Quoterkj This sounds like an impossible task. I dunno about impossible, but it sounds really, really hard. I see used cloth seats (of any color) show up for sale about once a year or two. The chances of those being the correct color are slim. I think your best bet would be to contact a BMW recycler (such as Euro Depot, etc.) that sees a lot of E30s and let them know what you're looking for.
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteEarendilI wave at fellow E30 drivers all the time, but they don't wave back too often. Rarely has someone initiated the car compliment with me, and never is it a female of the same age as me And you didn't even get her phone number? The only time that's ever happened to me it was from a 4-year-old holding the hand of his mom (http://bmwe30network.net/forums/read.php?4,45
Forum: Community Forum

Congrats to your daughter (and to proud papa, too)! South Royalton is a beautiful place. I drive by there a lot on trips to Boston or NH. If you ever find yourself up there with time to spare, consider hopping over the mountains about an hour and saying hi.
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteDave_G Quoterkj If you decide to keep the ball joint for now I'd recommend pumping some grease in there through the cut then mend the split with Permatex ultra copper gasket maker. Dave, this stuff sticks to leather and rubber (and everything else probably) like you wouldn't believe (let it cure overnight in a warm place), just make sure the surface is cleaned well; I use thinner a
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteDave_GThe sway bar ball joint was a little trickier since it's mounted sideways, so you can't get a jack under it. Channellock pliers were useless in holding it. Finally I pulled back the pointy end of the rubber boot, and the lip of the boot popped off a raised flange on the bolt. There was enough room to get a pair of needle-nose vise grips in there, and get a good enough grip to
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoterkjI'd clean them first though, but you already knew that B) Indeed. They are apart on the workbench now waiting for cleaning. The new wheel bearing is going in tomorrow, and with luck the new shocks will arrive tomorrow too. In the mean time, I'm still struggling trying to get the right side CV joints off. Stupid circlips. They're proving to be more stubborn than the left
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoterkjI'd be tempted to replace the top bearing assy's for those bone shaker shocks- While you're in there That's because you don't have an iX. The front upper strut mounts for the iX are $115 (vs. $31 for a regular E30). At that price, I'm much more tempted to just call them good and keep using them. While I'm at it, what are people's thoughts about
Forum: Technical Forum

Yesterday when I pulled out the strut on the passenger side I discovered that the spring on that side was broken, too, in the exact same way. The break was just turned so that it wasn't obvious with the strut in the car. Guess that would explain why my car never rode lopsided. Good thing I'm replacing the springs as a pair anyway. Since I'm already this far along, I've dec
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoterkjWait a minute, replace a broken spring?, you mean the big one Elizabeth? Yeah, ever since I've had my iX, the bottom coil of the front left spring has been broken. It's been fine for most driving, but there have been a few big bumps over the years where the effectively lower spring rate on that corner has caused the car to bottom out, causing me to make funny faces and swear tha
Forum: Technical Forum

Quotewodcutr If you put pressure via a jack under the ball joint it will cause the bolt to not be able to spin and allow the nut to come off. Also an impact wrench will help too as the nut can be spun much faster than the bolt. Success! Earlier I had tried the jack-under-the-ball-joint thing, but my mistake was using a jack that wasn't raising it high enough, and it kept spinning. Today I u
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoterkj I love buying tools I need- So Dave, how are things going? Unfortunately bad timing on this has kept me from working on it. I probably won't get back to wrenching on it for another week or so. For now it's just taunting me from the garage.
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteCab Treadway OTOH, in 3 weeks I'll be done with grad school, then I'll have a son i about 3 weeks after that, so I got that going for me. Double congratulations! I have found that sons are really handy when it's time to bleed the brakes.
Forum: Community Forum

Quoterkj It's a little U shaped puller especially for tie rod end removal. One version Mine is a lot cuter Cool, another tool I can't live without.
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoterkj Dave, is the lose side on the right? No, it's on the left. Should it make a difference? FWIW, in the iX the left side has a short, 1-piece axle, abd the right side has a long, 2-piece axle.
Forum: Technical Forum

Well, I seem to have answered my own question. And as much I would prefer to think that I don't need a new wheel bearing, I think I'm looking at needing to replace it. I pulled the axle out of the other side, and on that the side the hub has no play at all, as I would have expected. I'm going to say that they're probably both supposed to be that way, which means that the on
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoterkj The only two options Dave is pressing them more ON and trying to get the nut to spin or use a fork to get the stud to stop turning by the pressure between the tie rod and the strut housing, sometimes you can get the nut to spin as you tap the fork in tighter and tighter. Hmm. Both good ideas. I'll try #1 and if that doesn't work I guess I'll go out and get myself a pickle
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoterkj If you decide to keep the ball joint for now I'd recommend pumping some grease in there through the cut then mend the split with Permatex ultra copper gasket maker. Dave, this stuff sticks to leather and rubber (and everything else probably) like you wouldn't believe (let it cure overnight in a warm place), just make sure the surface is cleaned well; I use thinner and then 99%
Forum: Technical Forum

