1985 745 rebuild log

[DevInAz]

same thing is gona happen to my 745i,,,,
complete interior/exterior restoration is on its way

It's a ton of work but worth it. I can't wait to be able to start reassembly.

[DevInAz]

The guys are working hard on my car and cleaning up the mess I made. They have almost finished the full roof, trunk, A pillars, C pillars and most of the doors. here is how the car sits right now:






I'll update as they keep moving. The plan is for them to finish all the outer body work then i'll get the car back and strip the interior including the dash and all the bits that I installed before this paint job started. I will mount in the front seats from e65 745 that I have. i'm sure some welding will need to be done to make everything solid. We will paint the inside of the car and pull the doors off for the body shop. They will paint all the jams and send the car back to us to reinstall the doors. Then it will be ready for its final paint job. Not only do I want this done before my kid shows up but I want to go to bimmerfest - Mfest - and Wuste car shows. They are all within a month.

I will do my best to get it all done.

[DevInAz]

small update:

Who is going to Bimmerfest?

I'm going to head out with a few other cars on Friday night after work. We are bringing my e23, 2 e30 turbo's, and 2 135. One of the 135 is a M1 clone and is starting to look stunning! Anyway here are some things I've had for awhile but figured I would post up.





I've measured the inner diameter of the high beam rings and the lower beam rings and got 7 inch and 5.5 inch. I don't know if this will work but I'm going to look around and see if I can find any comparable LED style lights that are very close in size to the original bulbs.

[SicStang03]

Where did you get the headlights from? Someone said they won't sell them to us in the states because they won't make it through customs.

[CMG]

Can you please post the part numbers for the little bits that connect the lights to the base? If u need the glass housing i've use some that worked and were cheap i think it was autopal name maybe i can't recall

[DevInAz]

Where did you get the headlights from? Someone said they won't sell them to us in the states because they won't make it through customs.

We can get them. I order through my BMW account and my cousin is a parts guy at BMW. They can be ordered but most parts guys aren't willing to do the work to order them. They can't be ordered with lenses since they aren't DOT approved. I tried already

Can you please post the part numbers for the little bits that connect the lights to the base? If u need the glass housing i've use some that worked and were cheap i think it was autopal name maybe i can't recall

I'll take some better pictures tomorrow of the parts so the numbers and descriptions can be seen clearly.

[lynnbilodeau]

Pretty impressive. Not trying to be critical... but there are a couple things on the bodywork side of this. I debated whether to comment, but don't want others to make the same mistake after viewing this thread.

You will probably get away with not butt welding your patches in, but only because you are going flat black. If this were a glossy paint job (especially if it is black) you would get ghost lines after a few months.
Secondly, for a really good long term repair, or in your case, reworking, you want the metal work to have no holes, especially if you are using plastic filler. That filler can absorb moisture from the back side and will eventually fail. The better practice would be to stitch in your patch panels, then keep going back and filling in the gaps between stitches until the entire length is welded. Grind down smooth and fill in any pin holes with metal.

Still, you are building a really cool car, and should look great without the body side moldings.

Enjoy your children. They will grow up fast. I have recently been blessed with twin grandsons. Already bought their first car.

[DevInAz]

Pretty impressive. Not trying to be critical... but there are a couple things on the bodywork side of this. I debated whether to comment, but don't want others to make the same mistake after viewing this thread.

You will probably get away with not butt welding your patches in, but only because you are going flat black. If this were a glossy paint job (especially if it is black) you would get ghost lines after a few months.
Secondly, for a really good long term repair, or in your case, reworking, you want the metal work to have no holes, especially if you are using plastic filler. That filler can absorb moisture from the back side and will eventually fail. The better practice would be to stitch in your patch panels, then keep going back and filling in the gaps between stitches until the entire length is welded. Grind down smooth and fill in any pin holes with metal.

Still, you are building a really cool car, and should look great without the body side moldings.

Enjoy your children. They will grow up fast. I have recently been blessed with twin grandsons. Already bought their first car.

Thank you very much for the constructive criticism. I wish I knew this information before I started to bondo everything.

The body shop that has my car is trying to fix most of my screw ups without having to redo everything. They removed a bunch of bondo on the roof and rewelded it. I don't have pictures since I only go look at the car once a week or so.

