The Bimmer Basement

[kensbey]

Good work. All the pins in the e36 clutch pedal are so frustrating when you are upside down and no space.

Are you going to remove and invert the slave to bleed the clutch?

 

[Mpower5266]

Good work. All the pins in the e36 clutch pedal are so frustrating when you are upside down and no space.

Are you going to remove and invert the slave to bleed the clutch?

I got it all back together and I had one of the pins backwards so it all had to come out. I don't know if I'm going to do that or have my dad pump it while I bleed it.


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[jimgood]

You might be a good person to ask as I can't seem to get a definitive answer. I have a '98 323 that I'm converting to a track car. I'm trying to eliminate the EWS so I ordered a chip off ebay from a guy in Moldova. He swears that the chip is replaceable but no one in the states will touch an OBD II ECU. Do you have any idea what I'm in for?

 

[Mpower5266]

You might be a good person to ask as I can't seem to get a definitive answer. I have a '98 323 that I'm converting to a track car. I'm trying to eliminate the EWS so I ordered a chip off ebay from a guy in Moldova. He swears that the chip is replaceable but no one in the states will touch an OBD II ECU. Do you have any idea what I'm in for?

As far as I know OBD II cars don't have replaceable chips, I believe you just flash the ecu. I would look at RK tunes or Ca Tuned.

 

[M-technik-3]

OBD !! has no chip it needs to be flashed out as mentioned . The seller just wants to sell and is giving you a line of Manure. Being your just outside of DC I would use bimmerworld.com or give RRT in Dulles Va a call.

Glad to see you got the upside down stuff done, I did mine two nights ago now I just have to button up the dash.

 

[jimgood]

OBD !! has no chip it needs to be flashed out as mentioned . The seller just wants to sell and is giving you a line of Manure. Being your just outside of DC I would use bimmerworld.com or give RRT in Dulles Va a call.

Thanks for the tips and didn't mean to hijack your thread.
Edit: BTW, I everywhere I have looked, none of the offerings in the US include the EWS delete and none of them say they will work on a 323is. I did an online chat with Turner and they said they can't do anything.

The seller provides both services; sells chips and reflashes. The issue really is that his/her English ***** so when I ask a "or" question I get a "yes" answer. For what it's worth, he has good feedback on Ebay. Here's the exchange I had with the seller:

ME:
Now that I have already ordered, I hope I didn't make a mistake. Are you sure that I can replace the chip in my DME? This is a 1998 323is. It is OBD II. I read that the DME has to be reflashed instead of replacing the chip. Can you confirm?
bmw-performance-ecu:
Hello friend! All correct! Flash can be replaced/soldered or ecu can be reflashed! In my store i have tuning interface which can flash your ecu!
ME:
Sorry. You are not directly answering my question. I understand the English is not your first language so please read carefully and answer carefully.
I paid for a chip. You are sending a chip. Are you SURE that the chip in my ecu can be replaced OR do I need to send the ecu to you to be reflashed?
bmw-performance-ecu:
The chip/flash which I am sending to you is 28f200.
You have same 28f200 chip/flash inside your stock ecu!
The chip has 44 legs and it is soldered on the main board of the ecu!
My chip has 323i tuned soft inside and can be soldered in your stock ecu by replacing/desoldering your stock one!
Hope you understand me!
ME:
Yes. That is perfectly clear. Thanks. Look forward to receiving the chip and installing! Thanks!

 

[Mpower5266]

Thanks for the tips and didn't mean to hijack your thread.

The seller provides both services; sells chips and reflashes. The issue really is that his/her English ***** so when I ask a "or" question I get a "yes" answer. For what it's worth, he has good feedback on Ebay. Here's the exchange I had with the seller:

I would cancel that order and talk to some US based tuners. I see two outcomes; you brick your dme trying to put the chip in or you send the dme to him for him to flash it and it takes forever.

 

[jimgood]

I would cancel that order and talk to some US based tuners. I see two outcomes; you brick your dme trying to put the chip in or you send the dme to him for him to flash it and it takes forever.

