Exhaust Rattle & Intake Idle (E36)

[svginferno]

two questions regarding a '93 325iS 5-spd:

1) at low speeds usually 2nd/3rd it sounds like the catalytic converters are toast and there's loose material bouncing around for a few seconds, more of a metallic sounds than not. also, in neutral, revving through the range idle to 5k there is no such sound...

so my real question is, does that mean my catalytic converters are still okay? and it's more likely the guibo is causing that sound? i have a replacement that i can put on the car, but i want to know if it is the cats so i can replace those too. pictures of the current guibo are under the second question.

2) sometimes after braking at a stop light the idle on the car will surge a bit, idle-1000 and back, i've cleaned the ICV, but that was about 5k miles ago. i figure it might be an intake leak, as there is a huge crack in the plastic elbow that connects the MAF to the throttle body.

my question is it advisable to use JB-Weld on the crack? will it hold tight? is there another way to fix it that is more advisable?

Thank you all in advance!

Pics of guibo (flex disc):

[bmwdirtracer]

Oh GOD, guy. Don't even go near the car 'til you replace that ugly sumbitch. And the damned intake elbow, too, that's why it's running badly.

PS: If that guibo expires, which it's about to, you bought yourself a new gearbox, shifter linkage and transmount (the metal part!)

[bmwdirtracer]

PPS: And your shifter shaft seal is leaking, too.

[svginferno]

Thanks a bunch Chris, I'll look into fixing all of that asap!

Does the shifter shaft seal require dropping the trans?
Just want to be read for what's coming.

P.S. I will be looking into the fix too.

[bmwdirtracer]

Nope, no trans drop, maybe just lower the back end a little, remove the bitch clip and linkage, stab the little mother, and hook it out, tap new one in . Hell, you might just get away without removing the bitch clip, too. Be careful not to lose the locking pin when you pry off the collar on the shifter shaft end. If you feel like you must remove the bitch clip to get access, you might want to have a spare on hand, as they're hard to remove, easy to break. Don't really know what it's called officially, it's the pin with clip that anchors the front of the shifter console/support to the actual gearbox. You can probably leave it alone./

[atlantisvip]

Inferno: did you have to remove the exhaust to get up that close to the driveshaft and guibo ?

[svginferno]

nope, i didn't even lift the car, i might have used the zoom function though...