I've changed my mine about the paint job so many times but for the last month or so I've been stuck on estrolil blue. It will be high gloss so I hope the the cracks don't show through. If they do I hope its limited to the doors only and I can source some different doors and redo them.

Here is the color again: http://www.bmw.com/imageservice/imag...80&height=1024

[lynnbilodeau]

And you may be fine. My 745 is black, so no room for error. The darker the color, the more likely to see the ghost lines. I am sure they will work it over good.

Anyway, you have put in a lot of work and you should have a lot of fun with this car. No such thing as the perfect car. They aren't perfect when they leave the factory either.

[DevInAz]

Small update and some facts needed...






The body shop is doing great and the car is making large strides. They said a few more days till its first primer job. I'm going to ask for a little more and have them spray the engine bay at the same time. So that means next week i'll be pulling the engine out and removing everything from the engine bay to have it move along quickly. Since the engine will be out I might as well rebuild it a little better. This is what I want to do:

replace all the basic stuff like bearings, seals and rings.
Raise the compression
find a later model b35 cylinder head
Reuse all the stuff turbo system (for now)
order 100cc injectors

I don't know most of the specs for m30 engine parts so I was wondering if anyone can fill me in. What is the most aggressive cam that I can find in the junk yard. b35? I'd like to use stock pistons from a late 535 or 735 with my rods and my crankshaft and block. I'll start my research to figure out what is needed. I'd like to end up with a compression around 9.2:1 or so. This car will be a daily driver on e85 which is why the compression needs to be a little higher.

Who has some ideas and facts?

I just read this post: http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=19549

I'm not interested in doing a full motor build with aluminum rods and pistons, or using m5 parts. I'd like to stick with factory m30 parts and deck and oring the block with some arp studs or something along those lines. Does anyone have any specs like block deck height or different m30 blocks including different rod lengths and full piston specs?

what about m30 cylinder head CC numbers?

Check this out! http://e28-535i.com/upload/M30_CR_Calcs.xls thank you to who ever made this!

Here are the cam profile specs: http://www.devinder.com/misc/M30camshafts.pdf

[Hit Man X]

Man...I hope those buffalo seats are junk in the front with all that crap resting atop!



B35 was 9:1 static. B35 camshaft is also like the old 10:1 ECE camshaft and I THINK like the M106 camshaft. I would go with a modern bumpstick from Paul Burke, but hey... do as you wish

How much power are you after?

I would not use aluminum rods on the street, as I know they do not last that long. A long rod M30 would be slick but they will change the compression height of the piston pushing the piston out of the deck of the block... means you need a different piston... aka custom forged.

ARPs + Cometic will rock. I have started looking for that stuff for my 106

[DevInAz]

Those seats are wasted! i'm not going to use them anyway. I'll be putting e65 seats in which are 10 times more comfortable.

I'm shooting for whatever the stock turbo will get me. The next build with the upgraded turbo system will be 600+. I will use ARP studs, but my head gasket will be stock but oringed. After some research tonight I think i'll be using the b35 head and m106 block but decked a decent amount to raise the compression back up. I'll swap the exhaust valves out of my original head and put them in the m30 head. The rest i'll figure out on the fly.

[Hit Man X]

Cannot cut down the head that much, it will take a HUGE amount to get the static back up to 8:1, let alone to 9:1... why not just keep the M106 head that is on there? Or do B35 slugs with B35 head?

8:1 static with your aftermarket engine management should not be that slow. You will be able to run a ton more timing with that E85.

[DevInAz]

Cannot cut down the head that much, it will take a HUGE amount to get the static back up to 8:1, let alone to 9:1... why not just keep the M106 head that is on there? Or do B35 slugs with B35 head?

8:1 static with your aftermarket engine management should not be that slow. You will be able to run a ton more timing with that E38.

After doing some research i've figured out my plan. B35 head and pistons with stock m106 rods or maybe honda h22 rods with stock crank and block. I won't know for sure until I find out if my block is worn and needs to be bored out.

so for the body work it is coming along very nicely. check out the pictures:





If everything goes to plan I will be pulling the engine out this weekend.

[Hit Man X]

Would you like to paint my cars?

[DevInAz]

Would you like to paint my cars?

lol i'm the last person you want to ask that...

now if you wanted a standalone and a tune... your car would be amazing. The factory engine management is junk compared to modern day technology.

