Jdesign

Don't worry, I will keep an eye out for that fourth cover. 😉

Thanks to @Jdesign for the tip on these! Snagged three turbine covers from a guy here in MKE the other day, now I just need the fourth to complete the set (and provide the motivation to finish them lol)
 
Let me know if any of you ever find a spare single one, I need a left side cover and fan (3611-2226273 and 3611-2226275, respectively). I have four genuine center caps so I’m good there.
Condition isn’t bad at all, the center caps are beat up but all functional, and the paint on the fans is actually quite good. Same for the black fan pieces. Even got the OEM hardware with them!
Pics:
 

So I was working on my basement over the weekend and went to move the original seats from this car. As I carried them across the basement at an awkward angle a coin fell out from somewhere deep in the seat and went pinging across the floor. I figured it was a quarter or something. Nope. It's a 1988 Austrian 1 schilling coin. 

 
I did some googling and Austria switched to the euro at the start of 2002... so either someone went on a European vacation and lost a coin when they got home, it's been in the seat since the car was built, or the car spent some time in Europe. Either way it's pretty neat. 

I greatly appreciate your posts in here so I can follow your advice later!
My 2-3 shifts are quite hard especially cold, and know the trans is in need of some love. 

Keep crushing it! 

Did the full transmission service a few weekends ago now and got about 2500 trouble free miles on it since. I haven't floored it yet but very happy with the improvement on the 2-3 shift. Overall the job looks more intimidating than it was but it certainly was a full weekend project. This is pretty well covered in these videos but I'll share my tips. 
I did end up pulling the transfer case cross member. People buy or fabricate a shallow Torx wrench to get at the rear pan bolts blocked by the cross member that takes 10min to remove. I unbolted the exhaust as well to get additional clearance for the passenger side center bolt, no issues with that leaking afterwards and my flange nuts were in good shape. 

 
6HP26/28 how to video. I followed this along with the TIS instructions. I would highly recommend marking the mechatronic sealing sleeve with a paint pen as I had a hell of a time getting that lined back up properly and that would've saved me the headache like the TIS suggests. 
This is a E53 mechatronic rebuild but similar enough procedure with good assembly tips. 
Mechatronic unit after removal and splitting. Split the plate this side up so the accumulator pistons and check valves don't fall out, those are reused along with the filter. 

I let the transmission drain overnight too with the mechatronic unit out and I ended up needing the full 9.5l capacity, luckily NAPA does stock the Liquid Moly Top Tec 1800 so I was able to get what I needed to finish the job. 

Just to reiterate, my E-Shift 6HP28X with with main parts list 1068-050-045 did indeed use the ZF 1068298047 mechatronic service kit as confirmed by California Transmission Supply and Automatic Choice. I even wrote to FCP Euro Support asking them about their product listing comparing to these sources and wrote back to me after a month stating that their BMW Catalog team confirmed this was not for my vehicle and to check with my local BMW Service Center. The dealers only sell the complete mechatronic unit so guessing thats why this "doesn't match my vin". Again not sure why FCP and ECS don't have as complete main parts list compatibility as those transmission sites do but I would reference those. I didn't have any luck getting into ZF's official catalog. 
Also if you are going to do the Sonnax Zip-Kit, remember that the valve body separator plate needs to be replaced as well which in my case was the A065 plate also available through Sonnax. I just ended up doing all the end plugs, pressure regulator sleeves and Clutch A & E control boost valves since I had this out and given the mileage instead of diagnosing what it might just need. Only issue I did have was having to redo 1 or 2 o-rings during assembly as they got cut on the valve bores that were still tight tolerances. Just takes time and make sure everything is well lubricated. Again it's just a tedious job but glad I did it and saved a bunch of $$$. 

