E36 M3 Resto-mod.

[KwS 2425]

just wasnt cut quite perfectly initially i guess. sh*t it was cheap enough to not be too worried!

Edited September 30, 2014 by KwS

[KwS 2425]

yeah cheers, its great to be back behind the wheel. Just cant get enough of the sound and power.

As said i think i messed up my diagnosis a little, i think the low battery voltage when i was done cleaning the sensors may have reset the ECU causing it to run rough, tricking me into think the issue remained. What i should have done was take it for a decent drive and it probably would have been fine. Oh well, its running sweet now.

[KwS 2425]

Righty.

Backstory. So since i got the car its had this annoying noise at about 1800rpm when accelerating under load. It only happened when the oil temp was over 90c, and only when under load. It wasnt vanos, because it persisted after i rebuilt that. The car also made a similar noise occasionally on cold start.

After some further reading i read some reports of the original 3.0 timing chain tensioner being crap and losing tension. The other week i had a good look at my tensioner when i did the cam sensors. I noted that it looked a lot like the original tensioner, and it was weeping oil.

A common upgrade is to use the timing chain tensioner of the new 3.2 Evo engine, which is a completely new design and more reliable.

This is the old one,

The tensioner is pretty easy to replace really. I read heaps of write ups, but i was still a bit nervous as its a REALLY crucial part.

You need to move the washer bottle (disconnect the two electrical connections), and remove the RH wing from the radiator shroud (little push pin at the top). In my case i also needed to remove the exhaust cam sensor to reduce any risk of me damaging it.

A 32mm spanner will be required to remove the tensioner. With the space created the spanner will just fit.

My tensioner leaked a bit of oil when removed, but otherwise removing it was straight forward.

It was pretty obvious when removed that the old tensioner was original, and its clearly very worn.

Old vs New

Clear signs of heavy wear on the piston. This is the same on both sides.

The contact point wasnt too bad considering.

I put a little fresh oil on the contact point of the new tensioner and gently installed into the hole. I aligned the contact point and wound the tensioner backwards a few times before winding it in by hand. It wound in by hand till a couple of turns, and a quick spin of the spanner had it seated and sealed correctly.

Started up, silent. So far so good. Decided to take it for a spin and almost immediately noticed the throttle response was smoother and quicker when backing out of the driveway. During the drive, after i got it up to temp the car felt good. The engine is quieter, and its probably a placebo, but feels like it pulls stronger, especially down low.

Once the oil temp was up, at around 90-95c i decided to give it the worst combination of conditions i could think of, where previously it would have rattled its nuts off. Heavy load, low RPM. Silent. Not even a peep.

Great success. For anyone still running an original tensioner, get rid of it.

Oh, whilst in the garage i finally changed the reverse light switch so now i can reverse into traffic without giving someone a fright. The original switch was 19mm, and located on the RH side of the trans. The cheap pattern (tridon) part i fitted was 22mm with the same thread and seems to work OK.

I had a quick play with the Gummi Pflege on the door/window seals. Gave them a quick wipe with a wet towel and once dry wiped some gummi on them.

Before

Half (top before, lower section treated)

Its not very obvious in the photos, but the seal come up looking much nicer, a darker black. I havent had a chance to see if its any softer, but hopefully it helps to seal the window and ease the window raise and lower (especially when the door is opened as it automatically drops an inch or so and then goes back up when closed). Ill keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

EDIT: The PN for the tensioner and gasket i used were, 11311405081 and 07119963418

Edited October 20, 2014 by KwS

[KwS 2425]

Took M3 for another spin. Silent cold start, and makes all the right noises and none of the wrong noises now. Hurrah!

[KwS 2425]

Since i finish work early on a Friday, and it was such a lovely evening i decided to do some MUCH needed cleaning to both the cars.

I gave the Fit a clean first as the other half needed to take it out this evening, so no photos of that but its mucho shiny now.

The M3 had not had a decent, intimate, hand clean in a long time (usually pressure washer and grooming broom at work for a quick spruce up). Lately it had not even had the quick groom, it was filthy.

Before starting the clean, whilst the car was still dry i took a stiff, dry, brush and cleaned all the boot and bonnet channels and around the seals, as they were packed with pine needles and dirt. Nice and clean now.

