Winter beater just got upgraded (e30 325ixT)

[DaBoom]

Aaand I found the cause for breakdown.

Right drive shaft is a bit worn out. The shaft itself is identical to all e30s with ABS, but of course the flange it attaches to is an ix special. More parts ordered so more things that might or might not arrive in time.

So what is the backup plan?

I'll borrow my mothers car. Still a BMW, but too new and has too few cylinders. Would halve my fuel costs tho.

 

[DaBoom]

Didn't need the loaner.

I installed new (used) rear swing arm, right front strut tower (with new spring and shock absorber). Also, Bilstein B6 sport shocks in all corners. That was good enough for the trip. Rear diff arrived too late, I need to change it at some point.

For those not following the ringmeet threads water pump failed on the trip and got replaced. Wheels do shake a bit at some specific speeds but rest of the trip went well mechanically. few holiday photos to boot.

 

[DaBoom]

Winter wheel update. Big thanks to thomas and Lastsoul for trying to get me some wheels I would have actually wanted from Germany. But since that plan didn't work out I went with the cheap option.

15" AT racing turismo with Nokian hakka q unstudded tyres for 250e. Not exactly the look I wanted but that'll do for now.

 

[mitchell.scott]

Not a perfect fit for the E30 aesthetically, but definitely not carbage.

 

[DaBoom]

A little sound check from few months back.

 

[DaBoom]

I HAS AWD, I CAN GO ANYWHERE!!

Yeah, I think it's third our fourth time there's snow this winter so had to make the best of it because ix is rather boring to drive when there's no snow. Some backroads action and light offroading, excellent fun.

 

[emiliorescigno]

I'm so jealous of your manual wagon-ness right now.

 

[DaBoom]

BUMP!

Just so we can get 3 e30 tourings on top. Though I need to write some updates anyway at some point.

 

[DaBoom]

Heh, took some time then. Well, have some TL DR annual update then.

Well, winter and more snow finally arrived late January. I went out to photograph one snowstorm that cut power from my house for 4-5 hours. In the middle of the woods (and road) the car decided to die on me. That was a nice place to be, in the middle of the night, branches and whole trees snapping and falling all around due to heavy wet snow. Eventually it started again so I could drive home. This, and some occasional twiching occured few times in the following days until it didn't start at all one day. The internet told me that ECU was most certainly the culprit. I managed to get a replacement box for testing, which of course did nothing. When I turned my brain back on instead of trying to find ready made answer from various forums I rather quickly discovered that the crank position sensor was to blame. This troubleshoot took over 3 weeks in total, as I was busy working and snowboarding in the Alps. I missed an ice track day though. 50e for a new sensor and all was well. For a week.

Voluntary

And involuntary parking place after storm

Some twiching appeared again, this time with different symptoms. I was heading for a BMW club meeting at club garage, so as there were bound to be some e30s around I thieved some ignition parts trying to diagnose the problem, to no avail. After I got home I discovered that crank sensor was the culprit once again. The non-OEM sensor lead didn't quite fit the way the original did, so it was occasionally making contact with alternator pulley. I rerouted the lead and all was well again. Ordered a new sensor and replaced ignition leads and distributor cap just to be on the safe side though.

So, moving on to late spring. As weather became more tolerable for fiddling with the car I had the windscreen replaced. This was done in my home garage, so I had good time to inspect and fix rust under the seal. Only small spot though and easily fixed, so all good here as well now.

before

after

I also spent some time manufacturing a cat-back exhaust, because, well I had spare mufflers and why not. I was planning on replacing both mufflers, but as the ix has a combined catalyzer-centre muffler that was not going to happen. It was just finished in time before I did a little roadtrip to meet some Finalgearians. After that trip the car went into the garage again. Front right strut tower that I replaced previous summer had decided to open itself in the middle (the nut that keeps the shock inside the strut). Both front wings were also visibly rusty so I thought I'll take em off as well and check out how much repairs they'll need.

