1986 320i e30

[beanieguy 0]

Hi I've got a '86 320i , which is also my first car I'm learning to drive in, with a long list of problems... and i need help!

Its a manual, 6 cylinder e30.

First problems when i brought the car earlier in the year were,

*Engine idle hunts

*Spongy brakes

Bleed the brakes, which made a improvement. Found a lot of oil and grit in the intake manifold.

Second problem

*Oil light came on. Stick said empty but it only took 1L to fill it right up again.

*Brakes felt spongy again.

Did an oil change. Oil sensor believed to be faulty. Brakes bleed again, no improvement if not worse. We took apart the master cylinder and everything appeared to be fine. No leaks around master cylinder. It just feels like theres air in the brakes.

Third problems

*Oil light came back on. Oil disappearing, no leak under car.

*Rattle coming from front of car. Sounds like a cv joint but cant be as the sound is coming from the front, not back. Believed to be wheel bearing. Its louder at slower speeds. Cant hear it at faster speeds. Wont happen until i turn left, and it will stay there (even when going straight again) until stopped.

A lot of oil found in intake manifold. Compression test showed piston 4 or 5 is low. Believed to be burning oil as well. (Starting to see white smoke)

Fourth problem

Recently installed a radio on Saturday, works fine and looks awesome.

Unsure if petrol light works, so I've been running my car on E until the light would come on.

While doing hill starts on Tuesday night, the car stalled. When i turned it back on, the rev counter wasn't working and for a brief second the petrol light came on (first time I've seen it. Its a bright orange! )

Then last night, i tried showing my friend my radio but that wasn't working either.

Hopefully ive covered everything, I think that's it.

*Oil disappearing.

*Oil in manifold

*Low compression in 4th or 5th cylinder

*Oil being burnt

*Brakes spongy

*Rev counter and radio (and probably a few other gages and maybe the petrol light) aren't working.

Ive got two mates helping me with this car. Ones mechanical and has been the one changing the oil and bleeding the brakes. The other being Creaver who's teaching me to drive.

Umm... think thats it. Im not a car guy and I need help please! Im planning on getting my restricted on the 25th and want some of my problems fixed by then, such as the rev counter + radio and spongy brakes.

Thanks...

[bimmer boy 21]

Sorry I dont really know how to help you but I will say spongy brakes are just part of E30 life, they are all spongy cant really fix it.

Edit - Welcome by the way!

Edited August 13, 2008 by RJS

[CamB 48]

Hi I've got a '86 320i , which is also my first car I'm learning to drive in, with a long list of problems... and i need help!

Its a manual, 6 cylinder e30.

Idle hunting could be vacuum leaks - look for cracked rubber pipes (yes on all of the 2 million pipes snaking around the motor).

The spongy brakes could be deteriorated flexi lines - on JiB's car the brakes were crap until we replaced the buggered lines - one was visibly bulging under the strain of being used...

The engine sounds a little ... unhealthy. I have a self-serving solution - give JiB a PM and buy his 323i engine for $100 (and get it out of my garage):

http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....showtopic=17365

Someone else can give you an opinion as to whether it is a straight swap or not, but I'll assume yes since it comes with the ECU. The engine has a couple of broken vac hoses, the same problem with the oil switch, and needs at least a valve adjust ... but hey its a 2.3 and its $100.

[bravo 34]

Firstly that b23 is cheap.

Second, sounds like blown headgasket - white smoke, low comp on 2 adjoining cylinders.

Also may be some valve seals (oil in intake manifold)

I would get the head off, do the gasket and inspect the valve guide seals at the same time and hope it's not piston rings.

Will set you back a few hundy, but these things happen.

Brakes and hunting have been covered.

Check the cambelt and have that and the waterpump replaced when you remove the head for piece of mind. The last guy I advised to do that didn't and spent the money on a big bore for his 323i. 2 weeks later the belt snapped.

[tcbaurpower 5]

Hi I've got a '86 320i , which is also my first car I'm learning to drive in, with a long list of problems... and i need help!

Its a manual, 6 cylinder e30.

Hopefully ive covered everything, I think that's it.

*Oil disappearing.

*Oil in manifold

*Low compression in 4th or 5th cylinder

*Oil being burnt

*Brakes spongy

*Rev counter and radio (and probably a few other gages and maybe the petrol light) aren't working.

Thanks...

I will answer what i have experienced.

- Oil leak just have to narrow it down.

- Oil in manifold, you will get some as the oil breather connects to the bottom clean it out as much as you can. But everyone gets it.

- Compression. take it to a mechanic.

