E91 msport 320i

[325_driver 422]

Lots more updates on the e46 to come as I'm doing the final sand down. But in the mean time i couldn't resist picking up this e91 msport that was days off the wreckers.

The old owner had a bit of a bad run with it from scissor jack going through it at a car park and door flying open while reversing only for the coils to start dying the day after. So decided it was time to abort mission.

I decided I would pop round and see if I could get it running right with a spare coil pack to drive home,

How hard could it be right ?

Only to find out some one the day before had gone full send removing the upper radiator hose and snapped both the radiator and the hose off.  (Another hose was snapped too so I had to get innovative)

Really would have preferred to get it running  opposed to towing from one end of papamoa to the other end of katikati.

So managed to get a Radiator hose shipped over night, and thanks to @Steveo1 in welcome bay picked up a spare radiator. 

Drove off forgetting to grab the drain bung but assumed the old one in car would have one, which I did. But the drain bung ended up snapping while applying the smallest amount of torque so another drive to welcome bay.

Started installing spare radiator and the upper radiator hose o ring was making it feel near impossible to connect a little over the radiator inlet without causing too much flex on the tank joins. Got it on eventually and started to fill with water to check for leaks...and yeah she was cracked on the joins.

So another trip to grab the last spare radiator and ended up having to take back roads to avoid 40 minutes of typical Tauranga soccer mum traffic, swapped the un fudged radiator using the old o ring this time which was slightly already compressed and fitted like a glove.

Anyways, she's home now the stuffing around to get it home made for some funny laughs anyway all part of the BMW life style.

Big thanks to @Steveo1 for the parts to get it home

Edited April 23, 2021 by 325_driver

[325_driver 422]

Made a day trip up to Auckland to grab a door, managed to find a wrecker in Henderson with one in white even so saves me painting it. Big thanks to SE AUTO PARTS for the right door at the right price also, will use again.

Tried to avoid traffic but nope ended up leaving at 3pm, so enter a 4.5 hour drive from Henderson to Tauranga,  including a Thames detour past ngatea.

Swapped the door over the next day, pretty straight forward minus getting that door handle allen key bolt back in.

Started to give her a big clean

The brake pads are brand new on it. So these must be the extra dust model.

Starting to clean up real well

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by 325_driver

[325_driver 422]

Using the weekend to go gun-ho on things 

Spent about 4 hours on the bumper today.

Did what I could with the heat gun to get it near enough, cable ties in place to test fit and check it all mounts nicely.

Fibre glassing took some time as I chewed through my 40grit sand paper supply 

Did it by hand as I didn't have an orbital with soft backing and 40grit discs 

Pretty happy with it, light years from what it was

[325_driver 422]

Just been fixing this ding. The final ding from the scissor jack impact.

Looks close enough, I'm pretty fast at arches now thanks to the coupe.

Just need to primer and paint.

[balancerider 757]

Good work - bodywork skills are impressive! I assume this is to fix and sell on given you've still got the E91 325i ?

[325_driver 422]

@balancerider thinking about it, how ever I really do like the feel of the msport on the road compared to my non msport. And those msport seats bolster you in real well.

It's a tough call which one to sell haha 

Bumper I'm happy with, just put base coat on and the rain hit so had to rush it inside. No clear coat yet. Was running the day pretty thin on day light anyway.

[qube 3570]

Msport is def nicer but the 4pot engine is just a disaster waiting to happen

[Sammo 2544]

Swap interior and bumpers onto 325 and away you go!

[qube 3570]

and suspension

[325_driver 422]

@qube to be honest I was thinking of selling both... And crossing fingers for a msport 335i wagon.

I need to feel the full extent of the driving machine ™

[qube 3570]

Not a bad idea to sell both for one to do them all.

335i wagon ultimate driving machine? Far from it.. ask @KwS 🤣

you need to get an e87 130i for the full experience (for cheap) 

[325_driver 422]

Well I'm pretty much happy with that. 

Glad I did the LHS C PILLAR it would have definitely bugged me with the ripple in it.

Painted the diffuser black, that white was bland as hell.

Before

After

[325_driver 422]

Motor swap time. 

Probably looking like the n46 going to need valve guides and maybe new cats from blocked oil, and to be honest my hatred for n46 gives me too much bias.

Something popped up from a donor car, so here we go. N52b25 lucky to get the entire setup, driveshaft, cas dme box diff etc

While it's out going to do some seals. But motor this looks like I may have got lucky.

