Flake M325i

[flake 0]

ever since i got into bmws i've always loved tech1 e30s . tech2 is great aswell but i prefer the sharper lines and character of the tech1, which is why i brought one.

car belong to andrew (APT) from auckland. '86 NZ new m325i . i pretty much brought the car blind as i couldn't view it, had to go by photos and emails full of questions. in the end when he picked me up from the airport i was very pleased with my decision the moment i saw the car. sure it was a bit rough but thats the reason i brought it, so i could make a project out of it.

the car i basically unmolested. all original interior and black headliner. factory wiring looks very tidy and untouched. suspension bushes are probably original. body/engine has done 409xxxkms, has had recent head rebuild before andrew. not much rust in the body being nz new, sunroof apears to be mint, has a dent and rust on drivers rear arch, drivers side on top of the actual door, one hole in the engine bay around the battery tray area and a hole under the rear tail light. i'm yet to take out the carpet and look for any giant holes. haha rust doesn't scare me.

my plan is to fix all the rust and replace body panels for straight ones

replace any broken interior trims and give it a good tidy up.

replace the door and boot seals as i have a swimming pool under the drivers seat and in the jack compartment in the boot.

planning to leave the sound proofing as long term its gonna be my daily.

replace every bush with urethane ones. subframe looks ready to fall straight out and the engine just about wants to go throught the radiator. when driving i can "feel" the play in the drivetrain. engine, gearbox, diff, subframe, trailing arms, CAB and swaybar bushes need to be changed. need people opinions on which bushes to use and where to get from.

install my konis and king springs.

take engine/gearbox out and give a good clean (see photo, its extremely dirty), replace rocker cover and sump gaskets, oil change, remove A/C, SS headers, bigger radiator, Z3 short shift etc.

then respray

i want to have the car off the road for 2weeks while i do all this so i'll need to source all these parts before i begin. it'll be a bit of work but i'm looking forward to it - [haha famous last words]

for an old car it still drives very well, heaps of power and torque. best thing i've done so far is replace the dirty factory panel filter with a k&n air filter. $5 at pickapart, gave it a good clean and left it in the hot water cupboard for a day. huge improvement. was told at least $200 for one at repco a year ago...

other than that not much else, i've just been driving it. so far i've done 1200km since last week. thats x12 more than andrew did in 4months. but anyway i wanna thank andrew for helping me throught the buying process, sorry for taking her away from you mate. i'll treat her right.

photos

this car has stance

it has (reverse) stretch

and it has poke

your input and advice is welcome. thanks

[kerry 10]

always loved tech-1 in silver, keep it as original as pos man

[Nobimmer 694]

Keep it that colour!

[flake 0]

yup once its all straight and stiff last thing i'll be doing is the respray. it will be in the same colour, polaris silver. and i will get the double pinstrip redone aswell. big fan of the pinstripe it really devides the look

[Forrest 35]

You need to buy my car for the LSD, suspension and bushes, then take the m50 out of your other car, put it all together in this one and your done. Everyone wins.

[JiB 2]

Looks awesome! Tech1's definitely look many times better than TechII's!

[pureboiracer 0]

what do you do when the m50 swap gets boring? buy another project.... lol.

looks like a nice base. gl with this man

[e30ftw 410]

Wheres the m50 swap at? Surely must be done by now?

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2136]

what do you do when the m50 swap gets boring? buy another project.... lol.

looks like a nice base. gl with this man

Guilty over these ways too. Not that i wanted to be. Lol.

[mark247 39]

what do you do when the m50 swap gets boring? buy another project.... lol.

looks like a nice base. gl with this man

Wheres the m50 swap at? Surely must be done by now?

Guilty over these ways too. Not that i wanted to be. Lol.

How hard can it be?

[tibbs.james 1]

Black number plates make me happy !

[APT 195]

Sweet its about time a build thread started it was good meeting you mate, atleast someone is going to be driving it and not sitting in the garage.

Keep the photos up !

[Forrest 35]

Honestly can't believe you took the diff out of it though Andrew, its sacrilege

[flake 0]

hey lads

its about time i updated this thread.

the car has been strickly a garage queen for the last month while i repaired some nasty rust in the firewall and hiding under the windscreen behind the dash, plus various other holes. during this time i've also replaced the majority of the disintegrating suspension and engine components. basically all the factory rubber engine, gearbox, subframe, swaybar/links, CAB mounts had ripped off from the metal sleaves or plates. no wonder it handled like a boat. i'll document the big ticket performance items and how they handle when i get her running

haha go on test me to see if i replaced it/cleaned the hell out of it.

yeah so in getting it ready for the taupo megameet and the deadline is getting closer and she still isn't purring. FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU. engine finally went back in on the weekend, but i have checked 12v at the battery, coil, c101 power connections to relays, etc. the engine cranks but i cant hear the fuel pump humming, so i left the fuel lines to the fuel rail off and cranked it and got no fuel out obviously. i'll be pushing the limit if i want to take it to taupo. all help is welcome. thanks

car as it stands now

[Nobimmer 694]

Checked all the stupid things? fuses, relays etc?

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2136]

best of luck getting it going!!!

seat in my car if worst comes to the worst

[antil33t 90]

seat in my car if worst comes to the worst

So it goes now?

GL Flake, If I've learned anything about E30's/Cars in General.. It'll be something REALLL dumb why it doesn't work.

[Forrest 35]

Wonder who wrote c**t on the windscreen

To follow on from Anthony's post in a little more helpful detail;

Ashkan all the dumb things have been checked. It cranks but we don't have any power to the idle control valve etc, along with no power to the fuel pump etc can't hear it turn on when the ign is on.

ECU seems fine, unsure about ign coil as have just replaced it with one from pick a part but it might be a dud, never heard of one dying though.

I want to say ign switch, but the instruments etc light up and it has power at the starter motor etc obviously because it cranks.

I hope it is some dumb earth missing or something like that, in my experience it usually is when I have taken sh*t apart.

Tomorrow we will try the coil out of my car and hopefully test for spark properly, still doesn't solve why the fuel pump isn't priming.

- Nath

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2136]

sounds very similar to my mate Wills car.. take the ECU apart and check in there for moisture.

[Forrest 35]

^ Will try my ECU tomorrow too, forgot to add that in, glad our cars are pretty much identical.

[pureboiracer 0]

Check the relays over by the afm, sounds to me like the motronic isnt powering up for whatever reason, the cranking system is seperate to the motronic loom, you will probs find no power at coil either, just work your way through where there should be power, ign switch, firewall plug, injector relay etc etc. not at uni atm if you want me to have a nosie for you.

Edited September 1, 2010 by DRTE30

[Forrest 35]

We got 12v at the coil but according to this, it might not be a good thing:

http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....showtopic=27120

Didn't bridge the fuel pump pins to see if it was the relay, but there was power getting to it when we checked.

[Forrest 35]

Morning bump for help, running out of time to get it going

[e30ftw 410]

Try swap main relay and fuel relay with yours?

[pureboiracer 0]

iirc the f,p relay when switched powers up the injector relay and such, try just checking the f,p relay 1st, check there is power to pin 30/87 and 85/86 when ign is switched into the run position there should be 2 powers at the relay, check that the wire that doesnot have the power 1, earths and other should have continuity back to fuel pump. also check that main relay as above.

Edited September 1, 2010 by DRTE30