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An E31, specifically a V12, and preferably a manual, has been on my bucket list since I saw them on the road when they were new, before I could drive, let alone afford one of my own. Fast forward through the years, mostly Ford ownership, currently a supercharged '15 GT, but previously an E46 M3, I realize now is as good a time as any to own the dream. Prices are inching up, parts are becoming more scarce etc..
So I did what I really shouldn't have done, and bought my car, sight unseen, from the other side of the country, and attempted to drive it home. I made it 70 miles before the alternator croaked, and I was stranded by the side of the road. I had the car transported home, and the alternator/batteries replaced, before I drove it back to my garage, where it's been in pieces since late May.
I'm able to put in a few hours most weekends, so the pace is intermittent, and often slow. Part acquisition has been fun also - between eBay (UK, Canada, Australia, Latvia, Germany and more), online stores such as ECS, FCP, Schmiedmann and RockAuto, and also forum members, and Facebook sellers, I'm getting together most of what I need.
My house has pieces in various rooms, and I've cleaned parts both the dishwasher, and the sink, but regardless, the goal is to, sometime after the new year, have this car in a driveable state, and if all goes well, shortly after that, something that I can use as a daily driver, at least some of the time (we'll see how that pans out!)
The following are some of the pictures pre-sale:
Interior looks reasonable from a distance, although the center vent and center console will need replacing. The headliner also, as it's the typical replacement performed with the incorrect thickness of material
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The seller put stock rims on before sale, which I will ether keep as a spare set, or sell later on down the line. There were some spacers left on the front axle, at least 15mm or so, which I've removed. I'm going to try to run a stock(ish) wheels/suspension setup, but will be changing up a wheel size
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A typical M70 bay that needs a clean, some TLC, and a top end rebuild
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THe exhaust drones, with a X-pipe and unknown mufflers. I have a few ideas here, but this work will come after the car is back on the road
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Underside looks reasonable. Mis-matched cats as a result of keeping up with CA emissions requirements up until recently
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Last edited by petejk; 11-29-2019 at 02:39 PM.
Member
This missing grille was the first part I looked up in realoem, and my first disappointment, when I saw that it was NLA. This would become a theme, that I have only partly had success in working around
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The start of the journey, planning out how far I was going to go. Cracked coil covers led to a top-end rebuild and more.
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But first, fuel filters! This was the first guide that I referenced on this forum, and made it a quick job.
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Also prevented me from getting fuel at pressure to the face, with sage advice to remove the fuel relays
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Out with the old! I now have a large, and growing pile of parts on one side of my garage that I will eventually have to dispose of.
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Member
Washer bottle needs a decent clean. At this point I didn't realize that the charcoal canister was sitting below it. I was still spending hours poring over realoem, and forum guides
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Broken plastic on this fuse holder. Replacing it was a fiddly job, luckily the part was still available. The Fuse box lid was replaced, along with the heater valve cover, and all three components of the B+ post, cover, and lid. I am still searching for the plastic trim that sits in front of the valve covers.
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Getting ready to remove the throttle, and eventually the intakes and valve covers. Below, the new alternator sits, cleanly by comparison.
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By this point I have encountered some sections of the harness that will need re-taping. Eventually I will have to revisit some previous repair attempts with a soldering iron and some heatshrink. Time will tell how well these hold up.
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A rather dangerous looking grounding strap, which has now been replaced, along with the alternator to B+ post cable.
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I'll upload a few more pics tomorrow, and try to get to the current state
Last edited by petejk; 11-28-2019 at 12:20 AM.
Manual Swapper
Cool car...neat color combo.
Member
Every Rubber piece on this car is suspect to be rotten or hard. Did you replace all the fuel lines around fuel filter? When you do the intakes same, I just bought a big coil of fuel line.
Member
I don’t have an ‘after’ pic, but I did replace those hoses. The only thing I have left to do at this point are the hoses to and from the fuel pump assembly, which I should get to this weekend.
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Thanks! I realized that Glacier Blue being an early 90s BMW color that really isn't seen on the roads too much any more, and really quite liked it! I will be putting a black interior in the car eventually however, as finding interior parts in blue has proved to be challenging.Originally Posted by olinjohnston
Member
I started labelling all wires and plugs pre-teardown, having read that it can be a serious pain to trouble shoot running/starting issues afterwards if these are incorrectly seated.