Yep. Good advice. Thanks.

 

[Tyberius]

I hate laying under cars and after losing an acquaintance when his race car fell on him I like redundancy. So I have four jack stands, four wheel dollies, and a floor jack under it. I also have a spare floor jack and I won't get under it with out someone there.

I like some cribbing under there in addition. Spare tire or winter or summer wheels depending on the season. Plus blocks if the body is high enough.

 

[Mpower5266]

I finished the m3 tonight, it drives great and shifts great.



Now I need to finish the Jeep, and start on the 02.


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[Boosted1]

Looks good. Nice pic.

 

[Mpower5266]

Looks good. Nice pic.

Thanks man. Tonight my gf had to work late so I played in the shop a little.

I finally figured out what to do with the free harbor freight magnet strips, I'll grab a few more next time they are free.



Then I messed with pressure washer placement, I think this position by the door should work great.



Since I finally moved my pry bars, I cleaned up my tool box and set up my spare laptop. No more watching diy videos on my phone.



After that the shop looked too clean so I started to refinish my second shop seat, it will match the one next to it.




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[ftaffy]

Looks great, hopefully your shed laptop is better then mine which not all the keys work!

 

[Mpower5266]

Looks great, hopefully your shed laptop is better then mine which not all the keys work!

Its actually fairly nice, my parents just had it as a spare and they didnt need it anymore. I need to come up with a cover for it so the dust doesnt tear it up.

 

[Mpower5266]

Got to try out my pressure washer placement today and it worked great, so foamy.





My quick release on the gun didn't work well at all though, I need to rethink that.


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[Mpower5266]

I didnt get a ton done this weekend since I had to work Saturday but I did get the Jeep put back together. While I was in there I swapped out one of the cig lighters with a usb port.

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

I also played around with the J10 a little, and drove it around my parents yard. It seems to have so vac issues that cause it to stall and a parasitic draw on the battery. Ill dig in a little more in the following weeks.

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

And finally I ended the weekend by wall mounting a surge protector near my shop computer.

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

 

[JustinS]

I haven't checked in on this thread in awhile, loving the updates

 

[Mpower5266]

I hit a few estate sales this morning and picked up another vise to restore and an old Pam clock that I will probably put in the hanger.







And I also picked up some led bulbs to use in the clock.





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[Mpower5266]

Not much of an update but my Jeep crapped out again. I have been trying to narrow down why I have a misfire code(p0305) and last night I finally tracked it down. After plugs, coils, compression test, and every valve and fuel system cleaner on the planet, a leak down test finally determined my issue. 40psi into cylinder 5 and the coolant in my reservoir to bubble, so I guess the heads are coming off this weekend.

 

[Purist]

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Man, I love this E30-themed artwork. Very cool!

 

[Tonellin]

Just randomly clicked on this thread...awesome J10!

 

[Mpower5266]

I cannot stand people that half *** work. Long story short I have had a cylinder 5 misfire since I bought my Jeep and I have tracked it down to a bad head gasket. As I was pulling the drivers side head off I noticed that someone has had it off before.

Pile of parts.



.

Drivers side head off.



So why do I bring up that someone half assed something?



At some point a valve seat fell out on the cylinder behind 5. Some one took the head off, replaced ONE valve seat, and put the heads back on and didn't bother to properly torque everything which in turn caused the head gasket to fail.



Here she is until Saturday, I have two overhauled heads on the way.



I wish you had to log repairs like you do on airplanes, I would like to smack the **** out of who ever did this.



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[Scott0023]

Did they reuse the piston? Photos?

I'm with you. I had a "buddy" sell me a head that had been reworked by "a great machine shop" friend. Two Nutserts driven in too far and cracked the casting. Pretty obvious to me after looking at it for 1-2 minutes. The guy who did the machine work had to have known he broke it.

Sad state of craftsmanship with some people.

Scott

 

[Mpower5266]

Did they reuse the piston? Photos?

I'm with you. I had a "buddy" sell me a head that had been reworked by "a great machine shop" friend. Two Nutserts driven in too far and cracked the casting. Pretty obvious to me after looking at it for 1-2 minutes. The guy who did the machine work had to have known he broke it.

