The ugly E30 - 1985 BMW 325

Adrian_Thompson wrote: This needs moving to the new project car forum

Done.

Alan Cesar wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote: This needs moving to the new project car forum

Done.

Thanks! I feel special.

Back at it trying to diagnose my fuel system problem with the project car. Brief background reset: The car is a 1985 325e, completely stock, manual trans. It did not run when I bought it, the PO told me it "needed a fuel pump" and that he had tried to do some basic diagnostic work on it. I found that the whole in-tank pump and sending unit had been removed, so I replaced it with a brand-new (eBay) unit, but that didn't fix the problem. After I bought and stripped a 1987 325is parts car, I installed the main fuel pump from that car last night, and it did not fix the problem.

So here's where I stand: - The car will run on starting fluid, so it's getting spark - Fuse #11(fuel pump) blows as soon as I try to crank the engine - The fuse does not blow if I just turn on the ignition, only if I crank - I am not hearing any kind of clicking or the pumps priming or anything - The PO replaced the fuel pressure regulator. The fuel filters have not been replaced.

A few pics, in case something jumps out. The new in-tank pump and sending unit:

The "new" main pump from the parts car, installed:

The fuel pump wiring and ground point under the rear seat. All appear to be in excellent shape and all connections are tight and corrosion-free:

The Bentley manual's test procedures all revolve around the fuse being intact, and since that's the first thing that goes wrong, I can't really get anywhere with those. The most obvious culprit would seem to be a wiring issue, but all the wiring I can see is in great shape. Has anyone run across something similar?

Disconnect the fuel pump relay from the ignition switch, and wire in youre own switched 12v lead to the pump?

I know precicely jack squat about BMWs, so Im of no help.

Thanks to an eagle-eyed poster on R3Vlimited, I removed the tape around the connector on the in-tank pump and found this:

Couple of nasty solder jobs and no insulation in between. Needless to say, I found my short!

However, though it's no longer blowing fuses, it still won't start. I used a test light to verify that it's now getting juice at both fuel pumps. Then I went to remove one of the lines under the hood to see if it would pump fuel into a container, and the "T" fitting that it was connected to broke and sprayed fuel all over the berkeleying place. At that point I decided to quit for the night.

Oh, and it no longer runs on starting fluid like it did before. So I guess I now have a spark issue. I'm seriously considering punting on this problem because this motor's coming out anyhow.

lol.....that wrapped wiring was the first thing I noticed too. Mostly only because I was just looking at that area on my car today :)

Down the line you should consider replacing the early (2) -pump E30 system with the (1) high-pressure IN-TANK system that the later E30's use. You might just have to re-route the lines.

I have a '90 that the OEM pump went bad and started to scream. I bought a 255lph one on fleabay and it works awesome.

Good Luck!

I replaced my two pump 325e system with a TRE 255 LPH pump in the tank. Pulled the main in-line pump by the fuel filter. Minor fuel line re-route at the main pump. Works great with my 2.7i conversion.

http://www.treperformance.com/FuelPumps/TRE255FuelPumps.html

Hmmm.... You know, I think I still have a 255lph pump new in box left over from my 5.0 Mustang days.....

Although... upon further reflection, isn't a 255lph pump way overkill for a 2.5L or even 2.7L engine? I mean, the stock pump in 5.0 Mustangs was either 90 or 110lph, which was enough to supply an engine making 225hp, twice the size, with two more cylinders. My mildly built engine made 275hp at the wheels and did fine with a 190lph pump.

Tom_Spangler wrote: Although... upon further reflection, isn't a 255lph pump way overkill for a 2.5L or even 2.7L engine? I mean, the stock pump in 5.0 Mustangs was either 90 or 110lph, which was enough to supply an engine making 225hp, twice the size, with two more cylinders. My mildly built engine made 275hp at the wheels and did fine with a 190lph pump.

So am I going to damage anything by running a 255lph pump in a stock M20 with Mustang 5.0 Injectors and perf. Chip?