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What should be aluminum colored, is black! I seriously underestimated the amount of cleaning I was going to have to do. As I pulled everything off, including the PS pump and alternator, I had to make a system to keep everything together.
Taping bolts together, and then taping them, to the new part, pending reinstallation, seemed to work well.
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Look Mom, no water pump! This replacement was pretty fraught, as there was no way that I wanted to shear off any of the bolts holding the pump, and by undoing and retorqueing these bolts very slowly, I managed it.
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I have no idea which gaskets have been recently replaced, and which may still leak. What I do know is that the upper and lower oil pan gaskets appear to have been changed at some point.
Figured I would do a cursory cleanup, and watch for leaks once the car is running again.
It took about an hour or so with shop rags and Purple Power to get to this cleaner state.
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By this point, I've removed the radiator, and the most of the cooling system bar the hoses at the rear of the engine. As I will be R&Ring the AC system, the condensor was also pulled.
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Member
Test fitting of new crank position sensors. The rubber on the clamps holding these in place has party rotted away, just as I found elsewhere. The parts list it growing.
The recently replaced alternator has been removed also. I extended the blue wire from it (soldered in a section with a plug in the middle) to allow for the easier lifting and inspection of the harness in the future.
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Out with the old plugs. Initially I had the recommended (incorrect) set of Bosch plugs from ECS, later changed out the lower resistance plugs.
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These valve covers would end up in my washing machine later on that day, which was an excellent short-cut cleaning method.
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Intake looking filthy. in an ideal world I would have had these powder coated, but I wanted to see what kind of a job I could do myself with some rattle cans, and a clear weekend..
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Here the new water pump is in place, and the banjo bolts are accessible at last! I had purchased a tool and some aircraft wire, but quickly found out that my rather weak power drill would not be able to drill the bolts, so compromised with the use of blue loctite.
If I have to pull the valve covers off again for any reason, I will drill and wire these bolts.
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Member
Some supplies, which will be used on intakes, brake calipers, charcoal canister, and anything else I find.
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It took much scrubbing, swearing, and Purple Power to get to this point, but intakes are ready for primer and paint.
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Masking, with tape, an Xacto knife, and patience, took even longer..
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Color coat down. At this point, I waited until the following morning, before sanding off the raised BMW logo, and applying rattle-can clear coat.
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The finished article. This may not be particularly long-lasting, but it's still many times better than before.
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Member
Valve cover in silver. These were significantly easier to clean than the intakes after the dish washer did the majority of the hard work.
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Washer bottle received a decent clean. As the parts were relatively cheap, I later replaced both pumps, caps, and all the rubber grommits.
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On my way to removing the blower motor, which had seemed to be noisy in operation.
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This bundle of dust, dirt, and insulation was coating the inside of the housing.
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New motor in place. I've found it important to try to mix up the jobs I'm doing, so if I am removing the intakes, I'll have a lighter job that I can switch to when I get frustrated. If all else fails, walking away, and returning later works too!
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More to come this afternoon.
Member
Nice photos and enjoyed reading your comments as you work on this E31 project! Wow - you were pretty brave to attempt driving across country when purchased. Looking forward to more photos and your comments!
You should check out the BMW CCA E31 Chapter!
https://www.bmwccae31.com/
/Henry
Last edited by henryc; 11-28-2019 at 12:00 PM.
Member
Forgot to mention - I am a former resident of Atlanta......can you hook us up with tickets to the Masters??
ha ha- a small joke. (As I note Grovetown is a suburb of Augusta)
/Henry
Member
Replace Fuel lines behind the intake, under the intake etc. Check all the resistance of the three sensors back behind the manifold. Just because its easy
Manual Swapper
Nooo keep it. It's rare and unique and original. You won't easily find blue parts, but they can be dyed "Ultramarine" if necessary. A professional auto upholstery shop can repair things in any color and also recolor donor parts for you.
Member
wow, great attack !
Did you consider new manifold gaskets when you are now so far in ?
Check the alternator cable in the metal cooking tube above the exhaust …
Were the water pipes still good around the O rings ( corrosion ? ) in water pump and rear water bridge ?
I re-routed the fuel return line to above the valve cover to have more "easy" acces to the manifolds bolts….
no need to drill bolts… i used those :
http://www.engl-production.de/sicherungsblech.html
wish you good luck !
