This is my BMW E36 '93 316i in Alpine White. Got it back in February with just over 124,000 miles on the clock.

Not really done much to it yet as it cost me over £550 getting it to pass it's MOT a few months ago.

Items it failed on on it's MOT were:
Damaged Steering Rack ("Oooff, pricey!" I hear you say)
2 worn rear tyres (as expected acting a tit, wheelspins & handbraking etc)
New front brake calipers
Rear Drums Seized up
and a few other minor repairs

Now that these are all repaired, I can now hopefully start putting cash away to modify it.

Current modifications are:
- Blacked Clear Indicators
- M3 Mirrors (might get round to painting one day)
- Front Splitter (was halfway there until it t*atting rained, but fitted it anyway)
- Boot Install (Halfway there)
- A StuyMac bodged Induction Kit (Soundin' Great )


Future plans are:
- 60mm Lower at Rear
- Newer Injectors
- DVD Player & TV Screen (In Console)
- Clear Fog Lights
- E36 Spoiler With Brake Light
- Blackened Rear Lights
- Storm Window Wiper
- Limo Black Tints on rear windows
- Leather BMW Gear Knob
- Short Shift Gear Stick
- Sports Clutch (Clutch is going )
- Induction Kit (Perhaps not, we'll see)
- Twin 3" DTM Backbox
- New Alloys (possibly)
- Leather Interior (not likely)
- 4 Point Harness (not likely)
- Sports Steering Wheel
- Blacked Clear Angel Eye Headlights & Indicators


I'll be putting up guides of how I fitted my mirrors, indicators, boot install and splitter as advice for other members.

Fitted front splitter before spraying. Kindly given to me by tony (tupac) cheers
















Bought new number plates too, should be here tomorrow

Couple of pics of my halfway through boot install. Not getting as much sound out of my sub as I hoped. A few people warned me of this so I've been thinking of using the sub box as the base and work around it.

I didn't really think the design through, just started doing it. Still tryna make my mind up on a few things so if anyone has any ideas, they'd be appreciated. As soon as it's done it'll be carpeted black

Tis getting there

Like it matey its about time you put up a mmc topic.

Yep great MMC, The pics are great.

Get the pic of ur sprayed splitter up lad. The car looks well nicer with it on as i seen it yesday at the rock!

looks gud and am made up you finally done a topic but you failed to mention your custom cheese grater fabricated by stuy lol ha ha ha

Here are some pics of my finish & fitted front splitter. Might start working on the last bit of my boot install so it'll be ready for carpeting at the weekend





The colour of it is the original BMW Alpine white...just shows how dirty my car is...might go mad with the t-cut and wax at the weekend


Also, if anyone can get hold of any fog lights for me, I'd be really greatful they aint that cheap goin for about £30 each for clear ones

oooooooppppssssssss lol looks gud did you spray it yourself??? make sure you used loadsa lacquer as that area of the car is vunerable to stonechips

Great topic mate.
Ur list of things to do seems spot on,not tacky or owt.IMO sporty clutch is a waste of time,i may help gearchanges a tiny bit but in a car that slow even with the clutch performance will still be comparitively shit to that of the 318

With the money saved from gettin an motor factor clutch instead of an EBC or whatever item u can afford an E46 leather interior (they fit,maybe adaption needed but i have a mate who's done it)

Is the sub in a SEALED box?

here you go get bidding not long left

Click Me

"sold as spares or repair as theyre an odd pair"

Meaning there both for the same side,it would seem,if they were a pair pair then thats what u want lol

cheers for the advice, a few people have said not to go for the sports one, but as it was only a quid more expensive on ebay, i thought **** it why not, but if its not going to make much difference, no point. Might start looking at E46 leather interior aswell then

currently the sub isnt in a sealed box, but just has a surrounding with not much air behind it/underneath it, so i think swopping it back to the sealed box is a wise idea


as for the fog lights - already seen these mate, didn't take interest in them as I'm after clear ones to suit my current indicators and headlights when i get them. also, only one is supplied with the mounting bracket, so i'd still have to look elsewhere or down the scrappy to get one, so might aswel get them from there anyway

ohhhhh s..t I need to start reading thing propely as a f..king up all the time lol

oh and another thing, the rust is quite bad on both of the rear arches, as there is with many of these models. I was thinking of repairing it myself but I'm not sure if I'd be able to do it properly without either the rust coming back or the paint not matching.

Anyone got any places I can take it to to get sorted and a rough price I'd be looking it?

try the sponsors mate,if ur confident with an angle grinder u could save them a bit of time and urself some money by getting rid of as much rust as u can CLEANLY then giving it to them, ur looking about 90 pound an arch if its average. thats what i was quoted just b4 nationals last year

myself it is then lol

I did spray it myself. Cost me £5.50 for the primer, same for the paint and same for the laquer. 500ml cans all from halfords. Only managed just about 2 coats of primer which is what I wanted, just about 2 coats of paint, I wanted at least 3. I got 1 coat of laquer on, then let it dry, and started the 2nd coat and then it pissed down so I was rantin an ravin on the chat thread yesterday cas it ****ed it all up. ended up getting stuck to the newspaper so I had half the birkenhead news on it . I wanted at least 5 coats of laquer to prevent a few chips. Cas the rain ****ed it all up I got pissed off and I just ended up putting it on yesterday before going to the rock and no one even noticed it apart from pomp lol.

your sub needs a proper box in all honesty, it will work with a similar sized unit aslong as it is sealed with silicone all the way around.

This is the one I done in my punto

So if you want me to give you a hand to do a similar one pm me. Only cost me £50 on materials but then £300 spraying it but if your okay at spraying you could do that bit yourself either that or trim it which is a cheap method.

it's only cost me £30 on materials so far. might just put it back in the sub box and redesign the back bit around it. I'm gunna carpet it cas I'm a cheapskate lol.

I was lovin the rain before, just tried to pull of turning round corners a few times and ended up skating accross the road sideways. I guess it is easy to get the back end out in the wet then lol

My mate can build you one or he can give you agood design so you can build it. It would have all the right size boxes n stuff want me to ask him for you???

Not sure if i like the spiltter white matey. Only becasue its off a M3 nad they are all black even if the cars not.

Rest of the motor looks good.

nah tis ok, I wanna have a go designing and building by myself, to find design faults but if i get stuck, I'll bare your help in mind

dont be sayin that it looks poo, i'll see what it looks like in a few weeks, i'll try and match the colour with the car (somehow) and if it still looks as about of place as it does, i'll change it back to black.

Should be getting my new plates 2moro...heres a pic of 'em:



what d'ya think?

Nice, but, your going to be skint

I leave you for a few days, and your already spending *all* your money lol

Got my plates this morning, and I must say, theyre better than I expected. Started fitting the rear one, looks alrite, but when it came to the front, theres a nasty big black plateholder which ive been thinking of removing for a while now,.....so...I did!

Then I headed down the scrappy and got a rear bumper trim of another E36 for £3ish and made it fit the front of mine, had to screw it in though, and the screws still dont hold it properly at the edges cas the curvature of the front bumper, but looks alrite if i say so myself. So now Im doin a lawton - keeping my plate on view elsewhere lol

Ill post pics later

number plate in the window is a corsa chavvy mod look ha ha ha ha ha only messin lawton. Get them pics up bud

Here ya go. Put the sub box back in too and fixed it down. got the rest of the bits for my install so I should be finished tomorrow minus the carpet

lookin good joe not 2 sure on the reg plate in the window. had any look on findithe spot lights yet?

not bad, keep it up man, hows ur boot build coming along?

i thought i was finished minus the carpet yesterday, but still got a few more tweaks to do before I carpet it. I'll try and get em done for 2moro and take some pics

my search for foggys hasnt begun yet, but it will do next motnh when I get paid. in the mean time, if anyone finds a m3 spoiler WITH BRAKE LIGHT up for sale for less than £40 let me know, cheers.

ta for the comments too peeps

That reg plate needs to go back on lol

Looks good tho shame i aint been able to help or anything

car does look nice wivout the reg plate but leavin it at the window aint such a good idea! but any ways its goin places matey so keep it up.

I think it looks odd without the reg plate.. and if he doesnt leave it in the window or doesnt put it back on, wheres it going to go? On the roof?

I still think his car looks good with the reg on, and after spending money on them to look funkeh, it needs to be shown off, not left in the window.

she is right joe joe x

Was it you in Upton maccies car park yesterday at about 10 ish? lol

nope not last night, was the night b4 tho

Ok

lol, all the ard' boys raggin there Novas an Corsas around lol anyway must refrain from spammin Joes space

nah its ok joe spams everywere neways!

we was all up the rock last night

Lmao, if ya say so...add me on msn or summin if ya wanna talk lol

Joe,maybe try a square (import/bike style) reg plate offset on the front bumper???

As nice as the bumper looks it would look just as nice with a plate on,cos its a car then

he's skint as he is now lol, wont be able to afford bike plates n throw away the ones he jst purchased!!!!!!

That'll be throwin money away! £40 for them plates he jst got

Joe

Ya sub sounds nicer now matey as ye got the sub box bk on! n i like the green light(it is green aint it?) u got installed wiv the bit that lights up the cruisewirral sign!!!

What I dont understand is why did you buy some nice plates when you wer'nt gonna show them off ?

I just wanted rid of that horrible black square reg plate holder trim, I might put the plate on at the weekend. might chop it in different places to see if it looks better anywhere else

Keep checking the ebay link i put up cos i will see what i can find for you.

Or go on the E36 website like the E30 zone i think.

what E36 site? I only know of a few beemer forums and theyre poo

Couple more pics:








I'll get some lastest pics up of my boot install soon, carpeted it all recently and now I'm looking for a 12v linear actuator to finish it off, so if anyone come across one, let me know, cheers

Right, finally got round to uploading the pics of my boot install.


First I started with a frame made of scant. Scant is big and rather heavy, but it did the job so I went with it.



















I had to modify the MDF which lifts up to fit past my boot so I could get access to wiring.






























Initially, I wanted to have the sub mounted on the MDF top, but after I tried this, as the sub wasn't enclosed, the sub became basically useless, so under the advice of Aceritz and Johnny Alan and a few others, I decided to put the sub back in the box and build my install around it.











carpeted:









that space is where I'll be putting the cruisewirral.com with sound activated neons that shine through the logo.

