update time! What has happened since the last update. My exams are all finished, interviews completed and now we wait. At the same time, my order from Schmiedmann finally arrived (Of note, FedEx is very slow in NZ) and I got the wheels done. The beginning Giving them a first clean and scrub after buying them Stripping them down with wire wheels and paint stripper (Took a long time) Etch Primer. I actually quite liked this colour, and the centre covers have the etch primer with 2k clear over them on the back face and it looks really nice, so it was food for thought. High build primer to fill in my careless mistakes when I got trigger happy with the wire wheel Honda Satin Silver Metallic (NH623M) was suggested as a close match for the BBS factory colour and I think I agree. The colour is superb. Covered it with a 2K aerosol clear. While I was on a roll, I decided to tidy up the engine bay and install some new gaskets that I got. Valve cover and upper intake sandblasted and cleaned New upper instake gaskets Installed freshly painted parts, I am glad I did it, because it makes the whole thing look a lot better than it did. Should tide me over while I figure out what I need to do for an M42 swap. On the to do list - New intake boot from MAF to throttle body, mines cracked. Maybe someone has a non-cracked spare? - Install new bonnet foam - strip front calipers, spray them silver and rebuild with all new parts - Tail light seals - Repaint entire car - Radio aerial to be found and fitted - K8 Foglight relay to be found and purchased. Im having trouble with this one, does anyone know where I could get the correct relay in NZ? BMW weren't able to tell me what relay I needed, and the part numbers I found online didn't come up with their parts catalogue.

I love the CAD/modelling work thats gone into planning this, so cool to see a modern approach to this sort of thing.

I'm ashamed to admit this, but it was not Genuine BMW. However, the seal I did get comes from the same production line, just without the Dealer-tax associated. These wheels have been a major time sink. The paint covering the powder coat wasn't brilliant, but it still put up a valiant fight. It was no match for a paint scraper and some seriously toxic paint stripper though. The wet-sandblaster arrived and chewed through a 20kg bag of garnet pretty quickly, which was slightly alarming. However, it also roughed up the surface of the powder coat nicely, so at least the high build will have something to stick to. I'm currently stuck though, because there are parts of the wheel with exposed alloy, and parts still confidently covered with powder coat. Will etch primer that hits the powder coat impact on the subsequent coats? Naturally there will be overspray when I use the etch primer on the exposed alloy parts, so my approach now it to either be somewhat careful with the etch primer, or just use high build primer. I'll go to the professionals tomorrow and have a yarn, but I'm interested to hear what other peoples opinions are. The internet forums seem to return a mixed bag, with some saying they used etch over powder coat happily, and others swearing black and blue against it.

A few things have been trickling in. A nice collection of seals and things from Schmiedmann is in Australia currently, so the anticipation is building. I got a new truck seal installed, with this one being almost exactly an inch too long. A trim and persuasion resulted in a satsifying "thunk. Unfortunately the bottom pinch lip had a few nasty bits of rust. I've cleaned it up with a wire wheel and put metal primer onto it for the meantime, however I will address it properly when the car paint gets a bit more attention. The wheels I mentioned earlier are truely quite something. The paint that was on them was poor, but I soon understood why when I eventually got through the paint and realised they were powder coated underneath. Discovering this, my neighbour lent me his petrol water blaster and I've ordered a wet-sandblaster attachment that i can use with 30/60 mesh Garnet to strip the wheels back to bare alloy to give the etch something to stick to. Something slightly more visual, the new fog lights arrived! Because Im still stripping the wheels, the car is having a rest on the jack stands. Left: No fog light Right: Fog light! Much better! I didn't have any self tappers that had a head big enough to hold the lamp in place. I was just lucky I have a second valence/bumper sitting in the shed to rob various parts off, like the plastic bits the screws thread into. I have since discovered what screws I need. They're the same ones as required for fixing the front fenders at least. Does anyone know how I could get my hands on a bunch in NZ? They're the ST4,8X13-ZN3 Hex head screws P/N: 07119904285.

I think that's the vogue silver colour I saw advised elsewhere, but then a couple people commented that it wasn't close so I went with the other suggested Honda colour.

I took someone's advice about what the best colour match was, and this was it. Hopefully it looks the part. It has a nice small metallic flake like the BBS powder coat does, so time will tell.

Just called them up and got told 85 + gst - nearly $100 per wheel to get them stripped. Must be a mates rates thing you got going there.

I've got the etch and high build primers ready to go, but the surface is just too rubbish to even contemplate trying to work with. I used 80 grit on one last night to see how it would go, but quickly realised that it needs to be blasted. There are too many spots of bubbling paint, which means stripping the entire set back to metal with just 80 grit is going to be more time than its worth. Also the corroded surface left under the bubbling paint would appreciate a nice blast. Once they're stripped, they'll be treated to the the primers, then a couple base coats of Honda Satin Silver (NH623M) which was recommended as a pretty good match for the BBS colour, then 2k clear on top of that. Not cheap stuff mind you, but hopefully it looks the part.

Ill keep that in mind if I'm up in Auckland, but yes, otherwise I am in Hamilton if anyone knows of a good group to take it to.

The ball continues rolling. A new front bumper has tidied the front up nicely, but now leaves me realising that the paint is letting the team down. The wheels need repainting and so does the car. I went round a few panel beating shops today with the car and am having a quote from one, and then I got the classic "just sell it and get one with good paint", with 2 panel beaters saying it would be in the 6-10k range for a closed door paint. Now, knowing this is insane, I want to come to the good folks at Bimmersport and ask if anyone has some directions for who I could go to for a decent affordable paint job? I got the wheels off the car today and gave them a bloody good cleaning. Unfortunately these wheels are the prime example of why the preparation before painting matters. The paint is bubbling and flaking off in spots, and then has adhered firmly in others. Ive managed to get most of the crud off, but Im going to say I want them blasted back to the alloy. Does anyone know of any Bimmersport/BMW friendly or good people to take the wheels to for blasting?