- Doesnt sound good but not sure it is oil as that would be blue smoke, maybe just running rich.

- Brakes lol. Every new driver of an e30 comments on this. I bleed my brakes and replaced the front flexi hose which made a difference but then someone did some work on the car and said they were bad. The fact is if you need to stop in a hurry they will work just fine.

- This could just be faulty wiring best to start by soldering the radio connections. Did the fuses blow. Another narrow down of possible causes.

Enjoy your new e30 they are fun to learn on.

Do you have the radio on when you do your restricted anyway?

Edited August 13, 2008 by tcbaurpower

[*Glenn* 854]

Sorry .... I don't have time to reply to this.... I'd end up writing a book

[beanieguy 0]

Thanks for the fast reply guys and thanks for the welcome!

For the brakes, i've heard the e30's have bad brakes but apparently mine are REALLY bad and i know they've gotten worse since we first bleed them. Rather scary when i was trying to ease on the brakes and nothing was happening as i approached a crossing with drunken teens shuffling across it...

I've been collecting opinions around where i work (as a lot of the guys here are ex-mechanics but are too busy to look at my car), the common being my master cylinder is buggered and to check for leaks. A new possibility is the slave cylinders on the wheels are leaking? I've also been told to adjust the handbrake (which i think is also pretty poor). Currently have drums on the back, mechanical mate thinks i should replace them with discs because he doesn't like drums (personal prefence kinda thing). What do you guys think? Its frowned upon by the guys at work.

Engine sounds like a sweet deal, just need to wait and see what my mechanical mate thinks. Only problem is we don't have any space to work on my car and have to do it outside. Since its been raining lately, what with the storms and all (lost my aerial in the first storm ) and so we hardly get the chance to do any work on it. Only last weekend were we able to check the compression and adjust the tappets? They now sound a lot better in Creaver's opinion.

I was speaking to an auto electrician last night about car alarms and rewiring my speakers. He said 300 for a car alarm (would have been 100 dollars cheaper if it was a jap) and he refuses to rewire the speakers because its too much of a problem on bmw's. So I fear the idea of taking my car to a mechanic and the outrageous prices he'll give me. So I'm trying to keep work on the car free or cheap.

And no, i don't need the radio on for the restricted however i just installed my brand spanking new radio and it was working fine. Its just a little concerning now that its dead but it died with the rev counter which makes me think its related. I checked the fuses last night but i'm absolutely useless and didn't really know what i was looking for. I checked and saw nothing wrong in the fuse box. We're thinking it might be a loose power wire somewhere. Im gonna have to try get my mechanical mate to look at it tonight.

Another problem i have is the front driver's door can't be locked or unlocked by key. Central locking works, so i have to unlock my car by boot or the passenger door. When i put the key in the lock and turn it i feel no resistance. My mechanical mate and i had a tu tu at pick-a-part on some bmw car doors and we think one of the coat-hanger-like wires has unhooked itself from the lock. We haven't had a look yet, it's on the 2 do list. It's not a high priority on the list seeing how my engine appears to be dying and it's got brakes that give Creaver heart attacks.

But thanks again! I really do enjoy my car (but then its the only car I've ever driven, lol) and its why I'd rather go the hard way and spend money on fixing it rather than my sarcastic colleagues way of $2 dollar petrol and a lighter.

[bravo 34]

Change the drums to discs when you have spare cash later on down the track. The disc rear end is way better than the drums and is bolt-in.

The auto sparky sounds like he's just afraid of what he doesn't know. e30's have pretty straightforward electrics.

I would go to someone who knows waht they are doing if you have someone who is unsure put your alarm in and they don't fix other electrical niggles, you may have problems with your alarm down the track as it is wired into interior lights, locks, ignition, etc.

I think you're on the right track with the door lock.

[Mike 1]

for $100 take that 2.3L motor and swap it in. yours sounds pretty sick. Assuming the2.3 is in good nick you'll probably spend more time and money fixxing yours. I'm trying to think of any differences between the preFL B20 and the B23 and none come to mind, should be a straight swap. can grab any bits you need of your B20. the 323i goes much better than the 320i.

[beanieguy 0]

For my electrical problems, fuel light works, fuel gage works.

However, my interior reading lights dont, my clock dont (its still stuck on the time i stalled ), radio dont work, rev counter doesn't work and the petrol millage thingy.

(When i was checking, the right lamp actually lite up for a breif second)

I checked the fuses but they all appeared fine and i was able to get a second opinion who confirmed.

Guess ill be taking it to the auto electricians someday and begging him to fix it.