LTV meet

Old vs. new muffler.

Wings were a bit rusty. Things fender flares hide

All is well underneath, though

Well, fixing the wings was not worth it as I could get new ones for 50e a piece, and that's what I did. Unfortunately I ran out of time before the ringmeet trip, so I had to patch up those old wings and fit them back. I also bought some new tyres as the old ones I had were wearing out in addition to being crap in the first place. They were good for wet weather drifting though. I'm rolling on 205/55R16 Hankook S1 Evo's. Previous tyres were 205/50, but I remembered the size wrong when I was ordering new ones. But oh well, they (just) fit so all is well and grip is awesome after those craptastic tyres I had.

I finally put the car back together on the departure morning straight after a night shift, drove 140km to the harbor, and as soon as I drove in to the ship CPS killed the engine again (I was too lazy to change the sensor again in the winter). And when opening the hood to wiggle the wire a bit I also discovered that the crown nut of right strut had opened itself. :shock: And of course they directed me to park straight in front of the door that leads to the ship to make sure I had plenty of audience while I was battling with these issues, Not having slept in 40 hours I just gave up in my head and after some quick fixes went to bed. Well, quick fixes worked and the car took me to Italy without further issues and worked there for a week. I couldn't get the CPS replaced in the ship when the engine was warm and a day before the ringmeet roadtrip crew arrived it decided to fail again. Cool mountain air helped and I finally got the screw that held the sensor in place open and the new sensor in. Rest of the trip went without further problems.

Departure morning

And compulsory holiday photo

Rest of the year went pretty smoothly as well. Small issues as you would expect with an older car. Coolant level sensor was giving me errors all summer. I had to overfill the system to keep the light off, and in the autumn even that wasn't enough anymore. Still haven't done anything to this. Also, I had engine oil changed one day before inspection and while digging out my service book glove box locking system decided to die on me. Considering how hard it is to close it's bloody hard to get open again. I got the necessary papers out by removing the hinge, but I still haven't figured out a way to open the lock without braking the whole thing.

This winter snow arrived nice and early so I've had plenty of time to hoon around. Also, while getting used to the awd system and its habbits my speeds and drift angles are growing.. I even had my first off (took the picture two days later after the road was plowed a bit wider than it was in the night I drove there)

Also, some intentional plowing, for fun

Some more minor niggles related to freezing temperatures as well. Wipers in intermittent mode sticking the same way that MXMs wipers do. Left rear door lock, speedo and trunk button also like to freeze quite often, and now my rear brakes are also slightly stuck on (disc brakes that is, not the parking brake drum). I wonder if it has something to do with the racing brake fluid that's in the system now..?

I'll add some pictures to complete the story later, as it's pita on a tablet.
Edit: here you go.

 

[nicjasno]

Nice. I need to change my windscreen aswell. It's scratched and has stone chips. And i want to peek beneath the window seal to check for rust. This will be done before car goes to the paintshop. The difference in the windscreen is striking. I also had the same coolant sensor issue as you. Still haven't resolved it, despite having the sensor cleaned in the ultrasonic cleaner and sprayed the contacts with contact spray. Could be a ground issue somewhere.

 

[DaBoom]

Biggest problem, which was the sticking rear brake fixed. Luckily the rear swing arms I bought about two years ago had one brake caliper on them, and it happened to be the right one! Luckily, because my car has to have its own special brakes. Ventilated rear disks were only fitted to ix tourings on e30s. Even M3 has solid disks. I also found out the rear stabilizer had detached itself from the linkage.

 

[nicjasno]

I plan to dissasemble my swingarms and suspension bridge, remove the paint and rust, paint with hammerite and then 2 layers of korrux 3in1. Also will paint stabiliser bars and springs.

 

[DaBoom]

Finally got around to do something to the car. More damage mainly, but still.

Finally installed the fog light covers I bought in early autumn. Due to my cars lack of color they fit right in without painting.

