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Thread: new E21 owner

  1. #1
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    new E21 owner

    Ok my last post was should i waste my time on it, this post is I decided to waste my time on it. I purchased a 1978 frozen as of yet non running 320i for the princely sum of $25.00 + $45.00 to tow it home + $1.49 for lock deicer so I could open the door. so for $71.49 I now own a junker. I drug out a battery and the starter cranks but nothing happens, I discovered on the spark plug wires is broken and won't stay on the spark plug. I about froze to death screwing with it (high was about 5 F today) so I had it towed home so it can thaw out and all the snow and ice can melt off it so I can see how bad it really is....

    I also think the automatic shift selector is not hooked up since it moves freely and doesn't feel like it's shifting anything. I believe there is probably a button on that handle that is supposed to be pushed in to move the shifter. this one does not work. the seats are worn out in the front and have rips in them. the drivers door is missing the inside panel the handle and the window crank, but luckily someone threw it all in the trunk. At some point someone jammed a screw driver into the drivers door lock and spun the whole thing around and it is of cours ruined. (that is probably why the insode door panel is off). I got lucky that some previous owner bought a haynes manual and was nice enough to leave it in that cavernous glove box for me. So I can make do with that until I can get a bently's.....

    So anyway I hope I can fix it up, may take me forever to do , but I'll fun while I do it.....and for $70.00 if it is hopeless to try and get going again I'll at least I didn't spend a ton of money on it...

    It has a reconstructed title, but so far I can't tell where it was hit. the outside has been painted white, but all the inside parts are still the original blue color. I haven't had a chance to hunt all the places the vin numbers are yet but I'll do that once it thaws out and gets cleaned up a little.

    The Frozen Baur (AKA The Frozen Ground) now on Netflix (John Cussack is driving the Omega behind the Baur)

  2. #2
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    sounds like a project.

    have fun!

    Andre

  3. #3
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    Sounds like you've got a lot of work on your hands. Good luck with your new project.

  4. #4
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    well I discovered the radiator was low on coolant and that the raidator cap seal had dried up and cracked, so I went out and got some antifreeze and a new cap. I also ordered some new spark plug wires since at least one of the ones on it now are bad.....I also got a battery charger/engine starter (it was on sale at sears for 69.99 regular price is 114.99) My battery just didn't have the umph to get it going. So after I hooked up the baterry charger/engine starter up to the battery that starter really sounded better, after a few tries the engine chugged to life. at first it shook really bad but I expect that the gas in the line was bad....so after that all cleaned out it idled ok once the new gas got going through it.

    I discovered my shifter works the saftey spring/pin that clicks into the notches on the selector to keep it from accidently putting it into a different gear is broken.

    I checked the oil, it has enough oil and it's very black....it appears however the engine is overheating and the antifreeze is spitting out the overfill tube (which is probably why it was low in the first place), and the EGR appears to not be working since the light on the dash board says so, and the car is making some horrible fumes. It also appears the connection between the exhuast manifold and the exhust pipe is leaking as exhaust smoke comes up from that joint until the engine warms up. the starter seems to not be catching all the time, sometimes it would spin sometimes it would catch and start the engine. The Idle seems really high, i know my E36 idles at less than 1k but this one was idleing at 1200-1500 rpm. What is the normal idle of the M-10?

    So being new to this engine are these common things that are easily fixed? if I can get the engine running good even if I can never afford to fix the body it'll be a hell of a $25.00 beater....

    I noticed an oil temp guage in the car but no engine temp guage, that kinda scares me....I also noticed the Spedo goes to 120 mph in mine, I read on other posts that the most only go to 80 mph...did that change at somepoint or is my cluster not the stock one?

    the odometer on it reads about 98k miles....don't know if it is accurate or not or if it even works since I havn't driven it anywhere yet...

    The Frozen Baur (AKA The Frozen Ground) now on Netflix (John Cussack is driving the Omega behind the Baur)

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    I would say that these are are reasonibly easy to fix. The EGR just needs to be reset, there is a button underneath the car that ties into the speedo cable. The M10 should idle at about 1k give or take. The 77-79 have the 120mph speedo, it changed from 80-83 with the 85mph . Someone else should chime in soon, as for me its Saturday night sooooooo....