I'm after a linear actuator or something of the sort to lift this part up for show.

Looking good joe,
will be great when finished

cheers Webby.

Ta for the cw logo too

Getting there matey.

Right, finally getting somewhere now.

Got some foggies for free thanks to Stuy
One was cracked, but I managed to find a replacement from a scrappy

Also got some smoked side repeaters for a fiver off eBay.

and last but not least for now, I finally got hold of an actuator for my boot install for just a tenner off good ol' eBay.

Fitted my foggies and side repeaters this weekend should be working on finishing my boot install for next weekend hopefully






Before:




After:

lookin good matey wat u got planed next

The fogs are a nice touch Joe, just don't be one of the typical Beemer drivers who leave them on when it's clear!

Cheers guys.

Haha I'll try not to Jimbo, hard to resist though

I'm thinking of getting a new backbox and decatting it.

Then maybe a spoiler

I'll see what comes up though and I'll keep looking in the scrappies to see what I can find. Could of picked up some nice white dials, but he wanted £25

Nice little touches mate
They all add up

Liking the changes.

Cheers Webby, they do indeed all add up

The foggies look great Joe, been waitin for you to get them since the summer!

The side-repeater looks good too, good idea!

Looking good matey, glad to see the old foggies being put to some use

thanks for the comments peeps, and cheers for the foggies Stuy

really looks gud keep the gud work coming, looks so much better than standard

Cheers Rhys

Finally found some time to update this thing.

Incase some of you didn't know, at the end of Jan, I had a coolant leak into the oil. Presuming it was the head gasket, I decided to put it in my garage and work on it myself as I planned on replacing the cam and tappets anyway.

Today I finally pulled the head off it (PARDON!).

Started off looking like this:




Then moved to this:




and after quite some work, much referring to a haynes manual and a good collection of tools which I didn't have, I eventually got to this stage:





and the gasket has seen better days - every coolant passage rusted, but I can't see no visable signs of a coolant leak.




Anyway, I'm planning on buying a refurbished head with a performance cam from a place called www.fabautoparts.co.uk who sell all sorts of stuff for BMW's.

The quote ive been given is for £598.99 inc. VAT - Some people have said its quite pricey. Just wondered what anyone else thought?

Also continued on my plans from my first post and added more plans too, however, engine work comes first.

- Removed all the interior and will replace old grey carpet for thick black carpet and cloth interior for leather

- Injectors look like new, so newer injectors won't be needed.

- I've seen a few white e36's with tinted rear lights and I have to say I think they look awful, so I think I'll be sticking to standard rear lights.

- Removed standard fan and shroud and will be fitting an electric fan to maximise space within the engine bay.

- Also planning on converting rear drums to discs.

- Exhaust system is removed. Currently looking for a downpipe (which includes cat) from another 316i so I can make an easily swappable cat/decat system.

Found out why my exhaust was blowing - Big hole in the backbox lol



- Started colour coding the trim. Got the idea off e46 models as the colour coding trim on white ones looks swish.








That's all I've managed to do so far - Only have time (and enough daylight) at weekends, so progress is slow, but hopefully it'll pick up with the lighter evenings

Hopefully looking to have it all done for the summer

So it doesnt look like it was the head gasket after all??

Looks like you done a fair old bit of work there. Remember if you want any help, lemme know, I got nothing better to do matey.

I seems so, but I'm unsure if it needs to be visable for a leak to actually occur?

I'm hoping it is that problem - If not, what else could it be?

Cheers for the offer matey

What were the symptoms that made you believe it was HGF?

I suppose it doesnt have to be visable, but from what I have seen on the MGR forums, they usually have visable signs.

Mayonnaise in the Oil and coolant loss.

Only discovered the mayo after I bought new oil to do an oil change.

Tried that K-Seal coolant leak repairer as you suggested, but I wasn't taking the chance of it getting worse.

And as I said, I wanted to replace the cam and lifters anyway so I'm sort of glad it happened as it kicked my ass into gear otherwise they wouldn't have got done.

Was the mayo thick and in your face on the oil cap, or was it only thin - sometimes condensation can be confused for HGF.

Coolant loss could be a leak somewhere I suppose. Was the car bad to drive? Was it chugging at all, hesitating, any smoke.

Usally you can see signs of where the K-Seal has gone to work on the gasket POF if its HGF, it works by attatching itself to any places of great heat exceeding that of the rest of the gasket and then leave a splodgy residue on the gasket which is visable when you remove the head. Of course it can take upto 20 minutes of the engine running to find its way.

Yeah, it sounds like it was a good excuse to do the work you wanted either way hehe.

it wasnt condensation, definately mayo.

First noticed it on the oil cap, and as I was doing the work, I noticed it on almost everything including breather hoses.

Didn't notice any obvious problems driving it, just the knocking noise which I presumed was the camshaft (and as you can see in the pictures, some of the lobes are quite badly worn)

The only thing I did notice before I found the mayo was the MPG gauge going haywire, but this could have been due to finding one of my sensor wires badly worn and conductors inside shorting on each other due to damage from the viscous fan.

Only found a bit of the K-Seal on the gasket, mainly around the coolant holes where it was badly rusted

Regarding the MPG gauge, was there a noticable reduction in actual MPG or just the gauge going crazy lol. If there was a reduction, could be the lambda sensor (if your car has one of course).

Sounds like it prob is HGF then, hard to say of course. But if it was running alright, you could have used the K-Seal with no problem over the winter months hehe. I know of drivers on the MGR forums who have run their cars with HGF on the back of K-Seal for over 10,000 miles lmao - their just too bonidle to fix it properly lol.

there was both a noticable reduction in actual MPG and the gauge going crazy. And the damaged sensor wire was actually from the lambda sensor lol

Lol!

When will you be getting the new parts for the engine? What timeframe are you looking at to have everything sorted and back on the road?

Just about saved up for the recon head, so I will be getting that at the beginning of next month.

After that, Just gotta save up for everything else.

Probably about June/July once everything is done.

It's a long time to go without a car But, I s'pose I'll enjoy it all the more

Just hope it flies through it's MOT after spending a load of money on it lol

Yeah, at least it will hopefully be ready just as the peak of summer is coming into play.

Almost like you where writing this for me matey same time scale as mine.

Glad you got the head off matey you have put alot of work into this car your at the garage almost everytime i go to mine exept you stay alot longer than lazy arse me

Is the head going to be standard or you going to get anything done to it???

lol yours wont be ready for another few years the rate you're going at

I'm just getting a standard head. Not really looking to improve performance much as it's only a 1.6 so not really worth it.

The only thing I wanted to do with the engine was to get rid of the horrible knocking noise, but seen as I'm going to pay £500 for a head with a standard cam, why not pay the extra £100 and get a performance one already fitted

Finally got round to buying a re-con head.

Will be getting delivered in 2 weeks as the high performance cam is getting specially made for me in Germany.

All new exhaust studs, exhaust nuts, inlet studs, cam cap studs, camshaft caps, oil plug, exhaust valves, inlet valves, spring bases, springs, spring caps, collects, new guide seals, new lifters, new thrust pads, new rockers (cam followers), spray bar and oil seal.

Removed all my interior which is now sitting up in the attic lol ready for thick black carpet and leather interior to go in.

Once the head is on, induction kit, de-cat twin exhaust system, electric fan, new HT Leads (anyone know where I can get performance ones from?) and a few other bits to buy and fit.

All the trim is colour coded, just got my mirrors left to colour code.

Really made up for you joe,
we kinda forgot about your car due to you saving up.

But so pleased that this is the start of its road back
to being on the road again

made up its comin together for u mate, cant wait to finally c ur motor !!

Not me though he is at his almost everytime i go to mine.

Good to hear things are moving forward matey made up for you seen all the work you have put in.

cheers for the comments guys.

an Tony, might need your help soon after the engine is in. I'll PM you

Got the pm matey not a problem let me know once you have the bits and we will have it sorted.

Shouldnt take long matey.

Head is finally coming tomorrow!

Should have it fitted over the weekend if its not raining.

Once thats fitted, gotta pick up a new cam belt, ATF oil, oil filter housing gasket, an exhaust from the scrappy (to de-cat)

Thinking of gettin a port & polish on the inlet manifold.
Is it worth getting exhaust manifold done too?

Any ideas of where I can get this done and how much??

Don't fancy messing it up, unless someone has a detailed guide of how I can do it myself?

Is it worth getting exhaust manifold done too?

you mean port the exhaust manifold? i wouldn't just buy a performance one.

yeah, so you think its not worth it?

I'd be looking at around £400 for a performance manifold and I'm not really looking to spend much more on performance.

Would it give much of an improvement getting the exhaust manifold done?

Rather than initial flow, Manifolds are more about being tuned length so where the pipes join, in to 2 or 1 (on a 4 branch) the gasses from the bang on each pot follow each other through, rather than meet and cause turbulance.

If your spending money on a performance head (cam, bigger valves, port polish) you need to make the most out of the flow it will give, and also concerntrate on getting air / fuel in / out of the head rather than just getting the mix through the head.

to be honest joe as much as I like your car, and I dont mean what i am saying to sound nasty. But the 1.6/1.8 and 2.0 were never a performance car and give a 3 series a poor power to weight ratio. Your never going to get amazing results for the amount of £. I think your best option is to keep the car for its looks and that is all. If you want performance it will be cheaper to upgrade to a 325i when your insurance comes down or cheaper again would be to fit a 2.5 lump. I wouldnt consider polishing and porting now you have the new head and as it has already been asembled especialy if your not expirienced, this may also void any warranty given with the head

Yeah I understand, I know that the 1.6 and 1.8 are crap for performance, thats why I don't fancy spending any more on performance such as buying a performance exhaust manifold.

Just wanted some advice to see if it would be worth getting it P&P, and theres my answer

I was thinking about trying to put a 2.5 in this one, but its a big project to do for a learner like myself, and it'd just be too much cost to run for just getting to work and back and going out the odd night, so I decided against it.

Head arrived today anyway, so it's finally moving on!

I noticed the shape of the cylinder on the head is slightly different to the old. (see below) any ideas why? I thought it may be the wrong head at first?