It was a runner before removal but someone must have done head gasket and rocker cover because alot of stuff looks new 

 

[325_driver 422]

Fcp delivers again, 6 days from USA including weekend, it's like Christmas.

Right on time as I start to pull the n46 as I have all the bits now. 

Someone needs to stop this rain though. 

Doing a few gaskets like 

- rear main / front main

- sump

- vanos solenoids

- eccentric shaft sensor

- oil cooler housing

[325_driver 422]

Heaps more room.

Half way there to ripping her out

Won't be able to complete until next week anyway as I need to have another attempt at the front main seal.

Going to have to make a tool to send it in, not buying the OEM tool for it ... Cause o m g $$

[325_driver 422]

Sub frame out

Those engine support bars are worth their weight in gold. For $100 it is the gift that keeps on giving.

She's ready to pull

Now I just need to find the person doing a rain dance and tell them to cease immediately

 

[325_driver 422]

She's now a 325.

Moving that drive train along gravel takes skills to pay the bills

It was all fun and games until I realized the headers had a snapped flange bolt, 2 hours of mc hammer time.

1am on Saturday, signed off on that, most of the time being that stupid Exhaust stud.

Monday was bolting the sub frame up and realized engine was an inch infront of the engine mounts, realized that while the transmission support bracket on the 320i and 325i look the same, they are not, bolt holes allow the box to sit back further and engine clear the front of the sub frame. What a mission re aligning that. Had to use a combo of engine support and engine crane to nudge it back. 

And on gravel, just imagine.

Bolting sub frame up took some tounge twisting and cunning tactics. Basically loosely slotted in the control arms and then jacked up the middle to close enough. And then used another jack to push up one of the sides to the hole as the angles are impossible to balance it flat.

Fun times tho! Hell of an experience on gravel.

[325_driver 422]

She is alive

Totally should straight pipe it or resonator delete. She sounds agressive as hell just with headers only haha

 

[325_driver 422]

Dropped the hubs, axels and diff off. Was about to swap in the 325i donor ones, but decided to do the inner brake hoses while I had heaps or room. Its all fun and games until ... 

That photo is after wire brushing, several rounds of penetration fluid, WD-40. The things are turning yeah, but the lines are well seized to the fitting. So in loosening them I have compromised the line.

That photo doesn't do it justice the level they are rusted on.

Sure I could of probably just let this fly and re assembled, but a job not done right usually bites me in the ass.

So a few more bolts, dropped the entire sub frame off to give me heaps of room. Good excuse for it too since I had a spare rear sub frame with fresh kms and alot better bushings.

But yeah, looks like I'm going for a drive tomorrow to rotorua to look at hopefully ripping some of these out of another e90

They relatively cheap through fcp but they only have 1 of the sides.

A parts place over here ... quoted me $200 list price plus $100 shipping for the pipe! 2 weeks lead time.

 Bmw quoted not too bad but... 6-8 weeks lead time!

Home stretch anyway. Get this done and Put her back together.

[325_driver 422]

Cant even get them moving using vice grips and pipe spanner. Rust welded together.

Here's hoping a pipe join is cheap or I can find another e90 not to far to get it

[325_driver 422]

Didn't really want to go down a pipe join route unless all wrecker options were exhausted, just a preference I guess. 

One wrecker locally told me they were not going to sell me the line as it was company policy due to safety concerns, some "Facebook marketing manager" I was talking with stone walled me there as she heard the word "brake" and thought I was asking to buy a rubber hose, and I kept trying to explain I was after a metal pipe, haven't been spoken to that obnoxiously in a while.

Had a very nice experience with the next wrecker who had some e90s, So big shout out to direct auto dismantlers down in ngongataha who have a surprising amount of cars there. 

Spotted plenty of e90, e91, E36, even e39 and e46. Definitely worth keeping in mind

A Steelie was pushing into the gas tank stopping me from pulling the brake pipe past the gap, so one of the forklift boys made my day even easier haha as the Rhs of the car was already basher up he just flipped the car for me to make it easy as. Was a bit of a laugh.

Got everything I need now, time to re assemble

[325_driver 422]

Time to wire up the EKPS. 

And in wire all this rats nest left behind the glove box.

Looks to be tv tuner

They have damn well spliced into the CAS loom in a poor way which has me mildly annoyed

[balancerider 757]

Janky AV installations are just the worst. hopefully this is going to be worth it in the end though. wrt your water leak, there wasn't a wiring grommet for towbar electrics was there - have seen water come in through those...