Then I broke in to my glove box, which went well.. Once that opening mechanism lets go it's pita to get open again. Apparently it's a feature on e30s, so if you own one better check out the condition.

Then I set about to work the back of the car. First quick fixed the malfunctioning speedo sensor connection by replacing the original connector with abiko couplings until I get a new original one. Then I put some more rubber under (or over in this case) rear springs to even the stance out a bit. didn't make a noticeable difference, but every little helps.

Here's the before pic. It's not actually that bad when I don't have much stuff in the trunk (which I usually do)

On the weekend I went to meet up with public on the other side of Finland, and to drive on a ice track in a BMW club meet. Also to undo my good work. Track was a bit on the narrow side, especially for awd. And unstudded tyres didn't help the cause at all. Understeered wide on plenty of corners and visited a few outer bankings of the track.

Some video footage as well (and if you can't be bothered to watch the whole boring video the best ix'y bit is at around 6.50 ).

After the trackday I proceeded to hoard some parts from a local hobbyist before setting on a nice, relaxing 5 hour drive home. For some reason all old BMWs, or at least 3 series seem to find their way to western coast. So I got a new center console, new seals for front doors, D pillar covers, original roof antenna, some wheel well plastics and of course a new glove box. So a bunch of nitpick parts, apart from the glove box there's not much wrong with the parts that are on the car now. But since they were available...

 

[Der Stig]

Nice video and parts score!

I must eventually join the E30 brigade...BMWgear US-BMW-A.

 

[DaBoom]

Hehe, well that update streak was short lived..

Aanyway, continuing from previous post the next two weekends also included ice track driving. A tad wider track on the south coast some 100km away. I managed to forget my camera so this short clip from my friends phone is all that was documented. Still had the worn out unstudded tyres on, so serious lack of grip kept cornering speeds very low. No damage this time, even if I managed to almost get stuck when hit one outer bank backwards.

One week later of (bmw)gear.fi headed to north Karelia for another BMW club ice track day. This time I got some used studded tyres, and cooler temperatures also provided more grip. This combined with a wide, familiar track meant that I decided to go explore the cars my limits, and sure enough caused plenty of damage to front of the car with stunts like this. Even had to crowbar the right corner a bit because it was hitting the wheel.

[video=youtube;l6lN3Fc-uBM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6lN3Fc-uBM[/video]

Scored some wheels with the studded tyres, I'd use those as summer wheels if they'd be even 15"... Already missing the lip (greetings).

Some unnecessary parts. Overall damage also includes support frame for right side lights, A/C condenser and some dents on the right front door and front wing, but both of those need work anyway, so meh.

Here's some less dramatic driving on said track, trying to chase another ix with BroMic.

[video=youtube;WFYxmZ-0v3w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFYxmZ-0v3w[/video]

14" wheels with tight design proved to be rather hard to clean so they wouldn't shake so badly on the way home. BroMic had it much easier.

Rest of the winter went calmly. Until I lost a wheel. I managed to stop just in time (10s from slight knocking to wheel coming off) so all that was damaged was the front wing.

 

[DaBoom]

So continuing to spring. Front end needed to be straightened properly so I could fit summer wheels. Also found out that one could jack up the car from front panel.

Ix also did some hauling. Got some car magazines for a club friend. That's about half of the stuff. That was most likely overweight load already.

Then I was off to open the summer season the traditional way. BMW club track day at Ahvenisto. It's a two day event and I went on a day when the noise limit was higher, so I was basically a moving chicane for track full of racing- and M-cars My track spec suspension in action.

edit: forgot that mikas got me some video footage from the track, as I once again forgot to bring my own along. @3.40: a slight difference in acceleration between the ix and a 535i.

I have been cycling quite a lot this summer, so ix has mostly sat in the back yard or garage. While changing the inner boot of front driveshaft I noticed a leak on the brake hose causing me to DNS the gear.fi meet with my own car. Anyway, that boot replacement expanded to brake hose&line replacement, strut bearing change, A/C condenser and light support frame replacement as well as fixing the glove box handle (only took about 9-10 months ).