  6. #6
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    dam nice project car to learn on for $25

    the overheating could be a plugged radiator....and/or the engine coolant passages might be covered pretty well too. u could try flushing & cleaning the coolant system, but if it's been sitting for that long, chances are it needs at least a new radiator.

    is there emissions in alaska? if not, you can plug that EGR and free up some power.
    exhaust leak seems easily fixable, it probably just needs a new exhaust gasket.

    for the starter...either the flywheel ring gear is missing some teeth or the starter solenoid isn't working properly.

    in the instrument cluster, the bottom right gauge should be the temperature gauge

  7. #7
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    its nice to know someone is willing to bring an e21 back to life good luck there is alot of help around he so dont be afraid to ask questions

  8. #8
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    I definatly have alot of work to do...my only hope is it doesn't kill the pocket book....the body work that will eventually need to be done won't be cheap....the car is supposed to be pastellblau. I see that color in the engine bay, but wonder what it looks like on a whole car....

    here a few picts of the car without all the snow on it. I had cleaned off the first layer of dirt off the hood, but now I can't tell what is chipped lousy oversprayed paint and dirt....the trunk is looking alot better, but that stuff on the roof is tree sap mixed with dirt...lots of elbow grease to do anything with that...the small white spot in the roof pictures was about 10 mins of scrubbing....
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    The Frozen Baur (AKA The Frozen Ground) now on Netflix (John Cussack is driving the Omega behind the Baur)

  9. #9
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    more picts

    more pictures...including the beat up driver's door piller. I believe the car was hit in the drivers door which is why it has a reconstructed title....
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    The Frozen Baur (AKA The Frozen Ground) now on Netflix (John Cussack is driving the Omega behind the Baur)

  10. #10
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    yea fixing a car e21 or not can hurt the account but take your time and do it right because theres nothing worse then doing it again trust me been there

  11. #11
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    ok i spent a few hours cleaning up the outside of the car...i was rubbing like mad on that roof and water, soap, elbow grease...nothing was cutting through that dirt....Then I remembered that bottle of fine cut cleaner I bought not realizing it was for a rotary buffer (which I don't have), and was always afraid to use that stuff....so I got it out rubbed a little with a towel on the roof and the dirt was gone....so I drug out my orbital buffer, slapped on a pad and got going. Since I don't care about ruining the ruined paint I scrubbed away, it really made a huge difference. The car is still a piece of crap, but at least it's clean.....

    Ok I'll stop showing pictures of my beat up car now....I guess the newness of having a rusted classic BMW hasn't worn off yet

    i'll start cleaning up the interior next....will E30 seats fit in this car? I figure those seats might be easier to find. The drivers seat is ripped to shreds and the frame is broken. the whole seat kind of rocks back and forth when you sit in it.

    another problem I have is my brights work and my headlights don't. and it appears the bulbs are not in the right holes either since one bright is on an outside light and the other one is on the inside light...I assume the brights would be the lights closest to the kidney grill right? I still ned to check the bulbs in the other lights and fuse before I scratch my head over it, but If fail the emmitions test I won't need headlights anyway since it never gets dark in the summer....

    On my wife approved budget it'll be many moons before I get the car out of the garage....

    i need a new exhuast/manifold gasket, maybe a new raidiator and hoses (if i can't flush out the crap in it) gotta see about reseting the EGR and see if I can pass emmitions...If I fail the test and can't get the stuff to work I can only drive the car in the summer from April-Oct.....so anyway lots of work to do....

    ok enough for now thanks for the comments, I'll do my best to keep this beast on the road
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    The Frozen Baur (AKA The Frozen Ground) now on Netflix (John Cussack is driving the Omega behind the Baur)

  12. #12
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    Hey man, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of pride in a new (to you) car! And may I say... DAMN she cleaned up real nice! Good luck with the modifications and restorations... I look forward to hearing about it, especially with all the pics.

    Questions: Do you need a place to host the pics?
    Do you still have the 318i? 5 speed? Really fun autocrossing it? How was your experience with Bavarian Engine Exchange?

    Thanks!
    Kevin
    2000 Toyota Land Cruiser [2020-Present]
    2013 Honda Pilot EX [2018-2020]
    2003 Audi A4 Avant [2012-2018]
    2004 Accord: [2006-2012]
    1978 Black 320i [2007-2017]
    1995 Boston Green 318is: [2001-2006]
    Knoxville, TN

  13. #13
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    I still have the 318i, the Engine is on a boat somewhere between tacoma and here right now, I'll start installing it on about Feb 11th. So far baverian engine exchange has been really good. They always let me know what was going on with the build, and what snags they had, and even sent me pictures of the block as it was being assembled. It took 2 months to get the engine built but it was mainly due to a hard to find water spigot in the M42 head. They called me and let me know it shipped and gave me the tracking number. So far no complaints about customer service.

