bigcoupe.com

had my E24 about 2 months now and although bought as a nice example that can be driver straight away there's still lots of small things to do to make perfect and I hate it when things don't work so here's my progress so far.. rather than start lots of smaller threads about numerous stuff I'll try to keep most things in this thread

here she is in her original colour Royal blue with Lotus white leather, love the colour combo, I'm still amazed how original it is, never painted and never welded!






my main project right now is detailing the engine compartment, it's got loads of baked on Cosmoline everywhere and proving a right paint to remove, thinners on a rag seems to be the only thing to shift it right now I've ordered a few parts including the correct later hood struts (mine are too long!) and also a set of insulation pads as the original ones are ugly! any tips on removing these and the Cosmoline would be appreciated!

I'm also fixing the left hand headlight wiper motor as it was seized and the thermal switch blown- waiting for part to arrive.

jobs I've carried out so far successfully are:-

fix electric headrest,
fix variable blower motor operation,
fix central locking operation by fitting a key-less entry system,

Lovely sight. Well done.

Gorgeous car , well worth waiting for .
I wish you much enjoyment with it and look forward to reading your progress.
Don

Absolutely beautiful! I have to admit that the side skirts look even better on the highline than on the chrome bumper cars.

She is a beautiful thing, shiny and rust free too which in Blighty must be a rare thing.

Cherish the girl :) as she is worth it.

Beautiful car Mark.

thanks for all the kind remarks! gives me more enthusiasm to improve her further :)

a few parts landed today from Wallothnesch in Germany, good fast service! just fitted the correct size struts for the bonnet, they make a difference and should save my bonnet from twisting badly.. also got the insulation pads but need to spend hours removing the old stuff 1st maybe a hair dryer might help soften the old adhesive a bit?





lastly I had a go at fitting the new thermal switch in the L/H headlight motor but think something is not quite right, when power is hooked up to the violet/black wire the motor runs permanently without parking, will have to do some more research into this

Just plain jealous of all the M owners but that is a very pretty car Mark.

For the hood insulation, yes a heat gun of some sort to soften up the adhesive. Best to plastic tarp and tape off the entire engine compartment or front end of the car when removing the old stuff so you minimize clean up later.


Ralph

It''s not that bad a job to remove that old foam insulation. Like Ralph said cover the engine bay. Use something like attached pic to dissolve the adhesive.

got all the parts I ordered and started fitting them! fitted the thermal switch in the wiper motor and it actually worked on the car much to my amazement so very happy there to have fully operative headlamp washers/wipers

fitted the new insulation pads today, glad that's one horrible job out the way but well pleased :) ended up using WD40 to soften the glue and scraped it off with a blade then washed with thinners. the adhesive cleaner I bought wasn't much use

Looks nice under the bonnet - the new foam makes a big difference to the overall look.

I can confirm that the removal of the old foam + 30 year old goopy stuff is a horrible job, took me 3 hours to do. Just back from the garage after sticking the new foam in place using 3M #80 spray adhesive.. used the foam from US of A:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E24-Hood- ... pCpW7VqXQw

Very impressed with the quality, however my wallet is not. Worked out £100 delivered to Parcel Force, then another £30 customs thievery so all in £130. Closed cell though and looks rather nice, had to spend 10 minutes rubbing it fondly after i had stuck it in place.

Horrible job Mark but worth it!

BenM635i wrote:Looks nice under the bonnet - the new foam makes a big difference to the overall look.

I can confirm that the removal of the old foam + 30 year old goopy stuff is a horrible job, took me 3 hours to do. Just back from the garage after sticking the new foam in place using 3M #80 spray adhesive.. used the foam from US of A:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E24-Hood- ... pCpW7VqXQw

Very impressed with the quality, however my wallet is not. Worked out £100 delivered to Parcel Force, then another £30 customs thievery so all in £130. Closed cell though and looks rather nice, had to spend 10 minutes rubbing it fondly after i had stuck it in place.

Horrible job Mark but worth it!

http://www.wallothnesch.com/daemm-matte ... 00-00.html

€ 60 inc delivery ( circa £40)

yes, was high as a kite cleaning it all down with thinners but the results are well worth it, still got loads of cosmoline to clean off the inner wing areas and engine parts, thinners seems the only thing that shifts it!

how easy is the inlet manifold to remove? was thinking about giving that the once over and it's always a better job with something off the car and done right, just don't want any unwanted surprises!! got the air filter housing and fan blower cover to repaint too (more enjoyable jobs!)

