Page 26 of 43

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 5:05 am
by sharkfan
M635CSi passed her MoT yesterday on Friday the 13th.... :mrgreen:

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 9:32 pm
by GazM3
Nice one there. The mot in the uk is pretty strict I here.

I Had abit of productive time on the e24 after some hiatus in the past week or so.

Installed the recently acquired Motorsport downunder exhaust. Twin 2” all the way with nice mandrel bends, no drone. Also had a bit of a brainwave to temp fix my rich condition was to bring the fuel mix to the range I need rather than mechanically. Worked out that a e85/ Ron98 mix 50/50 would bring my mixtures into range. Filled it up, held my breath and hey presto like magic it’s running perfect. Prob ss good as it’s ever run. Must be the inherent intake cooling effect or the way the ecu reads the mix feeds in more timing. Mix in the high 12’s on Wot (rather than 10’s) and high 14’s on cruise/light throttle. I feel I got my car back now.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 8:56 pm
by OnTheFritz
Saturday I went to a meet where I parked next to a pair of E28s! I was beginning to think I was the only classic BMW driving around, since I hardly even see E30s with any frequency. Image

Sunday I changed the oil almost 3000 miles on the dot. I put5oz of Seafoam in with the oil about 150 miles before I changed the oil to see if there was any sludge or carbon that would be broken up. The oil didn't look abnormally dirty after use, but I did notice the valves got a bit quieter after I used it, which was surprising. I started using Valvoline VR1 20w-50 at the last change, and continued that trend this time. However, I also added some Lucas oil stabilizer to further hush the normal valve ticking and to add some protection for cold start-ups (which this poor engine sees a lot of). Soon I will be performing a Seafoam spray treatment that goes through the intake side to break up any carbon in the intake manifold and valve seats.

I also picked up a fine-spline M-tech 1 steering wheel from a salvage yard E30 for quite a paltry price! \:D/ Though it didn't have the striped M piece at the bottom of the middle spoke, the leather is clean, untorn, and smooth/shiny all around. The center piece is dusty, but that's a super easy fix. I picked up a cruise control module from the same car, and will hopefully be installing that once my semester is over. I'll test my airbag while I have the wheel off, since that seems like a reasonable thing to do. That would be a great excuse to make the switch :-k

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 12:30 am
by GazM3
Looking good.


Just getting some Michelin ps4 tyres installed today. I have them on 2 other cars they are really good for the price. Finally some grip on the old e24. Also ordered some ferodo ds2500 pads. It feels good to have some activity on the 6 again

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:53 am
by OnTheFritz
Gaz, if I may ask, what wheels are you putting those on, and what size are the tires? I'm running a stock 15x7in setup ATM and I'd like to fit 225s instead of the 205s currently installed, but I can't hardly find any tires in this weird size anymore. As much as I hear larger wheels can somewhat kill the driving dynamics of this car, I can understand why it's so popular: Finding tires isn't nearly this big of a headache. And I still have at least another year or so of life on my tires! #-o

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 6:48 am
by GazM3
17x9 and 17x10

All the bushes in the front are upgraded powerflex and the steering bracket is done. Also have front and rear bars that keep the alignment in check. It’s prob the best steering car I have esp with the fast m635csi rack

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 7:47 am
by ron
GazM3 wrote: Tue Apr 17, 2018 6:48 am ....with the fast m635csi rack
????

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 6:58 pm
by GazM3
Sorry Ron fast rack compared to e23

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2018 1:30 pm
by GazM3
Took part of the day off work to sort a few more things. Installed the wideband with a/f gauge, repaired my heater solenoid (dodgy earth) and fitted a nice little Dakota digital tachometer corrector.

If you have to correct a low (or high) reading tachometer this is what u need. Can just put a correction factor in and away u go. Easy to wire just break into the tachometer wire give it power and earth and all good.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2018 8:47 pm
by sharkfan
Fitted the Fritz Bitz exhaust system from the downpipes back. I can confirm that putting the system on takes approximately one fifth of the time it takes to get the old bastard off.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 1:18 am
by GazM3
How does it sound ?

