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[Gborden00]

Okay, I am going with a multimeter on WED to check the fuel pump relay. What pins do I test to read the voltage? I will also re-check that we are getting fuel to the fuel rail at the pressure regulator, if not we know that the new pump was DOA and I will get that replaced. I can't think of anything else that would be the issue because she'll run on starter fluid and sounds good for those few seconds. I would love it if the stop test would produce results but we have yet to get it to work :/

Yes I am trying to keep this cheap lol. Considering the issues, I got the guy down to 600 for the car, though as I keep putting into it I am getting closer to offering 500. I am glad that parts for these E32's are reasonable in comparison to the E38's.

[paulmer]

Did someone send you the ETK yet? That will show which pins you need to check.

Here's a good video on how to clean the fuel injectors: https://youtu.be/-eDcY0WhALI. Here is a 20 dollar kit for servicing the injectors: https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-Injecto...UAAOSwVDZaCp7f

De-grease the bodies, replace the orings/etc, do like the video, reinstall. With your no-start condition, I am really curious how your injectors are..I have a feeling some, or all, might be seized.

Some good tips/ideas on injectors: https://witchhunter.com/healthyinjectors.php

You could also simply get another set of injectors from your local scrap yard, but that will probably be more expensive than servicing the ones you already have. For me I would be impatient and just want to get the damn thing running..

Also, have you done a compression check yet? Probably not directly related to your no-start condition. But, a good idea, so you know what you are working with. Ie, is the motor in good condition, or is it a ticking time bomb that will be a money pit? Even if your compression is poor, I wouldn't worry too much..M30B35s are a dime a dozen. But when troubleshooting, the more information, the better

[theBMWbeast]

Working on a car you don’t yet own is the funniest thing I’ve heard all day.

DME controls injection, but this would be a weird fault though. If the injectors aren’t pulsing, DME or a fuel pressure issue. Try squeezing the return line while cranking to build some additional pressure. You can try tapping the injectors as well, maybe shake em up and free them up. My whole line of thinking would be to get it started any way possible, this thing wants to start. Spray some starting fluid, help it out. Once it does fire, it’ll run so long as the fuel pump is pumping.

[Cactuar]

If I were you I wouldn't spend any more time working on the car until you own the title.

[Gborden00]

If I were you I wouldn't spend any more time working on the car until you own the title.

I know that this is an abnormal way of purchasing a vehicle, though I am waiting to finalize the purchase when the car can get back to my house. The guy understands that he won't be able to sell a non running car and he's happy to let me work on it if it means a sale. I will say that the car was considered to be a running example (ran a few months prior to me seeing it) though he had explained that the battery was kaput. Obviously it has snowballed a bit beyond the battery, though he's been very good about it and really just wants it to have a home. He bought it for his daughter to drive, she didn't like it and decided to buy an HHR??? I know how terrible is that. Thus the car sat, except the occasional drive down the street.

[djacinto]

SHE LIVES!!!

We finally got the car running by what seems only a fuse for the fuel pump. Once @gborden00 switched out the old fuse with a new one, we immediately heard the new pump start buzzing. We also got a different fuel pump, a bosch one so we now have peace of mind that this will work for a long time.

Once that was done, we cranked it over and couldn't get it to hold revs as it sounded like it was running very lean. As we found out, it's cause the mass air flow sensor we unplugged to spray starter fluid in was the cause of our issues. So we plugged it in, cranked her over and it worked!

It's crazy how long this took but it is finally running. Here is a quick list of what we did today:
A/C Recharge
new brake lights and turn signal bulbs
another new fuel pump
new wiper blades
Resealed the back window due to minor leak (will be re addressed later)

As for a name... we couldn't figure anything good, but the daughter this was originally going to named it the black pearl, from pirates of the Caribbean, I think it sounds pretty badass so that's what we're going with!