Got new head bolts, a head gasket set too and a new water pump (had to smash the old one out to get the rear cam belt cover off)

has it had a skim? have you a vernier/micrometer to measure the heads for the thickness?

no skim.

It is a recon head, but they didn't require skimming it to save myself the cost of buying a thicker head gasket and a gasket set separately.

how do you know it is not warped?

its checked at the place I bought it. Also compression tested too

Maybe call them back up joe?
Do the water channels match up?
Do the Oil Channels Match up?

I would like to say should be okay
but it does make you think?

Call the people you bought it off first as it could
be a simple mistake. Then if they say its okay and its not
you can get them by the short and curlies.

p.s



Its so shiny

The coolant and oil channels seem to match up okay, including the coolant one at the end, but I'll have to double check with the old gasket against it.

It's just the shape of the cylinders thats confused me.

Doesn't look like its going to get fitted this weekend unless the weather is better tomorrow

Rain :

Joe i would call them mate, i'm sure you could invalidate any warranties so be carefull

Agreed with Mark, the rain could be a sign from god to sit on the side of caution and double check prior to doing anything with it.

After all, its better to be safe then sorry, especially when you have spent so much money on it.

I have 2 working days to enquire about any problems.
So, I've sent them an email with the pictures.

Hope it is the right one!!

If its a recon head it will have had a skim - theres no way anyone would send out a (used) head that could be suspected to be warped - the only way to ensure the head is totally original is to buy a new one.

As for the different shapes - are you talking about the compression dish where the valves are? They probably appear slightly different as the head has been skimmed back a little.

TBH Slightly higher compression may give you a few more gee gees...

I've been told that the shape of the compression dishes (cheers stuy, didnt know what they were called lol) are fine.

They told me the head wouldn't be skimmed to save the cost of buying a thicker gasket? Which does seem a bit strange, unless they have skimmed it and have supplied a thicker gasket instead of a standard one?

I dunno lol.

If its not raining next weekend, I'll be fitting it then

D'oh!

Just took a closer look at the old head and it's just the gasket marks that make it look different.

Silly me.

Joe Take the Gasket off and see if it looks the same



Tee hee lol

Good to see you have it Joe.

Give chris bmw m3 a pm he knows these cars inside out Joe.

the gasket is actually off in that picture, its just its left a mark over the years lol
I was just going off the picture without checking it properly.

Cheers Tony

if I get stuck, I'll ask him

Got a lot done today as the weather has been nice



Fitted my new head!!! Woohoo! haha

Also managed to get one side of mirrors and trim fully sprayed.




Ready for the new head to be fitted


Shiney new gasket


Shiney new camshaft all the way from Germany


Mirror preped before painting






A piccie of my interior for those who havn't seen it (what a mess! lol)


Only thing I'm unhappy with is the head sits a tiny bit wonkey. its about 1.5mm out at one end. The coolant port on the head doesnt quite line up with the one on the block, but i'm hoping this shouldnt matter as I didn't want to redo it all again.

Stuy, have you brought back midnight modding, remember drilling CalibraDaz's airbox, with the aid of a cordless drill and the street lights at midnight.

exactly how mine was done haha

Its a Stuy special, for 50p extra you can have it with fried rice.

Didn't get much done today

Still need quite a few parts before its running:

crank sensor
oil filter housing gasket
cam pulley
cam belt
exhaust (looking at a duplex blueflame de-cat one on eBay)
Induction Kit
ATF Oil
Electric radiator fan
HT Leads + Sensor

Senars only sell the cam belt and cam sensor.

I'm mainly after a new cam pulley & bolt and a gasket for the oil filter housing atm, if anyone knows where I can get these from please let me know.

Great pics joe and i'm please to see it coming along nicely.

WOW what an interior - Hope it all goes back?
Were you board or was there a reason for it being stripped out?

Putting thick black carpet in and buying full black leather interior.

Fitting white plasma dials and a new steering wheel after the engines done.

Hopefully getting better ice system too.

Ive done it all at once as if I dont do it now, i'll never get round to doing it and also I cant afford to keep the car on the road and pay for mods

Well done to you then fella

holy crud

Just bought a K&N Induction kit

This is the exhaust I'm looking at too...

Joe Chris my mate is a bm nut if you need help and advice he will help.

I'll be at the garage 2mora if you need anyhelp.

will look good with the black leather interior must be quite expensive though, Ive noiced them on ebay and everyone is after them. Think the exhaust should be okay aslong as it can hang properly it will be cheap enough to get any pipe work alterations needed to link the two sections together if needed.

Cheers Rhys

I've seen a lot of new interiors go for £500, if not less.

I'm really after M3 style seats, but they're quite hard to get hold of in decent condition.

I'll make sure I get it to hang on properly.
Where do you suggest I get any pipework alterations done?

I want my cat and de-cat easily swappable, but atm the cat is connected to the downpipe so it's very akward to swap come MOT time. Where I could get a flange fitted if I cut the cat away from the downpipe?

If its the "vader" leather interior you are after from an M3 you need to get yourself to the Gaydon national BMW show next month(5 August). Last year I spotted a full interior in black for £200!!

Yeah it is the vader leather interior I'm after.

I'm in Birmingham on the 4th til the 5th (all night rave!! lol) but I have no way of getting to the show unless someones going??

<<<< Joe Raving

Chris might be send him a pm matey

Ok, I might send him PM later.

K&N came today, so I should be sorting that out soon.

Working away for 2 weeks up in Scotland on a ship, so I won't be able to do anything else for a while, but the overtime £££ means I'll be able to get everything I want bought and finish it quicker


And actually Mark, I won't be raving alone

I'll be with Homer .....

lol woohoo homer!

wooo bought that blueflame exhaust.

Gunna pick it up on the way home.

Also bought Petrol and Boot release levers and cables out of an MR2. So I'll fit them when I get back.

Boot lock mechanism has already been removed as I'm gunna fit a night vision camera.

The petrol cap only locks when the car is, so going to make a spring mechanism so that it pops open when the lever is pulled.

Engine should be up and running in 2 weekends time when I come back from Edinburgh then back from Birmingham.

cool mate you going to be busy

Exellent matey look forward to seeing your motor going again.

You bought any springs yet???

Cheer mate.

not yet, I want to get the engine running before I spend more on Interior/Exterior mods.

Will be buying them very soon though

Picked up my Blueflame exhaust today from Preston on the way home from Edinburgh. Tis quite nice (should be after it cost me £300 lol), looking forward to fitting it...The decat might just fit without being modded hopefully.

I should get round to fitting that and the K&N and also buying the rest of the bits needed to get it running the weekend after next

Nice one matey.

Looking very smart matey, That exhaust is gonna look beastly, cant wait to see it on, hurry up and fit it and take some photos.

Right, spent some time on it over the weekend.

Realised the exhaust is totally different to the one on mine (oh well)

So I've cut the cat off the downpipe and I'm gunna buy some stainless pipe to connect the downpipe to the backbox.

Just bought a Spal 11 inch electric fan to go behind the radiator which will make a lot more room in the engine bay as I wont have to have the big stupid shroud.

Also tried to fit my exhaust manifold and after about 2 hours gave up. I need to lift the engine up again (thats how I got it out) by jacking up the head (engine sits on an angle) so I can get the bolts lined up as the steering column is in the way. Very Akward.

Gunna clean the inlet manifold and the rocker cover over the week ready to fit next weekend, then the inlet manifold, injectors, oil spray bar, rocker cover e.t.c can be fitted.

Still need a new camshaft pulley and oil filter housing gasket, but looks like I'm going to have to go to BMW over in Liverpool for them as nowhere sells them

Might buy my steering wheel next and some dials. I'd love these ones, but they're in KPH

bloody hell mate sounds like you been busy

lol not really done fook all this weekend. I was hoping to have it started.

But now that I got my fan, all I need is the camshaft pulley and oil filter housing gasket, cam belt, some atf oil, oil, water e.t.c. and it should be running.

Should be getting some performance HT leads too this week.

lol ok so you going to be busy then

sounds like uv got a bit 2 do then mate. were u gettin the diels from?

if you want stainless pipe let us know the dimensions as I can get nice thin wall stuff from work for ya.

cheers for the offer matey, but I've just bought some pipe and a reducer from a site called www.burtonpower.com

Dials, looks like I'm getting them off eBay. Can't get them same ones in mph, so going for ones that look a bit shitter, but they'll do.

Gave BMW a phone today, parts from them were suprisingly pretty cheap, so should be picking them up from Liverpool on Saturday

Got a length of stainless pipe for my exhaust and some stainless flexi-exhaust pieces to allow me to de-cat and put the cat back in come MOT. Only thing is, they might be too large in diameter for the downpipe, but I will have to check if it's not raining tomorrow.
I'll also be fitting my electric fan and sorting out a bit of wiring too (Scudo_Andy - It draws 6A )

Also bought my steering wheel, a new cam sprocket and a couple of gaskets from Williams over in Liverpool.

sorry mate im not really into the wheel at all, i just cant imagine it sliding through ya fingers very well

Fair doos for the comments matey, it's similar to the one in my civic, and just wanted it ever since I saw it.

Anywho, didn't get much done this weekend what with it raining and all.

Couldn't really sort the exhaust in the rain, but managed to sort it so that the length of stainless pipe I bought fits straight on to the downpipe in place of the cat.

Fitted my fan, but I've just used plastic ty-wraps, been trying to get some stainless ones from work, so I will probably replace them before I try to run it.

Struggled again for about an hour trying to fit my exhaust manifold on, but to no avail. tried jacking up the engine block which I did to get it out, but still no luck.
Looks like i'll have to take the steering column shaft apart and fit it that way - really wanted to avoid fooking with my steering

On a good note, got my new steering wheel fitted

Got next week off so I'm really hoping the weather turns out nice so I can finally see if it starts or if I've just fooked it up lol.

Fingers crossed it will!

good work mate really like the wheel looks smart

Cheers

Finally got somewhere today.

It was a Grrr to take apart the steering column, Took about 2 hours to smack apart, spending most of the time underneath the car.

Eventually, it came apart and the manifold and downpipe went on with ease.

Next to do is fit the rest of the exhaust system and start fitting the inlet side

good work joe

you wearing a cape with a wheel like that..

