Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus Review
A friend told me about this wheel cleaner from Sonax that turns red as it interacts with brake dust, so I decided to get some. Rather than go with the regular Sonax Wheel Cleaner Full Effect, I opted for the “plus” version which is 30% stronger. Let me tell you,...Read More »
Bimmerfest East 2014 Pictures
How to Vinyl Dye Your Parcel Shelf
I picked up a (formerly) black parcel shelf complete with premium rear speakers for my e30 at the junkyard. Here’s how I renewed this parcel shelf with some vinyl dye and sweat.
First, meet my parcel shelf, complete with plenty of dog(?) hair.
Next, you need to prep it for dye....Read More »
LED Tag Lights
One of the tag lights was out on my e30 making for a good mod opportunity. I figured LED lighting would help update the look of car, so I ordered these guys from Amazon.
They look good...Read More »
eBay 24v e30 longtube header update
After fitting the longtube headers per this post, I had to fabricate the rest of the header back exhaust. I completely green fielded this exhaust and opted to go completely custom rather than try to adapt...Read More »
How-to Rebuild Fuel Injectors
Do your fuel injectors need a refresh? Here’s how to rebuild them.
First, you need to buy a rebuild kit. This will include the filters, o-rings, pintle caps, and spacers required to rebuild your injectors. I bought my kit on eBay. If you just want to replace the o-rings, you can...Read More »
BMW M50 Power Steering Delete Belt
My e30s both have their power steering deleted, but the M50 from the later e36 uses a serpentine belt that drives the water pump, alternator, and p/s pump all at the same time making impossible to “just remove the belt” to prevent the p/s pump from running like on the...Read More »
10 Useful Tools Every Mechanic Should Own
Tap and die sets help keep your projects on track. When a cross threaded or rusty fastener threatens derailment, a die will clean the threads right up! Taps make for tidy...Read More »
Raceland "shorty" headers vs eBay longtube headers for an e30 BMW 24v swap
Another problem I inherited with my ’91 318i e30 is that exhaust wasn’t finished when the M50 was swapped in. The previous owner purchased Raceland “shorty” headers intended for an e36 325i, 328i, or M3 but the recommend headers for this swap are the longtube SuperSprint header clones commonly available...Read More »
Fitting an ATE Porsche 944 Brake Booster to an E30 BMW Part II
My ’91 BMW 318i e30 arrived with a partially completed 24 valve M50 swap. One of the problems with the 24 valve motors is that the intake manifold does not clear the factory brake booster which leaves about three common options:
- (Re)Drill or slot the firewall to move the...Read More »
Fix your squeaking or rattling aftermarket stereo faceplate!
I installed an aftermarket (read: eBay) single DIN faceplate in my e39 BMW 540i many years ago. I greatly enjoy my Alpine headunit over the factory DSP sound, but the aesthetics leave a lot to be desired. EBay helped provide a partial solution with a cheap plastic faceplate to help...Read More »
How to fit an ATE or Girling Porsche 944 brake booster to an e30
One of the problems with swapping in a modern 24 valve power plant into the e30 chassis is that the factory brake booster will not clear the intake manifold on BMW M5x/S5x engines. Several options are available to remedy this, including slotting or redrilling the firewall to move the factory...Read More »
BMW e39 LKM / LCM (Light Computer) Replacement
One night I was grabbing a drink from the kitchen when I noticed blinking amber lights from the driveway. I thought my alarm had gone off so I tried to unset it to no avail. I walk out to the car to find all the parking lights on, the taillights...Read More »
EFI Analytics' Shadow Logger MS
As the weather warms up, I’ve been starting to drive the ’85 Turbo E30 more. In the “old” days, it was necessary to drag a laptop around to log the MegaSquirt ECU, but thanks to Phil Tobin’s Shadow Logger MS app...Read More »
Brake line replacement on the e30
The ’85 has been a Maryland car all its life which means it has seen a lot of exposure to salted, snowy roads. The brake lines are exposed under the chassis and made of rolled steel steel dipped in aluminum for...Read More »
18x9 ASA AR1s on my 540 😀
Since it is now Spring, meaning the snow *should* be done for the year, I ordered new 235/40ZR-18 Continental ExtremeContact DW XL tires from the good guys at Tire Rack, intending to install them on my 18×8″ M-Parallel reps. Little did I know that my horrible history with...Read More »