Mark.

olympia57 wrote:http://www.wallothnesch.com/daemm-matte ... 00-00.html

€ 60 inc delivery ( circa £40)

that's the one I used, very close to OEM and simply sticks on very strongly (you get one shot at it!)

olympia57 wrote:

http://www.wallothnesch.com/daemm-matte ... 00-00.html

€ 60 inc delivery ( circa £40)

I know, saw this on another forum though... was a Christmas present to the car (only just started working on it so wanted to spoil her)

Read the below blurb then clicked 'buy'

"It adds a much cleaner look to your engine compartment, holds up to water, oil, petrol and mildew, much better than the OEM hood pads and keeps the exterior of the hood cool while not reflecting engine heat back down toward your intake. It's actually made for covering the firewall in aircraft and is FAA approved for aircraft.

Compare this hood liner to a factory original or factory replacement.

Factory Liner My Liner
Will it rot? Yes No
Material Latex Foam Vinyl Nitrile
Fire Retardant No Yes
Sound Insulator Yes Yes
Heat Insulator Somewhat Yes
Oil resistant No Yes
Chemical resistant No Yes
Water resistant No Yes
Mildew Resistant No Yes
Washable No Yes
Nifty BMW logo No Yes"

It is 'posh'!

done a bit more detailing recently, finished the blower motor area and repainted the cover which turned out nice :) I re-wrapped the wiring harness in cloth tape too and that looks nice too :)

I'm still battling on with the Cosmoline, that stuff is just evil, seems the only thing to shift it is thinners!

I need to paint my blower cover as well. What did you use to paint it? Is it glossy, semi-gloss, satin?

I have the hood foams for my car as but with it 10 degrees here in New England I think it will wait until closer to spring.

MSGGrunt wrote:I need to paint my blower cover as well. What did you use to paint it? Is it glossy, semi-gloss, satin?

it's supposed to be gloss paint even though I wanted satin, however when it dried in front of space heater it went satin anyway as it dried too quickly to flow so turned out just how I wanted! I can't wait to paint the air filter housing and do something with the alloy parts of the engine then it'll look nice but until then I'm battling on with the dreaded Cosmoline

BenM635i wrote:Looks nice under the bonnet - the new foam makes a big difference to the overall look.

I can confirm that the removal of the old foam + 30 year old goopy stuff is a horrible job, took me 3 hours to do. Just back from the garage after sticking the new foam in place using 3M #80 spray adhesive.. used the foam from US of A:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E24-Hood- ... pCpW7VqXQw

Very impressed with the quality, however my wallet is not. Worked out £100 delivered to Parcel Force, then another £30 customs thievery so all in £130. Closed cell though and looks rather nice, had to spend 10 minutes rubbing it fondly after i had stuck it in place.

Horrible job Mark but worth it!

My car needs this. My foam is so bad that when ever I work on the car and brush my head on the foam, several bits fall off in my hair and onto the motor. I was wondering where to get this stuff. Now I know.

Mark Shutt wrote:done a bit more detailing recently, finished the blower motor area and repainted the cover which turned out nice :) I re-wrapped the wiring harness in cloth tape too and that looks nice too :)

What are those assemblies to the left and right of the blower cover? I'm not talking about the concentrated windshield washer (on the left side) but the unit to the right of it. My car doesn't have that. Also on the right of the blower cover, there's nothing in that area in my car. I did notice mounting points for screws or bolts, but there's nothing there. Now that I see your picture, my curiosity is peaked.

When I painted my blower motor cover, I actually used high temp engine paint. It had the proper satin finish.

wiper motor to the left, not sure what that is on right but on a LHD car it's to the left..

On my LHD car my wiper motor is on the opposite side as yours and has a brace covering it. Something that was added in later years maybe? Mine needs painting along with the blower cover. I also need to clean up and reseal where the harness enters the cabin. Someday when the warmer weather arrives I hope a detailing will have the under hood of my car looking as clean as yours.

On my lhd the wiper motor is on the drivers side. The opposite side has the abs module (Bosch Number: 0 265 100 021) I removed it out of curiosity to see what it is

Mark Shutt wrote: ...how easy is the inlet manifold to remove?

Not an easy job and even more of a bastard to refit. The awkward part is getting your hand underneath to refit the wave washers and nuts!

ron wrote:

Mark Shutt wrote: ...how easy is the inlet manifold to remove?

Not an easy job and even more of a bastard to refit. The awkward part is getting your hand underneath to refit the wave washers and nuts!

I'll give that a wide berth then! I'll clean it or spray it in situ and mask stuff up..