Member
I joined the BMW CCA a few months ago, and switched my chapter to the E31 chapter as few weeks after that. I've got a spot on the rear window lined up for the sticker if they are still being sent out!
Masters tickets are thin on the ground, even for locals! In hindsight, attempting the drive was a little ambitious, but in the heat of buying the car, it seemed like the right thing to do to try.
- - - Updated - - -
I've replaced the three temperature sensors, along with the air temperature, CPS, and oil catch can sensors. If the car had come with a detailed service history, I wouldn't have felt the need to, but with every component being an unknown, it felt like the right thing to do. I only hope that the harness holds up.
- - - Updated - - -
I tussled with the idea of leaving the interior 'as-is'. If the car had been low-mileage, 40-70k, I would have done so, but at 154k, the value of this car is never going to be great enough, in my opinion, that the interior color choice would impact the value significantly.
And yes, I probably will regret it, especially when I see another one in original state. The parts that see high traffic, like sill covers, and driver's footrest, will be replaced with schwarz pieces, with the rest colored using the full SEM process. For leather I will use Leatherique.
Member
The manifold gaskets were in decent shape after I cleaned them up. I didn't see a single crack, so I either got lucky, or they were recently replaced. I used Reinzosil to seal the intakes back in place.
I have rerouted the alternator cable, partly because the old cable was stuck tightly in the tube. I cut the brackets off the tube, and discarded it. A new cable was easy enough to make up with a hex crimper and some heat shrouding.
The water pipes were a little crusty, but not corroded. I cleaned them up with some sandpaper before reinstalling the water pump, and I wish I'd seen the availability of pre-drilled banjo bolts before I reinstalled the valve covers, but that ship has sailed for me until (hopefully not!) I have to remove the intakes again.
I have purchased a couple of parts from Mr. Engl however. His heater valve/aux water pump cover, with the addition of magnets, as shown my by Tim Meek, looks OEM, and his phone bracket will have a place on my dash.
Member
Here are a pair of stripped E38 rear calipers. I am grateful to Hyper for his thread illustrating the modification in detail https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...-brakes-on-e31
I really like the idea of vented discs on all four corners, and since I was going to rebuild the calipers and replace discs and pads anyway, the modification only cost me the $90 that a pair of eBay e38 rears would cost.
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Masked up and ready for paint. It is at times like these that I wished that I had invested in a parts washer, or sent these calipers somewhere to be stripped and painted, as this process was not quick, nor particularly fun.
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Painted, with rebuild kit ready to install. I got a screaming deal on pads, plus the rebuild kits, from an online vendor that supplied the new discs all round, pre plated, and drilled.
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After minimal consideration, I decided to purchase Brembo 4 pot calipers for the front axle, purely for the bling factor. I added the decals under a coat of clear. Once the car has been put back together I'll think again whether I want to keep the logos.
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On the topic of brakes, I replaced my brake bomb. I was lucky to find one available from an Amazon seller, who shipped it from CA. I gather that these accumulators are often difficult to ship.
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Member
A filthy set of injectors that I really should have replaced. However part of the fun of this project has been to recondition/repaint parts myself where possible (with some notable exceptions, which I'll cover later).
I read some threads, and watched some videos, and ordered the O-ring and filter set.
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New O-rings and filters, ready to install.
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I was intrigued by this device, that I found when trawling through Amazon. It pulses the injector, so that it is only open for a safe period of time. This apparently reduces the risk of injector damage when cleaning.
Brake cleaner was sucked through, using this, and a syringe.
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Cleaned, and rebuilt. Fingers crossed, that this amateur cleaning effort will have been worthwhile!
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Bonus picture - I took a peek under the dash, to see what a pain the removal of the GM was likely to be, as I knew that capacitor replacement would be part of the preventative maintenance items that I wanted to have done (Thanks Scott!)
As it turns out, I was going to become very familiar with being upside down with my head in the driver's side footwell..
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Last edited by petejk; 11-28-2019 at 02:41 PM.
Manual Swapper
Leatherique does not last... and while the "value" aspect may not be there, it would be a shame to literally paint over one of the rarest interior colors with the most common one.
