84 633csi 5 spd

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captain awesome
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84 633csi 5 spd

Post by captain awesome »

I'm still reading through all the how to's and basic maintenance posts, but in the meantime I figure it's a good idea to track progress.

Just picked the car up yesterday from a local CL ad. It was listed as a 633cp with an automatic trans. When I requested more pics than the the three terrible ones listed in the ad, I was greeted with a sweet surprise. It's a 5 speed. Newly upholstered seats, and a somewhat fresh paint job.

Here's the pics she sent, and currently the only ones I have. By the time we got back in it was dark(thanks for nothing daylight savings).

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Post by captain awesome »

Here's the current list of things that need attention:

1. brake reservoir is empty (currently researching common issues)
2. e brake button is hidden in the handle (apparently common and I just need to slide the handle back down)
3. seats don't move on either side
4. most of the buttons no longer have markings so I have no clue the functions
5. dash looks like a Christmas tree and gauge plastic looks terrible
6. can't open trunk
7. shifter is sloppy, need new bushings or maybe get a short throw while I'm in there
8. shifter ball cover is falling apart need to research more
9. carpet on driver's door panel came unglued
10. antenna is missing but PO says it's probably in the trunk
11. rear bumper side trim is super wavy will probably need replaced
12. window tint is silly dark, must be removed
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IT'S HOME!

Post by captain awesome »

So when I got the car on Sunday we decided to just unload it off the trailer and leave it at the Father in Law's until I could get the brakes in working order. Last night I made a trip over to try and pump some new brake fluid and possibly figure out all these fancy switches, breakers, proper tire pressure, and maybe even get the e-brake handle back to it's normal position.

Brakes - CHECK

I think the bomb is toast, but at least there is some pedal now. Hoping the master cylinder is good for the time being.

Windows and seat switches - CHECK

Fancy breaker took care of that.

E-brake - CHECK

Rubber mallet and a few whacks later is all it took. Emergency braking can applied AND released easily.

As for the first test ride, it went well. Acceleration is nice and smooth. Shifting would be great if the bushings weren't so sloppy. Brakes are okay but clearly need improvement. Driver seat cushion doesn't really cushion. Overall though, I was happy to be driving down the road.

I pull back to the FIL and load the wife and kids in my 90 Montero to chase me home. The gas gauge says I'm low and I'm not going to argue with it, so we pull into the last gas station in town before the short drive to our house. For whatever reason I, nor the wife can find a way to open the stupid gas door. The trunk lock doesn't function, and supposedly if I could get in there, it allows access to the manual lock. No go. I tried prying the door open without damaging anything and decided I'd just take my chances and see if I could make the 10 minute drive home.

DUMB IDEA.

About 4 miles down the road the car begins to lose power, sputter, cough, and overall taunt me with my idiocy. I'm officially out of gas(I think). I roll to a stop on a dark highway with no real shoulder and the wife follows suit. Hazards work, so that's neat. I hammer the tank with a rubber mallet in hopes to make some miracle happen only to hear a completely empty shell of metal. My wife is probably ready to stab me at this point. It's dark, my kids are late to bed, and we can't get any gas in the car. After trying with all my might to make the trunk open, it's obvious there's no other option than to just rip open the fuel door and hope it just doesn't do any damage.

Much to my surprise it bends the locking mechanism slightly but rests back in the unlock state allowing me access. Yay! I can now put in gas. Unfortunately I have none on me, so a quick trip in to town to purchase gas can number 6 for the garden shed. With the wife holding a screwdriver pushing in the filler flap I slowly pour 2 or so gallons hoping that's truly the problem. The FIL is on standby with a trailer while I turn the key. Chugga chugga turns to a purring I6 and we are back in business.

Before the gas ran out I began to experience a shudder in the steering wheel when exiting turns, and as I got closer to home it was obvious something needed attention soon. A little light reading points me towards control arm bushings, so that's up on the list almost as high as getting the stupid trunk to open.
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Post by castironphil »

Great find! Looks like good bones there. Rock on!
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Post by castironphil »

I was probably typing as you were posting your gas tank story.
:-?