I started with the wheels (as i finished the Fit on the wheels), and ugh, forgot they were silver

Add some CRC Mag Wheel Cleaner (wicked stuff this)

Hit it with a brush, hose it off and you get this

I then proceeded to clean the rest of the car

Clean!

I also got fed up with having no centre cap on the LH RR wheel, it was uggo. I purchased some cheapy "carbon look" centre caps from tandem a while back, and i decided to finally fit them. They look good but i think i prefer blue over black, but hey, better than nothing.

Old

New

And the reason i changed them

Unfortunately it looks like the LH FR wheel has been refurbished and repainted in the past, its clearly a different shade of silver (almost a dark metallic silver vs the bright silver of the others) and the paint is really bad, flaking off and just ugly.

Well, thats that clean for another hour or so. Needs another wax, might do that next weekend.

[KwS 2425]

After some discussion with the a friend whilst driving the other day, i decided he was right and continuing to have the 20 year old Alpine headunit in the car probably wasn't doing me any favours in terms of selling as its just something else the buyer will need to replace. It is cool and sh*t, but damn near useless now.

Some browsing of the inter webs during my work/down time the other day alerted me to a cheap JVC mechless unit at repco (this one, http://catalogues.repco.co.nz/#view=product&itemId=64841012&saleId=6484 - $78). I popped across the road and grabbed one.

Today i decided to bite the bullet and install it. Being that the old unit was installed 20 years ago, i was rather worried about what i would find behind there.... would it be twist and tape? chocolate blocks? ugh, loom adapters weren't as readily available back then.

I started with this, Alpine 3DE-7887E 3 disk changer with FM.

Pulled off the face plate, lols its tiny.

At the edges of the recess just below the top of where the face plate goes in there are two levers you push up whilst pulling forward on the unit. Do this and POP, out it comes.

A loom adaptor! HURRUH!

A pair of random wires. Tapped into the constant and ground, don't know where they go and what they do so i taped them off and hid them. Everything seems to still work, so meh.

Pulled the old frame out and disconnected loom.

Pulled the new unit out of the box, damn they are short!

JCV Kenwood?

The tools of the trade

The old one was a genuine BMW adaptor, no cheap crap here!

Sadly someone had snipped the illumination wire, because the Alpine doesn't dim

Instead of repinning, here is a cheap crap adaptor i prepared earlier (scavenged from my old red E36 from years ago actually). Still has all connections.

Soldered that sh*t

Some quick tape to tidy it up

A test of the new unit, all good. New frame installed.

And done.

Haven't had a decent play yet but sound quality is better.... i guess that has a bit to do with all front and rear speakers working correctly now unlike previously where i think only one front and one rear worked.

New unit looks nice, seems easy to use and the red illumination should match the orange of the car a bit better.

[KwS 2425]

Some more recent photos. Now has all centre caps on.

--------------------------------

Ive made the call. Once my listing on TM ends tomorrow night it wont be relisted for 44 days (the longest before i cant relist for free). When it is relisted itll be 16K and for the shortest time possible.

I tried offering it out for dirt cheap, and people were silly for not jumping at the chance. $10K is almost 328i territory, let alone M3 territory. Im glad it didnt sell.

Next on the list to do, not in any order

Alarm (remove and upgrade)
Front lip (plasti-dip, paint or replace)
Wheel refurb
Speakers
Sub
Pollen filter
Door card rebuild (door pocket reglue and reattach passengers card top)
Drivers window lube
Skuttle panel replacement
Rear window seal replacement
Shifter linkage and seal
PAS low press line leak

Edited November 29, 2014 by KwS

[KwS 2425]

So theres an issue with the old E36s, very common issue and mine suffered from it.... the old fogging headlights issue (you can see it in a few of the first photos at the start of this thread). The quick cure is to remove both of the bulb covers and shes all good from there. Ive been running like this since the day i got the car, but it seems to me that they are probably there for some reason.

Today i decided to cut a slit in the bottom of the covers and see how that goes. If it doesnt work ill take them off and bin them, but hopefully it should let enough air in and out that they dont fog.

Trusty old Dremel and a cutting wheel made short work of the plastic.

