KwS's not M3, M3 Project (or, the M328i)

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

North American S50 is not like your euro S50 engine. the one you ordered from the states will be the M50/S50US unit. 

 

Also for starter motor bolts, and also bellhousing bolts and any inverse hex or torx bolt, a light tappa tappa on the end of your socket or extension is worthwhile to make sure the socket is all the way over the bolt head. stripped too many over the years to not do that these days, 10 seconds now or hours of pain if not done. especially so if the bolts are covered in oil etc

[KwS 2425]

9 hours ago, _ethrty-Andy_ said:

North American S50 is not like your euro S50 engine. the one you ordered from the states will be the M50/S50US unit. 

Im well aware of this. The starter was sold under the part number for my Euro starter. Its an M52 starter as it has the threaded holes, not through holes like the M50 ones. Regardless, it works, and it works well.

[KwS 2425]

One last thing I needed to fix, so that the car would reliably start, was the ignition barrel. Sometimes it would free spin, and wouldn't start the car.

I had encountered the issue a couple of times, including once on the drive home after taking ownership of the car, when I stopped to take some photos. That was a "oh god, what have I gotten into?!" moment. You turn the key and instead of turning the ignition switch, it just free spins in the barrel. It will turn over and over without doing a single thing. Generally if you turn it back to where you started, take the key out and try again, it worked.

Problem is, it can get worse. It'll either get to a point it will never start, or it will fail to turn off and the car will remain running.

With the starter now fixed, this was next on the list of things that would stop the car starting. I was reminded of this when during testing of the starter yesterday, the key decided to free spin.

Initially I had the great idea of removing the barrel so I could install a screw into the housing

To remove the barrel you first remove the EWS transponder ring with a flat blade screwdriver. Carefully lever and pop it off. Then remove the rubber o-ring behind the ring.

The theory on the next part is to use a straightened bobby pin or paperclip, and to insert it into this little hole, when the key is inserted and turned to the first "radio" position, and the barrel is meant to pop out

I tried and tried but couldn't get the damn thing to work, so in the end, I chose to leave the barrel installed.

Instead, I grabbed a drill and whacked a hole in the bottom of the housing. I know from much research that where the hole is would go straight into a recess in the barrel. When a screw is inserted, it would lock the barrel and stop it from spinning. I started with a 3mm bit, and stepped up to 4mm for the final hole. The aluminium is quite soft, so easy to drill, and a coarse threaded screw will thread in easily without needing to be tapped.

And in went the random screw I found in my collection

I probably should've used one with a smaller head, but it just fits. Now test that the barrel no longer spins freely. Thankfully one of the keys that came with the car doesn't seem to work, and would cause the barrel to spin every time. With the screw installed, I cannot spin the barrel anymore. The key still doesn't work.

Reinstall the o-ring and the antenna. This should completely cover the new screw

With that taken care of, I could finally reinstall the lower trim that had been out of the car since December, finally making it look like a respectable car again.

Now, *touch wood* I should have a car that starts every time, not when the starter or ignition feels like it.

[Statek 87]

Be careful using screws with a big head like that to lock the ignition barrel, I did the same thing and had issues because the wires on the ring were being shorted out. My memory is a little foggy as to what the symptoms were, but yeah...  

Nice job restoring this thing, I like the fact that because it's not actually an M3 you can modify it without feeling bad ?

[KwS 2425]

Been using and enjoying the car a few times recently. Trying hard to crack the 300,000km mark, which is about 300km away now.

Its been good but some minor issues are cropping up. Turns out my heater (on the drivers side at least) is stuck on, so the cruise I took the other day, in the hot sun, meant it got pretty toasty inside. Guess like my last M3, the heater valve on this one has probably had it.

My standard 3.0 M3 steering rack is rubbish. They're known for being slow and feel dead (and its a 3.0 M3 specific rack, good work BMW), and thats exactly what mine is. Slow, lots of turns lock to lock, and feels almost completely dead on center. Will keep an eye out for a purple tag E46, or Z3 rack, which is almost a direct swap and much better speed and feel.

The latest fairly major issue though is that I have once again been hit my the common "BRAKE LIGHT CIRCUIT - SEE OWNERS MANUAL" Check warning, indicating my brake light switch is on the way out, and when tested, I indeed had no brake lights at all. Lovely. Ill grab a new one of those shortly, so I can keep enjoying the car without being rear ended.

I really need to clean the car, I havent touched it since it was driven down from Auckland by the previous owner. I feel bad.

[Olaf 3317]

love your work, Kelvin. ?

[M3AN 4016]

And it looks good great without a rear spoiler... I wouldn't be in a hurry to buy one tbh.

