The Bimmer Basement

[Mpower5266]

I’ve spent the past week or so reading your whole thread. Fantastic work, you have some real talent to detail with a rotary and do all the mechanical stuff! I’m another OG fan with an F80 and a couple BMW bikes, and I’m really thinking I need an F31 as a daily now....

Thanks and welcome to the craziness. I'm honestly not too sure of my mechanical ability right now.

I received my new coil pack and installed it last night but more on that later. When the car first has the issue, I moved the coil from cylinder 3 to cylinder 2, reset the codes, and ran the car. The misfire moved to cylinder 2, so I pulled that coil pack and that's when I noticed it had melted. I figured that was the issue, so I ordered a new coil and installed it in cylinder 2 last night. I started the car and...................cylinder 3 misfire?!?!?!?!

I pulled the former cylinder 2 coil pack, that was moved to cylinder 3 during the trouble shooting process and guess what.........




Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Yep..... cylinder 3 popped another coil. I never actually pulled the plugs during the trouble shooting process so I pulled one. It doesn't look terrible but it wouldn't hurt to put in new plugs.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I'm not sure if a bad plug could cause this or not, but a new coil and 6 plugs is cheaper than a new ECU so I am going that route first. I have a feeling this is going to be a process.

 

[Ronin22]

Damn you E36, stop acting out already

I'm not sure if a bad plug could cause this or not, but a new coil and 6 plugs is cheaper than a new ECU so I am going that route first. I have a feeling this is going to be a process.

This kind of thing, usually is. All I can say is... try to enjoy the process. Spending unnecessary money, and fixing something that shouldn't be broken, is still garage time, and wrenching time; and that's better than what some of us get to do

 

[Mpower5266]

Damn you E36, stop acting out already


This kind of thing, usually is. All I can say is... try to enjoy the process. Spending unnecessary money, and fixing something that shouldn't be broken, is still garage time, and wrenching time; and that's better than what some of us get to do

That is a damn good outlook. I have been pretty upset about some stuff lately but your comment helped out. Ill give it a shot.

 

[Ronin22]

That is a damn good outlook. I have been pretty upset about some stuff lately but your comment helped out. Ill give it a shot.

Look at it this way. I don't have a garage, and I share a Corolla with my wife, lol!
I'll get my own garage and project car eventually, it'll be sooner than later (I hope, for my mental sanity lol!). So any wrench time I can get, even if it is the most boring or tedious job, I'm thankful!

 

[Purist]

Damn you E36, stop acting out already


This kind of thing, usually is. All I can say is... try to enjoy the process. Spending unnecessary money, and fixing something that shouldn't be broken, is still garage time, and wrenching time; and that's better than what some of us get to do

That is a damn good outlook. I have been pretty upset about some stuff lately but your comment helped out. Ill give it a shot.

Damn, that IS an awesome outlook. I need to take this mindset more often in my daily life, even if it doesn't involve garage-time.

 

[Hugo L.]

This thread has some serious BMW **** contents.

 

[Mpower5266]

This thread has some serious BMW **** contents.

Its the annual Hugo sighting..... does this mean 4 more weeks of summer?

 

[Mpower5266]

Well I got the new coil and plugs for the M3, put it all together and same issue. I spoke with the ECU repair guy and he said that. "a bad ECU cant cause a coil to melt, but a short could. The melted coil could fry an ECU though." So I am looking for a short. Since I already had the plugs I decided to go ahead and put them in, and while doing so I remembered one of the most handy tricks my dad taught me.

I always put the plug in to the cylinder with a piece of vacuum line.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

You can lower the plug into the hole, turn it a few times and get a few threads to start. At that point just pull it a little and it pops off the plug. The finish the job with your socket wrench.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Anyways I was a little frustrated with the m3 so I played with the wagon a little. I felt like the rear wheels were sunk into the fenders a little so I tossed on some 15mm spacers I had laying around.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

They are definitely flush now, but they have a very slight rub on the fender liner on big bumps. Its not hitting the paint so I may leave them, but I am kinda leaning toward 12mm spacers.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

 

[Ronin22]

Good tip for the spark plugs, thanx!
Touring is looking awesone with the spacers!

 

[pbon]

Interesting on the E36M3 coil. I have never seen a picture like that before and I have had my 99M3 for 14 years and have followed the E36 forums since then. But replacing 20+ year old coils is a very reasonable thing to do. I replaced all mine as preventative maintenance.

 

[Mpower5266]

I pulled the ECU and got it ready to send off, but while filling out to paperwork I saw they wanted the EWS box and key. So I will pull the EWS box tonight and send them all off tomorrow. I inspected all the wiring and did not see any shorts or bad wires, so Im not sure if the ECU is going to be the cause/cure to the issue.

Anyway, I had a cold and the weather sucked all weekend so I didnt do too much. I did go out to my parents house to code some things on my moms wagon with my Carly unit. While I was there, I snapped a pic of the two wagons together.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

 

[Ronin22]

Don't tell your mom, but your car is way cooler than hers hehe

 

[Mpower5266]

Don't tell your mom, but your car is way cooler than hers hehe

I don't know, that car is sweet. I need to get some wheels for her and maybe drop it a little.

