Maytag: The Alpine '87 529i

[tig]

Maytag's 'new' head.

[tig]

It was cheap. And since the tag is rusted I can't yet prove it's really a 3.25 LSD...

[wkohler]

Did you find that diff in Puget Sound?

[tig]

Did you find that diff in Puget Sound?

No shit. I have a bad habit of over trusting sellers. It's not like he misrepresented it (assuming it's actually an LSD), but if it were me I wouldn't want my buyer to be surprised that the casing is so rusted. I'm going to have to spend a lot of time and energy on this. May not be worth it.

When I get a chance I'm going to seal up the shaft openings and soda blast it. Then lots of PB blaster and see how many of those bolts break....

[Stevo12]

Yikes...the limited slip diff on my parts car looks very similar to that (not surprising given the amount of rust underneath) but then again, I have it up for "parts only" figuring if someone wanted to take the time to clean it up and/or use just the guts, all the more power to them. It just so happened that the '86 has a limited slip as well, so I have no use for it. Hopefully the seller didn't jack you for too much...

BTW I've really enjoyed the reads on Maytag, Vlad, and the B35 build. I can only hope to be that thorough in my builds at this point, but I'm learning as I go. I'm thinking of cutting my teeth on engine rebuilds on the spare B34 I have in case the one in the '86 (@ 200k presently, but running strong) decides to give out...but have other projects in the mean time

Can't wait to see more of this rabbit-hole build!

[tig]

I gave Maytag some love today with a deep wash and an application of paint sealant (I'm using Chemical Guys M-Sealer these days). She also had about 10 dings removed by my dent guy while he was here.







Still drives great. Leaks PS fluid, oil, and ATF like a mo-fo though. Ordered new PS lines. That 5-Speed swap is calling...

[2 5's and a 7]

I would have thought if you were doing a head swap and wanted a better cam you would have gotten a "i" head and solved both problems. I'd defintely do the 5 speed swap......if you change the rpm range you might want a 3.73 just saying

[leadphut]

looks exactly like my old 535i - including style 8's. i miss that car.

once you finish with Maytag, you're gonna need something else to do. any interest in a '63 ragtop project? i think you'd be the perfect person.

[tig]

Cleaned the 5-Speed up today. I already had all the seals replaced. I've got a parts order in with Blunt for all the bits needed to do the swap. Things like shifter parts and rear main seal. I may or may not pull the engine out of the car. I really need to replace the headgasket and while I'm doing that I might as well put my 'new' head on. And while I'm doing that...

We shall see what actually happens and when... The only thing that's a priority is to get the 5-speed in as a cure for the ATF all over the place.

Before:



After:

[waynet1]

Cleaned the 5-Speed up today. I already had all the seals replaced. I've got a parts order in with Blunt for all the bits needed to do the swap. Things like shifter parts and rear main seal. I may or may not pull the engine out of the car.
We shall see what actually happens and when... The only thing that's a priority is to get the 5-speed in as a cure for the ATF all over the place.

Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work just to fix a few leaks.

[tig]

5-Speed conversion idea has transformed into an actual plan. Almost all parts have been sourced and acquired. Laying it out here, because I know it'll cause details to come to light. And y'all will show me the error of my ways.

First, while the idea of a 5-speed is appealing in itself, the real reason I'm motivated to do this is the 4hp22 in the car now is super-suspect. The ATF cooling lines are all seeping and ATF is also leaking from the tranny itself. Since I've owned the car, I've found the tranny was basically 'dry' 3 times. It still shifts mostly fine, but I really do think it's about to just esplode on me.

Next, I considered going all-in and fixing the engine oil leak at the same time. It is leaking on the exhaust side from the head gasket area. I was considering pulling the head and putting a new gasket on, or putting on the re-finished 200 head I got on the cheap. I've decided not to over-do things and to leave it be for now. So this will be a 5-speed swap "only".

