Yes Michiel, we did get the M42 motor here, although never in the e30, but n the next model up, the e36, it is just an M40 bottom end with a fancier more modern head, with twin cams. I must agree it is a nice motor. But I am thinking that the 8.8:1 comppresion ratio of the M40 is just begging to be force fed..........by Flyboy - Technical Forum
Ferdi, you welcome anytime, the day you set foot on South African soil, you better give me a shout, I will show you South African hospitality like you have never seen, we will drink cold beer under the hot African sun and you will marvel at the big five in all their splendour, in bush so beautiful, you have only imagined it in your dreams.......you to Rick. I made a point of leaving the airporby Flyboy - Technical Forum
SUCCESS .......yay, dash lights all working now, turns out the rheostat has departed this world for a better place, Ferdi, I owe you a truck load of ice cold frosties. Now I am starting to love my car again, ain't it strange when you work on the car and repair a bunch of things, after that it seems like the best car in the world.by Flyboy - Technical Forum
Hi Ferdi/Rick Thanks again for the feedback guys, yes I do have a bunch of wiring diagrams for the car, I have the Haynes, Bentley and the big zillion page, 500mb factory manual as well as a separate wiring diagram PDF which is about a 5.8meg file, but not the one you have posted up here, copy saved ;-) Ok, I understand what you are saying, I did basically everything you suggest on the red anby Flyboy - Technical Forum
Thanks Rick/Michiel It was a long frustrating weekend, but I had no option, you gotta do what you gotta do, but it felt good to hear it fire up again. Without the help and input from all the good folk here, I doubt the job would have been done now, after all the drama of pulling the dash, it turns out nothing needed replacing there, so I could have saved myself 4-5 hours there, but at least Iby Flyboy - Technical Forum
Ok, so this weekend was spent up to my eyeballs in wieres, wires and more wires, dash removed, poked and prodded all over the place for two days and now it is finally all together again, well sort of, good enough to drive tomorrow anyway. I had planned on attending to a whole host of things while the dash was out, but never got around to any of them, ever get the feeling you are like a dog, franby Flyboy - Technical Forum
I would definitely go stainless steel if the budget allows it, if not, do as Bob says, nurse it along for a while and put a few dollars aside and save up for one. Although it is is more expensive, it is definitely worthwhile in the long run, a stainless steel system will last you forever and a day, your grand kids will be the next ones to worry about exhaust issues.by Flyboy - Technical Forum
QuoteYet again; the terrorists win And all at the expense of the American taxpayer who is footing the bill for these 'inspections'. Well known politicians are heavily involved in the companies that supply these privacy invading machines. Fear mongering has become the most powerful tool of those who would empty your wallet, your bank account and your pension Could not haby Flyboy - Community Forum
Welcome Matt, nice looking 325 you have there, that is the first one I have seen on here that is the same colour as mine, I was beginig to think the States never got that colour, although mine is a 4 door 318i M40, you can see it in the registery. Looks like there are a bunch of biker types here, I have been riding two wheels since before I can remember, still riding my GS1000G that I love to biby Flyboy - Community Forum
If you say you did clean and lube all the locks not too long ago, then I would go along with your feeling and say maybe it is time to pull the motors and give them a good strip, clean and lube, they are probably gummed up with 20 years worth of crud, a good strip, clean and lube should have them running at full strength like new again.by Flyboy - Technical Forum
Hi Rick, yep, I know what you mean, I am planning on pulling and lubing all my locks, I can only imagine the gunge in there after 475 000Km, you guys are really fortunate with the stuff you can get off the shelf, not so lucky down here, I would sell body parts for a crate of Seafoam and selected colours of VHT paint. As a hobby and a little sideline, I rebuild/restore classic motorcycles, and Iby Flyboy - Technical Forum
Thanks Ferdi, I will check out the headlight switch this afternoon when I get home from work, I have to pull it out to get the dash out anyway, as always, these are things I would never suspect, because I don't know how the system works, but you explain it in such simple terms, it makes clear and perfect sense, so I can hone in on the problem, so I guess there is my motivation to remove theby Flyboy - Technical Forum
Hi Rick, yep, must agree with you, there are many here who astound me everyday with thier know how when it comes to Beemers, I shall not attempt to name them for fear of skipping someone. Unfortunately a look at the power distribution box in the wiring diagram and it seems it is fuse 23 that runs the dash lights not 21, so maybe not so easy on that one. Yesterday I towed the car down to the autby Flyboy - Technical Forum
Ferdi, I wish you had posted earlier, you must stop letting work interfere with your time on the forum, got home took the bull by the horns and started tearing into pulling the dashboard out, I am going to fix this if it kills me. Anyway I tear in to it and it is just beemer spares flying all over, eventually I have 80% of everything forward of the steering wheel lying on the back seat, as it staby Flyboy - Technical Forum
