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WI BIMMERS - Wisconsin's BMW Community

First venture into the world of BMW's, lots of E30 questions:


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I would take you up on that - but just arranged to have one delivered from Minnesota for $85!!!

Just got into garage, gonna finish up timing belt install and work on reassembly. Then it's just oil change, fuel filter, plugs and start it up!!!

If all goes right, I'll make my paint appointment on Monday!

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Fender will be here at noon tomorrow (how's that for shipping huh!), which means I should have all of the body stuff I need to make the paint shop Monday. Only thing I need is to make sure my guy with the fender roller can make it Saturday to roll the hell outta these fenders!

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I'm also whipping through this pretty quick, knowing it's all coming back apart in a month or two anyways. M20 is only staying in this car for this next summer, but I'm still gonna pull everything apart and have it sandblasted/zinc coated/powder coated.

I have every intention of driving it this weekend for a bit, maybe even tonight if reassembly goes well. Acouple questions:

-Fuel filter: I'm assuming it's an inline filter under the car just forward of either the drivers or passengers rear tire? Standard issues "bung-in bung-out" filter or anything I should know?

-I haven't picked up a Bentely yet for this car, anyone have suggestions on an appropriate oil weight to run in this car?

-I have never owned a car that needed a valve adjustments (does an M20 have solid lifters - hence the need to adjust?). Any harm in driving the car if it hasn't had an adjustment in years? What should I listen for?

Hopefully gonna have it all buttoned up tonight!

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Oil and the m20 is a topic with everyone having their preferences. Bentley recs are 20-50 summer and lighter for winter 10/15-40 or lower bracket depending on how cold. Some folks argue that the Bentley was written before the modern synth oils so is out of date which leads to more recommendations.

My SpecE30 track car likes 20-50 dino, nothing burned no leaks happy car. Too much syrup for winter though. Tried a lighter synth (5-30?) when I first got the car and even with replaced seals leaked all over the place. Cheap horsepower though for some front pack is to run a lighter weight and pour in the quarts between sessions as it burns off.

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I'd like to do one at some point before spring - if nothing else just to better understand the engine. If I'm not in danger of harming anything, I won't do it before theirs snow on the ground.

Paint shop on Monday, then try to get a week or two of driving it in before theirs snow on the ground..... Then the REAL fun begins!

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My suggestion for an M20 based on the temperature chart in the owners manual is 

 

20w-50 summer

10w-40 winter

I just buy the cheapest 10w-40 (just in case I absolutely HAVE to run the car) for storing my car over winter


Valve lash that is too loose can increase the chances of a broken rocker.
Too tight on the exhaust side can cause burnt valves

I am wanting to try out 0.008" on the intake side for a bit more performance and a little less noise but just haven't yet. Maybe you could be the guinnea pig :D

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....well tonight did not go as I hoped....

Got everything back together, got it full of coolant, fired right up and idled perfect.... And instantly started leaking a small steady stream of coolant from around the waterpump. Pulled everything BACK apart, only to find we had missed a small piece of the old gasket left on the block.

Called it a night at that point. Good news is the pump box had a second gasket with it, so can redo it all tomorrow night.

Super.

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Dont feel too bad, I had the same sort of problem. But it was more of the "just use the gasket itself with no RTV because thats what the Bently says"  for which it leaked even after a thorough cleaning and degreasing. Re-doing it the second time was annoying, but it went pretty fast. 

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We had the radiator/fan clutch/etc... All torn back out in less then a half hour, so we just need to reinstall everything. Should go pretty quick tonight, just more of an annoyance then anything.

Car idled perfectly tho (it was idling at alittle under 2k when I pulled it into garage), so ft great to have it running the way it should. My Bosch coppers will be here today too, so I can get those in tonight as well.

Taking out son trick-or-treating tonight, but after that it'll be time to get it together and take her for a spin!!!

When I parked it the brakes felt "spongy" (car was sitting in a shop for 2 years when I towed it home). The brake booster line looked "new" and didn't appear to be leaking - other then bleeding brakes any other easy things to check that would give a "mushy" pedal feel?!?

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