I like it

nice work mate, may c this one day.....

nice one mate looks like it been one hell of a job glad you got there in the end

Welldone matey you worked hard today.

Cheers for the comments

Not much more to do til its running now, then I'll be getting interior and exterior mods done if it runs ok

coming along well but have to agree with matty the wheel should stay with the kind of cars like civics etc not bmb, bmw's are meant to be classy and sophisticated. Hope its runs okay when all completed keep up the good work

Got a bit more done today.

got the arse end of the exhaust fitted and it fits perfect

just need a few more hangers and fixings to hold the other side.

Only problem is, I have a fairly big hole in my boot above where the exhaust needs to be fitted so I need someone to weld it for me as I have no welding skills or tools.

Just needs a plate welding over it and perhaps a stud welding to it too so I can hang the exhaust off it.

Have to say, Im quite impressed with the way the ehxaust looks though, I'm proud of myself lol.

Just gotta get the rest of the system so its easy to swap the cat and the pipe around come MOT time. All that I need to do then is fit the inlet side, wire up my fan, fit a new cambelt, get a new HT lead sensor or new HT leads, oil, water e.t.c then ready to run

takin shap mate shame about the hole in the boot

I've know about it for a while, just forgot about it and didnt think that the otehr part of the exhaust would be sitting directly underneath it

that looks smart mate good work might no some one who can sort hole out for you will let you no monday

that exhaust looks sweet mate, bet it sounds good too

certainly hope so.

it's a Blueflame exhaust off a 323i, and the lad I bought it off said its got a nice deep rumble to it and pops now and again which is just what I want it to sound like lol

Thats a nasty looking hole there matey.

but the exhaust looks great.

well done mate, good work in progress, exhaust looks really good, kinda similar to the one jons got on his astra, is it stainless steel? u get a center section done an it will be bloody loud

thanks for the comments



tis indeed

almost ready to run now.

Gunna by myself an arc welder and teach myself how to weld

Got my cambelt fitted last weekend, so its all timed up, just needs a couple more bits til its running (fingers crossed!).

I need a bit of mid-section flexible exhaust to join the downpipe to the decat pipe, a timing sensor (probably from BMW Dealer), connect pipes/tubes and cables/sensors, weld the hole in my boot and weld a bracket for the exhaust, buy oil, water and ATF oil.

Heres a couple of pics anyway:

cambelt is stil slack in the bottom pic as I took it before I tightened it, turned it over twice and re-tightened it

Well, Just gone and spent £100 on welding equipment

do you need any plates for the repair? if so pm me the seizes and i'll get em done in work 1.2mm up to 3mm if needed.

Coming on very nicely now Joe

Gonna be a whole new car when you drive it again

Will bear that in mind, cheers

Cheers stuy

Well done that man

What welding stuff did you get?

ta mark.

I got a 45-100A Arc welder
80x 1.6mm Rods
Auto-Darkening welding mask
Welding Gloves

good luck with the welding mate all i will say is watch out for the sparks on clothes mate

Christ watch out Joe will be Tack Welding everything lol
You probably know but try and turn it down to the lowest
setting, for metal as thin as your joe.

You don't want to be burning bigger holes.

glad to see it coming along, I wouldnt go atacking the car with an arc welder your either going to blow holes in it or its going to look like pigeon dropings. honestly your better of with a mig to learn with much easier and the wire will feed into the weld automaticaly. with a stick if you let the gap between the rod and metal get to big it will blow a hole. If you want a neat weld I would go for the tig. I know mig and tig welders are more expensive but using an arc is going to leave poor results. Only my oppinion try it but am sure you will realise. Arc gives nice welds when welding heavy gauge material such as pipe work etc

Only cos I know he welds lol.

ive served my time welding i would get a bit of practice first try on thick metal and work ya way down to thin metal lowering the power as you go along mate now if ya gona weld thin plate you will have to put the amps right down and take ya time because if ya rush this it will look like a bunch of grapes lol just take ya time and you willo have no problems mate if ya stuck on anything give us a shout mate.

cheers peeps, I'm having a few problems with it atm (probably cas im shite) so will start a topic for advice

Anywho, a bit more done today, but still not running as the fishhead who I bought my flexible exhaust off did have the size I wanted, so he sent out some slightly larger in diameter for the same price, but it didn't get here before the weekend oh well.

Fitted the water pump, injector rail, alternator, cambelt covers, aux pulleys and belts and put my radiator in place. Also fitted new rocker cover gasket and bolted it down. Just got to figure out where a few pipes go now

Well done mate, that engine bay is looking very clean

ta, tried cleaning it a bit and making it shiney, but it just takes too much time and effort, so ive done what I can be arsed doing for now and when it's running, i'll take them off and clean them better.

lookin good matey when u think it will be on the road

dunno yet, still needs interior doing and to pass its mot

probably another few months til its on the road, but perhaps within the next 2 weekends for running

started a topic for some help welding

spent more time at my garage today, but got pretty much shit all done

the flexi exhaust that I bought is the wrong size as the fishead didnt have the size I wanted in stock so he sent a larger diameter one - so exhaust still not done.

I did get my decat pipe fitted though, and tomorrow I'll fix the duplex part of the exhaust on even with the hold in the boot for now, I just won't use the boot to support it.

went to fit my dizzy cap and snapped a plastic casing in the process, so will have to order a new one from BMW

Went to fit my new HT leads and theres a sensor on the 4th cylinder lead, which has damaged when it was running. So I will have to order a new one from BMW, but it seems impossible to fit without cutting the ends off the HT leads, so im sorta stuck about that one....if anyone has any knowledge of that?

I did get my hoses all fitted though, so all the intake side is fitted minus the induction kit.

Got my battery down there all charged up, got some 10-40 oil, coolant and water too, so I'm hoping next weekend might be the big startup - fingers crossed!

Good work Joe
Well Done, If you can get a pic of the sensor ?

2 pics of the sensor, there is no way of splitting it in 2 to remove it off the lead.

Will it slide up / down the HT ?
The sensor ?

slides up and down fine

looks like an inner part can clip out, but I cant see how that would come off?

Take the End of the HT Lead off.
There only screw in.

Then slide the sensor off

which end?

neither screw off. tried that.

They do,
They screw into the copper in the cable.

There just tight that's all.
You might do 3 anticlockwise circles before it gives.

The end that looks the easiest for you to get access too
and get the sensor off the cable.

marks right they do just screw in, must admit he is showing his age by saying copper as it not used so much these days. lol.

I was going to say Bronze lol

I couldn't think of the new material

I'll give it a go with the news ones I bought.

Only tried screwing the old ones off, which are bmw ones and theyre moulded.

I need to buy a new sensor first from BMW.

Thanks for the info

Sorry Joe, but SORT THAT WHEEL OUT!!!



It looks like a Klingon or summut out of a stupidly kitted Saxo!!

that steering wheel looks like it suit zena warrior princess! ya ya ya ya! why did u buy it in the first place? doesn't suit the car at all imo.

lol it may well do, but I just like the look of it.

I agree, it doesnt suit the car, but ahh well lol

Back at that time she wuda used it as a boomerang

Have to agree with most peps about the wheel BUT it gets people talking about the car matey so its a puller so to speak.

Comming along now matey shouldnt be to long till your out and about again.

(can you still drive though as its been that long )

That wheel will go with Joe's Shell Suit Perfectly. (Joking)

Different, And after watching the Movie Transformers
its actually a Transformer lol.

hope so, im away this weekend and ive run out of money until payday now so i'll have to wait til next weekend before i get a chance to start it.

I hope I can still drive!!

only need an oil filter and an exhaust adaptor now

cheers for comments too

couple of pics from t'other week.

Had to order a few new bits from BMW, so will fit them and order another adaptor for my exhaust next week.

I'm away this weekend, but I'm hoping I'll have everything together and started the weekend after (fingers crossed!!!)

engines lookin good matey, may get to c ths one day !

sweet engine joe

Was hoping to get it started this weekend, but I still need an exhaust adaptor

with the posties being on strike atm, I havn't been able to order it, but luckily, the company is fairly local in Ormskirk, so looks like I'll have to get the train up there nice and early on Saturday if I have any chance of getting it running this weekend.

Also waiting on a 35mm - 50mm jubilee clip for a coolant hose, so if anyone has one of these spare, it would be much appreciated.

If i wasn't busy joe i would have ran you over there Joe.
Will let you know if my plans change.

no problem mate

Went all the way to Lancashire (5 miles outside of Ormskirk - which is a very long way on a bike btw especially being eaten by rabid dogs on tiny islands, but thats not the point, the point is, it was a long way on the train on a bike to ormskirk) today to get my exhaust adaptors.
Got them alright, no problems.
Also got my jubilee clip through the post.
All good, then I went to get my oil filter from Halfords.
They don't even fookin stock it.

Anyone know if Senars is open tomorrow morning?

Otherwise, looks like the cars not gunna be running til at least next weekend

think senars is open till 11 or 12 ring em first

thought so, will do

cheers

senars is shut on sundays, am pretty sure of it.

d'oh. will give them a ring anyway

am certaint because most garages are closed and that is he majority of their buisness so they dont open. glsd you enjoyed the bike ride lol bet you cant wait to get it sorted and do a way with all that eco freindly power lol

bah, gutted then, looks like next weekend.

damn right, im f'kin sick of the bike and walkin now lol

Will probably work on it 2moro, and get as far as I can without the oil filter.

Will get some better pics too with my new cam

Just found some pics of the engine before I started stripping it

their is a place in moreton that is open on a sunday called formula 4 am pretty sure they would have one in stock also motorworld and halfords will definatley have one without a doubt.

Yeah Formula 4 is good, Jim stocks a lot of stuff in there given the size of the shop.

joe your pictures look like you took them out of a dream

ah sooo lovely lol

lmao wheels

whelan

must have been cold that day


Halfords didnt and said I would have to order it in. Will give Formula 4 and Motorworld a ring 2moro

Not on a sunday mate - they only do a 1/2 day on Saturday...

I left arsing round trying to get an oil filter for this weekend, will get one for next weekend though.

Managed to get a bit done today...

Finished theexhaust system off just need to weld my boot so I can fix the duplex in place.

Also got all the connectors and hoses on and fitted a new ignition arm.