And fitted

Whilst under the hood i did notice something ill need to attend to at some point soon. One of the boots on my intake runners is cracking. Its not through yet, but ill keep an eye on it and get a new one on the way from germany (or a set if its cheap)

[charles28 136]

I think you would have regretted selling it for 10k, its worth more than that.

[francoisv 466]

Car looks good man. Loving the photoshoot with the water back ground

[KwS 2425]

As somewhat expected, the headlights covers are a massive fail and the damn RH headlight has fogged up in the rain this morning.

Think ill the covers off and biff them.

[hotwire 352]

I recall fitting a few of those Alpine 3 disc in dash head units when they came out in the 90's. Back then they were the ducks nuts.

I would have thought they would have had dual illumination. I have a similar vintage Alpine single CD tuner unit in the E12 - it has dual illumination - green or amber. The amber is virtually a perfect match to the BMW illumination.

[str8_6 275]

There are four plastic mounts for the headlights from memory. The mounts are adjustable (turning clockwise/anti clockwise so you can line up with the bonnet and panel work. Before bolting the headlight housing to the mounts, make sure the whole light sits without rocking on the four plastic mount points. If it twists even slightly, it can allow moisture into the lights through the main seal.

[m325i 709]

i put silica bags in my lights, worked for a while. I got new lights in the end though.

[KwS 2425]

not too bothered, it lasted ok for a few months without the covers on, so ill just take them off again.

[KwS 2425]

Testing out my new Sony Actioncam

[KwS 2425]

Its got more rasp than expected (first time other than the dyno that ive heard it from outside of the car) but still sounds good.

[Olaf 3317]

maybe I'm odd, had thought about buying this - really liked that it had a period yet decent head unit in there!

It's looking good.

[KwS 2425]

haha, i still have the Alpine and its a great unit but very limited in its functionality. If i could add AUX to it without messing with random adaptors itd be ok.

Id love a standard unit and add aux to that, but not high on priority list.

[KwS 2425]

This has been a long project but i finally finished converting all my receipts to a spreadsheet. There will be some variances, but its close enough.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b9dxqm0crzgqe30/M3%20Expendature.pdf?dl=0

[KwS 2425]

thankfully not all of it is what ive spent... i didnt dare add that up separately!

[KwS 2425]

Car is having a slight birthday (its 21st birthday) over the xmas period.

I noticed the other day that a couple of the intake boots are looking a little worse for wear, so i have 3 of them coming over from Germany.

Whilst the intake is off im replacing all the vacuum hose under the intake, and also the CCV and IACV pipes preemptively.

Im also replacing the fuel filter and cabin filter. An oil change is on the cards too, although i now have a genuine filter for that. Some intake trumpet O-Rings too.

Whilst im there and im apparently made of money, i pulled the front lip off becuase it was ugly.

Now it looks distinctly 318i MSport spec.

The lip was pretty average, and new ones are cheap enough, so i have one of them coming. The mounting hardware is poked too, so new ones of them are en-route from Germany.

After that, ill be doing some work on the speakers as it sounds a bit average. Bring on 2015.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

Car is having a slight birthday (its 21st birthday) over the xmas period.

I noticed the other day that a couple of the intake boots are looking a little worse for wear, so i have 3 of them coming over from Germany.

Whilst the intake is off im replacing all the vacuum hose under the intake, and also the CCV and IACV pipes preemptively.

Im also replacing the fuel filter and cabin filter. An oil change is on the cards too, although i now have a genuine filter for that. Some intake trumpet O-Rings too.

Whilst im there and im apparently made of money, i pulled the front lip off becuase it was ugly.

Now it looks distinctly 318i MSport spec.

The lip was pretty average, and new ones are cheap enough, so i have one of them coming. The mounting hardware is poked too, so new ones of them are en-route from Germany.

After that, ill be doing some work on the speakers as it sounds a bit average. Bring on 2015.

a lot like my E30, it had about 3 birthdays this year!

Edit: remove photos in quoted post

Edited December 22, 2014 by _Ethrty-Andy_

[KwS 2425]

Mine actually had its birthday the other day though 17th December 1993 it was built.

[MLee 35]

Good luck with the sale mate, it's looking good