Yes, I know, you guys are right, I do understand the theory, and that heaps of patience and strong character is involved in tracing a problem, I just get so frustrated when I pour over bunches and bunches of wiring loom and find nothing obvious, last weekend I had the instrument cluster and glove box plus a good few kick panels and ventilation ducts out to get the the main loom that runs from lefby Flyboy - Technical Forum
Hi All, well it seems that my trusty 318i electrics are really starting to fall apart now, and when it comes to things electrical, well lets just say, better i refrain from going anywhere close, that dark science of neutrons and electrons and all that stuff not visible to the eyes of us mere mortals, is like hoodoo voodoo to me. It all started with the horn going bananas after a trip, after shby Flyboy - Technical Forum
The casting number does not mean much to you, it is the part number that you need to check. Why not go to Real OEM and check the numbers of the two and compare. I would guess the oil is from the blown gasket, if you say there is too much oil to be rings, then surely you would have had issues with fouled plugs and poor running on that cylinder.by Flyboy - Technical Forum
Yes, they do stiffen and tighten everything nicely, but I do hear you when it comes to pure street driving, although it does come in different grades, so you can choose and fine tune, I use the pink one, it is softer than the grey one, which is rock hard, that would be uncomfortable on the road. Just thought I would put it out there, nice thing is, once you have done them, they are done for pretby Flyboy - Technical Forum
Hi Al, yes it does need to be bled, and I have, it is up to spec, it has been doing it for some time, not just since the water pump replacement, I will give it another bleed to be sure, before I start pulling out gauge clusters.by Flyboy - Technical Forum
Hi Peter Here is the website Vesconite I see there is a canadian number there too, 1866 682 34 84 They dont make up parts per se, you buy the material and get your local friendly machine shop to chuck it on a lathe and turn the bushes for you, and press them into the arms. I have used it for many years for street and racing applications, brilliant stuff, lasts for ever.by Flyboy - Technical Forum
Here is a question, what do the good folk on this forum think of replacing the rubber suspension bushes with vesconite. Have used it on the Alfa's for many years and it just tightens everything up better, and is self lubricating throughout its life, is not degraded by oil and grease.by Flyboy - Technical Forum
Thanks Pete, as always, you are a mine of information, will climb into it next weekend.by Flyboy - Technical Forum
OK, sorted, I had an idea the pump was on dowels, turns out it is not, so a water pump pliers and some twisting did the job, took it for a ride and runs as cool as a cucumber, damn, I love my Beemer. Another question, for a while now, the temp gauge is jumping around quite erraticaly no full scale deflection or any thing but jumping around about a quarter quage reading from where it sits, temp rby Flyboy - Technical Forum
Yep, let the machine shop check it for cracks, they pressure test and use that pink and green spray stuff, forget what it is called. I know these BM heads do not like heat, but that said, they are as tough as nails, probably just a gasket, you get away with a skim and bolt it all together. But I would check and make sure.by Flyboy - Technical Forum
Hi All Been a while since my last post, what can I say, these E30's just keep on ticking, but now I desperatly need advice from those in the know. Yesterday on the freeway, my water pump unceremoniously announced it's retirement from service in a shower of water and ball bearings, and I just did the cam belt 10 000Km ago.............I know, I know, I don't want to hear it Thiby Flyboy - Technical Forum
Thanks Jose, interesting to see you from Viana do Castelo, and the driver in the pictures is Tony Viana, he was a legend here in motor racing, you should have seen him throw that big 7 series around the track, unfortunatly he passed away from cancer a few years ago. Jeeeez, I get 7.6l/100km in my little e30 318i, I love it. See my post in the registry section.by Flyboy - Community Forum
Here is mine, 1991 318i (M40) daily commuter, doing 60km a day, mostly freeway driving, currently has covered close to 440 000Km and still going strong, still giving me around 13km/liter, that is around 31mpg for those on the other side of the pond. I have done one head gasket and one clutch replacement so far, and that is about it for major maintenance so far, oh and a set of front disc rotors,by Flyboy - Registry
Hi all, long time since my last post, spent a lazy Saturday playing catch up around the forum, and this got me thinking and reminiscing about the good old days when men where men, motor racing was dangerous and sex was safe, and a punch on the gas pedal of anything decent sent anything and everything "greeny beeny" running for cover. So I was wondering, in this modern day and age of alby Flyboy - Community Forum
This is my dedication to all people that lost their lives during the Terrorist attacks on the U.S.A, no matter their nationalities Victims, emergency personel, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, of someone who never saw them come home that fateful day eight years ago. To all the citizens of the United States, my thoughts and prays are with you this day, from an e30 driver far away in Africby Flyboy - Community Forum
10 Rules for dating my Daughters Rule One: If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure not picking anything up. Rule Two: You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will removeby Flyboy - Community Forum