At least it was just gas! Not a fuel pump, ignition prob, etc. You're home!

My car has similar shakes, I'm quite sure it's bushings (and the fact that I drove mine home on snow tires...long story)

Again, fine car!
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Post by captain awesome »

castironphil wrote:Great find! Looks like good bones there. Rock on!
Agreed. It really just needs to catch up on maintenance more than anything especially in the electronics department.
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Post by captain awesome »

castironphil wrote:I was probably typing as you were posting your gas tank story.
:-?

At least it was just gas! Not a fuel pump, ignition prob, etc. You're home!

My car has similar shakes, I'm quite sure it's bushings (and the fact that I drove mine home on snow tires...long story)

Again, fine car!
The whole time I was trying to get the gas door open I was thinking it had to be something other than running out of gas. I couldn't hear the fuel pump prime because as soon as I spun the key it buzzed all sorts of noise from the dash. Also when it started to die, it still limped far longer than any car I've ever driven that ran out of gas. I really thought I killed it.

I read through your story yesterday. Sounds like a fun way to get to know the car. I'm hoping to be rolling legally this week for my first drive in to work and get used to things. I'm hoping to do a quick cheap bushing swap until I can afford new control arms if needed.
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Post by captain awesome »

I snapped a couple crappy pics last night:

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I'm not sure if the key is my problem for the trunk, but I can't get it to spin left or right, just pushes in and that's it.

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I also snapped a couple pics this morning before running off to work. The antenna is clearly not there, but the PO said she thought it was in the trunk. The guy she got it from thought it was the reason the battery went dead? Why wouldn't you just unplug the thing? Either way, until I get in the trunk I have no clue if it's hanging around or not. It's been sitting under a tree at some point for months on end, so a bath is in it's near future.

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Post by Pod »

I wish more women advertised their cars for sale :wink:
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Post by sansouci »

e-brake? No e-brake. Real cable-connected brake with shoes....

Gas door sounds like a solenoid problem. Trunk key should be just a turn. Then remove the key and push in the trunk button.

Get a Bentley manual and find an owners' manual (I think you can see one on www.wedophones.com or pick one up on ebay or maybe through the dealer.
Welcome to the forum.
Add some particulars to your signature including location and last 7 of the VIN as that way we can be more helpful.
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Sansouci
84 E24 633Csi Auto, Bronzit/PearlBeige 6997510
93 E32 740il M60 Auto, Alpenweis/Ultramarine
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Post by captain awesome »

sansouci wrote:e-brake? No e-brake. Real cable-connected brake with shoes....

Gas door sounds like a solenoid problem. Trunk key should be just a turn. Then remove the key and push in the trunk button.

Get a Bentley manual and find an owners' manual (I think you can see one on www.wedophones.com or pick one up on ebay or maybe through the dealer.
Welcome to the forum.
Add some particulars to your signature including location and last 7 of the VIN as that way we can be more helpful.
--Ken
Signature and profile has been edited. What can you tell from the VIN? I assume there were certain numbers that received specific options or something along those lines?

I've got the factory owner's handbook in front of me now. It's a bit worse for wear, but helpful none the less. I also downloaded the service manual posted somewhere on here as well as the torque values. The Bentley will be ordered this weekend along with some parts I hope. Trying to get a lot of it at once to save on shipping, but don't want to just start throwing parts at it until I know they are needed.

Funny story about the title/tags though. It's an Oregon title listing the residence mailing address in Tulsa Oklahoma and has Texas plates. I bought it in Claremore Oklahoma.
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Post by captain awesome »

Pod wrote:I wish more women advertised their cars for sale :wink:
I figured out why she listed it as a CP. The title has STYLE listed as CP for coupe. I really don't understand how she thought it was an auto though with three pedals. The ad was up for over a month maybe longer before I decided to see if it was worth a 5 speed swap. Imagine my excitement when the pics started flowing in showing pedals and shifter boot.
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Post by sansouci »