There is SO MUCH stuff in the trunk, so this weekend we will be categorizing items and taking pictures of everything

Lastly, we did find a few new issues, when the car first turned on and we drove around, it seemed to be in limp mode so we're not too sure how to fix that. there's also an exhaust leak, the gauge is not responding 100%, as the rpm counter is innacurate and the fuel gauge seems dead. we had no idea how much we had. We are also experiencing weird issues with our headlights, they both seem to go out at random times and we aren't sure what causes this. Also, code for the radio does not work, but we have a replacement with a code so we will try that one, and if nothing works, call up BMW

Anyways, tomorrow bright and early we will go clean the car best we can as the tree sap is quite soaked into the paint, but overall, we are very happy to have finally given Black Pearl a good home

[Gborden00]

Okay so this is now our current issue. We got the car home on a groaning power steering pump, we are assuming that we were low on fluid due to bad seals. This morning we wanted to wash the car, however, now we have no power steering at all.

I am assuming that we need to replace the seals, and flush the system with new fluid.

This is a photo of the reservoir, note the messed up seals and lack of fluid.

Would the recommendation be to totally replace the reservoir and redo the seals on the rack itself?
IMG_5121.jpg
Any input?

[Gborden00]

Also an interesting point, The first two times we drove the car we got the Trans Program message as the car went into limp mode. However, It seemed the more she drove the healthier she got and the code went away on the drive home (50 miles). It is a little worrying though that the code came up at all, I would like to attribute that to sitting for so long without regular use.

[djacinto]

Day 2 working on the car, we've replaced the taillights with after market ones. The stock ones I personally prefer, but there was a leak and as preventative measures as well as to spice up the outside we changed it a little bit. I'll have @gborden00 post pictures about it later

We also switched out the check control module, as that was one of the errors coming up, now we have more responsiveness such as being able to see low washer fluid as well as coolant.

Lastly, we had a Dinan Performance chip, but since we're out of power steering fluid, we could not test the power yet
https://www.dinancars.com/products/s...arts/D900-3532

Really excited to see what comes of the car, and this weekend hopefully we'll have the tool to flush the system out of the old power steering fluids, as well as wash the car after we patch up one more small leak in the back window that we missed, and also new headlights and steering wheel

[djacinto]

I decided I wanted to update this thread a bit since we haven't posted in ages. Since the last update, I stepped away from the project as Gborden and I weren't really able to meet through the pandemic. I recently went to go check on the state of the car and it is in roughly the same shape aside from being running and small QoL fixes he's done since I left.

Some of the issues we noticed, and are trying to address, are the sun roof, high idle, and a possible parasitic battery drain.

With the sun roof, we took it off it's track, and put in a new seal. Like shogun has mentioned, that shit hurts your fingers. Placing it back and adjusting it hasn't fixed the leaks so we may need to go back at it again.

As for the battery drain, we haven't looked at it yet, so I have no idea what could be causing it. The battery wasn't old and it was his daily driver until the battery issue arose. Placing a different battery in and the car started right up.

Lastly, the high idle. After letting the car warm up and driving around for a bit, we noticed the car had a high idle around 1k rpm. unsure what the issue is there either but we will look into it.

Looking forward to restoring the car where we can, but with how the economy is, and being that we are two fresh college grads, spending money on 30+ year old cars is a tough.

[djacinto]

Door locks not working!!!!

We have a 91 735iL with a full battery but all doors are deadlocked and windows are shut. We know there may be an issue under the rear seat with the fuse points but can’t get to them. The passenger emergency unlock does nothing.

We pulled fuse 6 & 17 and flashers came on after we put 6 back in. (Similar to when you reconnect a battery.

The hood is up and we did try a power pack in case voltage is low but nothing…

Any ideas?!?

[djacinto]

Alright, the beast is home. After many attempts again with the emergency release, we finally got the door open. Using a pair of vice grips on the key, we cranked it past the unlock position and pulled the handle and the deadbolt pin released. Unfortunately, the key bent just a touch so do be mindful. We were able to bend it back gently with a hammer

Now that the car is home, our first job will be to remove the deadbolting function that Shogun has mentioned in the other thread started.

