What did you do to your E24 today?

[brtele]

Replaced the fan clutch with a new Sachs unit. Might be one of the easiest/straightforward repairs I've ever done. No more minor temp rises at red lights.

[wattsmonkey]

Me? Not as much as Brucey and Steve! Front wings and bonnet fitted to the M. Much excitement in the Watts garage.

Thank you, both. MoT Easter is the plan, followed by much banshee howling from all six throttle bodies!

[olympia57]

Well done Rob , look forward to seeing your M6 on the road.

The appearance of a large bright yellow disc in the sky prompted me to start it for the first time since early November and move it outside of the garage . A thorough dusting down and a good all over polish brought some enjoyment after several very bleak dour months over here .
Checked new crackle finish cam cover for leaks and all is well.
Cold running has been much bettered after the fitting of numerous new vacuum hoses but whilst checking the chassis I found a broken weld on an exhaust hanger .
Will re-weld it one evening this week.

[captpkelly]

Today I rebuilt the axle half-shafts. Yesterday I Stripped the interior out. She goes off to paint later this week, after subframes come back from powder coating. Getting excited!!!

[pgh880]

Hi ,

My car developed a no start situation , 2 weeks ago. The mechanic came and the diagnosis was a faulty crankshaft sensor. The last time I had this replaced was 9-10 years ago. Ordered a pair ,the FAE Brand from Pelican Parts ($36 ea. ) . My mechanic replaced both Speed sensor & Crankshaft this morning. Car started at once. Tested the car the whole day , the car starts at once.

Pgh880

[sharkfan]

Using my E24 as a daily driver after driving an E26 for a friend.

[GRNSHRK]

Do tell Sharkfan

At least a pic or 2

[David Muench]

Took the car for an M.O.T and was delighted with a pass and no advisories. .
Now to get her taxed and were good to go for another 12 months.

David.

[Mark Shutt]

took the starter motor off and stripped it down and cleaned it, easier than I expected despite all the hype! just gotta fit the sucker back on!

[sharkfan]

Do tell Sharkfan

At least a pic of 2

It was an amazing opportunity and a real honour to be asked and trusted with such a fabulous machine.

A friend was invited to display it at the Show and being the other end of the Country and having his children at half-term was concerned over whom he could trust to drive it as it was part of the display where it was necessary to drive it during the show.

He asked me and, after first having kittens about the responsibility, we figured out all the details. I haven't driven the car on the road (thankfully) but just into the Venue and in the Venue; that, for me, was sufficient to get a very small feel of just how special the car is.





In itself, his car is in the very highest Concourse condition, a fact verified by my close proximity to the other cars at the show where very close scrutiny reveals all the smallest flaws. It has been recently fastidiously restored to OEM condition but is however owned by a true enthusiast rather than a wealthy investor as shown by the fact that he took me out in the very worst of British weather when I visited him last year and it started tipping it down; his reason was, 'It'll be a good chance to try out the new windscreen wiper'.

Unless my fortunes change or my lottery numbers come up I don't suspect I'll ever have a chance to own or perhaps even drive an M1 ever again so it was and will remain quite special to me.

To drive they are very easy; provided you are below 6' and have size 8 feet or less. I'm not and I don't. It's cosy in the cockpit but not claustrophobic. The controls have a reasonably standard period BMW feel for being a bespoke Motorsport production, and the owner has ensured everything is functioning perfectly. The dog-leg gearbox is sharp and precise and the pedals are not too compromised for what the car is, a true Supercar. The engine in the car has been discovered to be a very well documented blue-printed engine with significantly more power than standard, c330bhp compared to 277bhp, with only a slightly uneven cold idle to betray itself.

Anyone who has witnessed the M88 or S38 howl in various other motorcars will understand the silky smooth addiction of the higher rev ranges of the powerplant but being pushed along rather than pulled along in a car that is so much lighter and lower, with the engine centimetres from your heads, just turns the experience up to at least 12/10.

It's the BMW M1, arguably the only true special Supercar BMW have ever produced.

Edit: Here is the same car making my beautiful M635CSi look very fat and tall indeed.....





