Helping me conquer these old beasts

[Voices]

Hey everyone its 2023 and I decided its time to really dive in and learn how to take care of my cars myself. I have very little mechanical experience, never done an oil change myself all i can take credit for is swapping a sensor on an old E46 I had and replacing batteries thats it. Ill be moving to an area with more space and im hoping to pickup another car in the next few weeks and I figured its time to learn.

At the moment I have an 89 325ix in cinnabar red and of course im in love with it only downside is im in minnesota and the car has spent its entire life here so yeah little bit of rust but with that it has some mechanical issues and im hoping to tackle them all with some help of youtube and hopefully some of you here. Im planning on picking up a 92 525i wagon here in a few weeks and the goal is to hopefully get both vehicles road trip worthy before june so hopefully itll happen. Ill be replying to thread/updating original whenever I problem is solved or created. Thank you in advance to anyone who does offer suggestions or helps in anyway its all appreciated.

The first issue id like to tackle is the car idles very high. When I start it the car will usually idle at 1500ish rpm right away anytime after its usually 2200 or more. With that sometimes a check engine light will pop up when its idling but go away as soon as I start moving. The temp gauge will also start rising a bit when it idles. The other thing so far thats been done is replaced the old intake boot was cracked a bit. Im thinking maybe idle control valve could maybe be the next thing to check?

Other issues with the E30 that im aware of:

1. Both back windows dont roll down
2. The a/c turns on maybe 20% of the time I try to use
3. Small power steering leak
4. Of course oil leaks (the valve cover gasket was done a few months ago so don’t believe its that)
5. Rear brake pads, rotors, and unfortunately calipers
6. Emergency brake light will sometimes turn on or flicker then go away

[bmwdirtracer]

Welcome to the forum!

Is the 325ix a coupe or sedan? Just from memory, the coupe's rear windows don't roll down.

Beyond that, you're going to have to follow the wiring diagrams, and see where the power IS, and where it's not. You'll need a test light, or multimeter, or PowerProbe (best of all).

Here is the link to factory wiring diagrams for the car:
http://wedophones.com/Manuals/BMW/19...g%20Manual.pdf

The a/c is going to be much the same diagnostics -- except you need to have a pro shop make sure that the system has exactly the correct amount of freon in it first. Hopefully, the car's already been converted from R-12 to R134a, since R-12's been pretty much extinct for decades. Other than that, you'll need to track down whether the a/c switch is trying to turn on the compressor, whether the pressure switch is interfering, etc.

The cam seal behind the distributor is a common oil leak point, as are the rubber rocker shaft seals under the valve cover gasket (4 of them - were these changed with the gasket job? A lot of people miss these). Which brings me to the timing belt -- when is the last time this was changed, with tensioner and water pump? On an M20, it should be changed every 45,000 miles or 5 years, whichever comes first. If this breaks, the rest of your items won't matter at all.
Oh, and the oil pressure switch leaks through the switch sometimes, too.

[Voices]

It is a sedan, im going to start looking into windows here soon idk if theres a fuse for them too I can check havent done any due diligence yet on that

A shop was going to start trying to diagnose the AC issue a few months ago when i had my wiper motor replaced and they were thinking it was the blower motor itself. One other thing is when I try to turn AC on and it doesnt blow I can feel a little heat coming through Also if it does turn on it will randomly cut out aswell.

I believe the rubber shaft seals were done when he did valve cover gasket. The timing belt, water pump, and thermostat were all done last april I do still need a valve adjustment ASAP

[RBNetEngr]

Other issues with the E30 that im aware of:

1. Both back windows dont roll down
2. The a/c turns on maybe 20% of the time I try to use

On E30 sedans there is a square button on the console that disables/enables the rear power windows. I think it is supposed to be a Child Safety feature. So make sure that the button is turned ON, otherwise the rear windows will not go UP/DOWN.







As far as the AC goes, the refrigerant level may be low, and right on the edge of triggering the low pressure switch.

-RB

[bmwdirtracer]

Thanks for adding that, RBNetEngineer; I'd forgotten about that switch being included on such early cars; that's absolutely going to be the prime suspect!

[Voices]

It isnt the child lock button I tried it today and wasnt the culprit unfortunately.
Ill try to check the refrigerant later today when i get home and will return with results