MyE28.com DEV

just getting broken in.

Driving in this morning, I discovered I never reset the service indicator after installing the engine. Haha.

OMG! You need to make an appointment for an oil service at your local BMW center. Once that light goes red, it's over.

is that your operating temp?

leadphut wrote:is that your operating temp?

Edit: Also, what bulbs do you have in your cluster?

leadphut wrote:is that your operating temp?

Yes, post commute. Never been the other side of 12 o'clock with either engine.

unt0uchable wrote:

leadphut wrote:is that your operating temp?

Edit: Also, what bulbs do you have in your cluster?

I assume OE.

Didn't you disassemble and replace them all? Or did you just replace what was burnt? I guess I was mistaken in thinking you had replaced them all or upgraded to LED's.

Your cluster just looks very lit compared to mine. I may just have 30 year old bulbs still..who knows.

That is all.

Sounds like you need a windows phone.

wkohler wrote:Sounds like you need a windows phone.

Is there an app for that?

from what my mechanic tells me, operating temp should be at 12 o'clock.

I've only had a 533 run that warm. None of my other E28s ever had. They looked just like Charlie's.

wkohler wrote:I've only had a 533 run that warm. None of my other E28s ever had. They looked just like Charlie's.

Interesting. Mine runs at 12 o clock as well. Sometime it will drop closer to 11:30, but never far enough to call it 11 or anything below that. Somebitch....

What temp t-stat do you have installed Charlie?

wkohler wrote:I've only had a 533 run that warm. None of my other E28s ever had. They looked just like Charlie's.

My 533i holds the needle in the same spot as Charlie's, as well.

Variable I pretty sure that the sending unit or the gooahj itself could vary slightly between car. Even more so if the sender has been replaced with a aftermarket. If you worried about "excessive" tempature shoot with pyrometer. I don't know about BMW's gooahjez but most cars are just a "guestimater". If that's even a word............

what i've been told, unless 12 o'clock is reached, the thermostat is stuck open and the car never warms up properly. it should never go passed though.

unt0uchable wrote:

wkohler wrote:I've only had a 533 run that warm. None of my other E28s ever had. They looked just like Charlie's.

Interesting. Mine runs at 12 o clock as well. Sometime it will drop closer to 11:30, but never far enough to call it 11 or anything below that. Somebitch....

What temp t-stat do you have installed Charlie?

Sender is PN 12621710512 (88 528e part number, per M30B35 swap faq)
T-stat is PN 11531713040 (80C thermostat, same as m30b34, per M30B35 swap faq)
 
FWIW, Maytag (87 528e) reads almost identical.

unt0uchable wrote:Didn't you disassemble and replace them all? Or did you just replace what was burnt? I guess I was mistaken in thinking you had replaced them all or upgraded to LED's.

Your cluster just looks very lit compared to mine. I may just have 30 year old bulbs still..who knows.

That is all.

I pulled this cluster out after I bought the car to fix a ticking ODO gear but didn't mess with the lights. They may be LEDs, but I doubt it.

On Maytag I the "D" light is out and I considered fixing it by replacing the bulb, but decided doing a 5-speed swap would be easier.

Well shit. I can't get the oil service indicator light to go out.



Did this (that's pins 1 & 7) and turned ignition so all dash lights were on and waited... Nothing.

When I did this on Maytag it worked perfectly.

Maybe I've found the one place where I screwed up my wiring harness. Haha.

Or maybe my SI board batteries are toast. I thought that only applied to earlier cars though. ?!?

Check out the FAQ on it. Its different for the 20 pin connector.

Duh. Thanks Chris.

Not sure how I missed this.

Motronic 1.3 used a 20-pin data connector. Ground pins 7 and 19.

Vlad's battery has been needing replacing. As Mike in Seattle knows it could barely stand up to 5-10 minutes of playing with brake lights at a rest stop between Seattle and Portland.



I decided to go with Optima because I've had terrific luck with those on my 911.

I should have taken care of re-finishing the battery tray when I had the engine out. Apparently I got some ATF or something in there because when I pulled the battery out the amount of bare metal has increased and more paint is bubbling. I decided to take the whole thing down to bare metal and do the whole POR15 treatment.





Now waiting for the 2nd coat of POR15 to dry. Then POR15 self-etching primer and some Zinno. I may just brush the Zinno on instead of using up the rattle cans I have.

This morning I put on the 2nd coat of POR15, let it dry for about 3 hours, and then put the primer on.



I know I'm a paint hack, but that's only because I really haven't done that much of it. It was tricky getting the rattle can down in there, but in the end I got two coats of Zinno on there and it should hold up nicely.

pretty good maintenance in my book.

Nice work! This reminds me, I need to check out my battery tray and see how it's fared over the years..

Edit with a few questions...