Havent taken a trip through the ol' c-list in awhile.
Nice E34 540-6
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/cto/d/lake-elmo-bmw-i-6mt/7643768844.html

X5M's are getting cheap!
https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/cto/d/aurora-2011-awd-bmw-x5-44-litre-twin/7634386770.html

Z3 track car
https://racine.craigslist.org/cto/d/franksville-bmw-z3-race-car/7643853073.html

@P_Roloff this one is for you..
https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/pts/d/milwaukee-bmw-e34-throwing-star-turbine/7638985866.html

Havent taken a trip through the ol' c-list in awhile.
Nice E34 540-6
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/cto/d/lake-elmo-bmw-i-6mt/7643768844.html

X5M's are getting cheap!
https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/cto/d/aurora-2011-awd-bmw-x5-44-litre-twin/7634386770.html

Z3 track car
https://racine.craigslist.org/cto/d/franksville-bmw-z3-race-car/7643853073.html

@P_Roloff this one is for you..
https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/pts/d/milwaukee-bmw-e34-throwing-star-turbine/7638985866.html

Refinished the headlights this weekend!
Went with a box kit instead of the 2k clear this time, I decided to see how long it lasts and make a decision from there. Initial impressions are that it turned out great though!
Before:

After:

I will note, I wet sanded from 1200 up to 3500 grit on the passenger side light instead of starting at 2400 on the drivers side, and it turned out way better. Highly recommend getting some extra paper in coarser grits if you use a kit like this, it really makes it turn out much nicer. 
 
Reslly cleaned up the front end look, I love the way this car looks when it’s clean. 

129,393
Power steering fluid flush completed. I initially tried to flush by disconnecting the return line and directing into a catch bottle, capping the reservoir nipple, and filling as I turn the wheel back and forth, but stopped when I couldn’t get the hose off of the reservoir. It was stuck on there pretty good and I didn’t feel like cracking the reservoir wrestling with it. 
 
I’ll try that method again when I buy a replacement reservoir; until then, I just drained and refilled the reservoir 6ish times with a quick drive around and some lock to lock turns in between each. It took the fluid from “used motor oil” to “slightly dirty green pentosin” so I’ll call it a win. Not going to let perfect get in the way of improvement. I have a spare liter still so I’ll probably burn that at the next oil change with a few more drain and fills. 

Well, a little late on getting this update up but dyno day finally came around last Friday.
Went with Larry over at sound performance to get the tune dialed in. After arriving and getting everything unloaded we rolled the car in and started going through the pre-dyno checklist. Everything was looking great and they got the car up and running on pump 91. Not sure if I did mention this before but this time around I wanted to do a flex fuel tune so I had options versus just E85 before. Once up and running he dialed in the idle and they went ahead got it all strapped down to do some pulls.
First pull right off the bat he noticed the car lean out quite a bit right around 3500 rpms. Since everything else looked fine on the log we questioned if I was losing fuel pressure. Unfortunately I never did wire in a fuel pressure sensor so we could monitor that. So, we went ahead and spliced in a mechanical gauge to see if that was our issue. I should also note that when we went to do that he noticed I had my flex fuel sensor on my fuel supply line not return. Rookie me didn't realize that needed to be on the return so we swapped that around thinking that may have had some part in our issue.
Hopped back in and did another pull. Once again it leaned out and this time the car just quit. Watching the fuel pressure up to the cut out we noticed no drop in pressure, it held right where it needed to be. After realizing the fuel side was most likely not the issue, we questioned if it had something to do with the B58 coil packs I swapped in. Out came the bore scope and probed into the cylinder 6 ignition coil. Did another couple short pulls and they noticed that the voltage was falling off right after the coil dwell period when there was a call for spark. After further assessing the issue the guess was that the b58 coils required more voltage under load then the factory relay could offer and that was likely causing our lean out condition.

Unfortunately that meant nothing more could be done tell that issue was corrected. Correction for this issue most likely required wiring in a second larger relay to run just the coils.
The tough part was getting back in for tuning, they were booked out solid tell September. They then offered to do the work and said they then would be able to fit the car in to get tuned much sooner.
Left the shop their that afternoon with an empty trailer. I didn't get much of a time frame as to when they may get around to it as they had a decent amount of cars needing work but hoping to hear something before the beginning of August.
 

Was tired of walking everywhere at Road America, so I bought a bike. 29”Specialized Rockhopper comp.
Needed to get the bike there, so I bought BMW roof rock and a Thule top ride bike rack.
Bike goes on the rack easy, rack comes off the bars easy. Wasn’t whistling like I’ve heard some people say they can. Only really felt the drag of it when I was passing someone and was doing 75. Other than was smooth sailing.
Gonna have to check out some of the local trails around here now.

Rear hatch panel and one door panel done. One door panel to go. The door panels are a pain in the ass!!!! Far from perfect, but good enough for me. 