And for those that are interested here is the owners thread about the car....

http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/112475-my-e26/?page=1

[Brucey]

...To drive they are very easy; provided you are below 6' and have size 8 feet or less.....

the car is obviously designed for me.... why haven't I got one....?...

cheers

[baders]

That is just brilliant. Congrats to you, it must have been a wonderful experience and thanks for sharing. BTW, I think your M6 holds up just fine in comparison !

[Ralph in Socal]

Very nice story line to go with the pics sharkfan. Dream car for many (I've seen one) and there you were behind the wheel. Kittens!!


Ralph

[Roku35]

You old gal looks great! Love those seats.

I made time to pull out my Polaris 6er this weekend to stretch out her legs again. Good times!

[sharkfan]

Not today but a day ago I noticed the tyres on my hide-away-over-winter M635 were looking a little low so a pump up the tyres exercise turned into a check-over, an engine start and a brief run up and down and round and about for 20mins - it performed brilliantly so looking forward to the good weather in a month or so.

[LarryM]

Last weekend I made an 800 mile round-trip to the Bay Area and back to SoCal, to pick up a Getrag 265 tranny (thanks Sherman!) planned for my manual swap. I had hoped to do the pilgrimage in one day but only had 3 hours sleep the night before leaving, so I crashed at a Motel 6 on the way home. It was a long, boring slog up and down the I-5, but well worth the trouble. (I would've posted this earlier but this week I also helped a friend move an 800 lb. piano into his house and I've been in recovery mode.)

[olympia57]

Checked it was still there ..

[Ralph in Socal]

Checked it was still there ..

download/file.php?mode=view&id=22177

That is absolute DEDICATION!!


Ralph

[sansouci]

That is CRAZY! (and why is the antenna still up?)

[olympia57]

That is CRAZY! (and why is the antenna still up?)

Manual antenna ,fully extended it just clips the top of the Airchamber when driven in/out .
I always think the car looks better with the antenna up all the time so removed and stored the Hirschman auto that was on the car .
Don

[ron]

Unfortunately I can't see into mine. Hope it's still there!

[sharkfan]

Lucky thing; my 635CSi is my current daily driver It's now so old and with E24's so rarely seen that I always get let out at junctions and almost always get a nice comment when I've stopped

[Da_Hose]

I had water leakage onto the driver floorboard and had to figure out where it was coming from. A drive in the morning revealed water dripping down from above the pedals. A quick review of things shows that a PO tore the wiring harness grommet where it seals the wires (under the driver side hood grilles, at the base of the windshield). It seemed that the torn grommet, coupled with a missing rain deflector under the metal grille is probably allowing rain to run down the wire bundle and into the cabin.

I fashioned a simple, clear plastic shield and slid it under the plastic leaf protection grille piece. I will seal up the area with some kind of goop and either find the OEM plastics for under the grille, or just make something out of aluminum. We'll see about that later, but the rain ingress issue looks to be resolved.

Jose

[wattsmonkey]

Unfortunately I can't see into mine. Hope it's still there!

That is a sinister-looking M there Ron!

[Soperman]

Mother-in-law came to visit this morning, so I fled to the garage like a stabbed rat and found a few minor cosmetic issues with my M635 to fix whilst I was being talked about.

Under the bonnet, I applied fresh black Tesa fabric wiring loom tape to re-cover some sections on which the original wrap had become faded, flakey and ineffective.

The black heater/blower motor cover panel above the engine bulkhead had become a little dull and faded. I had a newly sprayed spare, to which I applied a new length of 25mm x 10mm Neoprene foam adhesive strip to the edge that sits under the windscreen base. Screwed into place, it has certainly gone some way to lifting the appearance of the engine bay.

Lastly, the vinyl "skin" on a rear parcel shelf storage box lid had begun to peel and lift. Having unscrewed the lid from its hinge, I then left it in a very warm airing cupboard for a few hours for the vinyl to become more pliable. I then applied adhesive and used some clamps to tightly hold everything together for a few minutes whilst the bond set. Reinstalled it looks as good as new.