How do you get your engine bay so freakin' clean? Do you steam it? Do you dismantle a lot of shit to get places most people don't care to clean? Cover up the electronics or just remove the engine harness to to get it out of the way? I'd like to do a good in depth cleaning of my engine bay but it seems like there are a lot of things in the way. Thanks for any tips!

 

Where did you buy the zinno paint that you've used? I see it's SEM but not sure where to buy the custom matched stuff. I need to touch up a few areas on the body and would like to get some as well. How well does it match up? I've got a couple of bare edges near the hood and trunk panels. I'm thinking of taping off and touching up with a few spray can coats and then wet sanding smooth to blend with the rest of the paint. I'm also going to do my rockers like you did with the black, but I see that's just SEM trim paint...thanks!

 

How well does your bluetooth mic work when cruising down the road? Do you have any quality/sound issues with it? I'd like to do something similar in my car for a hands free phone call setup.

unt0uchable wrote:Nice work! This reminds me, I need to check out my battery tray and see how it's fared over the years..

Edit with a few questions...

How do you get your engine bay so freakin' clean? Do you steam it? Do you dismantle a lot of shit to get places most people don't care to clean? Cover up the electronics or just remove the engine harness to to get it out of the way? I'd like to do a good in depth cleaning of my engine bay but it seems like there are a lot of things in the way. Thanks for any tips!

 
There's really no secret. It just takes work. It is obviously better if you are starting with an engine bay that someone else kept clean, which is the case with Vlad. The PO was pretty anal about it, and I believe he had it steam cleaned before he sold it. Once I have an engine bay clean, I keep it clean: Every car wash, after the exterior is clean, but not dry, I open the hood and use a damp rag with some P21S Total Auto Wash (which is a fantastic de-greaser) and wipe everything i can reach down. Sometimes I'll use 2 or 3 damp cloths if it's particularly dirty.

To get an engine clean you just have work. Removing major components such as air filter assemblies, intake manifolds, the fan, etc... helps. As does being able to put the car up on a lift and work from the bottom. You'll get dirty and mucky no matter what. I really like P21S Total Car wash for degreasing, but have found foaming degreasers work too. So does http://www.amazon.com/Oil-Eater-AOD1G35 ... B000EALHHG. You don't want to use it on a hot engine, but having the block be warm can help. No matter what you'll be using scrub brushes. I find dish brushes like this work well: http://www.amazon.com/Casabella-Loop-3- ... B004BIKKCU.

The things that shouldn't get water in them are pretty obvious and easy to cover with plastic bags, nitrile gloves, or plug with paper towels: Fuse box, air intakes, diagnostic connector, etc... Note on electrical connections: Dialectic grease is your friend. Any time I unplug some connector I put loads of it on both the male and female sides. This keeps water out.

Lots of water to rinse, then go after it again. And again.

If I take a part off the car, I clean it. Completely. I just can't stand the thought of bolting something greasy and mucky back on.

unt0uchable wrote:Where did you buy the zinno paint that you've used? I see it's SEM but not sure where to buy the custom matched stuff. I need to touch up a few areas on the body and would like to get some as well. How well does it match up? I've got a couple of bare edges near the hood and trunk panels. I'm thinking of taping off and touching up with a few spray can coats and then wet sanding smooth to blend with the rest of the paint. I'm also going to do my rockers like you did with the black, but I see that's just SEM trim paint...thanks!

Westco paint supply. They looked it up in their system. I bought a pint and had them make me 4 rattle cans. The pint is still about 1/2 full. I actually don't think it matches very well from my experience painting the air dam...it looks too pink; but that could just be that I suck a painting or the fact that it's rattle can. Apparently you can get rattle cans made with nitro in them; like those Guiness cans that you pop before pouring and they do a much better job.

They can also color match from a sample, but that's not what I did for Zinno.

[/quote]

How well does your bluetooth mic work when cruising down the road? Do you have any quality/sound issues with it? I'd like to do something similar in my car for a hands free phone call setup.

It works as well as any factory BT system I've used. Even with the sunroof open. Not so much with the windows down.

I had one of these in the 911 for a while and it worked really well: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NLTW60/ At $40, as long as you have an AUX input, it's a pretty great solution.

Woo-hoo! I found my "paint guy" for the Euro bumper project.

He's done tons of BMWs in the area for years; he's mobile and totally willing to do the work in my garage.

Now I just need to find a partner in crime for welding & rough body work. Once that's identified I'm going to order the parts.

cek wrote:Woo-hoo! I found my "paint guy" for the Euro bumper project.

He's done tons of BMWs in the area for years; he's mobile and totally willing to do the work in my garage.

Now I just need to find a partner in crime for welding & rough body work. Once that's identified I'm going to order the parts.

Brent?