When you want to buy parts, your friend will be www.realoem.com. But you will need the last 7 VIN digits to zero in on the correct application. As I told Song who is in the early stages of a resto like you, both will be invaluable.
Also you will find that cheap parts cause more pain and more work and more expense as they fail quickly. Lots of discussion about URO and other brands to avoid.
Free advice...
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Post by captain awesome »

sansouci wrote:When you want to buy parts, your friend will be www.realoem.com. But you will need the last 7 VIN digits to zero in on the correct application. As I told Song who is in the early stages of a resto like you, both will be invaluable.
Also you will find that cheap parts cause more pain and more work and more expense as they fail quickly. Lots of discussion about URO and other brands to avoid.
Free advice...
Thanks for the info. I'm reading through most of that info regarding parts quality now. Trying to decide if the full front end package is worth the investment right now, or just certain bits to get me roadworthy for the time being.

This Lemforder kit is more than I want to pay, but would rather just do it all at once.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-co ... 816piece-l
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Almost my twin!

Post by songzunhuang »

Hey, I picked up a 84 633 a little over 2 months ago and have been replacing and updating stuff like a madman. The color of my car is Delphine Gray (looks like yours). The car is my daily driver now and about the last remaining thing driving me nuts is the instrument cluster. SO many things wonky about it.

I also got new wheels on my car and they look a lot like a non-chrome version of yours! Mine is an auto and it has a black leather interior. The progress of my project is documented in this forum as well.

Finally, I noticed the car is in Texas. I grew up in Texas so that was a nice coincidence. Never really noticed 6-series while I was there.

Best of luck and it's fun to know that someone with a very similar car is on the forum as well. I'll be watching your progress.
-----
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Re: Almost my twin!

Post by captain awesome »

songzunhuang wrote:Hey, I picked up a 84 633 a little over 2 months ago and have been replacing and updating stuff like a madman. The color of my car is Delphine Gray (looks like yours). The car is my daily driver now and about the last remaining thing driving me nuts is the instrument cluster. SO many things wonky about it.

I also got new wheels on my car and they look a lot like a non-chrome version of yours! Mine is an auto and it has a black leather interior. The progress of my project is documented in this forum as well.

Finally, I noticed the car is in Texas. I grew up in Texas so that was a nice coincidence. Never really noticed 6-series while I was there.

Best of luck and it's fun to know that someone with a very similar car is on the forum as well. I'll be watching your progress.
I've been reading yours heavily for a few days now. In fact, I used it as a guide for trouble shooting a few items already and it helped me look for possible issues when inspecting it for purchase. Keep up the good work, it certainly makes it all easier with a series of pictures describing stuff, especially for new guys like myself.

As for the instrument cluster, I would love to just set it all on fire. So many gadgets and lights that I'm not used to. My Montero is pretty spartan and I kinda like it that simple. I really don't know what I'm going to do with it all if I manage to get it to function again. The plexi lens cover thing is cracking, so I'm not even sure if this one is worth saving.
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Trunk opens and I'm insured ready to tag.

Post by captain awesome »

Apparently I'm a bit dense or just got excited every time I tried to unlock the trunk. Instead of turning the key before pushing the button, I continually tried to turn the key only with the button pushed. In hindsight it was pretty obvious I was doing something wrong, but none the less I now have an open trunk. I'll take the small win.

After jumping around like a school girl in celebration, I decided to inspect it's contents. A partial set of a rusty tool kit, roadside wheel changing stuff in the driver side sump, and last but not least, the antenna. Looks to be all there, just removed, disconnected and unfortunately the rod looks to be broken off. I'll inspect it further in daylight and hopefully report good news.

I'm feeling pretty good about my purchase again, so I decided to run down to the local gas station and put 10 more gallons in and see if the gauge was reading correctly. So far so good. It's already attracting attention from the locals on the first real fill up.

After that I figure it's time to do a quick wash and remove the dirt layer caked on from sitting. No go. Lights are out at the car wash and it's the only one in town.