Been almost a month since my last post but my car has been successfully rekeyed and is back in my possession!
Last week BMW Motorwerks finally gave me the call that they got a fob and a spare key to work with the car just fine and told me I was welcome to come pick it up. I may have gotten there 2 minutes before close, but luckily enough they still released the car to me. Been enjoying it for just a few days now and I could not be happier to have it back. It drives really well for everything it has gone through and it has been a dream come true that I get to daily drive this thing once again.

Cheers to hopefully enjoying many more miles with this beauty in the future!

I finally installed my Turner diffuser, perfect for me since I can’t maintain a squat position, but I can work on a roller. The tabs were a bit tricky to remove, I eventually got them off after lifting the rear up for more clearance.  Perfect fitment and much better looking, the Adro side skirts are next. 

Chassis harness is done and 99% functioning. There are small things to correct, like fogs and low beams control wiring is wrong and I need to move some pins around in the bulkhead connectors. 
Fuel lines, flex sensor etc is done i just need to mount the fuel filter.
 
ECU is mounted and one of the bulkheads is terminated.
Will finish second bulkhead and engine harness sometime this and next week. The goal is to start the engine this month. 
 
I cleaned the motor, slapped new gaskets including a headgasket and it should be ready to go. This thing sat for 4 years behind my shed. Damn chipmunk lived in the motor and stored bunch of chipmunk food in the head port. 
 
Hopefully everything cleaned fairly ok. I will pull this motor anyway and drop some forged goodies over the winter. 
 
I welded drain plug and turbo drain  and oil pan is now ready to go.
My arp flywheel bolts from bmw m10 are a bit too short. I will need to replace with 28mm bolts.
Also the tilton hydraulic throw out is 2mm too long and I will need to swap the TO piston for the shorter one. 
 
 
 
I got the steering shaft mocked up with some woodward u-joints. Will finish it once i get the e36 column in final position.
 
I decided to not run the motor NA and go for boost. I got the intercooler setup and i have a log manifold from my friends Volvo. The cylinder spacing is spot on i just need to redrill the flange for m42 bolt pattern.  I got some green top injectors that should support 200-250whp which should be more than enough to test the chassis. 
 
I also pondered the idea of running e90 cluster in  my car. I got the arduino setup with can shield and was able to control most of the cluster. Cluster talks at 100kbs and maxxecu supports 500kbs i will need to setup arduino with dual can to translate the messages from maxx to BMW but that should not be a big issue. 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 


 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Show was super chill and low key, good people, some cool cars.   Awesome time, just sharing some drone footage
 

Oh, there was rock climbing too. Here's our old friend Ben on pitch 8 out of 11 on a climb called "Prime Rib".

This pitch was my first outdoor lead, and the climb in general was my first multi-pitch adventure. I've wanted to do something like this since I started climbing, so it was pretty cool. Fun, but long.
On to the next challenge...
PS: Here's a picture of a lake:

Surprised to see a familiar face on my recent trip to Washington...

You can do that in MN? We cant do vanity on collector or hobbyist plates in Wisco. I  painted my hobbyist plates about 5 years ago and never had issues. (Joking because my car never leaves my shop) 

From what I understand, its illegal to alter the plates in any way (hell a license plate frame is considered illegal). On the other hand, any cop I have asked always says its NBD as long as its legible. Its in line with most modifications, be honest and polite when cops ask questions, you are more likely to get a warning. 
 
 

Well this is just awesome….
manual e38 diesel 
https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/d/lakeland-1996-bmw-turbo-diesel-5speed/7626150772.html

 
Super cheap 335d!……in Florida 😑
https://jacksonville.craigslist.org/cto/d/jacksonville-2010-bmw-335d-sedan/7628025573.html
 
 

Just been enjoying the car and driving it a lot lately. Not too much more has been done unfortunately. Still working on custom interior work too.

I guess I do have a little update here. Earl told me last week that he plans on moving the engine for this car to my shop as he is tight on space with moving. So having everything in the same spot again is forward progress! 

I guess I do have a little update here. Earl told me last week that he plans on moving the engine for this car to my shop as he is tight on space with moving. So having everything in the same spot again is forward progress! 

I guess I do have a little update here. Earl told me last week that he plans on moving the engine for this car to my shop as he is tight on space with moving. So having everything in the same spot again is forward progress!