[CMG]

Did anyone ever figure out how to use megasquirt with the m106?

[Hit Man X]

Did anyone ever figure out how to use megasquirt with the m106?

While retaining the EH trans? I have a few ideas, make a thread if you want.

[CMG]

I've been hearing about people trying to do ms on these cars for like almost 10 years now, but no success.

[Hit Man X]

I've been hearing about people trying to do ms on these cars for like almost 10 years now, but no success.

Yah, convert it to US -059/EH harness is easiest... Then you can even use a Miller WAR/MAF kit if desired. Along with high imp injectors, three wire ICV, etcThe US EH trans harness is basically standalone, it taps a few various wires for shift points/timing/line pressure from the TPS. Maybe the PNP -179 box plus EH harness would work, probably so. I really do not think the knock system works that great, but who knows so my ideas bypass it. Pressure levels and timing as well as fueling have all pretty much been sorted via modern tuning.

[DevInAz]

Did anyone ever figure out how to use megasquirt with the m106?

I'm running a VEMS with a m106. The problem with trying to use the stock EH transmissions with a standalone like mine is its a speed density system so I have no AFM. The AFM signal is one of the main things the stock EGS computers need for shift points. My way around this was to use a NON EH transmission and everything works great. I swapped the stock transmission bell housing and torque converter on to a spare 4hp i had hanging out in the shop.

I think that using a standalone would be to much work to try and keep the EH. NON EH transmissions can be bought for $100 now a days.

The factory engine management systems may have knock detection but thats about the only good thing about them. Not even looking at a performance stand point I would put my car up against any motronic system in terms of fuel mileage, ease of driving, and safety of the engine like overheating, and high EGT's, not to mention diagnosis of a poor running car.

I don't want to turn this statement into a WAR chip debate... but I have pulled a few of these systems out because they didn't work like they should.

[CMG]

Is vems a new version of megasquirt? Never heard of an eh i have the hp auto tranny. Otherwise is it pnp or did u have to tune? I'm happy with just the jarmo chip but the afm is the one thing i would want to change/delete.

[Hit Man X]

From the pinout I have for the EH connector, there is no AFM reference. :s maybe that silly -013 does though. No worries, not keen on WAR either...I know something can be sorted to use the EH. I have the full harness here from an '86 US car. Sorry for whoring out your thread.

[DevInAz]

Is vems a new version of megasquirt?.

Well it started along the same lines. They use to share tuning programs called megatune but within the last few years VEMS has taken very large strides. VEMS now uses a program called Vemstune and it is awesome!

This is not plug and play but that is a good thing! one of the problems with stock motronic is the batch fire and weak ignition system followed by the lack of a variable idle valve. Yes I did have to tune everything. If anyone would like to go this route i'd be happy to share anything I have with people including my full tune.


I made my own engine harness on my m106 and it was a snap. I'm going to add in a few different features which means i'll be making another harness here pretty quick.

I've used two different coil setups, one was stock and one was individual coils from a later m54. I'll be switching to a bosch motorsports wasted spark coil pack.

- - - Updated - - -

From the pinout I have for the EH connector, there is no AFM reference. :s maybe that silly -013 does though. No worries, not keen on WAR either...I know something can be sorted to use the EH. I have the full harness here from an '86 US car. Sorry for whoring out your thread.

I just pulled up some diagrams for a few cars that came with EH transmission and it looks like the only sensor that would be needed is the TPS. I don't know where I came up with the AFM input but I couldn't find it anywhere. It might be possible to tap a variable tps and use that input into the egs and see how it reacts. I would have done this little test last year when I swapped everything out but I didn't. My EH transmission was junk anyway.

- - - Updated - - -

Also this weekend i will be pulling out the Engine and getting ready for a rebuild while the engine bay gets painted. I'm thinking about doing the engine black in some kind of black wrinkle finish and painting the intake manifold, block and valve cover same blue and the car will get. I don't know yet... but thats what i'm thinking.

[Hit Man X]

Hell I also think a B35 automatic TPS would take the place of the silly E23 TPS/idle switch combo also. I know a standalone EMS needs a normal TPS and the EH needs one, what is your idea on using the same unit to control both? Ah, the normal ICV is a big plus of converting to a common unit.