Since I'm officially insured today, and enough gas to putt around with, it seemed like a good idea to stretch it's legs on some curvy backroads and make sure I'm ready to drive my normal 30 minute commute tomorrow. Nothing to report other than the shudder is most prevalent at 50-60ish indicated by some phone app.

I like this car, and I'm willing to bet once I get all the little details sorted, I'll like it even more. The trunk is loaded with tools and stuff to keep me busy on lunch break, so hopefully I can snap some decent photos and start to knock stuff off the list even further.

A list of simple things I'd like to accomplish this week:

1. drive car to AND from work the rest of the week
2. assess control arms and driveshaft guibo/bearing stuff
3. wash exterior after plugging antenna hole
4. wipe down interior and vacuum
5. begin cleaning contacts on seat switches
6. lower headrests(currently only making noise)
7. hood struts if I can get them in quick enough
8. monitor brake fluid and lines
9. oil change(should be top of list)
10. SI board re-set
11. glue driver door panel carpet in place
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Post by Ralph in Socal »

Carry spare fuses and relays with you. Familiarize yourself (I printed the picture and keep it with my relays & fuses) with the Main and Fuel Pump Relay jumpers as shown by Brucey. It can get you out of a jam and at least keep you moving temporarily.

Great progress!! Keep it going.


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Post by captain awesome »

Ralph in Socal wrote:Carry spare fuses and relays with you. Familiarize yourself (I printed the picture and keep it with my relays & fuses) with the Main and Fuel Pump Relay jumpers as shown by Brucey. It can get you out of a jam and at least keep you moving temporarily.

Great progress!! Keep it going.


Ralph
Good thinking. I'll have to track that image down and do the same.

This morning I managed to make it to work without any major hiccups. However, this car is out of control. Literally. Front control arms are terrible and almost unbearable for any possible daily commute, so they are moving to the top of the list.

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Daylight pictures.

Post by captain awesome »

So now that I had a few minutes of daylight that wasn't fading on me, it's time for a quick photo dump of things I've noticed.

Wheel corrosion. I think some steel wool should clean it up for the most part, but at some point I would like to paint the centers either gunmetal gray with a metalflake or bronze/gold with metal flake. Still on the fence. I believe these are ASA 17x8 or so?

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I noticed the tow hook has been torn pretty bad and poorly welded back on. I don't see any other damage or repairs to the frame, just this specific tow hook?

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A fairly good amount of oil leakage, that's obviously been happening for a while. I've learned the leaks that are grimy and not shiny usually are slower leaks that are less of a worry. Does that make sense?

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And apparently now photobucket is giving me fits. I'll post more when it decides to cooperate better.
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It's positively eerie! Twinning again.

Post by songzunhuang »

Wow, my passenger side towhook is also bent! Although from your pics, yours are a bit more severe. I cleaned up the underside really well when I got the car because it was all grimy as well. I kept close watch over a week to see where the oil trails were. I do have a leak somewhere and from everyone's input I think it's a front seal. There's no sign of oil around the valve cover.

I posted some pics in the engine portion of the forum. I also heard that it may be the front timing chain cover. I bought all the gaskets and stuff, but just haven't gotten to it yet. There's also a bolt just above the water pump (about 10 o'clock) that passes through the cover that I heard gets seepage. I removed it and put gasket seal around the sealing surfaces.

My oil leak is much smaller now, but it's still there. I had to put some pads down on the driveway so that it wouldn't leave marks on my colored concrete driveway.

One day, I'll get to the front seal. It's a pain to get to though. Radiator, fan, harmonic balancer, etc. have to come off. I'm just going to get the more major stuff fixed first.

Oh, why are you using Photo Bucket? You can upload directly to the forum. One of the most annoying things I found is when you see a great post, but all the pictures are missing due to some service being defunct or account expiring. Just attachments (up to 4 per post) to your thread. Also, please resize huge pics. I find 1024 pixels wide is about the biggest that is reasonable.
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Re: It's positively eerie! Twinning again.