[djacinto]

Good morning friends,

Had some time to work on the e32 yesterday. Wanted to do a basic clean on the inside as my buddy is a hoarder and keeps everything in there. We also were trying to figure out next steps for the car. Yesterday, we found that the engine oil low indicator came on, but checking the dipstick, says it's actually just below max. Is this indicative of the oil sender going out, or could there be another issue to trace? Also, we are trying to fix the heater valve. I'm not too sure of the issue it's having so gborden00 will report on that when he can. We fixed the driver window as the plastic piece that connects the glass to the rail was off. We also noticed the second limiter switch, or what it looked like, was not hooked up, and so we reattached that. Additionally, the car had a bit of white smoke, what seemed to be slightly whiter than just condensation leaving through the exhaust. It didn't smell like coolant, but I am unsure what it is. This car isn't driven often so as it does get driven more, will report on any changes

So here is a quick list of things we are planning on doing, or jobs we need to do
-replace strut in glovebox
-fix adjustable headrest on passenger side
-replace window regulator on back passenger window
-figure out oil sender unit issue
-heater valve issue
-cruise control cable (going to search at junk yard)
-exhaust leak

[djacinto]

Hello friends,

Been a while again. We've made good progress on the 735. We hit the jackpot and actually found a 740 at a junkyard near us in the same color combo! We got a bunch of good stuff from that. Question for those who know: Transmission from a 740 is different than a 35, so unswappable, correct? Additionally, what about the diff's?? The 735 one is in rough shape and we need to change that fairly soon.

On a totally unrelated note, we found an 88 750 not too far from us that we're seeing tomorrow morning! Taking an hour road trip out to go see it and hopefully get it home by end of week. Based on the listing, bad starter, bad battery, we've all heard it before. 2nd time we've come across a car in this condition so we know sort of what to look for.

Would be really exciting to bring this back to life! Will update y'all once we've seen it

[djacinto]

Looked at the car… was super rough and rusted. For those curious for parts car sake, minimum he wanted was 700

[djacinto]

Hey yall, it’s been a while. Not much to update on, car wasn’t starting today, we think the pump is dead again. This might be our parasitic drain issue to but I’m not jumping to conclusions yet.

We tried jumping the relay, didn’t hear anything in the trunk :/

On the bright side, the e32 finally got to meet its younger sister, the e38. I picked this car up a few months ago and we were planning on making a video of the 2 but that died with the pump I guess lol

Anyways, the e32 continues to live in spirit and we’ll get this project finally going soon when the shop we’re renting is cleared out this month

In the mean time enjoy these photos of the two cars together

[djacinto]

Hello again yall,

The black pearl is one step closer to running again.

Last time we tried to start the car, we could not hear the fuel pump priming. This was the same issue we had when we first picked up the car and we ended up just needing a fuel pump relay. However, I suspected bad pump, and so I wanted to test it, before we o it an intermediate no name Chinese brand one. The off brand one works, as we tested it by putting power to it, and it whirred up just fine. We took out the current one, an old new stock bosch unit that was purchased off eBay years ago, and after testing that one, it just clicked, no whirr, so there’s our issue no. 1. Issue 2 is the sediment and general varnish in the fuel tank. We pumped out all 8 gallons of fuel that had been sitting for quite some time (pro tip, a fish tank pump works great!) and scrubbed as much as we could reach. We will continue to clean it out as best we can but for the most part it is much better than we found it.

I’m just glad we’re actually finding the root of the problem. Fuel filter and new hoses are 100% in order as well but one step at a time!

In other news, we sourced an Oxford green bumper from a local junkyard 740, and grabbed its side sunshades and door cards. Unfortunately the rear window automatic shade was in poor condition so we did not grab that. Also took the center console, the power ducts at the lower valence of the front bumper that feeds to the brakes, and other bits and bobs here and there

[shogun]

the fuel tank has a drain plug, see here # 2 and 3 http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E3...tal_fuel_tank/
here we did it on a long time stored 750 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9wrRhZOS5k
Cleaning of the tank - when it is removed from the car: we did that here with a 750 tank , first wash with pressure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw7tCiw6B_s
then we did this with washing soda, electrolysis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz5C3KRmwHg electrolysis explained https://www.castironcollector.com/electrolysis.php
the old just clicking fuel pump : try to connect is outside of the tank directly to the battery and then give it short shocks by switching plus and minus poles so that it runs backwards and forward, sometimes it get's freed up again from the gum-like old fuel. Besides fuel filter and hoses clogged: we had several cases with long time stored 750 where even the filters inside the fuel injectors were clogged and also the pintle needles were clogged. So we had to clean the fuel injectors by pulsing them with liquid and install new injectors filters, o-rings and pintle caps. So if fuel pump is o.k and you still have problems the the fuel is injected, check the fuel injectors