I tried looking at the wiring behind the radio but i couldn't get the trim off and didn't want to risk braking it. The wiring was done pretty solid with connectors and tape so i doubt its the cause of the problem.

Its just rather puzzling for me. Car stalls and suddenly half my electronics arn't working.

My radio! I was pretty stoked it was the same brand as my original. The trim wont come off and the reason i want the speakers re-wired is because of bmws manual balance. Both rear and both front speakers are wired together then run to the balance. So adjusting it only changes the front and back volume. Not very useful.

Edited August 14, 2008 by beanieguy

[Mark 178]

Looks to me like your radio is worth more than your car!

Check your battery at an auto sparky's to see if it's on the way out. A dicky battery can play havoc with the electrics.

I'd also take the new engine option, but only if the car's shell isn't rusty. Otherwise you may as well just cut your losses and buy a whole new car.

Good luck!

[beanieguy 0]

My mechanical mate and Creaver both believe buying a new engine would be a bad idea because we dont have the proper facilities nor the time to install it. However we all agreed its a excellent deal....

Anyone got any ideas or will my mate have to tear apart my engine and try and fix it?

[Mike 1]

IMO you'll need more tools, time and money to fix that engine than swapping the 2.3L one in.

That said, your problem could be a very simple fix, lets hope so.

[williams 0]

how high does the handbrake pull up? if it pulls up high the the rear wheels should be adjusted first-as they take up alot of fluid thus could cause a low or soft feeling pedal(pull the handbrake halfway up press the brake pedal-are they better? while driving) make sure all bleeding nipples are at the top!!

[jochen 4]

For my electrical problems, fuel light works, fuel gage works.

However, my interior reading lights dont, my clock dont (its still stuck on the time i stalled ), radio dont work, rev counter doesn't work and the petrol millage thingy.

Interior dome light is fused by F21, 7.5A

fuse F21 also feeds:

Active check control

Chime module

Instrument cluster

Radio

Boot light

Glove box light

Flashlight socket

The fuseholder is in the power distribution box in the engine bay.

Based on your symptoms, I'd recheck fuse F21, and fit another fuse in its place.

As for oil light, unplug the oil pressure switch on the engine

It's the sensor with the brown/green wire

If the light goes out, you know the oil pressure switch is faulty. Replace it.

As for the rest of the mechanical issues - talk to other forum members.

Both rear and both front speakers are wired together then run to the balance. So adjusting it only changes the front and back volume. Not very useful.

That is the fader control (balance = left-right, fader = front-rear).

These were fitted because 25 years ago 8a quarter of a centruy!) when these cars first came on the market, the BMW radios only had a left and right output. So the fader control was added in the speaker wiring.

If you want to change the speaker wiring note the following existing wiring:

Yellow = left speaker output from radio, positive (to fader control)

Yellow/red = left front speaker, positive.

Yellow/black = left rear speaker, positive

Yellow/brown = left speaker negative (front and rear are joined at splice S313, in the main harnes in the floor beside the drivers seat)

Blue = right speaker output from radio, positive (to fader control)

Blue/red = right front speaker, positive.

Blue/black = right rear speaker, positive

Blue/brown = right speaker negative (front and rear are joined at splice S312, in the main harnes in the floor beside the drivers seat)

If fitting a modern radio with 4 channels and an amplifier per channel, then you have no choice but to run new speaker cables.

[hbmonkeyman 0]

Haha welcome to the club, my 320i's been nothing but trouble ever since i got it

I would definately have bought that b23 but it seems it's already been sold lol oh well i guess i can't really complain about my car since i got it for free

But i've had some of the same problems as you. In my case the radio and the rev counter stopped working (And probably some other stuff, i cant remember), it turned out to be a fuse.

Uhhhhhhh... and a whole lot of other stuff lol i can't really remember

Well good luck anyway, IMO these are great cars to learn in, mine's also taught me a little bit about automotive mechanics as i've had to fix it myself everytime somethinng's gone wrong (Because i can't afford to pay someone else to do it lol)

[beanieguy 0]

Interior dome light is fused by F21, 7.5A

Lol yeh. Completely blown! I cant believe i didnt see it before! I had 3 people look at it including myself (my mechanical mate and Creaver didnt look at it) and we didnt see it!

Ive got a book, that said fuse 12 was the problem. When my mechanical mate was trying to unplug the ignition fuse (by using the same book) he couldnt get the right fuse either. So i think the book is obviously wrong about my car...

I feel like such a dooshe. So thats one problem down, THANKS!!!! Now ive just got this engine problem...