Post by captain awesome »

songzunhuang wrote:Wow, my passenger side towhook is also bent! Although from your pics, yours are a bit more severe. I cleaned up the underside really well when I got the car because it was all grimy as well. I kept close watch over a week to see where the oil trails were. I do have a leak somewhere and from everyone's input I think it's a front seal. There's no sign of oil around the valve cover.

I posted some pics in the engine portion of the forum. I also heard that it may be the front timing chain cover. I bought all the gaskets and stuff, but just haven't gotten to it yet. There's also a bolt just above the water pump (about 10 o'clock) that passes through the cover that I heard gets seepage. I removed it and put gasket seal around the sealing surfaces.

My oil leak is much smaller now, but it's still there. I had to put some pads down on the driveway so that it wouldn't leave marks on my colored concrete driveway.

One day, I'll get to the front seal. It's a pain to get to though. Radiator, fan, harmonic balancer, etc. have to come off. I'm just going to get the more major stuff fixed first.

Oh, why are you using Photo Bucket? You can upload directly to the forum. One of the most annoying things I found is when you see a great post, but all the pictures are missing due to some service being defunct or account expiring. Just attachments (up to 4 per post) to your thread. Also, please resize huge pics. I find 1024 pixels wide is about the biggest that is reasonable.
Looks like my valve cover may have a slight weep, but I don't think it's contributing to the lower grime. Pretty sure it's behind the timing cover.

I have always used photobucket. I know it's super frustrating to see dead photos, but I have been using this same account for longer than I can remember. It's not going anywhere.

Are you saying the current pics are too large, or just too large to upload to the site?
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More daylight pics....

Post by captain awesome »

So at some point in time the driver side sway bar link got bent?

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The passenger side didn't look bent earlier, but in this pic it does. I'll look it over again on my lunch break.

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Driver side CV boot is not clamped or torn. Looks like it's just missing the clamp compared to the passenger side, but I could be wrong.

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Here you can see the fancy exhaust tips...and a little scaling rust on the bumper.

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Rear strut/spring. I assume this is factory?

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Tail light leakage.

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Antenna just laying around all lazy like.

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Post by sansouci »

Looks like your A/C compressor is dumping its oil. Time to replace the seals or swap out for a new one. Lots of posts on that topic.

I wouldn't waste time on steel wool on the wheels. A refurb shop would have a different approach to buff it out. SW will just introduce large scratches. You've got other more pressing tasks anyway.

Spend an hour cleaning up the obvious grime (simple green or Gunk GP) so that you can find the current little leakers.

Reman halfshafts are common, but it looks like you may just need a clamp around the boot, unless water has gotten into it.....

--Ken
Sansouci
84 E24 633Csi Auto, Bronzit/PearlBeige 6997510
93 E32 740il M60 Auto, Alpenweis/Ultramarine
60 528i M30 5-speed Green/Beige (crushed)
71 240Z 4-speed White/Blue (rusty & sold)
65 396 Chevelle 4-speed, Marina Blue/Black (stolen)
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Post by captain awesome »

sansouci wrote:Looks like your A/C compressor is dumping its oil. Time to replace the seals or swap out for a new one. Lots of posts on that topic.

I wouldn't waste time on steel wool on the wheels. A refurb shop would have a different approach to buff it out. SW will just introduce large scratches. You've got other more pressing tasks anyway.

Spend an hour cleaning up the obvious grime (simple green or Gunk GP) so that you can find the current little leakers.

Reman halfshafts are common, but it looks like you may just need a clamp around the boot, unless water has gotten into it.....

--Ken
Yeah, I'm not messing with the wheels right now. As far as painting goes, I'll probably just find a set of wheels that are ready to bolt on and sell these when the time comes.

My current need to buy list is growing:

1. Lemforder sway bar links
2. Lemforder control arms
3. hood struts
4. shift knob
5. tail light gaskets
6. rubber to plug current antenna hole
7. brake bomb and o-ring (testing to confirm first)
8. shifter bushings
9. Bentley manual
10. intake boot elbow

Maybe:

1. guibo
2. driveshaft bearing
Last edited by captain awesome on Thu Nov 05, 2015 2:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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