    It cleaned up pretty good indeed, what you can't see in the pics is the left side of the car where the door is rusted pretty bad where the the paint is off or the left rear where a very bad job of fixing the damage from a wreck was done. The whole care has a horrible paint job and lots of the original pastellblau is showing through the lousy paint.....

    On the door issue would a can of white automotive spray paint be ok to use on the bare metal spots just to keep the rust from getting worse?

    The Frozen Baur (AKA The Frozen Ground) now on Netflix (John Cussack is driving the Omega behind the Baur)

  14. #14
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    No experience, but just from what I've read there should be some rust specific products to use to keep it from spreading. I think you have to take out the rusted portion and then spray this other stuff to keep it down. I know that is pretty vague, hopefully someone else with experience can explain better.
    Kevin
    2000 Toyota Land Cruiser [2020-Present]
    2013 Honda Pilot EX [2018-2020]
    2003 Audi A4 Avant [2012-2018]
    2004 Accord: [2006-2012]
    1978 Black 320i [2007-2017]
    1995 Boston Green 318is: [2001-2006]
    Knoxville, TN

  15. #15
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    well today i found out a co-woker (works on the other side of the floor in the IM program) has a 1979 320i with a blown motor, and the best part is he also has a parts car.....it has a manual transmition, and maybe a non rusted drivers door, and whatever seats he isn't goning to use....so at any rate my day got better now that this summer I'll be able to pick over the parts car after he's done with it, and since his other 320 already has a manual transmition...woo hoo...

    The Frozen Baur (AKA The Frozen Ground) now on Netflix (John Cussack is driving the Omega behind the Baur)

  16. #16
    uberpanzer's Avatar
    uberpanzer is offline 4 banger's RULE!!! BMW CCA Member
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    Damn! Looks like you're making out like a bandit all over the place! Good luck with everything, and I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy the manual trnny better than the slush box.

    BTW, idle speed is SUPPOSE to be around 700-800rpms. There is an idle set screw under the intake manifold (pass side). None of that new fangled Motronic controlled stuff here....you get to fiddle with it!

    Oh, and are you updating anywhere else about the M42 process? I'll EVENTUALLY be looking for an e36 M42 motor for my e30 M42 powered 318is and BEE is one of the places I would consider contacting about it. I would be very interested in how it all turns out, how happy you end up with the motor, etc, etc. My previous e21 had a BEE head on it and that car is still running like a champ, making its new owner totally happy.
    Metal Bumpers Are For BEEETCHES!!!!! "King of Lean" - Retired

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  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by uberpanzer

    BTW, idle speed is SUPPOSE to be around 700-800rpms. There is an idle set screw under the intake manifold (pass side). None of that new fangled Motronic controlled stuff here....you get to fiddle with it!
    this is a 78 idle adjustment screw is on the throttle body, adjusted from the drivers side

  18. #18
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    ah cool thanks for the idle adjustment. Tonight I put on the new plug wires and it runs smoother. I have to take back the spark plugs they gave me the wrong ones at the parts store. THe ends are opposite of the ones I need. I also popped of the thermostat after much cursing and swearing at rusted clamps (still with BMW logos on them) and the collent looks a bit nasty. So in a day or 2 I'll flush out that radiator and Install the new thermostat I bought and replace all the hose clamps I can find with new ones. I thought it was funny that the parts shop actually had a thermostat in stock for a car that only a few of them are up here (2002, E21, or E30). The other thermostat may still be good, and I'll test it and if it is still good it'll go on the shelf instead of the trash. and that will be all I do for a few months since my wife cut off my car money since the M42 still has to go into my E36 this month and I have to get a few parts for that still....

    The M42 is in town I'll pick it up thursday and start installing it as soon as the place where I'm gonna install it is done with his kitchen remodel. I have my understeer budget ssk, my UUC tranny mounts with enforcers ready to go in the E36 as well...I still gotta get engine mounts and all the one time use nuts and bolts....

    oh one more question on the coolant system for the E21 above one of the tubes of the thermostat there are 2 orange vacuum tubes, one goes into the air intake the other goes to some sort of regulator on top of the engine. What is the function of those tubes? I found both tubes had ben rubbed smooth and had holes in them, and need to be replaced....

    The Frozen Baur (AKA The Frozen Ground) now on Netflix (John Cussack is driving the Omega behind the Baur)

  19. #19
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    hey speaking of idle adjustment screws, where are they located on an '81 320i US spec?

  20. #20
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    hey you need to use the search function located on the right of the screen. there is no use to revive these old threads.

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