What'd you do to your BMW today?

[BMTHUG 1055]

Got married and the wedding car was my very own e30. Massive thanks to RAERAE and Simon for helping getting her back together in time. Wedding was on the 1st day of spring. Best day of my life 

 

 

[gjm 3258]

I eviscerated the front of the interior of the E46.

[zero 1162]

22 hours ago, gjm said:

I eviscerated the front of the interior of the E46.

Heater radiator?

[gjm 3258]

Yup.
Today I moved on from evisceration to complete disembowelment.

Top tip - don't shut the boot on your E46 wagon when the battery is disconnected. 

[zero 1162]

2 hours ago, gjm said:

Yup.
Today I moved on from evisceration to complete disembowelment.

Top tip - don't shut the boot on your E46 wagon when the battery is disconnected. 

Haha, Ive done that a few times.

 

Let me know how you get on with the heater rad swap, as I will be doing mine in a week or two.

[Olaf 3317]

or better still, a write-up!

 

[gjm 3258]

18 minutes ago, Olaf said:

or better still, a write-up!

 

I'll get to that once it's sorted.

[huff3r 347]

Trying to change bump-stops for vtnz WoF (I know, should not have bothered with them, but this station has been good to me in the past). So far managed to make some tools work for loosening top shock nut, but also broke my ball-joint seperator. Time for a break I think.

[aja540i 1906]

Finally got around to painting the cover for the towbar cut out on the M5...

[gjm 3258]

Took a break from gutting the front of the E46 to replace the door check piece. Can you imagine how infuriating it is to try to work in the front of a car when the door keeps closing on your leg?

Having removed the old one and compared with a good used one, it's easy to see what the problem was.

 

I'll do a write-up on this too.

Edited September 11, 2016 by gjm

[Olaf 3317]

^^

yeah I did this many years back on my Volvo 850.  PITA when they're not working as intended, and eventually you'll get pinged for it at WoF time.  

Good job!

[huff3r 347]

Finally got the bump stops in, after some more number 8 wire tool-making. Ground flats on my 19mm socket so the vice-grips could get a good grip on it, while the 8mm socket and 1/4 extension and flex bar held the shock from turning. Other side had a 17mm and allen key which was much easier!

A lot of effort for a couple of small bits of plastic/foam!

[RedRocketTi 131]

So bought a new engine for the 328Ti the other day! Also orginized some space to do the swap! So by the looks of it she will live again on the weekend of the 24-25th!!!!! Still havnt been able to track down a good 220 gearbox that isnt super expensive yet so it looks like I may have to just run my screwed box for a little longer... still I cant wait to have my POWER BACK!!!!!

[Olaf 3317]

Yesterday, new OEM ATE rear brake hoses fitted, and of course new brake fluid and flush.  Thanks Page European!

Gotta note, one can certainly feel the difference at the pedal with different fluids.  I'd been using BNT's inexpensive RBF (broadly similar to the Motul RBF600) previously - much firmer pedal that standard 'Super DOT4'.

I understand you're up for greater risk of rust in the system with RBF and it needs changing more frequently (something to do with less rust prevention??) than standard.

Looks like my new springs have arrived (thanks Nathan), so they'll be fitted Tuesday, along with new spring pads.  Double Orange Stripes FTW.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Olaf

[zero 1162]

Did the fan delete mod on my other e46.

 

This is the best mod ever, and both my cars have it now.

[Olaf 3317]

1 hour ago, zero said:

Did the fan delete mod on my other e46.

 

This is the best mod ever, and both my cars have it now.

you got a thread for this, Nathan?  I'm keen to have a read.  Would this make my 325i feel less like the 330i's poor cousin and more like it's little brother? 

 

[zero 1162]

32 minutes ago, Olaf said:

you got a thread for this, Nathan?  I'm keen to have a read.  Would this make my 325i feel less like the 330i's poor cousin and more like it's little brother? 

 

There are many threads online as this is a very popular diy and very simple to do;

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=884299

 

It made both my cars quieter, lighter, and the accelerator pedal slightly more responsive. Because it removes parasitic drag on the engine it is supposed to slightly improve fuel consumption too.

Another plus is that it removes the chance of the 'exploding fan' problem, which are known to explode and take out the radiator and put dents in the bonnet. http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?781493-And-BOOM-it-went-thru-my-hood!

[RedRocketTi 131]

Picked up some Bilstein front shocks with Eibach springs, hopefully they will help reduce the horrid body roll in the Ti. Will chuck them in next weekend when I swap in the new engine! Excitement is building and I cant wait to have it all going again!!! Fingers crossed a few of my clients come thorough and pay their late invoices so that I can get a new gearbox to go in at the same time!

[Olaf 3317]

today I got a puncture repaired, and all four wheels rebalanced.  much smoother on the highway, now.  

And my new rear springs have arrived, so looking forward to those being fitted on Tuesday.

[Breaker 980]

Replaced rear control arms, bloody hell what a difference to drive  nicely passed the WOF now

[Olaf 3317]

On 11 September 2016 at 4:53 PM, huff3r said:

Finally got the bump stops in, after some more number 8 wire tool-making. Ground flats on my 19mm socket so the vice-grips could get a good grip on it, while the 8mm socket and 1/4 extension and flex bar held the shock from turning. Other side had a 17mm and allen key which was much easier!

A lot of effort for a couple of small bits of plastic/foam!

I think I used an offset ring spanner, and an allen socket on a 1/4" extension.  Years ago (for my VW Golf GTi) I had an engineering shop in Mexico weld a large nut onto the top of a spark plug socket to acheive the same thing.  Still got the socket.

I like the idea of grinding flats onto a socket.

[huff3r 347]

5 hours ago, Olaf said:

I think I used an offset ring spanner, and an allen socket on a 1/4" extension.  Years ago (for my VW Golf GTi) I had an engineering shop in Mexico weld a large nut onto the top of a spark plug socket to acheive the same thing.  Still got the socket.

I like the idea of grinding flats onto a socket.

I struggled to bring myself to do it to my nice stanley socket, but then I remembered work got me a JBS kit so I still have nice sockets and can do what I like with the stanley ones!

 

Now struggling with the PITA BMW Reverse RDS stereo in the green E36, the Business RDS units are easy to get out, but who knows how this Reverse RDS thing comes out!

[gjm 3258]

Today - nothing.

It's persisting down, blowing half a gale and generally speaking, outside is not a place I want to be.

I think I'll go and get my hair cut.

[d.p.n.s 15]

washed it again

and non bmw wise

removed the inlet manifold and sat a supercharger in its place ....slowly getting the compound set up together.

 

[wrs 120]

Found the problem with the driving lights blowing the fuse. The passenger side lamp connector had a bad connection which caused the plastic supporting the terminal to melt and the terminals shorted together. I had a spare set of driving lights in much better condition so swapped both out. Now the lamps work again and look much better.