Lachssilber 1989 E30 M325i

[Breaker 980]

28 minutes ago, Sammo said::

 

Did get to see @Breaker 750i at BMW getting a wash though

 

 

Wish it was just a wash, has a steering fault. Dividing element and relay that assists the power steering system that needs replacing, ex Germany of cause. So it’ll be there a while, thank goodness for warranties 😕. $2k 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Breaker

[m325i 732]

1 hour ago, Sammo said:

before it goes under the knife in April / May:

What does that mean? 

[Eagle 1776]

1 hour ago, Sammo said:

While changing out my non-existent accelerator linkage bushings (great, quick, cheap, noticeable change) I thought I would have a look at my clutch pedal which had been a bit noisy and 'off' the past week.

Turns out one of the two bolts holding my newish master cylinder had wriggled loose - simple fix and firmed the pedal right up. The real benfit however it has totally solved my 'other' issue of 'clutch judder' in 1st / reverse changing certain gears - I thought I was in for a new clutch / flywheel etc!

Sounds like someone didn't do them up properly.

[Sammo 2614]

Changed out my engine mounts and transmission mounts yesterday (with OEM rubber) and all seemed to go well but on my test drive had a strong vibration at low rpm.

 

Got under car again and saw the exhaust bracket bolts where it connects to trans were loose (presumably from me jacking up the tranny to change the mounts) - this only helped but didn’t solve the problem though…

 

Still have a mild vibration right under my drivers seat at around 1.25k and 2k rpm (it goes away if clutch is depressed).

I re-checked the nuts and believe I installed the transmission mounts correctly - only thing is I used different top nuts to what was on beforehand (I used a flange nut with washer as the ones that were on it were some kind of one piece design and partially rounded.

 

I did not torque the top nuts as I could only fit a little 13mm wrench on them so just tightened as much as I could.

 

Any thoughts? I assume as it goes away with the clutch disengaged it indicates it’s driveline related, most likely something I did wrong installing the new mounts... the DIY I followed was similar to the engine mount process - i.e. jack up slowly until you can carefully remove and replace mounts - wondering if I should have removed the brace instead to minimise lifting the tranmission?

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Sammo

[Eagle 1776]

Did you have any vibrations before hand? What are brand are the mounts? Ive had new OEM engine mounts cause vibrations that weren't there previously, so its possible. 

Is transmission crossmember parallel and not at a poor angle? Should sit so the driveshaft looks straight from the transmission to the rear looking at it from the bottom. I dont remember what the E30 crossmember looks like but there is usually some adjustment. 

I guess its possible you upset the flex disc depending on how you jacked it, if its old it may of stretched\cracked. I usually jack up the transmission from the rear just in front of the cross member with some wood, just so its just touching, undo the bolts then it lower it down to get access. 

Transmission nuts are 43-48nm according to E30 Bentley, wouldn't be easy the do that with a standard ring spanner under the car. 

Maybe a bit of a pita if you re-install the old mounts, maybe one set at a time and re-test, at least it will eliminate the new stuff (once all the other checks are done)

[Sammo 2614]

On 1/4/2023 at 4:18 PM, Eagle said:

Did you have any vibrations before hand? What are brand are the mounts? Ive had new OEM engine mounts cause vibrations that weren't there previously, so its possible. 

Is transmission crossmember parallel and not at a poor angle? Should sit so the driveshaft looks straight from the transmission to the rear looking at it from the bottom. I dont remember what the E30 crossmember looks like but there is usually some adjustment. 

I guess its possible you upset the flex disc depending on how you jacked it, if its old it may of stretched\cracked. I usually jack up the transmission from the rear just in front of the cross member with some wood, just so its just touching, undo the bolts then it lower it down to get access. 

Transmission nuts are 43-48nm according to E30 Bentley, wouldn't be easy the do that with a standard ring spanner under the car. 

Maybe a bit of a pita if you re-install the old mounts, maybe one set at a time and re-test, at least it will eliminate the new stuff (once all the other checks are done)

Thanks man - summoned up the energy to try again today and you were correct on two counts:

I had slightly misaligned the cross member (took off one side to squeeze in the new mount) and noticed a quirk (defect?) with the new mounts:

On the side where it mounts to the cross member the metal base was clearly convex (pictures show it below but quite obvious IRL) meaning it wouldn’t sit flush on the cross member and would also try to spin on its base when I tried torquing the lower nuts.

Put the old mounts back in and while I can still detect a slight vibration at 1250 and 2000, this is only in neutral with the clutch out and car stationary - it goes away as soon as the clutch is depressed and is not detectable at all while driving.

I suspect it may be an existing minor clutch component vibration which was made more obvious with the new mounts and my poor install effort.

I did find / create another side issue though - replaced my rear exhaust hanger bushing (rubber figure 8 thing) and think I’ve created a little exhaust leak wrestling with the exhaust to get the rubber on 😑 I assume an exhaust leak looks like this:

Edited January 6, 2023 by Sammo

[Eagle 1776]

Least you know where you at now

13 minutes ago, Sammo said:

 

 

Damage from jacking without wood etc block?. Yeah it appears to be. You could probably hear, feel or smell it but could also spray bottle some water to confirm.

[Sammo 2614]

2 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Least you know where you at now

Damage from jacking without wood etc block?. Yeah it appears to be. You could probably hear, feel or smell it but could also spray bottle some water to confirm.

Correct again! Can also detect a tiny rasp / buzz at 3k that was not there previously.

