E36 328: In over my head!

Since I'm still an amateur, I broke something. I was supporting the trans too much when I was lowering the car.

These bushings look like they need replacing too. At least this is something that I can buy from the junkyard.

Here is the engine with the thermostat removed.

A closer look at the corrosion.

The non-enthusiasts need to flush the coolant more often.

I'm glad I removed this to double check it. Looks broke to me even though I never changed a thermostat either.

I didn't expect this.

It looks like it's only a few years old. I never did a water pump either so of course I didn't have a pan ready to catch all the coolant that spilled out.

It looks good in there.

Are the motor mounts good? I think that they are, but I haven't done this either.

The mount pictured on the bottom looks a little beat up. Sometimes you can't see issues until you remove the mount. I would replace them just because you have access. They are usually pretty cheap and since the car is at least 16 years old now it just makes sense to do it.

The clutch looks like it should be replaced as well. The disc looks like it still has meat, but it's pretty chewed up. The problem is that these have that dual mass flywheel thing that can't be resurfaced so you would also need to do the flywheel as well. Might as well look into an aftermarket kit that is cheap.

Yeah, the pressure plate was definitely causing the slipping. A clutch kit isn't cheap just because of the BMW brand. It should get here today or tomorrow. Actually, my local mechanic said that the clutch is shot too because the grooves in the clutch were worn out on one side.

I'm waiting on parts so that kinda sucks. It is also very inconvenient that an aftermarket thermostat and oil filter is more expensive than the OEM ones from Pelican Parts. I need to remember that for next time. Also,

Closer inspection reveals that I could still use these, but I already ordered OEM ones for overnight delivery, and it's much less risky and more convenient to change them out while the engine is out of the car. I would be willing to sell these for $5 or $10 plus shipping for both if someone wanted to risk it for a year or so. These would be on the car if I didn't have to pull the engine.

I also washed the oily parts that I could reach.

I just used car wash and a brush.

The block is not as drastic because it's iron and it wasn't as oily, but it does look better. I actually vacuumed it; I may only do that one more time to an engine. I'll also use engine degreaser later today. I also did the oil pan on this side.

I take back my water pump comments, that looks like the aftermarket metal impeller one.
You definitely want to change motor mounts if you are going to do any "hoonage". Keeps the mechanical fan out of the radiator. I have actually never seen the trans cross member break before so cool seeing that.
Change out those two trans bushings. When they go bad you can money shift the car catching 1st vs 3rd. Nice catch on the thermostat; totally forgot to mention it as I typically just do them as part of the whole "why won't this thing stop overheating" process.
Did you replace the radiator?

Timeormoney wrote: I have actually never seen the trans cross member break before so cool seeing that.

My friend has a '95 M3 with 12 seasons of W2W racing on it and all the open track and instructor time in-between. We were chasing a klunk at Jeffapalooza at NJMP in March and that is what it turned out to be. The trans mount had fatigued/cracked but was still bolted on both sides so when you were on overrun in gear it would sound like someone made of chain falling down a flight of steel stairs. It took a long tome to find because we couldn't see it at rest and yanking on things - you would never think to look at THAT - so we were looking for broken motor/diff/trans/subframe mounts or broken bolts, etc. We just TIG'd it back together with a gusset. Good for another 12 seasons :)

In reply to Timeormoney: You must have not read my whole thread! That's the first thing that I modified in this thread (radiator). It's my third modification to the car overall. You got to read the whole threads, LOL

I should have bought this the day I started the thread. I need to do better next time.

Both boxes were beat up.

I don't like that it's uploading a couple of pics sideways. Damn!

This is what was broken.

I'll just have UPS reimburse me for a clutch alignment tool. If I'm lucky, I will be able to get them to cover overnight shipping.

The pressure plate looks good.

I was expecting more of the OEM style clutch.

I was trying to find someone parting out an E36 with this conversion, or at least the flywheel by itself, but no one does it.

The diameter is small, but it is thick!

I cleaned the trans the same as the engine, except I used the degreaser when it was still wet.

Damn, it looks brand new! At least in the pictures, it does. It doesn't look as good in person, but it won't matter too much soon. It's a compact transmission, and light too!

I watched a video of a guy doing a clutch job for a customer's car on Youtube. He removed the rear oil seal by drilling a hole in the gasket and putting a screw in it to pull it out. I don't have a drill yet, so I tried the grassroots way and tried to pry it out with a couple of small tools, but it didn't work, so I will get a drill tomorrow.

Looks good man. A good running 328i is fun. I had a lightly used 98 for a few years back around 2000 or so and it had plenty of torque and got great gas mileage. Needs a shorter shifter than stock though.

The shifter forks in the trans are so silky smooth that a shorter shifter would take some of the joy out of rowing through the gears, at least for me. The relatively long throw doesn't bother me at autocross events. The first gen Mazda 3 and 6 shifters are a little better than in the E36s, and I wouldn't want short throws in those cars either.

Earlier today, I started taking off the gaskets that I ordered off the car while I was waiting for the parts to come in.

I watched a video to see another way to get the rear main seal off.

This was easier, and the proper way to remove the seal.

I cleaned out the inside of the trans too!

Well, some of it, I cleaned.

I used a hammer and a wedge to tap it out.

The gasket under that housing is really thin, a little unexpected to me.

I took out the seal in the front of the trans.

I took out the one in the rear, too. The front one was more difficult to get out because there's not any room really to pry it out.

I got another present.

I have an extra thermostat gasket, but I think that I'll be ok .

This one came a little later.

I hope that I'm not missing a trans gasket.

I probably will do the valve cover gasket tomorrow because I'm really low on energy today for some reason.

Dude, totally sorry for missing the radiator swap. I always think of the BMW cooling system as a total replacement. Its been fun thinking through each of the individual components. Either way I have been following along and really,really enjoying watching your first BMW rebuild. http://www.autohausaz.com/ was where I got a bunch of my stuff; no idea if they are still amazing but 5 years ago it was the place to go.
The most awesome thing is that you can now basically work on all BMW's. With the 5's and bigger there are some differences; but it will all look familiar and use pretty much the same set of tools.
OH and while I am 99.97% sure that you already know this but http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do has some great diagrams and part numbers for using your google foo to price/cross shop. FYI for the older stuff you have to hit the archive option.