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  • Tommy Suddard

    July 20, 2008 8:11 a.m. Tommy Suddard

    The odometer on my e30 doesn't work, and I have heard that there are gears in there that melt in the heat. Does anybody know how to fix it?

  • m4ff3w

    July 20, 2008 10:15 a.m. m4ff3w Dork

    You can buy replacement gears online, it isn't so much that they melt but they crack and disintegrate with age

    When I took mine apart I counted the teeth and found Nylon gears at a hobby shop that matched diameter and teeth number for $5 instead of the $40-$80 online vendors want for them.

  • minimac

    July 20, 2008 11:17 a.m. minimac Dork

    And don't try the reset while your rolling.

  • belteshazzar

    July 20, 2008 1:21 p.m. belteshazzar Dork

    Is that all it is? I've owned ONE e30 out of FOUR with a consistently working odometer.

  • stuart in mn

    July 20, 2008 1:50 p.m. stuart in mn Dork

    It's a common problem with older BMWs, e28 5 series cars do the same thing. You can get the replacement gears from http://www.odometergears.com/. There's a good writeup on the replacement procedure at http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=26424

  • Wall-e

    July 20, 2008 2:32 p.m. Wall-e SuperDork

    It you have some JB Weld and iron filings I'm sure Per could show you how to make your own gears. He's still got about a week of free time left.

  • Tommy Suddard

    July 20, 2008 8:04 p.m. Tommy Suddard

    Thanks for the help, I'll replace the gears when I replace the dash.

  • GameboyRMH

    July 21, 2008 7:52 a.m. GameboyRMH Dork

    You're lucky, on Toyota transaxles (at least the older ones) the replaceable gear on the speedo drive is made of a harder material than the non-replaceable ring on the diff that drives it :(

  • Per Schroeder

    July 21, 2008 8:34 a.m. Per Schroeder Technical Editor/Advertising Director

    Much quicker/simpler to buy than to make.

 

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