M3Loco wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: Although... upon further reflection, isn't a 255lph pump way overkill for a 2.5L or even 2.7L engine? I mean, the stock pump in 5.0 Mustangs was either 90 or 110lph, which was enough to supply an engine making 225hp, twice the size, with two more cylinders. My mildly built engine made 275hp at the wheels and did fine with a 190lph pump.

So am I going to damage anything by running a 255lph pump in a stock M20 with Mustang 5.0 Injectors and perf. Chip?

I don't see how. The extra fuel will just get returned to the tank. I just think that much fuel flow is unnecessary in an engine like this.

Tom_Spangler wrote:

M3Loco wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: Although... upon further reflection, isn't a 255lph pump way overkill for a 2.5L or even 2.7L engine? I mean, the stock pump in 5.0 Mustangs was either 90 or 110lph, which was enough to supply an engine making 225hp, twice the size, with two more cylinders. My mildly built engine made 275hp at the wheels and did fine with a 190lph pump.

So am I going to damage anything by running a 255lph pump in a stock M20 with Mustang 5.0 Injectors and perf. Chip?

I don't see how. The extra fuel will just get returned to the tank. I just think that much fuel flow is unnecessary in an engine like this.

, THANKS!

Brief update time. As mentioned above, my fuel pump issue turned out to be a wiring problem, which I've since fixed. I now have two operational fuel pumps, which I've verified by removing the fuel line while cranking and having it pump fuel into a bucket.

However, somehow along the way, I've lost spark. To reiterate, when I first got the car and was trying to diagnose the fuel issue, it did have spark because it would run (briefly) on starting fluid. Now, nothing. Last night I pulled the plugs and they all looked fine. While I was in there, I decided to check the compression, too:

1 - 180 psi 2 - 165 3 - 170 4 - 170 5 - 165 6 - 160

Engine is a 221k mile eta that hasn't run in an indetermined amount of time. Seems like a bit more variation than I'd like to see, but at least I know my timing belt isn't broken and that I should at least have enough compression to make it fire.

I then started on the Bentley procuedures for checking the coil. I verified that Terminal 15 is getting battery voltage with the ignition on, and that the internal resistance is within spec.

Next I decided to take a look at the cap and rotor. Which is actually kind of a PITA to get off, so I ended up removing the hood, by which time it was getting pretty late, so I bailed for the night.

More later.

Truly a barn find. I love it!

Tom_Spangler wrote: Continuing to strip the parts car. This is a good exercise, because not only am I getting a huge pile of parts, I'm learning a lot about how these cars go together.

I found the same thing when I built my first e30 (an '88 325 coupe). About 8 months in, I found an '86 325 sedan parts car for $120. Just taking it apart was worth the $120, but I ended up with tons of small parts that I could use on the '88 AND I ended up profiting about $1000 on the parts car.

The worst part about getting rid of a parts car is disposing of it upright. The subframes and strut housings are worth good money (about $200, total), but it is hard to get it on/off of a trailer without those parts (unless it is on its roof). I ended up giving away the shell to someone by sending it away as a rolling chassis and they pulled off the subframes and front strut tubes and wheels while the car wa son a trailer. Then they stuffed it with scrap and hauled it to the JY.

Continuing on my quest to find out why I don't have spark, I pulled the cap and rotor. Yeah, that cap is pretty shot:

I got a cap and rotor with my parts car, but when I check them, I saw this:

That ain't gonna work. So I guess I'll order all new ignition bits and go from there.

So I decided to start on my nasty, nasty interior. Here's my carpet:

There are dark brown stains all around the center console on both sides. Either there was one hell of a coffee spill in this thing, or someone was brutally murdered in it. I'm going with the former.

Carpet removal wasn't too bad. I read all the threads on R3V, which helped a lot. Basically, remove the seats and the seatbelt rods, pull off the door jamb covers, remove the center console, cut around the HVAC stuff where the console covers it, pull off the two side carpet bits on the kick panels, cut around the steering column, and wiggle the thing out. Here it is, ready for cleanup:

As I said, nasty. So I mixed up a 50/50 solution of Simple Green and hot water:

And set upon it with a stiff nylon brush and lots of elbow grease. Here's what it looked like when I was done scrubbing:

Then it was power washer time. What a wonderful tool that is:

So, it's a lot better now. I'll take another pic after it's done drying in a couple of days.