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 10:28 am
by sharkfan
Haven't been out on the road as it was late but it sounds ok - a bit raspy I suppose but I'm not really raving about it. I bought it as a cost effective and easy to fit replacement exhaust system, not as a performance element, whether real or imagininary.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2018 11:44 am
by GazM3
Exhausts do quieten slightly when they have done a few miles.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 7:45 am
by masonjones
I scored a set of Recaros and rears in great condition a few weeks ago and finally had a chance to put them all in this weekend. I had a set of seats scrounged from an Infinity in the car "temporarily" for the last 3 years. The original sport seats have been out of the car waiting for me to have time to finish fixing the gearbox and do something about the leather. The drivers has the always entertaining spontaneous recline feature. I have a replacement gearbox I just haven't had time...well you know how it goes...and then these came along!
IMAG0291.jpg
IMAG0291.jpg (536.35 KiB) Viewed 12097 times
The original rears have been toast since I got the car so this is a beautiful sight!
IMAG0293.jpg
IMAG0293.jpg (462.32 KiB) Viewed 12097 times

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 6:41 pm
by songzunhuang
masonjones wrote: Mon Apr 23, 2018 7:45 am I scored a set of Recaros and rears in great condition a few weeks ago and finally had a chance to put them all in this weekend. I had a set of seats scrounged from an Infinity in the car "temporarily" for the last 3 years. The original sport seats have been out of the car waiting for me to have time to finish fixing the gearbox and do something about the leather. The drivers has the always entertaining spontaneous recline feature. I have a replacement gearbox I just haven't had time...well you know how it goes...and then these came along!

IMAG0291.jpg

The original rears have been toast since I got the car so this is a beautiful sight!

IMAG0293.jpg
Wow, those look awesome. Your bottom will be very happy.
Maybe one day I'll happen across something like that.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 9:06 pm
by masonjones
Wow, those look awesome. Your bottom will be very happy.
Maybe one day I'll happen across something like that.
Thanks, yeah I'm pretty excited. They weren't cheap but it was a good price I think considering the great condition of the leather.

I'd read that the Recaros are narrow and they really are. I'm about 160 and I just fit. It's hard to imagine being much bigger and still fitting in them. The sport seats are much roomier.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2018 11:44 am
by sansouci
I looked longingly at my Garage Queen and the mid-30's temp and hope it warms up soon. I've got some "flat on my back" work to do: diff mount, holey muff and busted pitman arm to attend to.
--Ken

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2018 8:39 pm
by sharkfan
Did a run around of the 635CSi today in advance of its MoT tomorrow morning; I've recently replaced the exhaust, several bulbs, the brake accumulator, and some other bits, and today I had the 36 year old AC successfully re-charged... and then I went back in underneath the car to tighten the compressor belt... and the power steering and alternator belts.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 1:54 pm
by sharkfan
1982 635CSi MoT passed :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 11:05 am
by DRPM635CSi
Replaced a leaking sump gasket & oil pressure switch that were making a mess of the garage floor. Semi-permanently installed a CTEK MXS 3.8 battery charger and leads to the battery in the boot for easy convenient connection to a power socket on the wall nearby when parked in garage.

Also took opportunity to do an oil/filter change since the sump was coming off anyway. I've experimented a fair bit here over the years without much success. First everyone was saying Shell Helix was the way to go. No it wasn't, the oil turned jet black as soon as it came in contact with unleaded petrol. Then everyone was saying Mobil 1, except that in Australia the only grades of Mobil 1 available without searching the ends of the Earth are 0W-sumthin & 5W-sumthin. This caused wicked chain tensioner rattle at startup as the oil was way too thin to hold pressure in the hydraulic chain tensioner when stopped.

Then my mechanic recommended Agip 20W-40, which worked far better than either the Shell or Helix options, but unfortunately it is only available down here to wholesale customers (workshops) and can't be bought at the retail level, so doing changes myself was out, as was being able to buy small quantities for top-up. Not very convenient. The Agip was however a semi-synthetic/mineral base oil as opposed to the full-house chemistry lab experiment extra virgin olive-oil based stuff Shell + Mobil were serving up.

This time, the mechanic doing the sump gasket wanted to put Mobil 1 back in again, but not wanting to return to the tensioner chain rattle days, I said no, and did something totally radical and completely off the reservation, batshit crazy this time. I opened the owner's manual for the car and read page 4-10/4-11. I know! Freaky huh? It says (paraphrasing) synthetic ols are not approved and I need a mineral oil only at 15W-40 viscosity.

Now mineral 15W-40 is not normally that easy to find down here in the past, but then I went completely bonkers and found this. ZDDP of 1100ppmm, mineral, 15W-40. Holy cow it ticks all the boxes! Cheap too. $30/5 litres.

When I took two bottles of Penrite to my mechanic to pour in, he looked at me like I was completely loony bin material insane. Then I opened the owner's manual (he's a real stickler for doing things according to BMW recommendations) and he couldn't argue. The oil is exactly what BMW recommends, just the name on the bottle is wrong. If I'd had the time to investigate it properly, I probably would have been better off going for this one instead as it comes in a 6 litre bottle, which is perfect for the M30 engine 5.75 litre change capacity. I'll use that next time providing I can find it for sale somewhere.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2018 11:35 am
by GazM3
If u are in Aussie land consider using Penrite 10/10ths racing 10w60. 40w is too thin for our engines. Looks like u got some stuff sorted.

