Jump to content
WI BIMMERS - Wisconsin's BMW Community

The One That Didn't Get Away [100K Mile E30 325is]


SteelBlue

Recommended Posts

Has anyone done an SI battery replacement on their cluster before? Never soldered anything before and would prefer this to not be first go around at it. I am going to check the fuses first, but my guess is the batteries are dead or partially dead and is causing half my cluster to not work(tach, fuel economy,  and temp). Temp is the most important one to get back.

Car has been driving great. I know theres a love and hate relationship with the M20, but so far I'm really enjoying it. First and second gear are snappy enough to have a little fun with and it's a pretty smooth motor at cruising speeds. Maybe in the future would consider doing a 2.7 stroker with a cam or something for a little more punch. Who knows, my first swap didn't go exactly to plan.

I do have a buddies garage welded exhaust from his S52 car with a Vibrant muffler and resonator. Sent a message to the shop that did my exhaust for the Calypso E30 to see if they could cut the res and muffler off that exhaust to use for the new one.

Just random pic from yesterday.

image.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Repainted faded rocker panels. Makes a big difference. Still have to do the rear valence. I put a car cover over the whole car and taped it to the paper so there was no chance of overspray. Wheels were also covered further. And no, I did not put the jack-stands on the pinch welds, someone must have done it before my ownership(have to make disclaimer due to previous jack placement miscues).

IMG_7150.jpg

IMG_7151.jpg

IMG_7152.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/25/2020 at 10:22 PM, B C said:

@suspenceful can sure do some nice stuff with cameras.

Those seats look mint!

I try my best to be as gentle as possible getting in and out of them. Probably should do another leather treatment on them.

Real nice day out today. Got the rear valence painted and swapped the rear stud conversion from the Calypso car to the red one.

Then vs. now, miss the E46

5FC2E4D0-6013-476B-AE9C-849BC66E9E73.JPG

IMG_7199.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got the cluster working fully.

After some reading around, figured the problem was the batteries on the SI board giving me the issue. With the Calypso car currently sitting in a state of disarray(which I feel bad about), I thought I remembered the whole cluster from that car working. Reviewed a video that @GunMetalGrey sent me a year or so back of the first start and confirmed it did work. Pulled the clusters from both cars and just swapped the SI board from the Calypso car to the red one. Batteries from the SI board on the red car looked rough, very crusty at the ends, safe to assume that was causing the issue.

The batteries on the SI board of the Calypso car looked like the new, smaller lithium ion ones. Almost as if they were replaced at one point? @YoungCRDon't know if between 89 and 90 they changed battery styles. Regardless, cluster works, have tach, temp gauge, and fuel economy now. Temp was sitting a little shy of center, could be off calibration, or maybe thermostat isn't opening all of the way? Want to do the full "tune up" accessory/hose replacement anyway.

https://imgur.com/VwuhZUF

Link to video, not sure the correct way to share through here without uploading to youtube. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17C7BBA7-4176-4323-AF71-6AC20470A595.jpeg

Had the big dent on the hood pulled and the majority of them on the doors and quarter panels. Had it taken care of this morning. Wanted to get this taken care of before I had the paint corrected.

I know most people would opt for a different motor than the M20, but I’ve really been enjoying it. Really great for the casual cruising and still comes alive above 5k. I also have the weird dichotomy of loving fast cars, but don't really have the need for speed much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, straight6pwr said:

car looks great! jealous of your fully working cluster.

i loved my m20, so smooth! its the right amount of power that you can wring it out without really going too fast. they also sound better than 24v, imho. 

My plan is to get this motor refreshed so that it’s in good operational order for the time being. But I would like to do a mild striker build down the road. I know the cost to performance is not great, but an M20 with a little more punch and grunt would be fun. 
 

Also, this:

https://youtu.be/Y8tBGppPSTk

I realize this is a fully built motor, sounds amazing though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The non-optimized 3.1 L M20 w/ 288 cams I had some seat time with was every bit as good as an S52 swap but with more character and top end pull.

As you already know, its very cost-prohibitive but overall probably about the same amount of cost and effort as a properly done S52 swap.

M20’s are easy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, SteelBlue said:

My plan is to get this motor refreshed so that it’s in good operational order for the time being. But I would like to do a mild striker build down the road. I know the cost to performance is not great, but an M20 with a little more punch and grunt would be fun. 
 

Also, this:

https://youtu.be/Y8tBGppPSTk

I realize this is a fully built motor, sounds amazing though.

Yum, that drive by reminds me of standing on the hill before turn 5 at RA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, B C said:

The non-optimized 3.1 L M20 w/ 288 cams I had some seat time with was every bit as good as an S52 swap but with more character and top end pull.

As you already know, its very cost-prohibitive but overall probably about the same amount of cost and effort as a properly done S52 swap.

M20’s are easy.

What is needed for a 3.1? I've really only seen 2.7 and 2.9 examples.

30 minutes ago, jc43089 said:

Yum, that drive by reminds me of standing on the hill before turn 5 at RA.

It's because of the T R E E S.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With a car as clean and low mileage as yours I'd definitely be inclined to keep the original engine. There is absolutely no shame in liking an M20, they're pretty hard to hate! I'd love one to play around with again at some point. 

I totally agree that M20's (and the M30) are some of the best sounding BMW engines too, anything newer has absolutely nothing on them. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, m42b32 said:

With a car as clean and low mileage as yours I'd definitely be inclined to keep the original engine. There is absolutely no shame in liking an M20, they're pretty hard to hate! I'd love one to play around with again at some point. 

I totally agree that M20's (and the M30) are some of the best sounding BMW engines too, anything newer has absolutely nothing on them. 

This is the plan for the foreseeable future. My only plans for it are maintenance and an exhaust.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.