Since I'm going to be putting in the black interior stuff from my parts car and because I knew I'd never get this carpet completely clean anyhow, I'm going to dye it black. I've read some threads on that and have a pretty good general idea of how to do it. Multiple coats, brush in between in different directions so that the dye gets down into the fibers, etc. Sounds like the big brands are VHT, Duplicolor, and SEM. I need to do some more research on them, but I welcome any input.

looks like my carpet (same color) did. Apparently the same coffee-spilling motherberkeleyer who owned your car also owned mine.....

Continuing on with my interior refresh. Rear seat, rear deck, and carpet are all out of the car:

I decided to remove the middle seat belt. I can't imagine I'll ever try to cram 3 people back there, and it just cleans things up a bit:

My headliner isn't completely horrible, but it's not the greatest, either:

So for now I just scrubbed it with carpet cleaner. I know I should probably dye it black to go with the rest, but eh, it'll work for now:

Time to start installing parts! To review, my parts car was an 87 325is with a nice black leather interior, most of which I'm able to use. Here's my old decklid with the new one:

Slightly better, eh? The old one would have needed new carpet, much easier to swap in this one, plus it has a CHMSL, though I haven't hooked it up yet. Only issue is that the seatbelts come out 90 degrees off, but I fed them through and they seemed to move fine. Not going to worry about it for now.

Installed:

Pretty big improvement, I think.

Back to the carpet. Here it is after a couple of days of drying in the sun:

I then vacuumed it again, just to make sure there was no more sand or grit, and to get the fibers kind of "standing up" for paint. I decided to go with Duplicolor Vinyl and Fabric paint in gloss black. Here I am applying the first coat:

Halfway done with the first coat, shows the contrast:

After 3 coats:

It's going to need one more at least. I didn't use as much in the places where you won't see it, but I still want more coverage. You need to brush the stuff, for several reasons. For one thing, you want to brush in one direction, paint, then brush in the opposite, to try and get all sides of the fibers. Also, the stuff dries pretty hard and crusty, so you need to soften it up.

Here's the bit of carpet from in front of the rear seat, this is 4 coats, looks pretty good, I think:

More to come. Need to get some more paint to do a final coat, and I need to order my ignition parts. I think I'll also install my crack-free dash while everything else is out. Might as well.....

Update time again....

While I had the interior out, I decided to do a little rustproofing. The car is very clean inside and out, but I had the stuff from doing my truck recently, and with everything out, I decided I might as well. I used Fluid Film. I got it from Amazon.

I sprayed it down inside the rear fenders around the wheel wells, as you can see:

The kit comes with a long, flexible hose, which I used to get down inside the rockers:

I also did the insides of the doors. Like I said, it can't hurt. When I did my truck I sprayed the whole underside with the stuff. I don't think I'm going to do that with this car, because I don't feel like dealing with that mess whenever I work on it.

Time to start cleaning up the interior bits from the parts car so I can install them. Here's the rear seat. Hard to tell in the pic, but it's pretty dirty:

You can see a couple bottles of Lexol leather cleaner and treatment in the corner of that shot. That's what I used, it seems to do a pretty good job for stuff I can get at an auto parts store, though I know there are better leather-care products out there.

Starting to put the rest of the interior back in. Black rear side panels and the pad under the rear sit are in:

Then the little bit of carpet in front of it and the rear seat itself:

Finally, the carpet:

Next thing will be the dash. And I really need to decide what I'm doing about seats. I have one good black sport seat. It's a passenger's side, but I hear that's easy enough to switch. So I either need another black sport seat, or decide if I want to do something like a Corbeau for the driver's side. Debating...

Hhmm, cough cough http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9152

Adrian_Thompson wrote: Hhmm, cough cough http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9152

Great find! Thanks.

lookin good!