Half a million...

Half a million kilometres and counting...

you can enjoy the next half million trouble free

I wonder what Bob P. is reading on his odometer these days?

I'll bet that BMW wishes it never made the E30 with so much longevity...not good for future sales

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Ferdinand
Half a million kilometres and counting...

So, that's 310,685 miles? I'm at 230,000 miles now and still pull factory compression

Nice! Your car's name is Herb?

Cab
1990 325i(s)
2004 325XiT

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Cab Treadway
Your car's name is Herb?

No, Herb's is this truck stop on the highway. BobP would know it, as his commute takes him past there.

Herb's was the scene of several BMW rally adventures from back when I had my previous black 86 325. It was the start/finish location of the very first rally that Christoph & I won together.

And after another rally run on the Quebec side between Ottawa and Mont Tremblant and finishing late at night in Hawkesbury, Christoph and I stopped at 2am at Herb's on the way home to refuel. After filling the tank, when I cranked over the engine, the fan belt broke right here at the pumps.

That was certainly more convenient than being stranded somewhere way out in the woods. We've done that before too, and it's not much fun. Instead we got to sit inside at the restaurant drinking coffee and eating apple pie while waiting for the tow truck that then towed us home.

It was kind of fitting that this 500,000 km event happened right here at a landmark like Herb's.

Hey Cab,

This one made me think of your mysterious rear suspension clunk.

My car has an annoying clunk coming from the right rear. It only does it on rebound, not compression. I can bounce on the rear and the suspension moves quietly with no noise. But when driving over any abrupt kick it sounds like something is bouncing loose in the trunk. It sounds exactly as though the battery is jumping loose in the trunk. Except it's not the battery, not the trunk lid, not the spare tire, not the jack, not, not, not...

Okay, so then it has to be the upper shock mount. But it's not that either. This car has those nifty Turner Motorsport billet shock mounts and they're both tight. It also has urethane trailing arm bushings all of which are tight.

Maybe it's the subframe mounts. Those are the only things the previous owner hadn't replaced. They look okay though. But what the heck, the clunk is really bugging me, replace the mounts.

Crap. It's still clunking exactly the same way.

Turns out it's where the right side trailing arm pivots from the subframe. The bolt goes through a bracket on the subframe, and through the trailing arm bushing... The hole that the bolt goes through on the subframe is worn egg-shaped, so the bolt moves slightly.

Great! Now, how to fix that??

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Ferdinand
Hey Cab,

This one made me think of your mysterious rear suspension clunk.

My car has an annoying clunk coming from the right rear. It only does it on rebound, not compression. I can bounce on the rear and the suspension moves quietly with no noise. But when driving over any abrupt kick it sounds like something is bouncing loose in the trunk. It sounds exactly as though the battery is jumping loose in the trunk. Except it's not the battery, not the trunk lid, not the spare tire, not the jack, not, not, not...

Okay, so then it has to be the upper shock mount. But it's not that either. This car has those nifty Turner Motorsport billet shock mounts and they're both tight. It also has urethane trailing arm bushings all of which are tight.

Maybe it's the subframe mounts. Those are the only things the previous owner hadn't replaced. They look okay though. But what the heck, the clunk is really bugging me, replace the mounts.

Crap. It's still clunking exactly the same way.

Turns out it's where the right side trailing arm pivots from the subframe. The bolt goes through a bracket on the subframe, and through the trailing arm bushing... The hole that the bolt goes through on the subframe is worn egg-shaped, so the bolt moves slightly.

Great! Now, how to fix that??

A few things come to mind, other than replacing the crossmember; weld a washer on the outside of the worn hole and making up a new bolt, carefully weld the hole and file flush to original spec hole (my choice). Lets see....

I'll have to check mine; I have the same noise but mine sounds like the noise Cab had, it's a rattle, like something loose in the handbrake shoe area.

Fantastic "milestone" for the E-30. I am at 205,000 today with my cabrio. It is a good thing that BMW built them so well as to get a great reputation for sturdy, reliable, and fun cars. From what I read in Roundel the new cars are a bit expensive to keep running. I have a 2001 740 and some dumb stuff has failed like the rear door window regulator. One of the most lightly used items in the car.

I really enjoy driving my E30 more than the exquisitely comfortable and quiet 740 even though it handles very well. I am just reluctant to fling it around with abandon because I think about all those suspension parts that will need repairs.

Bob in Lake Havasu

That sucks. Today at work we got the thread out of a weld-nut inside a chassis beam (the one that holds the subframe). We'll have to cut open the chassis beam from the inside and replace the nut...

That's twice as much as mine (which has barely ran in the last year) has! Congrats!

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Michiel 318iS
That sucks. Today at work we got the thread out of a weld-nut inside a chassis beam (the one that holds the subframe). We'll have to cut open the chassis beam from the inside and replace the nut...

Why not helicoil it instead?

alan

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alanrw

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Michiel 318iS
That sucks. Today at work we got the thread out of a weld-nut inside a chassis beam (the one that holds the subframe). We'll have to cut open the chassis beam from the inside and replace the nut...

Why not helicoil it instead?

alan

That's for a stripped out thread, not an elongated hole you have to make round again Alan. Nice try though

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rkj

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alanrw

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Michiel 318iS
That sucks. Today at work we got the thread out of a weld-nut inside a chassis beam (the one that holds the subframe). We'll have to cut open the chassis beam from the inside and replace the nut...

Why not helicoil it instead?

alan

That's for a stripped out thread, not an elongated hole you have to make round again Alan. Nice try though

Opps, I think I got confused there. I was talking about Ferdy's problem. Sorry Alan-

We didn't have the required strength in stock and the car had to be repaired as quick as possible.

Maybe you have one of those limited edition E30s with the adjustable rear camber?

The good news re: my clunk is that it hasn't made that rattle/clunk in almost 5 years. The bad news of course being that the engine hasn't made any noises over that time, either.

Cab
1990 325i(s)
2004 325XiT

Tomorrow morning I will join the BMW CCA Puget Sound club for a drive around some twisty roads of Western Washington. About 3 hours of adventure with a bunch of other Bimmerheads. Most will be newer cars but I will try to keep up in my little old E30. I have 206,000 on the clock now (over 453,000 km) now. Just put some conditioner on the leather seats in preparation. Forecast is for severe clear and 74 deg F. Fantastic top down weather.

Bob in Lake Havasu

Oops, my conversion factor was wrong. I only have 343,000 km. I was using the pounds to kilo conversion... must be getting a few memory cells mixed up.

Bob in Lake Havasu

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Bob in Everett
Oops, my conversion factor was wrong. I only have 343,000 km. I was using the pounds to kilo conversion... must be getting a few memory cells mixed up.

Still a respectable figure, if the engine is in good shape you should have no problem.
But for a first time, perhaps you shouldn't push to hard, have fun!



Next weekend there will be some parking lot action near home, i will go to watch with kids.
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