Parts:

• 5-Speed from an 86 528e. All seals have been replaced and the unit cleaned (see above). Original fork.
• 850 dowel/pivot pin, release arm spring (Blunt)
• New transmission mounts (Blunt)
• Transmission support x-brace (getting from Spen).
• Resurfaced lightweight (14lbs) flywheel from an 82 528e via pldlnr.
• Guibo (Blunt)
• Taller throwout bearing. New M20 clutch & PP plate. (Blunt)
• Shift-linkage. Z3 shifter, all new bushings, and washers, etc... including new boot, rod joint, etc... (Blunt)
• "kit" came with rear shift console connect bracket; will need help welding that in.
• Rear main seal, rear cover gasket (Blunt)
• Clutch slave repair kit (Blunt)
• Clutch master repair kit (Blunt)
• Clutch master soft hose (Blunt)
• Clutch master hard-line (Blunt)
• Grommet for master soft hose (Blunt); still trying to find PN for grommet for master
• Pedal assembly from 86 528e (from kit).
• New pedal pads (Blunt)
• Reman drive-shaft. "kit" one feels pretty worn/loose at rear u-joint. (Driveline of Portland)
• 3.46 LSD.
• Diff mount (Blunt)

Am I missing anything?

My wife will be out of town for a week while my son's still here before college. I was considering whether to use that time for this project or for pulling the B35 from Vlad to address the oil leaks. I've decided that can wait since I have several other projects that involve dropping the exhaust (gas tank, rear subframe mod for camber).

[tig]

I can't remember if my current gauge cluster will just work. I have confused myself on whether I need a different one for the 5-speed conversion, or just when i enable a higher-revving engine. Am i correct in assuming my current cluster will work fine?

[wkohler]

Your cluster will work fine. Clusters are the same except for the indicator board. It's removable so really a separate piece.

If/when the time comes for higher revs, you can replace the tachometer, which are pretty easy to find, but you need one from a late cluster with one red LED in the check control.

[tig]

Boom. 3.46 LSD. Thanks Jerry!

[tig]

Poking around under Maytag today in preparation for the 5-speed swap; just want to make sure I'm not missing any parts before we dig in next week.

First, I am not planning on touching my half-shafts. The boots are fairly ancient, but are holding. I possibly could be talked into re-doing them now, but I'm already way past my budget for this exercise. Thoughts?




Next, diff-mount. I WAS planning on replacing this and already have a replacement. But now that I look at it doesn't look bad at all. Can one tell by looking?



I sure wish I had the service history for this car. I tried, and tried, to get it from Black Forest BMW Service in LA, where the car was serviced, and the owner of the shop kept promising to send me the records, but never did. I talked to him like 6 times. Finally I just gave up. I would love to know how old this exhaust is. It seems to be in perfect shape.



Finally, this was interesting. I noticed the rear jackpoint/towhook bracket at the right rear (not really sure what it's for) is split/broken. Odd. Then I looked closer and noticed it had something taped to it with electrical tape.



Ha! A hidden key!



Fun.

Also got the driveshaft Friday:

[dsmith]

I say that if you are spending the cash on a driveshaft and all, and you already have the mount, put it on. I wouldn't bother with the axle boots if they aren't leaking and you don't have the parts. I've never had a boot go bad.

[tig]

Maytag got new power steering soft lines today. New Oetiker clamps too. Hopefully she only leaks from the tranny and engine now.



Since I had to remove the air cleaner/AFM assembly to do it, I also de-greased that side of the engine/bay.

[tig]

Before:


After:

[tig]

Poop.

Still leaking PS fluid (aka ATF). No longer from the hoses, but now just from the pump itself. Just a smidgen after 30+ miles of city driving. I already wiped it off, but it's from this seal.



I have another PS pump that was from the donor B34 used for Vlad's engine.



A PS rebuild kit is $30-40. Searching and reading old threads I don't see a lot of success stories around rebuilding these. Certainly no pics or 'how to's.

I think what I'll do is put this other one on, as-is and cross my fingers. If it is bad in some way, then I'll order a re-build kit and re-build the one that's in there.

Thoughts?

[wkohler]

Get a 13mm wrench and tighten all of the bolts. That should go a long way to keeping that from leaking. It might be a bit wet but will never leave a drop on the ground.