More pics, and better ones of my non-existant interior

Nice photo's Joe fella, good to see it coming on now, been a long time waiting lol.

When ye expecting to have it fully back on the road?

Don't like giving timescales as it never works out.

Hopefully back on the road before the end of the year though.

where did you get your center pipe mate? just curious

Good work Joe, on your own and being very short in height too.

Looking nice the Duplex in deed

Did you use any exhaust paste on the Joins ?
"Of the Exhaust that is"

Much better pics

Gd luck on ur bike in the winter! U'l need it

www.burtonpower.com for the length of s/s pipe, and the s/s flexi exhaust from eBay.

The exhaust has probably cost the most up to now (with the exception of the re-con head) as ive had so much messing about getting the wrong sizes and things. Oh well, learn from your mistakes lol


Cheers Mark. I put paste on all the joints except the ones which are a perfect fit and will be taken off come MOT time


Haha hopefully it'll be done before it gets too cold!

Picked up an oil filter from Senars before, so fingers crossed, running this weekend

Its goin good so far. I have everything fitted engine wise now and filled it with oil and coolant today.

only gotta check everythin over and hope it starts first time.

looks good mate, fingers crossed it starts 1st time

gd shit, u putting everything that u stripped from the interior back into it or u gonna keep the weight to a minimum?

Not going to put the old interior back, I'm getting a leather interior.

I am gunna get a space saver spare wheel and remove my boot install though to keep weight to a minimum.

Think I'll start on a new boot install when its back on the road, as the one I have in atm was a practise to see how to do things and how easy things were.

Fingers crossed indeed kris

Make sure your battery is nicely charged for the big day

No point in being all pumped up and getting half a turn lol

I think you will get her started mate

p.s
Take it out of gear so it dont fly across the car park lol

Well, I didnt end up running it.

Its all spot on and ready to go, just have to:
- Plug in the sensor on lead No 4.
- Attach a fully charged battery
- Turn the fooker over

Thats why I've left it for this weekend. I wanted to try and start it on a fully charged batetry, as Mark said, no point in being ready and only getting half a turn.

The fella who owns the garage next door to mine, lives round the corner and said he will make sure he has a fully charged battery I can lend for next weekend.

Fianlly finished off the exhaust and put the back end back on the floor today. It looks too small now, used to it sitting up high on the jacks lol.

The hole in the boot seems ok for now as the exhaust isnt directly below it

Also fixed the exhaust in the middle to stop it hitting any speed bumps.

Just hope I remember to take the key for next time.

Looking very good mate

Well, big day happened to day, but it did fook all

Think the start motor is fooked as its not turning over, but its drawing current. (Battery is fully charged)

Tried twatting the fook out of it, and rocking it in gear but that seemed to do fook all until after about an hour then I heard the starter motor turn, for about a second and then stop and it just went back to doing fook all.

Gutted

There was a funny moment when I first connected the battery up and went to start it......D'oh!......

[youtube]bNsi6bSqTmU[/youtube]

Anyone have any ideas anyway?

loool PANIC!

Yeh turn the alarm off.

If the start motor is on / off in a world of its own
then it could be the solenoid, i'm guessing as you
say the motor its self worked all be it 1 second.

You know when you say you Where were you hitting it?


The answers in the detail you see lol

i was hitting both the solenoid and the motor, but mostly the motor lol

think the solenoid could be buggered as it doesnt make a noise when ignition is on

its a git to take off, so i dont want to have to replace it lol

Just a Little Tap can be just as effective.

Check the wiring going to the starter / solenoid
failing that its probs a reconditioned one mate

Its not ceased is it?
Standing for so long and all ?

wizz it off (easy said than done lol..) and strip the solenoid down, take out the weight inside (the bit that pushes out the gear) and give it a good ol clean and wipe over with wet and dry to get the shizzit off of it and maybe a lil lubing, see if that helps.

and bench test it before you put it back in, by using jump leads from your battery to the appropriate places

yeah, im gunna try that tomorrow, cheers

was goin to take it off today, but it seemed too much of a Grrr, so I left it to do for tomorrow lol

only problem is, I need to charge my battery again now

anyone down prenton way 2moro or can lend me a spare charged battery?

Just checked my pockets



No batteries in there

i have my power pack. (the big yellow thing) you can use that if you like.

cant you just get a few freind to give you a push and bump start it????

if by my friend you mean my missus then yeah lol

I cant see her wanting to push me in the car though.

I might just ask the dude who owns the garage next to me for his battery.

cheers anyway whelan

This little fooker was a git....




Sore hands, a lot of shouting and abusing and 4 Hours later....







Gunna take it apart and give it a clean, and test it.

Hopefully I wont need to replace it

Joe i am off today (sunday) give us a call and i have loads of batts in my garage plus if you need i can bump your motor using Donna's car.

(dont replie here though as i still havnt got the net at home)

Took it apart, and everything mechanical seemed fine, all working, nothing sticking.

Gave it a clean and fitted it back in and still nothing happened.

So I'm thinkin its an electrical fault with the solenoid.

Going to see if I can get it repaired or replaced

If your taking it for a swop / reconditioned one,
ask them to test yours first?

Then you know its not your wiring

will do

I took the starter motor to the auto electrical place on green lane.

He tested it, it worked fine, took it apart cleaned the brushes, put it back togetehr and tested it again and all was spot on and he didnt even charge me for it - Would recommend him

So I put it back in, and checked the earthing to the engine.
Spotted one which looked like it was tightened but it was actually loose, only by a bit though.


So I got to this stage early Saturday afternoon:

[youtube]3XtPk9AkL9M[/youtube]


As you can hear by the 2nd attempt of starting, the battery was dying, so I phoned Mark to help give it as jump start.

After spending about an hour pissing around, we couldnt smell any fuel, so we thought that the fuel pump was fooked. Then I realised, I took the fuse out to de-pressurise the fuel lines before taking it apart

Then we were getting somewhere...

Now that fuels getting to it, its desparately trying to start, but wont

It sounds like theres a knock from the engine sometimes and turning the crank by hand is easy in places, but becomes very difficult to turn in others.

So we came to the conclusion that the timing is out, but I'm pretty certain its spot on.

Anyone help me? as I'm at a loss now and have no idea what to do

Tony...now that you're online..

you think chris may be able to help me? PM me his number plz mate

sending number now matey he will be in bed now though but is off for the next 2days me thinks

Anyone free Tuesday around 6:30pm to give my car a tow around the block to get it started?

Have you got RAC or AA Home Start by any chance? I had a tow start off them, they may be able to help?

Also, I dunno, but when I got the tow start, and I lifted the clutch it kinda pulled back on the van once or twice before it would start.

Id offer to do it in me new car (tis derv), but am not sure I like the idea of putting strain on it just yet lol, especially as the van the RAC used for me was a 2.5 tranny lol, if that gets strain id imagine a 2.0 would be hit a fair bit?

If ye still aint sorted nothin a couple of weeks id be happy to give it a go, but atm im just in two minds about doing it. Summit in me mind I could just imagine me nice new car ending up fooked, im weird like that, dunno why!

You know anyone with a work van who could do it? Nobody cares about screwing their work van lol.

yeah, one of the lads in work might be able to do it 2moro night, if not, might be able to get one of the work vans later in the week.

I hoping it'll start tomorrow, still gotta syphon my fuel off though

Keep me fingers crossed for ye matey, cant wait to see this at a meet again, has been too long! Keep us posted, if nothing happened in a couple of weeks ill give it a go.

If you can get it started, you lookin to the Jan or Feb 08 meet for it to make its grand return?

Yeah, I'm hoping to have it done by the new year if it starts, still a lot of work to do which I didnt want to start on til I got the engine running

If not matey i have a new car which should be able to pull this no probs but wont be at my garage untill i move the old car.

Which will prob be next week.

Will be towing it later so lets hope it starts!!!

Fingers crossed

let us all know how it goes matey !

Crossing all me bit for yu joe

Good luck matey...



Remove the fuel feed, and direct it in to a drum, put 12V to the pump - let that do all the hard work for you

3 times round the block, couple of very loud backfires, but still the barstard wont start.

Least the van didnt break though lol

Thanks to all who had the confidence in me to vote yes

No idea why it wont start though

I didn't syphon it cas it wouldnt and it was too late to try stuys tip lol. So I just topped it up

Gunna try putting the old parts of ignition system back and try a different coil too.

Could be overfueling, so I'll e-mail the company I bought the head off to see if the performance cams might cause it.

If that doesn't do it, Chris said start again and he'll go through it with me this time making sure everything is spot on.

Some pics:

thats not good matey, keep the topic goin so we no how you get on !

Nevermind mate.

If anybody knows bm's its Chris

Oh and bmw (i would hope anyway)

unlucky mate

sorry you didnt get it started

my moneys on ignition, it'd have to be overfueling really really bad not to start.... ???.... it should run but it'd be really rough

(on another side note... with you having performance cams, did they give you instructions about when you do fire it up to rag the balls off it for 15 mins, going up and down the rev range, i had to with my performance kent cam, to bed them in?)

I'm inclined to stay with Timing (Ignition).
IMO for it to pop and bang it has to be timing mate.

I know we checked lead 1 for a spark Joe but were the
others checked for life?

As daft as it seems it could only be the one sparking?
Or at most 2? And that could cause the same results?

No information came with the performance cams, they just came fitted in the head.

All 4 plugs are sparking fine.

I should get a reply off the cam manufacturer soon hopefully.

If its fueling and sparking, it must be timing related or ingition related if its not a mechanical problem.

The fact that its back-firing says the fuel is getting there, and being ignited, just not at the right time....

Could also be a problem with the Cam - could be the wrong one, or the overlap duration could be wrong...

Have you done a compression test?

compression test was fine.

compression on all 4 cylinders.

...so that kinda rules out the overlap on the cams

Dizzy and rotor arm

....running out of ideas now lol

well, thats the next step.

I did replace the rotor arm for a new one, so I'll put the old one back on and use a different coil.

I have a couple of new ideas Joe,I will let you know when I see you...

Just come back from the garage - been there 5 hours

Massive thanks to Chris who came down to help me at such short notice.

I think he might have found the problem.