Sad state of craftsmanship with some people.

Scott

The piston and the cylinders look great. I don't understand how it could have that much damage and not destroy the piston.


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[Scott0023]

The piston and the cylinders look great. I don't understand how it could have that much damage and not destroy the piston.


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New piston. Not the right way to fix it but you already knew that.

 

[Mpower5266]

New piston. Not the right way to fix it but you already knew that.

Someone might have beat me to that. All the cylinders look brand new.


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[Mpower5266]

Since I'm off all week my dad and I started on the wag.









The previous owner said it "had a slight knock." When we got the heads off one cylinder was rusted and the piston was stuck. When we rolled the engine over there were only two bolts holding the oil pan on and all the main bolts were threaded in finger tight. It looks like we need a crate motor.

I also finally got my Jeep out on a trail.







I'm hoping to get some work done in my shop this week, so stay tuned.


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[Jawn]

Where's the trail? If I can get my Nissan 720 running again, that looks like the kind of place I'd take it.

 

[Mpower5266]

Where's the trail? If I can get my Nissan 720 running again, that looks like the kind of place I'd take it.

Trey mountain, kinda near Helen.


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[Mpower5266]

So we found a machine shop here in town, this morning we dropped the engine off.





Then I mounted my aux lights.







It the process of cutting the steel for my brackets, this happened.





I have no idea what happened but a piece of plastic hit my safety glasses. They were brand new and actually scratched them. I am so happy I had them on.



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[Purist]

So we found a machine shop here in town, this morning we dropped the engine off.

I have no idea what happened but a piece of plastic hit my safety glasses. They were brand new and actually scratched them. I am so happy I had them on.

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Smart man, safety first!!

 

[slik560]

Wow. Safety first indeed. Time to treat yourself to a new recip-saw. I'd recommend DeWalt or Makita....unless that's what you had.

 

[Mpower5266]

Wow. Safety first indeed. Time to treat yourself to a new recip-saw. I'd recommend DeWalt or Makita....unless that's what you had.

I have a Makita, but this was my dads old saw. Maybe I will get one for him, Christmas is coming up.

 

[Mpower5266]

I havent done too much in my shop except move the mess around in an attempt to organize. We did get a call last night that the engine was ready at the machine shop so my dad and I will pick it up tonight. We also got started on prepping the engine bay for paint.

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

The plan is to paint the bay, install the engine, change fluids, tires, brakes, etc etc, and enjoy it before repainting the whole vehicles.

I also celebrated the engine being finished with a wagoneer themed beer, or two....... or four.

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

 

[Mpower5266]

Played with the wag a little more over christmas. I really hope this all goes back together.

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

Fresh heads back from the machine shop.

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

Pistons installed.

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

Buttoned up.

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

And a extra shot of the interior, which my gf calls the "beach house basement."

Untitled by mpower5266, on Flickr

 

[madoc1]

looking good! are you doing this in your basement or at your dad's?

jim

 

[Mpower5266]

looking good! are you doing this in your basement or at your dad's?

jim

Its too big to fit into my basement.

 

[Bustedwheel]

I have a dehumidifier right between the washer and the sink draining into the sump pump.

Also funny you should mention the box fan. I was painting tonight and did this to knock down on over spray.

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I see you seem to do a lot of painting in the Basement. How well does set up work? Does it cut down the fumes or not? My guess is this setup with a vent outside would be necessary for that.

 

[Mpower5266]

I see you seem to do a lot of painting in the Basement. How well does set up work? Does it cut down the fumes or not? My guess is this setup with a vent outside would be necessary for that.

I rarely paint in my basement now, if I do its quick and small and I open all the windows and doors. My dads basement has a vent fan and we have set up a little paint booth before with plastic sheeting and 1x1's. I am doing less and less in my basement because I dont have sheet rock on the ceiling.

 

[Growlertdi]

Great thread, do you still ahve the Maroon 2002? it was looking quite nice.