Here's the latest snag in this weekend's project. I'm taking apart the front suspension of my iX to replace the front CV boots and front springs all at the same time. I've got most of it apart, but to pull the strut out of the car I still need to disconnect the tie rod from the strut and the sway bar from the end link. The problem is that when I try to loosen the nut from the
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoterkj I think the IX cars have replaceable ball joints, the dust boots I haven't seen anywhere but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Is there any up and down play and how many miles are on them. You can usually tell if they're tight by how the car sounds/feels when you hit a pot hole but... Yeah, I'm told the ball joints are replaceable. Not that that's a job a
Forum: Technical Forum

A 325iX guy on e30tech.com tells me that this play is normal, and will be tight again once I reattach the halfshaft. I'm curious, though, why it should be that way. I assume that RWD E30s are tight all the time, so why design these hubs with play in them?
Forum: Technical Forum

Here's question #2 of 2 that came up during today's project. I was replacing the rubber boots on the front CV joints of my iX today, and when I was trying to get the control arm separated from the knuckle, I noticed the following small tear in the rubber boot for the outer ball joint: The ball joint itself isn't showing any symptoms (yet) of wear. Is it possible to just repla
Forum: Technical Forum

This is question #1 of 2 that came up during today's project out in the garage. I was replacing the rubber boots for the front CV joints in my iX today. After getting the halfshaft separated from the hub, I noticed that there was about a mm of play in the hub. Should I take this to mean that I need to replace the front wheel bearing? I haven't noticed any symptoms when the halfshaft
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteKelly will softer tires allow my car to roll over more easily? (Not that I usually drive aggressively.But if I had to perform another emergency "higher speed turn" in a convertible...) Or would the tires "unseat" themselves from the rims? No. I've flogged a lot of cars as hard as they'll go in autocrosses and race tracks, in ways that cars on the street rarely
Forum: Technical Forum

Quotebam_loves_his_bmw_325 I'm curious why the forum keeps erasing me and my username PM sent. (Summary: It's not erased -- you have two usernames with different spellings. )
Forum: Technical Forum

I've gotta stop reading bringatrailer.com. I keep coming across gems like this, and dangerous thoughts float through my head. S14-powered 2002 I'm normally not a big fan of engine swaps, but this one is an exception. I can only imagine how much fun that car must be to drive. The restoration looks amazing.
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteFerdinandI had to give up my AE86 Corolla GTS for a minivan when we had our second child. We got a Toyota Previa because it was RWD and I insisted on it having a manual transmission. Those were rare. We also had a Previa when the kids were small and numerous (four of 'em). It was a good vehicle, but ours was an automatic. I've never seen a manual Previa. Must be one of those Cana
Forum: Community Forum

Quotestirvi removed all the screws (or so I thought) and then tried breaking apart the column surrounds but that plastic is hard as hell. what size nut is on the wheel???? Yeah, taking off the plastic cover is WAY more challenging than it looks. In fact, IME it's nearly impossible to get the top half off. I'm not sure it's actually necessary, though. I'm also not sure what
Forum: Technical Forum

So says one of the comments on this incredible story, and I couldn't have put it any better myself. How a $500 Craigslist Car Beat $400K Rally Racers This guy brought a $500 E30 318i down to Rally Mexico and ran with Loeb, Hirvonen, et al. It's an epic story. Just reading this has made my week.
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteArcheo-peteriXI wonder when the iX will start going back up in value...it wouldn't even sell for $4.375k today I guess you missed this gem that recently sold on eBay: 1988 325iX -- for US$13,251!! OK, granted, this is by far the most immaculate iX I've ever seen, and it only has 58K miles on it. But still... Wow. That's more than twice the price of the next most expensive
Forum: Community Forum

I saw that yesterday and was going to post it here as well but you beat me to it. What an amazing, amazing collection. And to add to the story, what the Jalopnik piece doesn't show is the Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Cosworth that was also in the sale! (For those that aren't familiar with them, the Mercedes Cosworth was their answer to the M3, i.e. a race car dressed up as a sports sedan. I
Forum: Community Forum