84 s52 e30 build

[craz azn]

That weird looking stuff that looks like super thickass paint is the seam sealer they put on at the factory. Don't worry about it. Best if you keep as much of it as you can and don't disturb it.

[new2bmw]

LOL, I knew you would break. At least it won't haunt you now and you will be able to sleep when its done lol. good work!

[cormier]

So -- now im stuck on what colour to go with. I have three major choices on the table. All the pictures I tried to get with my body colour.

Firstly, colour matched:





Always clean, OEM look. But i've been playing with other colours too!

Darker grey / gunmetal. Super nice looking as well, but not the greatest pictures





And then theres white. A lot of people have been recommending white because its super bright all around the bay, easy to see problems/leaks, and once I found these pictures its been growing on me!







I know the b32 isn't going to be me, but beautiful pic



Open to other suggestions too, I was thinking a dark brown/bronze but couldn't find any pictures.

I'm also a bit worried about how cold its going to be when im painting. Ive heard you can get runs easier because the paints not drying as fast, so I think im going to go with a thicker epoxy style paint and do really thin coats. Also gotta decide on rattle can vs. borrowing a spray gun (mines crap)

Will be up with the car tomorrow and saturday, try to get those dips welded up. We also welded the subframe reinforcements, the bottom motor mount ones are really weird shaped, I think we'll have to use another one to fill in the gap. Will get pix once theyre all done

[BigD]

Color matched only. Anything else looks like a cheap color change respray (ie your engine bay is the car's actual color)

[cormier]

Soo -- this brown top is my coolant sender for my gauge? I've heard they only have one wire coming out mine has two? Just an early model thing? I'm taking that sensor to the motor shop to get the head tapped for it as a last minute thought (thanks bigD!)

This is the brown top on my m10





It looks like the brown one is marked temp-time switch (4) and the one further back is marked water temp sensor (6) -- or is it the sending unit (8)?



Only problem is the threads are different -- 6 is smaller than the other two



I'm just trippin right? It's the brown top one for the gauge? Lol

S52 will be home later this week

[BigD]

Hmmm yeah looks like they changed in 85, check out the realoem for that diagram, they're different up to and from 85:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...59&hg=11&fg=35

The 85+ part number is 12621710512 and looks like:



Trouble is that if your car uses the older sensor, then it's likely that your cluster won't like the new one... it may be as simple as getting a later model cluster's temp gauge but I'm pissing in the dark here.

My first instinct would be to say use your car-correct sensor and in the worst case, wire it directly to your car harness if the E36 engine harness doesn't support it. Some discussion here:

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65059

[cormier]

Thanks so much for the thread I don't know how I didn't find it when searching -- so it looks like I was wrong and the one in the middle is my gauge coolant sensor



I don't think the cluster will be a problem it worked before right? Lol worst case I can try an m20 sensor or just run a separate gauge -- I just wanted to make sure I tap the right thread

[BigD]

You're welcome.

The cluster will be fine, the only question is the E36 harness. I'd whip out the wiring diagrams, they should tell the tale. If the E36 lead has the same wiring, even if backwards, that's an easy fix. But if not, then figure out what the wires are going to your sensor and wire them straight to the car harness.

[BigD]

By the way, for E30 wiring, don't use the wedophones manuals, they're incomplete. Pissed me the **** off when I was trying to wire my flip switch ignition/pushbutton start. I had different colors and more wires than the manual which supposedly covered my car. This site has year correct manuals, and was 100% dead on for me:

http://www.armchair.mb.ca/~dave/BMW/e30/

[cormier]

Yaya I can run wires to the body if I need to! Thanks for that link too!

[cormier]

Finally got the S52 back!

Trip home in my buddy's ambulance-converted work truck



A few pictures on the stand after we put the headers on









Also got the subframe, control arms and eyeball bushings back in





Also met with the guy from the bodyshop, discussed a bunch of prep work. Im going to have them paint my bay when I'm ready as its gonna be way too cold to do it in the garage. Started a bit of clean up before I called it a day





I know its just a motor but big step for me! This is the first time I've had it all together in a few years

[BigD]

I know the feeling man, totally justified excitement! Soak it in. Grab a beer and stare at the pics.

[BrianM]

Hey Cormier, the e30 looks awesome! I know you were telling me about about the colour matching rims on your last car but I couldn't fully appreciate from the phone pictures. Looks pimp haha

Again, huge tip of the hat to be undertaking such a huge project, and doing an awesome job of it.

Ps have you decided on bay colour? I like the charcoal, but I see what you mean about the white looking so fresh and so clean clean. Pain to keep that way probably, but I don't know, maybe same colour is the way to go?

[BMW325IS]

Great work!!!1

[cormier]

So started chopping my new harness apart today



That's the auto computer harness, tranny plug and ac wires

I'm wondering about the asc/abs wiring too -- are they on the engine harness? I assumed I would find that 3 prong connector for the asc throttle body but it's on separate diagrams from the engine side of stuff

During the process I damaged 2 connectors at the DME connection -- pin 87 and 88 the RxD and TxD for the Diagnostic connector Any adverse effects if I leave them be besides not being able to use the Diag port ?

Also started labeling the connectors it's super easy with the ETM and multimeter

On a separate note -- it's bloody cold in the garage lol. Hoping I get a good salamander for Xmas