Messages

1

For Sale / Free! E30 M42 Bosal exhaust in excellent condition

« on: September 01, 2020, 07:31:19 PM »

I'm moving and clearing out the basement: I need to get rid of an E30 M42 Bosal, one piece exhaust that I bought about 8(?) years ago from BavAuto. It's in excellent condition -- looks new. Low, low price of free. Hate to sell it for scrap. No shipping -- come and get it in Charlottesville VA by September 10th. Email me.

2

Engine + Driveline / Re: Oil disaster puzzelah

« on: December 12, 2015, 04:33:13 PM »

Well, it appears the heater matrix is broken somewhere. Idled it up to operating temp today, and there were hissing and spitting noises coming from inside the dash and vents. The temp gauge rolled just past the 3/4 mark when I shut it down.

I don't know what the non-catastrophic  oil loss had to do with the matrix blowing, but there it is. Also, why would a compromised heater matrix cause the car to overheat? Pressure loss in the system? The coolant system is full.

In case this matters: I recently R+R'd a failed t-stat, drained the non-BMW coolant that was in there, flushed the system (including the removal of the rear plug), filled it with BMW coolant and bled it. Worked great for about 100 miles before I @#$%ed up with the oil cap.

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Engine + Driveline / Re: Oil disaster puzzelah

« on: December 08, 2015, 12:34:46 PM »

Pressure test: There was no major loss of coolant, aside from a little bit that expanded out of the overflow.

Oil starvation: Less than a quart of oil was lost. The dipstick read about a quarter way above the low mark when I stopped.

Water pump belt slippage: That's a great idea - hadn't thought of it.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll get under the hood tomorrow after I stopped being pissed off.

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Engine + Driveline / Oil disaster puzzelah

« on: December 07, 2015, 08:46:01 AM »

About thirty years ago, I forgot to replace the oil cap on our Citroen 2CV after adding oil. It was a messy and impressively smoky mistake I swore never to repeat.

Until I did it again yesterday on our '91 328ic (m42). Oil friggin' everywhere under the hood and real-time rustproofing along the underside of the car. Stupid.

I was about 15 miles from home when the smoking exhaust manifold made me realize what was going on* and I pulled into the next driveway I saw, which happened to be a tiny auto parts store out in the middle of nowhere. It was pretty much a pick up truck and farm equipment shop, but the two guys there were great, and got me a one-size-fits-all gas cap for an oil cap, some shop towels and a quart of Mobil1. So I cleaned up as best I could and headed for home.

After a mile or so, the temp gauge rose to the 3/4 mark and hung there for several miles. Distressing, but not the end of the world. Yet. Then all hell broke loose. Sizzling noises started inside the dash, which I assume was oil on the heater core, followed by smoke (steam?) rolling out of the exterior vents at the base of the windshield, and the temp gauge headed into the red. Crap.

Shut her down and rolled to the side of the road. Smoke continued to waft out of the steering column into the car and the vents. AAA'd her home (flatbed!).

I'm at a loss where to start with this. First of all, why did the car overheat? Would oil getting to the heater core do it? Maybe it wasn't actually overheating -- maybe oil on the temp sensor made it read false? Should I Gunk and gently hose down the engine compartment to clear out all the oil? It's a depressing mess.

Thoughts (aside from me being a moron)?

*A hose vacuum leak started a few days ago so that car wouldn't idle 'til it warmed up, so I didn't notice the lack of pressure due to the missing oil cap. Cluster@#$%.

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Engine + Driveline / Re: Broken Thermostat bolt

« on: August 21, 2015, 01:38:50 PM »

In case anyone else comes searching (as I did) for a solution to this, I'll finish the story:

I broke the same bolt as the OP, in about the same place, and the housing was reluctant to budge. And yes, the housing comes straight off.

Stick the handle of a screwdriver in the left (driver's) port of the housing and give the part of the handle sticking out a good whack with a hammer. If you're lucky, like me, the housing will pop off and land in the tub of coolant that's been draining below.

In my case I was able to just twist out what remained of the bolt with vice grips. Bullet dodged.

Oh, and the replacement for the bolt? it's PN 07 11 9 906 123. And it's $6.00. Six dollars. For a bolt. Cheapest place I found it was at the dealer.

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Engine + Driveline / Re: Rear exhaust hanger NLA?

« on: May 16, 2014, 09:46:35 AM »

I think you're right. In looking at the post previous to yours, I looked at the rear body diagram for that site, and I came to the same conclusion. Sorted. Thanks.

Going the dealer is a great game. Shopping the parts desk for an E9 or a 2002 is a "who's on first?" game of "what series is it"? "No, no It's not a series, it's a three-point-oh-see-ess." "Yeah, but what series is it?" Round and round we go.

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Engine + Driveline / Rear exhaust hanger NLA?

