Not My Project.... An E30 Project

[Die Frau]

So here is some new pics of a car you guys are pretty familiar with...











So this was Saige's old car and Eric's before that. My brother bought the car last week and I picked it up last night. Greg (my brother, Gertrude86) will be flying out in the next couple of months to drive it back to Rhode Island where it will reside and live as a summer car.

Here is the project portion of this - I/We need to get this car ready for the cross country road trip and to top it off I know nothing, read NOTHING, about BMWs or E30s.

Known issues that would effect a road trip:
-Burns oil: probably the head, but might be rings? Needs a compression test. This is likely not high on the list as is... if Greg is good about his fluid checks it will likely be fine.
-Overheats??? The temp gauge appears to be working and on the highway it drifts back to the normal range. Not sure why this is and the blower for the cabin is MIA so that is little help.
-No Charge/Starting Issues: Saige says he had the system checked out and it was fine. Also the battery is supposed to be from a known good running car. Testing will need to be done. All I know is it would not start for me today and I had to pop start it on flat ground by myself... fun.

Anyway, I am sure I will need to technical expertise of you local E30 fanatics to sort out some of this stuff.

[Digital K]

i know nothing about e30's but I'll give worthless, and uninformed advice as much as possible.

[Die Frau]

Awesome. Enthusiasm is appreciated too.

[Digital K]

[Hart]

[Gertrude86]

I can't wait to pick her up!!!

[Toftii88]

the sexiest 1500 ever

[SLK]

pete i am def down to help you out in anyway possible. Ill talk with my buddy and see if maybe he can rebuild that head for cheap.

[BimmerTim]

I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I know my way around an E30 pretty darn good. I'm here to help.

[Die Frau]

Well... I will likely be chipping away at some of this and sorting out parts... then maybe in late August we can do a GTG at the studio and some of you BMW guys can come give me a hand - I will buy pizza and beer.

[BimmerTim]

I'm in. Maybe I'll have my car running by then.

Probably not.

[vweezly]

Kickass!! Lub.

[SLK]

no one was ever this excited to help me when i owned the car

[///M3]

As far as the blower motor, does the fan work at all? If the fan works on speed 4 only, you will need a new blower motor resistor. If the blower doesn't work at all, I would check the relay in the fusebox and then, as the final straw, replace the blower motor.

Your charging issue - if the alternator, battery, and ground cables are good then the only other thing that could be causing a problem is the battery light in the cluster. If this bulb blows the charging system will not properly charge the battery.

The smoking is most likely from a bad head.

Hope this helps you.

[Die Frau]

well, the blower makes noise, and sounds like a set screw or something with the drive is grinding??? It will make noise at any speed, just not air movement.

I have a thought on the starting issue... Relay??? Saige says that when they tried to jump it that did not work either, makes me think it is the ignition switch of relay. The car will do nothing when it does not want to start, no noise from the starter, and the lights and acc. still work like it is just fine.

Since I don't have a Bentley or even a Hanes... can someone tell me what relay is for the starter?

I also am quiet concerned about the over heating issue, I think the guage is working, as it will fall back down on the highway.

And finally, Tim- could you PM your contact info to me? I would like to have it in case I need it. I also might be working on it this weekend, free???