The HT leads may be the wrong way round

Finished putting it all back together after taking the half the engine apart to get the cambelt off to see if it was timing.

It need a jump to start cas the battery is dead, so anyone up for meeting me at my garage tomorrow to see if my car start for the first time in a year? lol

I might be able to fella, where abouts is it?

Ok....attempt number 2 with the HT leads the right way round this time.....

.....sorry

Well, it started first time.

Thank fu*k for that!

Now I can start buying bits for it.

Only problems with it is a coolant leak, on the thermostat housing and the exhaust is blowing in the middle.

Will post a video up later

congrats Joe

Knew it had to be something Gay

I bet you never make that mistake ever ever again.

yeah deffo never make that mistake again.

still got a dodgy idle as you can hear, so think i'll have to replace the idle control valve.

Also, still got a slight knocking, so its either the lifters are drained of oil after sitting there so long or its a knocking from the bottom end. Its nowhere near as loud as it was, so im thinking it could just be the lifters.

[youtube]unHy86YrrjA[/youtube]

cant really see much cas its dark, but at least you can hear it

quality

It sounds like a tractor lol...

Just good to get it turning over again, and starting
with no probs too

Good to see you got it going matey... it sounds like my derv lol

Cant wait to see it back at a meet in the near future hopefully

hopefully going to try and get it ready for februarys meet.

Looking at buying these coilovers....

any suggestions - good/bad/nice/go for springs instead?

Joe save yourself a load of money and just get lowered springs and shocks...coilovers are great for the track etc but too severe for everyday use.A decent lowering kit will give you the look you need mate

Bumpy as you like but well worth buying mate.

Glad to see it running cantbelive how late you tayed at the garage to work on it welldone

This is a 40mm lowering kit on my old 328i sport

did you ever find out about the run in time for your cams?

Cheers Tony.

Them coilovers are not much more than lowering springs and shocks. But if they're better for everyday use, I might get them instead.





I didn't find out, you recon I should do that to get them run in?

bedding in a new cam usually means not letting the car idle, i.e kepping it above 2k. glad to hear you finally got it running!

cool, will run them in over the weekend then me thinks.

bought a 5000k HID kit, so should get that soon.

Going to look at buying the alloys below tonight and im also looking at getting these headlights:

Now its started Joe you can spend all the money you saved
Shouldnt be too long before we see your cherriby little
face going down the road

weyheeeey! Good news!

Glad it was something fairly simple too!

yeh, nice one joe, those parts will look good too, like the head lights too !

Cheers for comments

I picked up the alloys before. They're in pretty decent nick, well worth what I paid for them.

I'll be sanding them down tomorrow and maybe start paint them white.

Also should be buying my carpet tomorrow.

I'm after some M3 leather seats too after I put my carpet in. I will put up a post of what they look like in the wanted section so if anyone comes accross them, let me know

these seats by any chance??

yeah mate, the ones that were in your old m3, but in black

mmmmmmm, nice!

they're sweet matey....

Started it again tonight with the help of a jump start from chris (aceritz) and pomp - cheers.

Got my fan wired up so that works nicely.

Thermostat housing is still leaking and I think its causing an air pocket in the coolant system as it dangerously overheats after running for about 20 mins.

Need to try and get that sorted.

Cant find anywhere to buy carpet from, but hopefully i'll be buying some at the weekend.

HID Kits arrived today from Hong Kong, so I'll be installing them when I get my new headlights in the new year.

Finished sanding my new alloys down, so should be painting them this week.

Tonight I swapped the idle control valve for a spare one I had so it idles much better now

Video of it running:

[youtube]3KVI0jjmgGU[/youtube]

Still sounds like a tractor as the exhaust is stll blowing. Hopefully fix that soon too.

glad to see it stared dude all the long hours and the hard work you ave put in to gettin it goin

hope to see ya on the road soon matey and will be nice once finished cant wait to see it at its best at the meets

Its alrite, even tho u used chris's car lol. Give me a ring any time if u need anything I'll try me best to pop up if i aint doin nothing an Soz i cudn't stay long like. I wuda stayed if i didnt have any plans. I thought u wanted a lift to new brighton wen u called me lol, anyways once ur cars bk up n running sud see you out n about more

Lol, thats one thing ive found out I cant do, give jump starts.

Still cant wait to see this car back on the road haha, tis a really sweet car, glad you didnt sell it in the end all that time ago fella!

I have the numbers for loads of BMW specialist breakers-if you want them (for a carpet etc) just let me know mate...

thanks for comments.

Chris, no worries, I'm after retrimming it myself, so I'll just get some off cuts or something.

I'm off to my garage in a sec and will be needing a jump start, so if anyone can come round and help about 8pm, it would be much appreciated

Will see you in about 5mins matey

Sorry i didnt saty mate but your mad as its far to cold.

No worries lol cheers for them batteries tony, but they didnt have enough in them to get it started

Think i've fixed the coolant leak now though - re-tapped the hole as the thread had been stripped, and seems to hold fine. Also made a gasket for the thermostat housing to stop any futher leaks.

Topped up with new oil as the old stuff had petrol mixed in with it from the many failed attempts at starting.

I bought 2 LED computer temperature sensors last week too, so I will just cut the molex connectors off and i'll be fitting one sensor inside the car and one outside so I know how chilly it is lol.

Made a start on painting the wheels last week.

I've sanded them all down, so all they need is painting.

Finally finished the first one today - it's taken me 2 days.

Not the best of jobs as I hate prep work for painting and never get it smooth enough, but looks pretty good.

Another 3 to go....

looking good dude....this is like a late christmas present...hopefully shell be done before I go back to uni...and ill get to see all the hard work man

Cheers.

I'm trying to get it back on the road by end of jan/start of feb, so probably not before you go back.

Still a lot of work to do and a lot of money to spend

heres hoping tho.....im gonna have to take a year out of uni anyway end of this uni year....so if i can get a placement near to home..i should be back quite a bit..and possibly see her when shes finished

iv just gone throudh all the pages n it looks like ya bin throuh alot gettin ya car to how it is now
i was inreged all through cant wait for more picks n posts to look at
i cnt wait to c the final looks

cheers matey

wow them wheels look fresh mate. good job

ta mr whelan

I thought that aswel, maybe i might hire Mr joe if i wana get mine resprayed haha.

car will look gd with them wheels.

love white wheels ... can only think of one white car ive seen with white wheels from the top of my head which was a sunny gti-R, sure they will look great on the beemer too tho!

Bravo_Sean ma cousin had white alloys for couple weeeks they looked quite good too

cheers for the commets fellas.

I've seen another white e36 with similar white wheels and I thought it looked the dogs bollocks, so I thought I'd do the same with mine

hehe y not... have good feelins bout this car mate... was it u that had bought new lights but needed to fit em?

You did a good job on them wheels mate, You ever done it before ?

Cars looking very nice by the way

Yeah, I've bought a 6000k HID kit, but just waiting for christmas and new year to be over so I can order some smoked angel eye headlights from America.


Never painted wheels before, but painted lots of bits on my car and had many failed attempts lol. As I said, its not the best of jobs as I had doing prep work before painting, but it'll do

nice rims mate

wheels look spot on mate...hurry up an get it back on the road cant wait 2 see it when its finnished

kris

glad to hear its all working now, alloys are coming along well and them m3 seats are going to set you back a shit load of cash, seen them on ebay a few times and they go for loads, lokking gud anywayz

Cheers rhys.

All 4 wheels are now done, thought I'd do a quick chop to see what they might look like.

And theres just a random image of my car in the rain

wheels look great joe, ur gettin there now matey !

Cheers.

Once I've had it lowered, I'll be fitting the wheels.

I'll be ordering headlights and springs sometime next week and finish off painting the trim

nice one joe, think i'll actually see it in the matal one day ?

I'm hoping to have it done and on the road before the end of February

whoop whoop ! hope so matey.....

Bought a few more things....

40mm / 35mm Lowering Springs which I should be fitting sometime this week.

M3 Replica Spoiler with brake light - Just needs painting

Angel eye headlights should come sometime this week from America, and I'll be fitting my HID kit

joe, mate, i think it's time to call it a day and scrap the car.

ha ha, how long has this been off the road man, sort it out.

Nice one matey was working with Chris today and your MAD wanting to fit the springs tonight

its been almost a year now.

Give me a few weeks and I'll be back

Tony, I didn't know it was raining lol I just wanna get it done an back on the road asap.

na joe wants to wait exactly a year before he'll have something to celebrate for.

Lowered 35mm at the back.

Still need to do the front.

Also got my new smoked angel eye headlights and fitted the HID kit, just needs wiring up now

Old one is still fitted on the left hand side

love them headlights its cuming along nice joe

was the backs easy mate an the light looks good matey

turned out to be a peice of piss.

cheers for helpin me the other day mate

Looking good mate, keep up the good work

Love the new lights mate, Keep up the good work its coming along nice

Joe mate, there seems to be some bits missing from the side of the car LOL.

Coming on well mate. can't wait to see the finished product. Not a fan of BMW's but i'm sure you will make me change my mind won't you.

When i get my springs fancy fitting them for me for a few quid ????

cheers

daz, chris bmw did it for me while i watched lol

well thats a pain. oh well i have to pay a garage.

you doing your trims and handles all white?

if so i think that will look nice.

they're all done mate, just need fitting.

when you goona be back on the road then matey ????

im hoping for febs meet, but theres still a lot to do and buy

yes well joe, the buying can be done over time, get it on the road, i bet your legs are killing you from all the walking LOL

yeah lol sick of it.

apart from the seats and carpet, its only small bits to buy, but i want to get the seats before its on the road, then tax, mot and insurance.

agh those dreaded 3 words,

Tax, insurance, MOT. i need all of them. pain int he ass isn't it. would rather be spending the money on other stuff. but there no good if the car falls apart i suppose

Tax, insurance and MOT are gunna cost £300 alone, and thats if it passes the MOT first time.

I know its gunna fail on a split CV joint boot, but I can't be arsed fixing it lol

little bit of gaffa tape mate. they will never see it. LOL

Mine will prob be over that, insurance will be on direct debit but then 6 months tax is 100 and the MOT oh god, im putting it in to fail so i can fix whats wrong with it.