Member
Removing the brake booster, to have it sent away for rebuild, was challenging. The engine bay side of the process was simple enough, given that I have a set of flare wrenches, but getting to the four bolts on the foot well side was not in the slightest bit fun!
Due to a previous JB weld repair of the brake switch to the bracket that holds it, I had to replace that. Luckily there was a NOS replacement for sale on eBay.
On the bright side, I was able to identify and replace the plastic bushings on the gas pedal assembly, and fit new pedals while I was down there.
Photo was sent to me by Master6, prior to reassembly.
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New master cylinder attached, and ready for re-installation. I ended up using the 7 series reservoir, which necessitated extending the clutch line.
I was not done with my driver's side foot well time yet..
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Charcoal canister prior to removal, charcoal, filters, and hose replacement. Yet another couple of informative threads were followed to do this job.
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Primed and ready for paint. On re-installation, I also replaced both breather valves, along with all hoses.
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Finished off with a quick job. Luckily this led me to inspect the motor mounts, which appear to be relatively new, however, the nuts were loose, and after looking at realoem, the washers were missing. These were ordered, and installed later.
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Member
What can be really intimidating before you start, becomes less so, when you actually get started. Once I'd cut off the old clamps, and removed some of the crusty hydraulic hoses, there was no going back.
Every hose leading to the reservoir was replaced, using oetiker clamps where possible, both filters, and the hoses up to the cooler.
I probably spent more time deciding which parts to order than I spent doing the job.
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The system was filled with red fluid, I'm assuming ATF, with both filters were black on removal. When the car is more 'together' I will fill/flush with Pentosin CHF 7.1.
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Reinstalled, after a cleanup. There was several years worth of oily crud on the pipes and lines beneath the reservoir.
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Oil canister after a similar cleanup. The flexible pipes were expensive to replace, so I cleaned, repainted, and fitted new O-rings to them. Sensor was replaced also.
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While waiting for paint to dry, I listed out what was missing from the toolkit. The tools eventually came from 3 different countries, along with the warning triangle (eBay). I was pleased to see that there are reproductions of the blue cloths available, to complete the set.
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Last edited by petejk; 11-29-2019 at 10:00 AM.
Member
New parking brake shoe installation was dirty (brake clean and a wire brush went a long way here), but relatively painless. What I will need to research is a good adjustment method, as that is still on the 'to do' list.
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A failed attempt to compress the rear springs. Initially the plan had been to retain stock springs, however I still wanted to change the upper and lower rubber mounts. Now plans include different springs, so this will be essential.
Does anyone have any ideas how to remove these stock rear springs without two people and a lift?
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New TRWs replaced the Bilsteins that were there previously. The car had Bilsteins at the rear, but original (and completely shot) front shocks. I replaced the end links, and sway bar bushings while I was there.
Subsequently I have added Phoenix top mounts.
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I changed out the clutch slave, and was able to see black, gritty, brake fluid come out. I am hoping that replacing the slave, along with a proper bleeding, will be sufficient to restore proper clutch operation, as I don't particularly want to tackle a clutch master cylinder replacement.
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Test fitting the Brembos and new front rotors. This will be as complete as the front axle will look for some weeks.
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Last edited by petejk; 11-29-2019 at 10:27 AM.
Member
Since I don't know when the front hubs were last changed, and that I have a sheared off rotor retaining screw, and a cracked protection plate, I decided to replace these parts.
This made subsequent replacement of the shocks much easier. For now, I reinstalled the stock springs.
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The guide found at http://www.8ers.org/wp-content/uploa...eplacement.pdf is absolutely spot-on for this job.
I purchased a 4 foot pipe from Home Depot, which made short work of the hub retaining nut.
This also gave me the opportunity to clean the ABS sensor, and to order replacements for some plastic wire retaining brackets.
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When the spring was removed, the bump stop turned to dust in my hands, and the shock had absolutely no resistance. It was a dead parrot.
I used a Dremel to cut off the existing collar nuts, and reinstalled new replacements.
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Ready to bolt back onto the car.. after a few other jobs have been completed.
The consensus seems to be a favorable one as far as these TRWs are concerned, so I am looking forward to seeing what ride quality is eventually like.
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First however, a full rebuild of the front suspension components. This is definitely scope creep, but I am confident it was the right decision to do this now, while I have the time and space.
Lemforder and MOOG parts, with TRW center link.
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