Also did some valve clearance adjustment and was rather shocked at the state of the valve train.

At least none of that was solid and could be wiped clean(er) rather easily. I ordered a new lubrication pipe and replaced it just to be sure though.. New front wings as well as the hood are still waiting for new paint. That should clean up the exterior look a bit.

So, bring on Ringmeet. I wonder what will break before/during that trip..

 

[JimCorrigan]

I love how you (ab)use your car.

 

[DaBoom]

So, bring on Ringmeet. I wonder what will break before/during that trip..

To answer the question, AC compressor bearings before the trip and cylinder head/gasket during the trip. Almost made it to 300k..

But yeah, getting back to more happier times, I took in a big load of work in the summer so there was actually some progress on the car as I could pay for someone else to do it. :lol: Checking things out more thoroughly I found out that the inner boot rubber on the other shaft had gone as well. And it was just replaced a year ago... Well, that's new now, again. Wishbone and trailing arm bushings also got replaced with Powerflex products. Once again there was some ix-ness with the parts, as wishbone rubbers on my car had a different part code as opposed to rwd models. I didn't find any solid info about it and everything measured out the same, so I just presumed it's about stiffness. So I went with the HD version of the PU bushings on the front, just to be safe. Rear ones at least were the same with rwd models, as well few other 3er chassis. :lol: With the airbag wheel gone and PU bushings installed I actually have some steering feel! (until traction runs out ofc) Then again, even painted road markings jolt slightly on the wheel, I imagine this will be fun in the winter..

I also replaced my self made cat-back with a Simons one. It had an irritating resonant tone on low revs, and it was a tad too loud perhaps for a DD. The Simons one is a bit too quiet though, and has too blingy tips.

Testing out the functionality of the cargo space, as I cycled to pickup the car from service and picked up the new exhaust on the way.

Also replaced front brake pads as brake feel was very wooden

Yeah.. While those Green stuff pads seem to last for much longer than Red stuff pads I had before, wear-wise at least, you can clearly see they're completely gone. Ferodo DS2500 next, we'll see how those work out. And while the car was up I tackled the fault point of the awd system, front prop shaft. It's basically like a drive shaft (or half shaft, depending on how you use the terminology), where the transfer case end has splines which need lubrication. And as people either forget or are oblivious of this it dries up and wears out the joint. And the result is "omg such a crappy system, breaks instantly".

As I had very little time in the summer due to work new front wings and paint for the hood are still on the things to do -list. The left wing got rattlecanned and hastily installed before the trip though, because I was afraid that I might lose the fender flare at higher speeds because of the bend in the wing from spring. Sanded and base coated on Thursday evening, painted on Friday afternoon, installed Friday night before setting off to BMW club meet at 6AM.

AC compressor decided to fail during that weekend, day before setting off to Ringmeet roadtrip. And despite Beni's efforts to find one to be installed on the way remains that way still. I still had the AC on a few times during the trip, like at Monaco. The compressor has its own belt, so worst case scenario would be just cutting off the belt if the bearings cease. But I'm guessing that was part of the head gasket/head failure as well. The car has been losing coolant for the whole time I've owned it. I never found the cause despite going through the whole coolant system. So I'm guessing the extreme heat (some 38-39C in the shade) with almost stationary city traffic and added heat stress of AC must've increased the coolant consumption too much, and causing warped/cracked head as a result. It had to be towed home from French/Italian border as a result, but I still used it back home for some two months before taking it off road use, left to wait for some repairs and upgrades during the winter. I did run it with expansion tank cap open and without a thermostat to compensate extra pressure created by the leak.

Hauling cargo during the trip

A more scenic photo from top off Sustenpass in Switzerland

The ix arriving home from the trip some 5 days after me.

And some autumn colors to compensate for the lack of color on the car