Good luck with it matey

cheers.

im only after 6 months tax too so its out of sync with the MOT

and away from new year and x-mas thats my plan aswell.

Great minds think alike

Wired it up today

The ballast for the other one is fooked, so I'm gunna have to get another one

The old on is still on the drivers side for comparison

doing a good job on this car joe,come a long way.

Are those headlights legal? cos ive heard aftermarket HID kits are illegal due to the beam pattern being crap. or do projector lenses solve that problem?

no idea. Hope they're legal though lol

Judging by those pictures, the headlights are on the wrong side? On my E46, the headlights are on the outside, is this not the case on the E36?

Also, it would make more sense to have the main headlights using the projector lens? Unless both are projectors?

If, and you probably havent, you have put the bulb in the wrong side then you are effectively driving around with main beam on all the time.

With regards to legality, it is a legal requirement that cars fitted with HID's as standard from factory need self leveling systems and headlight washer systems.

However, whilst strictly speaking, HID kits are illegal for other reasons, its not because you dont have self leveling motors or headlight washers and they will pass their MOT. It would take some pretty anal police to pull you over for them and this is more likely to happen if you are driving round without the projector style lenses.

Ive got an HID kit on my newish BMW through standard projector lenses and it looks standard, so no worries there.

I may have wired up the wrong side yeah, but I was just doing it quick to see what it would look like.

I think the way the old ones work is the inside one is full beam and the outside one is the main beam.

Cheers for the reminder

I think both might be projectors too.

haha!

its lookin really good now joe.... get it finished and on the road...

Fitted the new wheels to the rear, will put the front ones on hopefully tomorrow after the front is lowered (If it's not raining again)

Thanks to Daz for the lift

loving it mate, bet your well smiling now.

As we where saying all white cars look nice.

Totally colour coded.

Lookin good that matey; the arches look a bit wide for the wheels though, is there any trim that can be put on to circumvent this?

How much was it lowered by?

Still amazed at your will to keep working on it after so long off the road, keep it up matey, will be great in summer!!

Cheers Daz an Matt

I thought the arches are wide too, thats why I got 17's. They fill the gap more than the 15's, but any bigger and it'd cost me a fortune on tyres and plus it would rub.

It's lowered by 35mm on the back and I have 40mm spring for the front.

Can't wait til its on the road, I was driving it around the garages in circles before just to get the feel of driving again lol

heres a pic of what the old alloys were like:

sweet as mate. you got a pic of the m3 from that year cos i'm sure they only rolled on 17s to compare it to

.

I think thats just lower than yours is all mate.

What about the alpina B11 is it ???

the B11 is the E32.

Mines the E36 model - which is B8

The arches do look a closer than mine

I'm sure alpina took the micky and where sticking 19" rims on their cars.

Another option is to put some spacers on to try pushing them out a bit and see if that helps, push them out 5mm ??

its a possibility, I'll see what it looks like when the front ones are on

ok joe, it's a deal, get them on and post some pictures for us all to see.

if you look at this picture of the B8 the front wheel look slike it doesn't fit the arch

looking good matey when u doing the fronts

Looking very nice mate, Keep up the good working, Im loving this topic btw

cheers lads, i'm doing the front tonight with your help mr kris lol

Also fitted my reverse camera last night, so need to get an in-car screen for it

i u sure are mr joe lol

Well boys how did it go today ???

pm customice about 1 joe....

Mine wheels never looked right on the e30 cos the front arches are higher than the rears.

Looks good though Joe.

PS you phoned my old phone the other day

haha tony you'll have to PM me your new number matey I havn't got it.

heres how it looks at the mo after me and kris spending 3 hours trying to lower the front without the right tools.
Thanks very much for your help kris

only got the drivers side lowered, and the strut still isnt tightened so it will still go a bit lower.
Ordered the right tools so should get the other side done this weekend.

Nice wheels Joe

The back wheel looks about right
But as you say the front needs to come down a bit more.

Good Good in the the land of Joe

it took another 3 hours to do the other side of the front, but its finally done now.

woo hoo looks amazing!

Lookin good that fella, looks a fair amount lower at the front then it did yesterday.

sweet mate, looks spot on with them wheels, get the trim back on.

one think i will say is, will the springs settle and drop lower as i think it could go lower !!!

yeah the springs will settle and go lower.

still got some trim to paint before I fit it.

lookin nice

looks good joe. what's next on the list

Whats left to do is:

- Finish off my headlights
- Fit the cat back on
- Front strut brace
- Paint and fit rear spoiler
- Tint the rear windows
- Fit new carpet
- Finish painting trim
- New wheel centre caps
- New bonnet badge
- Leather interior
- DVD Stereo with screen

Should all be happening in the next week or two, and hopefully it will be taxed and MOT'd before Februarys meet

have you got the leather interior yet?

not yet, so if anyone finds a decent set - doors cars and seats (for a 4 door saloon), please let me know

I know what you mean about the front looking so much higher than the back, same with mine, although granted this does exaggerate it a little due to the incline...



Presumably why most lowering springs always lower the front more than the back?

yeah, I wondered that myself why the front is lower than the back.

The ones I have fitted are 40mm front and 35mm back

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/full-leather-...374QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

presume you would want black though? but good price.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Full-E36-M3-v...374QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

pretty sure these would fit, and you would be left with a redundant handle to tilt them forwards... and wow, what a seat!

Yeah, spot on that M3 leather, only problem is its pickup only, but I'll see if I can get it.

Nice one

you seent he buy it now price on the M3 leather mate £650.00

thats more than i paid for my car.

pretty decent price for M3 leather that mate lol

i seem to remember you budget was a lot lower than that though mate ??????

You come inot money ??? Lotto win maybe ???

IIRC the 4 door E36 is quite rare though isnt it?

If you got the 3dr leather, only the front seats are of any use....

no lotto win mate, I wish! Tis a bit higher than I wanted to pay, but it's pretty much the main thing to buy to get it on the road as soon as.

Yeah, 4dr interior is quite rare, and yeah the front seats would be the only thing I could use

Some breakers sell the back seats separate, so if I can find Coupé front seats cheap enough, might be worth buying them separate - not £650 though just for front seats

Finished wiring the headlights tonight.
One of the ballasts for the HIDs is fooked, so I'll have to try and find out whats wrong with it.

Switched the HID bulbs around too so it is now on the outside

Also decided to remove my boot install as I probably won't use it and it was taking up space and adding extra weight.

coming along well,cant wait to see it with trim back on,and with the plans completed it'll be pure sexwee.

my mate fitted E46 front seats into his E36 and they fitted well,with little effort,rear seats may fit too with some tweaking? and leather E46 seats may be more common than E36?

fancy it,cant wait to see leather in it tho

Scoop you will have to pop down through the summer sometime, maybe on the BBQ event or something and am sure Joe will
have finished with his car by then hopefully.

down on 16th feb mate,maybe for 2 days maybe a week,if its a week i may attend the meet if there is one,still pub meets?

Oooo, well Cali's unofficial members meet is on the 13th of feb in a pub but the official members meet is the next day
the 14th of feb at the rock.

Am sure some people will be out and about tho but you can always set up a meet and get people out when your
back in the Wirral if you like.

Its coming along nicely now, just need to get them bumpers things back on and the badge. then sort the rest
of the mods out on your list.

Official members meet is on the 7th of Feb Pomp

Its coming along real nice now Joe, Still loving them lights

get the trim on matey, will transform the whole look of the car.

to all the beemer crew from grandad beemer (7series) i have a very good friend who can sort u second hand beemer bits in Middlesbrough UK an will happily email his number to u if u wish, he only breaks and builds beemers and has done for years, he is a middle aged man not a cowboy and comes highly recomended and saved me an absolute fortune, all his work on mine has to be stringently tested with my car doing the job it does, to give you ideas he was gonna sort me a new(used) interior for 250, all leather on a 740il. If this helps in any way i will be more than happy to pass u his number, and yes he can do mail order

if you could PM me his number please mate, that would be great

I have nearly everything for it now, just a few more things to buy.

It is now insured and the rediculous sum of £190 a month

Here's a few things that I have bought for it recently, which I just need to fit next week:

Dark Smoke Rear Tints
M3 Spoiler with Brake Light
7" Touch Screen DVD Player with TV Tuner, Bluetooth, Card reader + More
Digital Video Recorder with Motion activation supports 2 Video Inputs
M-Tech Titanium Gear Knob
Toad Tracker with Text Alert
New Ballast for Headlight
M3 Electric Heated Leather Seats
Black Carpet
Sheet of Polysytrene to fill the gaps under the carpet
Roll of Foam Insulation for Noise reduction inside.

and thats all I can think of for now.

Seats were a bit shitted up, but will sort that with a bit of cleaning

Should be on the road soon

.

.

Woo hoo its getting along very nicely now, will see this on the road very soon then.

you been busy spendin joe! gonna look good !

how much did you give for the Vadars Joe? just seats or the full trim??

Just short of £450 for just the seats.

More than I wanted to pay, but I was after heated ones and the rear seats are like new.

sorry been away, jimmy 07712345666 and no that is a genuine number he is based just off the a66 in boro, give him a buzz, and one more important thing that really has to be said,





REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESPECT to da car its looking good my boy, well done

Seen this in the flesh tonight and its starting to come together now

Sounds really nice aswell, Not too loud

have u wired up all the seats?, and did it have the loom already in to do that or did u make ur own?

seats aren't in yet, but theres only a few connections to be made.

Power to the electrics to adjust the seat and power to the heaters.

Don't think the wiring is in for it, but either way I'll put my own wiring in and a switch to stop people adjusting my seat and switches for the heated bit.

get a loom from jimmy and use the memory function to lock your seats and mirrors and steering wheel (if elec) in place and you also get the three memo store buttons for you, the wifes settings and the dog( why three i do not know) think you get these options on the baba 3 series i do in the big un

07712345666, jimmy is the haynes manual of bmw lol, even for free advice

will have a think about it cheers

Cat is back on for the MOT and its not blowing anymore

Also got new bonnet and boot badges, locking wheel nuts and new BMW centre caps for the wheels but they're too big

replaced the ballast for the other headlight so they both work now forgot to take pictures though

Window tints should be fitted at the weekend if I dont get pissed off with them.