 

[KwS 2425]

1 hour ago, M3AN said:

And it looks good great without a rear spoiler... I wouldn't be in a hurry to buy one tbh.

 

I won't lie, its grown on me a lot. The only big spoiler i would want would be an LTW, but then i'd have to get the front splitter too to balance it out, but that wont happen any time soon. I may get an ebay lip spoiler for it at some point, as i think they look quite good.

[M3AN 4016]

Very happy with the eBay lip spoiler I got for the 328. It was pre-painted and the colour match was fine, adheasive is still stong after 2 years. Wasn't expensive and I apprecaite the look.

 

[qube 3570]

I think the altezza spoiler fits on this 

[KwS 2425]

What's an altezza spoiler? Is that slang like altezza lights?

[M3AN 4016]

Selling already?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1986340775.htm

 

[Olaf 3317]

On 3/13/2019 at 4:23 PM, KwS said:

What's an altezza spoiler? Is that slang like altezza lights?

It’s a large shopping-trolley handle for the bootlid, yeah? ?

[KwS 2425]

43 minutes ago, M3AN said:

Selling already?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1986340775.htm

 

For the right price. 

[Secniv 182]

You figure what was going on with the lumpy idle?

I'm trying to track down similar issue on the m20b25. Going to try replacing vacuum lines and if needs be set up a smoke test or could it be fuelling do you think?

[KwS 2425]

40 minutes ago, Secniv said:

You figure what was going on with the lumpy idle?

I'm trying to track down similar issue on the m20b25. Going to try replacing vacuum lines and if needs be set up a smoke test or could it be fuelling do you think?

Not really, no. It's only when cold and doesn't impact driving, so after researching it a lot and finding multiple other S50B30 owners with similar cold idle issues and no answers, I decided to live with it instead of throwing more parts at it. 

It is rich when cold, so could be fuelling or temp sensor related (despite no codes and live data being good), but I have smoke tested my intake and no leaks, and new coils and plugs only made the warm idle smooth out. 

Compression test results were good, so the engine is basically happy, I think it's something the DME is seeing and isn't liking when cold. DIS is too slow and basic to help try and diagnose an issue like this, it's a real shame I can't use INPA. 

Edited March 14, 2019 by KwS

[Secniv 182]

41 minutes ago, KwS said:

Not really, no. It's only when cold and doesn't impact driving, so after researching it a lot and finding multiple other S50B30 owners with similar cold idle issues and no answers, I decided to live with it instead of throwing more parts at it. 

It is rich when cold, so could be fuelling or temp sensor related (despite no codes and live data being good), but I have smoke tested my intake and no leaks, and new coils and plugs only made the warm idle smooth out. 

Compression test results were good, so the engine is basically happy, I think it's something the DME is seeing and isn't liking when cold. DIS is too slow and basic to help try and diagnose an issue like this, it's a real shame I can't use INPA. 

Thanks for that.

Yeah I plan to ohms test temp sensors as it does cough and hesitate when cold as well.

I've seen Youtube set-ups for smoke test using glass jar/soldering iron/mineral oil bike pump and tubes. Is this what you used? I was thinking I could use incense sticks in the jar instead of iron and oil?

[M3AN 4016]

2 minutes ago, Secniv said:

...I was thinking I could use incense sticks in the jar instead of iron and oil?

Not enough smoke, you need quite a lot.

 

[Gaz 1061]

Whats the outside temp sensor reading? 

[KwS 2425]

1 hour ago, M3AN said:

Not enough smoke, you need quite a lot.

 

Disagree, it's what I used (as have others) and it works well. Plenty of smoke. 

1 hour ago, Gaz said:

Whats the outside temp sensor reading? 

Nothing/-37c, it's disconnected/missing. 

Edited March 15, 2019 by KwS

[Gaz 1061]

11 minutes ago, KwS said:

Disagree, it's what I used (as have others) and it works well. Plenty of smoke. 

Nothing/-37c, it's disconnected/missing. 

That could cause it to run rough, see if you can find one

[KwS 2425]

5 minutes ago, Gaz said:

That could cause it to run rough, see if you can find one

It doesn't, it's only used for the OBC functions. 

[M3AN 4016]

53 minutes ago, KwS said:

Disagree, it's what I used (as have others) and it works well. Plenty of smoke. 

An incense stick?

Man, the one I used was like a shop security fogger and even so some of the leaks were barely distinguishable!

I would have thought the more smoke the better...

[KwS 2425]

40 minutes ago, M3AN said:

An incense stick?

Man, the one I used was like a shop security fogger and even so some of the leaks were barely distinguishable!

I would have thought the more smoke the better...

Incense cones are what I used. Two in a jar, plenty of smoke. 

[M3AN 4016]

Well, they say you learn something every day... I just did! Cheers.