[tig]

Get a 13mm wrench and tighten all of the bolts. That should go a long way to keeping that from leaking. It might be a bit wet but will never leave a drop on the ground.

Not a bad idea. Thanks.

I was looking on RealOEM to see what, if any, difference there was in the mounting HW between M20 and M30 motors for these pumps. I was surprised to see the pully's have different part #s! Are they different size between M20 & M30 applications? Or is the offset different?

M30: http://www.realoem.com./bmw/showparts.d ... g=32&fg=15

M20: http://www.realoem.com./bmw/showparts.d ... g=32&fg=15

[pldlnr]

You should replace te flywheel bolts. You will need the 28mm length. 11 22 7 805 885

[tig]

You should replace te flywheel bolts. You will need the 28mm length. 11 22 7 805 885

Good catch. Ordered.

All the parts are here.... I think. I'm going to rebuild the master & slave tomorrow and lay out all of the parts to make sure.



Ignore the paper gasket, that's for Vlad.

[RondoAcapriccio]

are you doing RMS.. I read everybody said to do it.. I decided not to.. now I think its leaking a lot.

5 Speed swap totally changes the 528e...then you want more.. soon 24v. Although I guess you are ok you have the 535i.

[tig]

are you doing RMS.. I read everybody said to do it.. I decided not to.. now I think its leaking a lot.

5 Speed swap totally changes the 528e...then you want more.. soon 24v. Although I guess you are ok you have the 535i.

Yes the RMS is in the top left of the pic.

If, after all this work, I end up keeping this car, my long term plans are to turbocharge it.

[tig]

As is usually the case, Chris is right.

This is after 3 days of commuting. Not a single drop of PS fluid (that spot was on the towel before and isn't under the PS system).

[tig]

Some nice stuff showed up for Maytag.

From Mr. Kohler, centers for the BBS RZ wheels:


(There's also everything needed for a Motronic 1.3 swap; Nice job packing everything Chris...well done!)

From Spen, the tranny bracket (and relay socket for Vlad):


And from Ray in Phx, some 540i calipers for some day in the future:

[tig]

Fun little project yesterday: I used the clutch master and slave rebuild kits I got to rebuild the master & slave for the 5-speed project.

Here's the slave:




A replacement slave I bought for Vlad was made of much less substantial steel than both this one and the one that was original in Vlad. Seems to me that a rebuild kit like this is a far better choice than going with a replacement that has a weaker housing.

I considered blasting and repainting the housing given the surface rust, but couldn't find the motivation. Maybe I'll do it today. Maybe not.

The kit is extremely simple and the parts seem to be of sufficiently high quality. I can't see any reason why this won't work as well as a new part.

Next was the master. I've never taken a master apart before, so I wasn't sure what I'd find. The FAG master on top and the kit on the bottom:



Getting the piston out is as simple as removing the C clip.


It all looked good to me; I was thinking I probably would have been fine leaving it as-is. Then I wondered where the old spring was. I looked inside the cylinder and saw it in there. I used a little hook tool to pull it out:


Uh.

I had read previously that clutch masters generally leak when they failed. Clearly this one had failed and there's no reason it would have been leaking. I have no idea what the symptoms would be like with a broken spring like this, but if you've got problems with your clutch, you probably want to rebuild the master.

As I expected, I effed up the plastic nipple, removing the seal/gromet for it. It should be possible to remove it without screwing it up, but since this was my first try I didn't realize I was torquing on it and not just the gromet. I had already ordered a replacement because plndr told me they break easily.

Rebuilt and re-installed on the pedal assembly, along with a re-enforcement kit.



I'm still waiting on a few parts from Blunt. I may start pulling stuff off the car today, but I'm nervous about getting started because I don't want to have Maytag stuck on the lift for too long...I have something I want to do to Vlad.

[tig]

Did you really think I would leave that slave looking like that? Didn't think so.




Pulled the exhaust and rear axles. I had CJ helping me so I got him to do some scrubbing.







Diff is now full of Redline and ready to go...

[bkbimmer]

Another bottomless pit to throw hard earned money into... Top work!