 

[Fuzzy]

Jeez, the F31 looks as long as my E61.

Love the low profile roof racks compared to the E61/91, but that front bumper ruins it.

 

[Mpower5266]

Jeez, the F31 looks as long as my E61.

Love the low profile roof racks compared to the E61/91, but that front bumper ruins it.

I would love to put some M-tech bumpers on it but my mom is in her 60s. She loves the car but wouldnt care about the bumpers and I am 100% sure she would curb the bumper at the nail salon.

 

[TX4runner]

My only issue with E9x sedan and wagons is that the top of the kidney grill is on the hood. I don't like them broken apart like that.

 

[Mpower5266]

My only issue with E9x sedan and wagons is that the top of the kidney grill is on the hood. I don't like them broken apart like that.

I feel the same way and I was looking for an LCI car that doesn't have the split kidneys but this thing was so clean and the miles were low. I think the black helps, the chrome ones looked like lips.

 

[Kevin509]

Well... I think I'm going to follow in the footsteps of about 20 other people over the last ~75 pages and say "Longtime lurker, had to post just to say I LOVE your garage/bimmers/detailing/photos/prose/life." haha

I stumbled upon this thread last week at work and have just finished reading it front to back! I'm super impressed but it almost feels like when you finally catch up to the current season of that show you've been binge-watching, now I have to wait for your updates in "real time" and I don't know if I can! Keep up the great work.

 

[Arclitgold]

I’d love to know your detailing regimen. What products are you using for polishing, etc? I know you’ve mentioned beadmaker.

Are you also on Autogeek?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mpower5266]

Well... I think I'm going to follow in the footsteps of about 20 other people over the last ~75 pages and say "Longtime lurker, had to post just to say I LOVE your garage/bimmers/detailing/photos/prose/life." haha

I stumbled upon this thread last week at work and have just finished reading it front to back! I'm super impressed but it almost feels like when you finally catch up to the current season of that show you've been binge-watching, now I have to wait for your updates in "real time" and I don't know if I can! Keep up the great work.

Well thank you, I am humbled and I will try to keep the updates coming.

I’d love to know your detailing regimen. What products are you using for polishing, etc? I know you’ve mentioned beadmaker.

Are you also on Autogeek?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am honestly not very happy with my current set up. I did the wagon with megs polish and compound for DAs, megs microfiber and lake county finishing pads. The current machine is an old Porter Cable. I didn't quite get the correction I wanted. The wife's Tahoe needs a detail badly so I am going to pick up a Rupes polisher and some different chemicals to try out..... That, or just go back to the old school way and bust out the 3m chemicals and my Dewalt. Its messy but I can run that machine with my eyes closed.

I am on the autogeek fb group and forum but I rarely get on it.

 

[Mpower5266]

Boring e9 update. We have most of the wood fixed and stained. I only took one pic, but you get the idea.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We also recovered some of the trim panels.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We also cleaned the window regulators and made some adjustments. Apparently the windows were missing some parts so we ordered some stupid expensive springs from Germany.... Seriously this thing is killing me.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We also ordered a new headliner and removed the old one. The headliner in the car was actually in pretty good shape except someone cut a square out of it.....no clue..


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I hope to have some more meaningful updates soon.

 

[Ronin22]

"Boring" updates > No updates


Nice to see progress on this gem!

 

[M-technik-3]

Are you aware of the http://www.coupeking.com/ They are one of the goto's for E9's.

 

[Mpower5266]

Are you aware of the http://www.coupeking.com/ They are one of the goto's for E9's.

We have gotten a few things from them, they are very helpful.


I took my first road trip in the wagon and for the most part it performed great. That being said, I had a lot of rub in the rear with the back loaded down and even a little on the front. I have ordered smaller spacers for the rear and I might have to have a little camber put in the front. Here is its in front of our beach house in North Myrtle.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Thankfully we got out of town before any weather issues, we will see what this week has in store for our beach shack. Its well insured so I almost hope it gets knocked down.

As for the wagon, I think I am going to drive it to Oktoberfest in Greer Sc for the CCA event. I was leaning towards the M3 but the wagon is so comfortable. I'm hoping that if I knock the rear spacers down to 12mm from 15mm it will fix the rub in the rear. The front rub was on a massive dip in the road, there really wasnt anything I could do for that.

 

[Mpower5266]

So the M3 saga continues. I sent the computer off, and I also needed to send the EWS box. My poor car looks like this right now.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I should have the parts back this weekend, they tested my ecu and found a fault that could cause my issue. In the mean time, I got some work done on the E9 visors.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

They cleaned up nicely. I love this P&S cleaner.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

It took very little effort to clean them, as you can see in this video.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

My dad also made a speaker mount for the E9 dash.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

It only had one old paper 6x9(I think) in the dash. I will not modify the interior, or cut any door panels to add speakers so this will be all it has.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

 

[Mpower5266]

I hardwired my radar detector last night. After a run in with a South Carolina Trooper and thankfully a warning because, "welp you are from Jawja and we just dropped the speed down here a week or so ago......" I decided a radar detector was cheaper than one ticket. I ran stuff the wire into the front of the headliner, and down the A pillar and into the fuse panel area.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I used my test light to check which unused fuses came on when I pressed the start button and on my wagon this one seemed to be the winner. I did insert the fuse all way before buttoning it.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And all buttoned up with hardly a wire in sight.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And the finished product.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I may order a Blend mount that will actually mount the detector to the mirror but so far I am happy with it.