I love the attention to detail going on here. Can't wait to see the wiring all tied up!

Problem solved. @Autoglymwas right. I swapped in the shorter lugs and the problem has gone away. Looking at it, the longer lugs had gone through the bearing and were embedded into the dust cover, making a horrid noise

It's a very trill squeak that to me says metal on metal. It's not the softer "tchk" kind of sound that I liken to the brake pad/rotor touching. I'm going to check the dust shields because there is visually no contact. The wheels clear the strut and all of the suspension components, so I'm wondering if I managed to bend the dust shield into the rotor while taking the old wheels off. The squeak is new to the car with the wheels, and its only in a certain spot - going "tnk tnk tnk tnk" as the wheel rotates. The wheel can't be rotated by hand and has resistance when driving.

Is that to say the ones I have are too short or too long? The squeak/binding only happens when I tighten it up that last little bit

Based on what I can tell 7.5J16 ET20 Front 205/50/16 Rear 225/50/16

Theyre ET20 I'm pretty sure. I haven't measured them and will do, but they visually fit fine.

It's a chirp when they rotate past a certain point on both sides. I've run my hand around all of the components and it's not hitting anything, so I've got no idea. My thinking was the centre hole that the wheel locates onto isn't deep enough and when I tighten the nuts up fully, the wheels pull the brake rotor towards the wheel, putting it at an angle because of the small brake rotor screw.

Hooray, the wheels finally arrived today. The difference they make in how the car drives and looks is nothing short of amazing. They will ultimately need stripping back and repainting, but for the moment they are good enough. If anyone wants a set of 195/50/15 D windows, I now have a set for sale. Before After PROBLEM!! For some reason, the front wheels are rubbing on nothing obvious, with a squeak as the wheel rotates. Does anyone have any ideas? My only idea is that the lug nuts are pulling the brake rotor away from the hub causing it to rub on the brake pads? Ive checked that it doesn't rub at all on any of the components, so it must be something different. Yes, Im very impressed with the quality. Just a bit annoying about the orientation of the shifter stalk.

Keeping the ball rolling with the car and getting everything just a little bit tidier, the new shifter knob and boot arrived today, and I think it looks a hell of a lot better. The major issue though is that the actual gear lever is twisted, so the gear knob is also twisted. Ive got no idea how to remedy this and its going to annoy me every time I look at it. In terms of getting the car back in shape, a large swath of parts are on their way from germany. - Brake gasket and slide pin rebuild kits -Tail-light gaskets -intake and throttle body gasket -Hood insulation -Boot seal -Fog lights And now I think Im going to pull the trigger on a fibreglass MT2 front bumper because it is almost the same price as trying to replace the broken plastic bumper thats on the car now. Feels wasteful, but will ultimately make the car look nice. Before After

I saw the thread! It looks really tidy. Whats the comparison in 'oomph' between the m42 E30 and Olafs 316i? Does the M42 make a big difference.

Got the repaired Bilstein B8 back from Autolign and into the car last night. Our garage opens onto the street as so I've had lots of people stopping by talking to me about their E30 stories, and I've heard some quite good ones now. A really iconic car across generations it seems. Anyway, just as I was putting the wheel back on and getting ready to take the car for a shake down, a blue e30 ripped past on our street sounding like a cut cat. Nice colour too. Then they turned around and ripped back past the other way, but this time one of the occupants looked to the side and saw me and my E30 and hollered in camaraderie. They circled back and pulled up and lo and behold, its my neighbour-ish and the guy I bought an Alternator off! He had just got his m52b28 swapped e30 working and was taking the neighbour for a ride and I got to have a ride in it. Holy moly is that thing quick. The 2.8 absolutely rips. Which got me thinking. I'm not going to buy the m42 and associated bits just yet. I think I'll get it looking pretty first (full respray, panel beating, not in that order) and then if im up for it, I'll start looking at an engine swap. While not brilliant, the m40b16 in there at the moment still has enough juice in it to make me grin ear to ear, and thats good enough for me. I wouldn't mind a limited slip though... Does anyone have any guidance on what diff I should be seeking out? I'd realistically prefer a lower ratio diff for better highway cruising, but I'm unsure of my options.

Decided that any further money spent on this engine will be a futile endeavor, and the ticking is getting quite frustrating. The idles a bit off and ultimately I wouldn't mind more power and more fuel efficiency, so I've found an M42 containing 318ti that I'm going to go pick up tomorrow to harvest components off and then get rid of so I'm not clogging the driveway with BMW's. However that then means I have to find an engine jack that I can borrow. Fingers crossed the neighbours or some mates have one. Autolign got my butchered Bilstein B8 back to me after it was rethreaded by their race division up in Auckland, set me back $150~ which was nice after mentally preparing myself to fork out the cost of a new one. Based on my research, I think I'm going to need to obtain a few things to do the swap smoothly, namely the M44 headers, a Holden steering linkage, since i'll do the Z3 rack at the same time, and some new gaskets. What preventative maintenance needs to be done while I have the m42 out of the car? I'll likely give it the proper treatment at a later date, but as of right now I'm more interested in getting the M42 into the e30. I guess as it stands, the M42 i've found is in good condition at ~150 thou km's and has a wof and rego. Does anyone know If i can swap the e36 dif into the e30?