« on: May 16, 2014, 07:56:56 AM »

I need to replace the rear exhaust hanger that welds onto the spare tire tire well of a '91 318is. It shows up in the parts book illustration as part # 22 here, but is missing from the parts list below it. The list simply ends with part #19:
http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BA73&mospid=47325&btnr=41_0329&hg=41&fg=25

Digging through earlier versions of the same diagram for the big-bumper cars, the same list is used for fewer (19) parts, also ending with part #19. I suspect the same list is mistakenly carried over, without updating it. Parts sources say (sensibly) that they can't get parts for which they don't have a number. Sooo:

1. Does anyone out there have the old parts books for a '91 318is where the part number might reside?

2. Does anyone know if this hanger was used on other cars?

3. Plan C. Get one fabricated, I guess. Other Ideas?

8

WTB/WTT / WTB E30 M42 near Virginia

« on: March 12, 2013, 10:14:18 AM »

Looking for a running replacement M42 for an E30. Low-ish mileage a plus. I'm in Charlottesville VA and willing to travel, but the closer the better.

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WTB/WTT / FLORIDA WTB M42 ehxaust

« on: February 23, 2013, 11:04:34 AM »

You realize there's a cat between the header and the exhaust system, right?

I have a Bosal cat-back oem unit that I bought from BavAuto a few years back and then replaced with a Supersprint after a few months. BavAuto no longer carries it, but it's this one:
http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-exhaust-muffler-318i-318is-e36-e30-287-179?gclid=CIiQvrHvzLUCFYqf4AodejIArg

It's in very good condition with maybe a couple of thousand miles on it. It's all one piece so it's not cheap to ship.

I'd take $200 shipped from VA to FLA. Hit me back if you're interested/want to see a pic.

10

Electrical / Where is main relay?

« on: June 20, 2010, 11:20:26 AM »

update: nevermind, I found it. Under the cover at the top of the firewall. Thanks anyway.

I'm embarrassed to ask this, but I've got a no start, and based on previous experience with other BMWs, the main relay is a suspect. But where is the thing? The BMW electrical diagram references it, but I can't pin down which one it is.

Edit: this a '91 E30 318ic, not an 'is, if that matters.

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Suspension / Rear shock tower mount: what breaks?

« on: April 25, 2008, 11:46:48 AM »

I'm getting nasty clunking noises in our '91 318i convertible from the left rear wheel on hard cornering -- which sounds like it must be a "broken" shock tower mount. Thing is, the PO had both sides replaced less than 9,000 miles ago at the dealer ($338 :eek:). The replaced parts were the guide support, the gasket and the self-locking nut, parts numbered 7, 10 and 11 in this diagram (link to realoem):

I've never had a mount break before, so I have a few questions:

1. What "breaks" exactly? The guide support looks ok from inside the wheel well.

2. What parts should I order to R+R (see above link to diagram)?

3. I am considering ordering the Ireland Engineering mounts instead of the apparently weak BMW ones. Considering that there are different shock mount part numbers listed for the convertible than for the coupe or sedan, does anyone have experience with this? Yeah, I know that I should call IE and ask, but I'm looking for independent thoughts first.

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Engine + Driveline / Diff fill/drain allen nut 12 or 13 mm?

« on: April 10, 2008, 07:34:05 PM »

Every BMW I've owned has 17mm allen head drain/fill bolts on the differential. My '91 318ic has something else. Is it 12 or 13mm? I ask because the calipers say 13, but I can't find a 13mm wrench anywhere. I even stumped the guy in the Mac Tools truck with this one. 12mm?

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Engine + Driveline / idle air hose Q (operating in the dark)

« on: August 29, 2007, 07:21:31 PM »

It really depends at what angle the last ass monkey to work under there installed it.

By the look of the hoses, it must have been Fritz or Hans in Munich.

I got rid of all that stuff including the throttle heater plate. I put heater hose tee caps from the same place on the head and the plastic pipe.

It is pretty involved for just a vacuum hose. 4 hoses and 5 joints? I like the fuel hose suggestion, but I have the proper parts here in front of me...

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Engine + Driveline / idle air hose Q (operating in the dark)

« on: August 29, 2007, 10:54:38 AM »

Aha. Thanks for the Bentley link. And yeah, the realoem coolant line diagram is as much as I've had to go on so far...

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Engine + Driveline / idle air hose Q (operating in the dark)

« on: August 29, 2007, 10:27:54 AM »

Hi. I'm a new guy here with a recently acquired '91 318ic. I've worked on M10s, S14s and M30s, but am new to M42s.

I'm trying to replace all the idle air hoses from the ICV to the intake boot, but I'm waiting on an E36 Bentley manual, so I'm operating a bit in the dark.

The question is: does the intake plenum have to be removed to access the clamp for the metal, U-shaped coolant line that lies just below the throttle body? I'm trying to replace the idle air hose elbow through which that coolant line passes.

Say it aint so...

Edit: it appears the clamp might be accessed from below, right in front of the starter. Correct?