 

[Mpower5266]

Small update, not to leave well enough alone we weren't 100% happy with the trim. So my dad stripped the veneer and re-stained.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I think they are good now.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Who am I kidding, I'm sure we will do them again.....

Also, the headliner material showed up so we will work on that this weekend I'm sure.

 

[Ronin22]

Who am I kidding, I'm sure we will do them again.....

They look great! Personally, not so sure about the color, I'll give my final opinion once they are in the car

 

[Mpower5266]

They look great! Personally, not so sure about the color, I'll give my final opinion once they are in the car

I'm not a huge fan but its close to the original color. I wanted to go nuts with some cocobolo or something but stock is probably best.

 

[kwyjibo]

Nice updates!
In case you don't know, be careful with the visors. That stupid plastic mount at the hinge is a weak point and is NLA. Some people find this out when they try to swing it out and it ends up on their lap.

 

[Mpower5266]

Nice updates!
In case you don't know, be careful with the visors. That stupid plastic mount at the hinge is a weak point and is NLA. Some people find this out when they try to swing it out and it ends up on their lap.

Thanks for the advice, I pretty much treat everything on this car like its NLA. If it is available...... its expensive.

I honestly think for what we have in this thing as it sits, we could have fully restored the white 74 02.

 

[Mpower5266]

Got a few more trim pieces stained. I think we are good now.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

But the gauge cluster wasn't looking so hot we stripped it again. We may need to send this piece to a pro.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

I also went out to the hanger to check on the 02 last night. I took it out to the hanger back in July before I left for Oshkosh, so that I could park the wagon in my garage while I was gone. A few weeks ago I planned on swapping the M3 out with the 02 so I could drive it to work but the M3 developed its misfire. Basically the 02 had not been touched in few months and I may drive it to a show tomorrow morning so I wanted to go start it. I opened the door, hopped in the car, floored it to set the choke and turned the key...... it took a little longer than normal but she cranked right up. I love this little car.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

While I was out at the airport, I took advantage of the lighting and a well placed jet....

IMG_7431 by Nick Wood, on Flickr

IMG_7443 by Nick Wood, on Flickr

IMG_7448 by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Sorry for all the E91 spam, I just freaking love this thing.

 

[kwyjibo]

Nice photos! I still miss our white e91. But, the good news is that my wife has given me the go ahead to find a e46 wagon after she saw a LS blue e46 'M3' touring last weekend.

 

[Mpower5266]

Nice photos! I still miss our white e91. But, the good news is that my wife has given me the go ahead to find a e46 wagon after she saw a LS blue e46 'M3' touring last weekend.

Sweet, what are the plans for it when you get it? I was bored last night and started looking at e90 M3's and noticed they weren't too much more that what I could sell the wagon for....but the wagon is bullet proof and gets better mileage. I need to stay off the internet.

 

[Ronin22]

Yesterday I was on my usual poopstagram browse, I don't recall through what hashtag I got to an old photo of yours, but I did and it raised a doubt.

I must have missed it for sure, but, what happened to the basement part of your garage, where you used to store/work on your cars before your actual garage? I know they are connected to one another, but I don't know if you are still using it as a garage/workshop.

 

[Mpower5266]

Yesterday I was on my usual poopstagram browse, I don't recall through what hashtag I got to an old photo of yours, but I did and it raised a doubt.

I must have missed it for sure, but, what happened to the basement part of your garage, where you used to store/work on your cars before your actual garage? I know they are connected to one another, but I don't know if you are still using it as a garage/workshop.

The white 02 is still stored in there but its mostly my wife's antiques at this point.

 

[Ronin22]

The white 02 is still stored in there but its mostly my wife's antiques at this point.

 

[Mpower5266]

A few more pics of the e9 wood after the final coat of poly. I think they are done.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Quick test fit to make sure the main dash piece doesn't interfere with the speakers.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Then started gluing the headliner in.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

More updates soon.

 

[kwyjibo]

Sweet, what are the plans for it when you get it? I was bored last night and started looking at e90 M3's and noticed they weren't too much more that what I could sell the wagon for....but the wagon is bullet proof and gets better mileage. I need to stay off the internet.

e46 wagon would take the place of the 325ix as a daily driver. The e30 has over 200k on it and since it'll soon have some of the bigger maintenance items taken care of, it might be a good time to sell it.

The dash and headliner are looking good. Keep going!

 

[pbon]

E90M3 is a great car and an excellent value today. I have had mine for 8 of its 11 years and 70k of its 100k miles. MPG is not good but it’s not meant to be an economy car. I drive mine year round including winter.