One step forward, two steps back haha 

[E30 325i Rag-Top 3034]

Could be a good excuse to change back to the original 325i exhaust system twin pipes, but would be $$$s.

Easy fix with a bit of a grind out and a blob of weld.

[Sammo 2614]

1 hour ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

Could be a good excuse to change back to the original 325i exhaust system twin pipes, but would be $$$s.

Easy fix with a bit of a grind out and a blob of weld.

Aside from a bit of drone under low load at 1500-2000 (rarely experienced due to gearing) I’m very happy with the current sound.

This is the only part where it goes to a single pipe - presumably adapted to fit the one in two out Remus muffler.

[Cement 912]

Have a welder at home if you want to fix the leak @Sammo, I think we are in the same sort of area.

[Sammo 2614]

20 hours ago, Cement said:

Have a welder at home if you want to fix the leak @Sammo, I think we are in the same sort of area.

That would be amazing thank you!

[Sammo 2614]

A big thank you to @Cement for sorting the exhaust leak for me today and taking me for a quick blat in the mighty (edition 1 of 1?) VQ37 E46 💪🏽

One less thing on the to-do list!

Edited January 14, 2023 by Sammo

[E30 325i Rag-Top 3034]

Awesome! This is what Bimmersport is all about, Bimmer people helping other Bimmer people.

[Sammo 2614]

Took car in to get my clutch / driveline vibration looked at properly - has been bothering me a bit for a while and seems to be getting worse (or me becoming more OCD about it). Was assuming a clutch related issue as its mostly through the pedal and goes away as soon as pedal is depressed.

Shop reckons it is actually the gearbox -  an input shaft bearing? (think thats what they said - there has also been a light rattle at idle in neutral with the clutch out).

Still there overnight (safely inside) awaiting the view of an expert who rebuilds a lot of these boxes...

Does not sound like a cheap issue 🙁

At least the interior is nice!

[E28E30 336]

The interior is UBER nice

[Sammo 2614]

Car is really misbehaving at the moment!

Gearbox / clutch vibration getting worse and worse so am booking it in March to get the box removed and taken to Kayne Barrie for assessment / rebuild - possibly be in for a new clutch as well…

Ancient alarm / immobiliser has always had a few quirks but has really started playing up recently and keeps arming itself while the engine is running - booked to get it removed and replaced this week.

Also have an intermittent rattle under the car I though was a loose heat shield but is still persisting at cold idle…

Speaking of idle, car is intermittently a little grumpy on cold start (smells very rich and a bit stuttery until warm like it’s an old carbed car) - not sure if it will help but I do have a coolant temp sensor to install (the one that tells the ECU the temp) and might get valves adjusted too (workshop reckon a few sounded noisy and wasn’t running quite right).

Will be tarting her up for the Brit and Euro show in Pakuranga on Sunday so at least she will look pretty.

Trying to remember what I spent my money on before 😂

[Eagle 1776]

57 minutes ago, Sammo said:

Ancient alarm / immobiliser has always had a few quirks but has really started playing up recently and keeps arming itself while the engine is running - booked to get it removed and replaced this week

My old E30 had the same issue. Rarely ever happened luckily.

Given the milage on your car it probably deserves a bit of a mechanical birthday. E30s aren't too hard on the wallet.

[Gaz 1076]

Cambelt history? Mine ran heaps better once I replaced it 

[Sammo 2614]

5 minutes ago, Gaz said:

Cambelt history? Mine ran heaps better once I replaced it 

New about 5000km / 12 months ago

Edited February 26, 2023 by Sammo

[Sammo 2614]

11 minutes ago, Eagle said:

My old E30 had the same issue. Rarely ever happened luckily.

Given the milage on your car it probably deserves a bit of a mechanical birthday. E30s aren't too hard on the wallet.

Yeah, she will certainly be getting a few more Birthdays this year 😀

[Sammo 2614]

11 minutes ago, Eagle said:

My old E30 had the same issue. Rarely ever happened luckily.

Given the milage on your car it probably deserves a bit of a mechanical birthday. E30s aren't too hard on the wallet.

Yeah, she will certainly be getting a few more Birthdays this year 😀

[Sammo 2614]

Finally dusted off the DA Polisher that’s been sitting in the basement for a year since I bought it to prep car for the Brit and Euro show:

• Wash
• Clay
• Wash and dry
• Spot Carpro Clearcut (heavy cut)
• Carpro Ceriglass on windows (remove etching / water spots)
• Carpro Fixer (medium cut)
• Carpro Essence (Light cut glaze with sealant and fillers)
• Carpro Elixer (High gloss Si02 spray sealant)

Also refinished headlight lenses and detailed all black trim with Carpro Perl.

Really, really happy with how it came out - and the car already looked pretty good - took out almost all the minor scratches that would show up in certain light and just looks great now.

Also got a new alarm fitted and the install is much tidier now - he removed a crazy amount of crap from under the kick panel - the remote is half the size of the old one which helps too.

Still waiting on workshop to book me in for the gearbox / clutch / who knows.... but car probably hasn’t looked this good in 10-15 years.

Edited March 6, 2023 by Sammo

[E28E30 336]

Looks like brand spanking new @Sammo.

Does the Ceriglass get machined on or done gently with a cloth? Presume the latter?

[isis 16]

Good to see another CarPro fan! With all that work that's gone into it, you should have gone with a couple of layers of C-Quartz UK