I just done brakes today used some ferodo ds2500 pads and machined the disks. Got a nice weekend trip tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2018 12:43 am
by DRPM635CSi
GazM3 wrote: Fri Apr 27, 2018 11:35 am If u are in Aussie land consider using Penrite 10/10ths racing 10w60. 40w is too thin for our engines. Looks like u got some stuff sorted.
I don't disagree with you. It would be fair to say the owner's manual recommendation for the M88/3 would be a very European-centric one designed for that climate as opposed to the climate in a country where that motor was never sold in any form (M3, M5, M6 or ZA 745i). Based on that, I would think a 15W-50 or 20W-50 might be more appropriate in Perth especially in summer. That said, heading into winter as we are now, I don't think the 15W-40 in there now is going to risk anything.

I saw the recommendations for the 10/10ths Racing version oil, but that just seems too extreme a variation away from the manufacturer specs for me. My car isn't a track modded rat and isn't driven even fleetingly on a track at all. It isn't modified and I'm not looking for it to be in the future either. I also question the specs quoted for it when they say in the description it has 2200+ppm Zn (way too high to be good for any engine - more is not endlessly better, there is an upper limit for engine health) and then the specs say it's actually 1680ppm. So which is it? They don't seem able to agree with themselves.

The other problem I have with so-called 'Racing' oils is that typically they contain very little in the way of detergents because that isn't necessary at all in a racing application. The act of racing itself keeps things clean. I need an oil with detergents. It will be idling a lot with the numbers of traffic lights we have here. The other thing I had against it was that it's a full synthetic oil where my manual very specifically warns against use of synthetic oils to the point of actually saying they're not approved for use at all. I've tried Mobil 1 full synthetic before and it instantly turned the engine into a rattling noisy bucket of bolts. I have no wish to go back there again and especially not at the price of a full synthetic oil.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2018 10:02 am
by GazM3
Oil is a subject where there is lots of different advise. My engine seems to like it and runs quiet on it. Thanks for reply.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2018 10:40 am
by DRPM635CSi
GazM3 wrote: Sun Apr 29, 2018 10:02 am Oil is a subject where there is lots of different advise.
Hahaha yeah, you're not wrong! I reckon there's more BS about oil from online 'forum experts' than you'd find in a golfing store about which driver will improve your swing and make you a better golfer! I've just got back from my local store here with the biggest range of Penrite oils. I went down there to see if they had the product called Vantage Mineral 15W-40 which comes in a 6 litre bottle instead of 5 litre, which would be perfect for doing oil changes on the M30 engines with their 5.75 capacity. They didn't have it, but while asking I got dragged into a face to face discussion about 'best oil' right there. The store owner to his credit didn't try to sell me the most expensive $100/bottle brand of Mobil 1 stuff he had. Quite the opposite actually. He was rather unflattering to his regular customers who come in and demand these ridiculously expensive oils every 6 months. He doesn't mind selling them what they want, but his opinion is it's just money down the drain for no reason. He was telling me the only thing you need to be careful of are some diesels with particulate filters that have some special requirements which can damage the engine if you use the wrong oil and rotaries need mineral oil only, but for basically everything else out there, you can just choose any oil with the right specs on the back of the bottle and you'll be fine. Mineral or Synthetic doesn't matter a toss as long as you aren't lazy and don't stretch the change intervals too far.

Of far more consideration than anything else for what to buy should be price. Why pay double or triple the amount for the same quantity of oil when the mineral version will do just as well? That said, he also stocks the very expensive Castrols and Mobils etc. and is happy to sell them to the 'enthusiasts' who know more than he does and demand the very best as they see it, because he makes money from them. As he says though, ultimately, there are only 3 companies in the entire world sucking oil out of the Earth and from that they make 800 different engine oils all with different stickers on the bottles. If you believe there isn't a huge helping of marking bumpf in all of that, then you probably need a reality check.

Re: What did you do to your E24 today?

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2018 6:04 am
by Masked Man
Today Grace FINALLY, came home. Tomorrow I begin re-assembling the bits that need to go back on. Passenger's side seat, lower dashboard pieces, glove box and trim bits.

Updates in My Project but hey, this IS what I did with my E24 TODAY!!!! Yaaaaaaay!!!!

Keep the shiny side up

Phillip