The floor is not levelled out using Styrofoam in the gaps and I've started fitting the carpet on the passenger side. Should be done at the weekend and hopefully seats fitted too.

Thanks to Sean for helping me out getting everything too and from my garage

Really coming together now mate

No probs mate, I'm happy to help :), Any time i can help i will

joe mate ya car looks mint its all comin together now so the hard work is lookin to ave paid off

cant wait to see it on the road keep up the hard work matey

exhausts are lookin nice

how much u paying for window tints, i paid 100 english for mine (not windscreen) in Newcastle, u want the lads number?????

already got the tint film, pre-cut for £35

sorted, its coming along nicely my boy. show pics when done. you doing it or getting someone too do it

I'll be doing it. Done all the work on this myself so why stop now

i take my hat off to you, well done

Joe, very impressed matey, startin to see the light at the end of the tunnel i guess... Cant wait to see this. Well i'm off for another 2.5 weeks, go back on 2nd march, so if i can help u before then i will, now i can drive...

Looking good Joe

TBH I had my doubts when I saw pictures of it with no interior / engine - thought it would be one of those never never projects...

...I still recon your gonna regret not dropping a 6 pot in there

I already am stuy, theres just too much space under the bonnet

V8 if it fits, has to be done

would do if I started over and had the money to do it lol

Electric seats work anyway

Will test the heater function in a bit

sweet about the seats, u gonna 6 pot then

no no, spent too much on the engine already.

If I were to do another BMW project or buy another one, it would only be a 6 pot never 4 hate them even though I no know them pretty much inside out

cant argue with that dude, enjoy what you got there, its lookin good

ok, just shit myself by setting off the seatbelt buckle tentioner while trying to find which wires give me heated ass cheeks.

I shit one and the stupid thing is, I did it again on the other seat.

Will be removing them now as they obviously cant be used again and plus they weigh a bit too.

attention ! when installing new leather seats in your car do not set off the detonators for the pretensioners,

speak to chiccy, she seen a good deal on nappies earlier should u wish to continue crapping your pants.

oh and incase u wondering yes I am pissing my pants laughing lol

omg...... did you nnot get any sort of instructions for the wiring...?

...thank fook your not playing round with Airbags

...they go off with quite a bit of a bang

imagine him driving it , scary thought

no wiring instructions, just 4 connectors for each seat.

still need to see if these other 2 connectors are actually for the heaters

Smoked wind deflectors came today from Germany

what do people actually use these wind deflectors for?? Other then possible increase the co-efficient of the car, I can't understand what else their used for?

Is it so you can the window open when it rains?

never understood the use of them either, look ugly imo lol

Yeah especially on normal car's... on 4x4's they kida suit them as so many have em on, but on normal car's they do look a little out of place... but I still aint got a clue what their for???

Lol

yeah, to stop rain when the windows open and to reduce wind noise

maybe,maybe not , but then moddin is a personal thing

Fitted the wind deflectors today and washed it for the first time in over 12 months.

Also nearly finished painting the rest of the trim, so should fit that tomorrow and I will also try and finish off the carpet and fit the spoiler and maybe the stereo.

looking really nice joe, woths that taped to ur rear bumber tho ? is it wiring ?

it is, its for the reverse sensors which I bought aggges ago.

The trim is in the boot with them connected hence the wires going from the bumper into the boot

Getting there matey.

I am there at 9am (ish) 2mora if your down there.

ahhhh i see... you gettin a camera like mine too ?

saw it today in the flesh looks good and the wheels look like you had them sprayed professionaly!

Cheers Al.

Yeah Jonah, got a camera too just need to wire it up

Pictures of lights at night

Looking good Joe, but, that beam pattern is kicking the wrong way (designed for a left hand drive) - MOT Failure that matey

lol, mr doom and gloom is right !, thats gonna piss loads of drivers off too, you'll get flashed to buggery, alter it bud !

How do I adjust that then?

Where did you get them from mate?

Are they from The US or Europe (or other LHD country)?

Generally the beam direction is in the lense itself - there may be an adjuster on the top of the headlight - you'll have to check.

If theres no adjuster, they are no good on the UK roads, as they wont pass the MOT

Gutted, they are from the US

If they where an Ebay jobbie, send the seller a mail mate.

They have sent you the wrong ones - for a LHD car. The only difference will be a filter inside the lense, which I doubt you can change, but they will be sold for LHD cars, and RHD cars depending of which way the beam should kick...

my paul did this with angel eyes for a vectra and had the same problem, i am sure he was able to swap something inside each unit around to sort it tho, but that was a vectra tho

Started fitting the spoiler before.

I was almost finished drilling and then the battery in my drill ran out and ontop of that, the spoiler was on the roof and slipped off cracking the brake light and balls'd up the paintwork on the bottom of it.

In the process it also took some paint off the drivers door.

Anyway, I will hopefully get hold of a new brake light and respray the bottom of the spoiler.

Most of the trim is now colour coded and fitted.

DVD Player is also fitted, just needs video and audio cables connecting and the TV antenna.

Pics of spoiler not quite fitted just before it decided to throw itself on the floor:

Wheres my stickers???

The roofracks scud is waiting....!!!!!

lookin good mate. u gonna spray the black bits on the bumper

so whats happening over the headlights joe ?

All the trim is getting colour coded

I found out the headlight beam an be adjusted both vertically and horizontally on the back of them, but I have no idea how to set it, so will have to look into that.

Thats not what you need mate, that will just move the beam angle / direction, not the actual beam pattern...

On my E46 there is a screw you can turn which alters the pattern from left to right so you can drive on the left as in Europe etc...

IIRC the E36 I had previously didnt have this function

where was the screw stu?

I've emailed the seller, so I'll see what they say

On the E46 its on the rear of the headlight unit.

Never touched it myself, just saw it had the feature when I looked through the manual when I got the car

Colour coded trim is now fitted

Looking good Sailor Joey.

fooking swish mate, told ya it would look the dogs.

cheers mr waddi and mr daz

So come on then when is going back on the road ?????

I waiting to get mine back with MOT then on 27th going to get my tax then i'll be motoring in it, whats your plan ???

my plan is finish the carpet tomorrow, after that fit the seats, sort out the dvd player, cameras & other gadgets, fix the spoiler, get it MOT'd and if it passes, tax, then I need to get door cards.

If it fails (which it will) hopefully it'll be no more than a few minor faults

I hoping to get it to the next meet, but no promises.

oh joe don't let me down matey. i'll cry if you don't make it

I seem to be having a bit of bad luck at the moment.

The company who I bought the spoiler off don't offer replacement brake lights, so I'm going to have to try and find a 3rd brake light that will fit it.

I don't think the backs of the rear seats will fit mine as they are from a coupé so I'll have to get looking for standard back seats. The bottom bit should fit though.

Carpet is now fitted and DVD player is wired up.
Also fitted the drivers side mirror.

The seats should be going in this weekend or early next week whenever I have time.

nice one mate coming along well now, keep it up and hopefully it will be done sooner than you think

Moving along quickly now matey shouldnt be long till your back on the road.

Looking forward to seeing peoples faces when they see it as i think only a couple of us have the photo's dont do it justice.

lookin good joe....

looks good mate but not really a fan of the sterin wheel

Me being one of them, I must say i can't wait for it to be on the road

Hurry up Joe

Finally got the seats in tonight. Still need to wire them up and find a standard leather back for the rear seats.

I bought some new centre caps, but turns out the alloys have 50mm centre caps not 68mm as bmw alloys have, so I bought some 50mm Aluminium Stickers for the old centre caps instead.

Also bought a universal brake light to try and fit to my spoiler as the old one is fooked.

Got the video recorder working - it has motion detection and an input and output which I might wire up to the text alert alarm to start recording remotely or to text me if it detects motion

All thats left to do now is painting of the rear trim and a fair bit of wiring for all the gadgets I bought.

Hopefully book it in for an MOT next week.

Heres a few better pictures for those who haven't seen it yet


From This:




To This:


















Pictures of the engine I spent months rebuilding:




Easily enough space for another 2 cylinders

Those seats really do look nice, I bet the difference is immense.
I have to say, the steering wheel looks horrendous!!

Go to Walsh's on Cleveland Street in Birkenhead for your MOT, they've passed my car 100% for the past four years, I'm sure they're a bit passive.

Cheers.

They're a lot better than the crappy cloth ones.

I must admit it the steering wheel does look a bit stupid for the car, but I had a similar steering wheel on my old civic, and I just like the style of it.

For this first MOT, I'm taking it to someone I know because I know its going to fail on a few items, but the fewer the better

As long as the car wont fall apart cos you used your own handy work

good luck joe. seeing as it's gone 12 today is the day for my tax so i know what it's like on the build up to the MOT.

car is coming along well mate. interior looks well good, nice contrast to the white bodywork. next on the list has to be a 6 pot engine.

I hope it won't fall apart lol.

Don't think I'll be spending any more on this motor after its on the road so 6 pot is out of the question unless I buy another motor.

I worked out the other day that I've spent over £3,000 on this altogether since its been off the road.
Might not be money well spent, but I've learnt a lot over the past few months of doing it

looks great that mate, really nice

all together....almost...cant wait to see it hahahahahaha....last time I saw it was my first meet with everyone..in West Kirby...dear god that was ages ago....

looks GREAT joe, very good work done by urself,cant wait to see a photoshoot of it once its all together, but for the love of god,get a plainer wheel

Looking Great Joe
Well done to you, there's not many Gay men that can rebuild a car..

Lookin good Joe Joe!!!

Fingers crossed they go easy on the MOT!

Mark, you need to be careful of gay suggestion, especially when you sent me the following map as a place to collect the ladders at 11pm

its really comin together now joe, almost there.... those seats look fab, better than sittin on the floor to back your car in the garage....

Really good Joe, Keep it up, Almost there

pmsl, there's you instantly banned from all garages

looking good joe, the white colour and the lights of a night time really seem to set it off in the previous pictures, doing really well keep it up. As with the steering wheel have you ever considered a alpina one

Almost finished the wiring and just got a bit of the back trim to spray and it will be going in for its MOT.

Just don't want to rush these last few things and forget to do something or cock it up.

Here's something I fitted the other day, see if you can guess what it is..?





Stereo is now fitted properly too.