The new girl

[BMRBOI 8]

Hey guys,

Well after months of looking for a donor shell for my e36 gear, I finally found one. This is her. A 1993 325i coupe in Diamantschwarz metallic. She has a full motorsports exterior, sports seats, sunroof and is also registered and has a WOF. Paint is in very good condition, a few stone chips and a couple of dings. Mechanically she drives fine, a bit worn out in the bushes/suspension department but drove fine from Auckland to Rotorua.

Engine runs very cool, around the 60 degree mark, however i'm thinking that the thermostat has been removed.

It has various facelift parts fitted, noticeable front grills, dash, climate control and steering wheel.

This is a project, so what's a project without a few issues to sort out. So…

She throws engine check lights for washer fluid and coolant level even though she has plenty. Also I noticed every now and then all dash lights appear and the fuel gauge drops to empty and stays that way until I turn it right off and start again.

The climate control/heater unit wasn't working so I decided to investigate... I was rather surprised with my findings.

First of all it was just the display panel sitting in there not connected to anything. The heater box had been removed and pipes and some loom hacked. I started pulling more of the dash apart and found the window switches somewhat hardwired with rangi plugs and speaker wire running from the door to the switches (you can see this in the picture running across the brake pedal).

Also there are various cut wires (unsure what they connect to). I assume the body control module has been removed? Windows work fine with/without keys, the sunroof only works with the ignition turned on.

There is no passenger’s side air bag, but the drivers side one is there and connected unsure if it works though.

Back to the heater issue, I noticed the heater valve has been removed but the loom plug is still there. Two spare plugs sitting near the glove box (think this is for the heater box shown in picture) and four wires up at the top of the heater unit not sure if they spilt up the heater box.

Looks like I will be replacing the facelift dash with an original type, replace heater box and place analogue controls back in place. Will the sedan heater box and controls fit this?

...and so it begins. I am pretty happy with the purchase. I hope that when I look under the car properly, I will not find any surprises.

For those who didn't catch the e36 sedan project, which will be the parts donor for this one this is the link e36 track

Niroy

[euroriffic 609]

Looks like you have an interesting time ahead of you, good luck!

[Michael. 2313]

Seriously, who does that to the wiring loom! GL

[BMRBOI 8]

Haha, yeah I never thought this will be an electrical project to start with but hey!

I wonder if I should just wait and pull the heater box etc out of the sedan and put it into the coupe. I know the dash between the coupe and sedans are not interchangeable.

[No name user 379]

rip it all out throw a cage in it go racing

[BMRBOI 8]

That is a plan Steve! I want to use it as a daily driver for a little while.

rip it all out throw a cage in it go racing

[No name user 379]

That is a plan Steve! I want to use it as a daily driver for a little while.

in that case dam good plan dude

[328bema 18]

Damn looks like you have abit of work ahead of you bro, the one thing I cant stand is wiring haha, I look forward to seeing what you do with her keep us posted man!