E30 progress thread!
 

Hey all, I've finally started working on my engine today. Due to popular demand (ahum :)) I'll keep this thread updated with more pics and info as this project goes on. Oh my, where are my manners? Can't start a thread without a proper introduction, now can we?

This picture was taken where it all began, a long time ago in the kingdom of far far away Hasselt. It shows how I found her, locked up in a parking lot waiting for Prince Charming (oew yeah, who yo' daddy :grin:).



This car is a BMW E30 316/4 model, powered by a 1766cc 4 cylinder heart equipped with a Pierburg 2BE carburetor (the early models had a 2B4 carburetor, to be precise). At stock settings, the M10B18 engine delivers 90HP to the rear wheels with a maximum torque of 137Nm. Produced in 1988, her first owner drove this car for exactly 120.048km.



As the picture above shows, it didn't take long for me to start customizing her to my needs. Since the rear shocks were worn out and had started to leak a bit, I wanted to do the job right from the start on: replaced all shocks & springs with aftermarket sport material. G&M Sport shocks with matching springs lowered the front of the car with 6cm, and the back 4cm. I then continued with replacing the stock 185/65 R15 wheels with 215/40 R16's. I bought this set for about €300. At the moment, she's running on Toyo Proxes T1-S tires up front and Dunlop SP Sport 2000 's at the back. These modifications were quite expensive in the end, but it has certainly paid of. Handling, cornering and overall grip have greatly improved, while every passenger up to this point has assured me the ride wasn't too harsh or uncomfortable in any way. Before any of you get the wrong idea: even with the aftermarket springs I have 17cm of ground clearance, which gives me no problems at all with speed bumps or obstacles alike. The improved look is something to be happy with, but I really installed these to adjust the car's behaviour.

The engine bay in "original condition". 17 years of service does leave it's mark, even on a BMW ;). Inspected the engine a couple of weeks ago and only found a minor oil leak, probably due to a worn out gasket somewhere. I can't even see where it's coming from, that's how small it is. Over time, I will replace every hose, gasket and seal anywhere near this engine. 17 years is quite a respectable age for a car, so I have to be prepared for something to break. Being a little pro-active doesn't harm anyone, now does it? In the end, the only thing I ask of this car is to bring my girlfriend back home safe if she ever were to drive it alone. And myself as well, of course :). That's why I'm going to put an "emergency box" in my trunk, with some essential items for quick repairs if anything would break while on the road.

Well, let's get down to some biz-niz!




De-assembled the airfilter housing and took it off completely. It's the big round black thingie you can see in the picture above, with the cold air intake coming from behind the right headlights.




A closer look tells me one of the causes why I sometimes smell a little fuel when I start my engine (mostly noticeable when it's cold): the fuel supply hose on the left has hardened over time and shows multiple small cracks.




After disconnecting all the vacuum hoses and electrical connections, the carburetor could be removed from the engine. Right above the carb you can see my hot air tube definately needs some replacement as well.




Close-up of the make & model.




I'm taking my engine apart while my car's in the driveway, meaning I can only use the tools I've got lying around at home.




Taking off the intake manifold cost me about an hour, mainly because of the two bolts and nuts located under the intakes for the two center cylinders. Hard to reach with a wrench, but I didn't have any other piece of equipment that could reach those places.




Close-up of two intake valves. Number 1 is opened up, number two is in the closed position. Normally, the fuel pressure regulator bolts on above these two intakes. Some fuel leaked out when I removed it, hence the dirt.




Intake manifold waiting to be cleaned. I might repaint it, not sure yet tho.




That's about all for today. Taking both the carb and manifold with me to work tomorrow, for extensive cleaning and adjusting.

Keep up the good work!

It's a very nice car even with the 17years.

I'm going to follow this one ;)

same here
i sense some funky **** hanging in the air ;)

You can race him. First one to finish his revision wins :)

yeah jakkerd they where some shiny days in the vacation, work on:D

Ter angreal nice Job;)

I will be keeping an eye on this thread. : )

Keep us informed! Those wheels look mighty fine on your BMW!

Started today's work with a nice stupidity, for a change :)
Went to the nearest BMW dealer to pick up some supplies after work. For now, I'm just doing a slight revision: this means I will inspect everything except for the intestants of the engine block, remove as much dirt as possible and replace everything I expect to have suffered "damage" during those 17 long years. And while it's off, rebuild and adjust the carburetor. First items to give in to tear & wear is the tubing. It's quite important that vacuum hoses remain intact, I guess I don't need to point out why. Supply hoses (fuel, coolant, ...) with leaks -- well, you get my point. First step is to replace them all. It's your basic "while-I'm-in-there" procedure, as mentioned before I like to be a little pro-active on this.

So, there I was, explaining everything I need to Mr. Warehouse. Complete set of gaskets for the carburetor, fuel tubing, coolant hoses and whatnot. Sure, no problem, I just had to give him my chassis number. Stupid me. Don't need no pointing out here either ;)


On to today's work: I went about to clean up the mess those gaskets left on the engine block.




The darkish grey area surrounding those holes are the gaskets. They have been in there for 17 years under a lot (!) of pressure. Not hard to see why they where just a tad reluctant to cooperate.




After soaking them for 15 minutes with a chemical product meant to remove these things, I could carefully seperate most of the material with a stanley knife. Those green/grey leftovers don't like me.




Since I don't particularly like them either, they had to go anyways. This is a very time consuming job, as I have to be carefull not to damage the head. For those who don't know what I mean: the head is the silver part in this picture. It mainly houses the camshaft and the valves. As my future plans involve adding more HP to this engine, the new gaskets will most likely be put under more stress. Any imperfection in this material will only add up to the forces to which these gaskets are submitted. In other words: I'm using a toothbrush for this job. It isn't fun. Really.





Thanks for the positive reactions guys. About the wheels, RichyB: they were a fair deal, especially with the Toyo's up front. I do like their look on the E30, but it's not exactly what I'm looking for. On one hand, I would like a nice set of (old school) radial rims. On the other hand, I believe metallic black rims with a slightly chromed edge would look stunning on this car. I haven't found an example of what I mean exactly yet, but I'll post it here when I do.

HOLY SH*T, MY CAR IS A TRANSFORMER