willswheels' projects

willswheels

RMS Regular
OP
willswheels
Messages
148
Location
Dungannon
Drives
BMW!
Just because the 318is needs showing off while we wait for it to be picked up...
IMG_5737.JPG
 

Nicky Glanza

RMS Regular
Messages
3,687
Location
Lisburn
Drives
BMX
class job!! fantastic to see it finished! will definitely get you to do the welding on mine if I ever get to that stage :joy:
 

willswheels

RMS Regular
OP
willswheels
Messages
148
Location
Dungannon
Drives
BMW!
Onwards we go. We've been so busy lately that we haven't even had the time to update this thread. With the appalling weather today maybe we can spare five minutes.

Firstly the E30 318is; the original buyer who had paid a deposit mid-way through the resto then reneged after the job was completed. Not that they could find anything wrong with the car, but just that they got cold feet and decided arguing over every minor detail was preferable to coming up with the remaining cash.
So we put it up for sale and sold it within a couple of weeks to the first viewer for the full asking price.

Secondly, the black E30 2-door, an utter rust bucket, is now at the painters. That customer is a world apart, and he has volunteered to splurge the cash to have the whole car painted, where previously it was in the price to paint the replacement panels only. It's flat black, so an easy match, but that projected cost for the car has increased by over 50% and he's still happy to do all the extra things. That's the kind of customer that is enjoyable to work with, one who rings up and asks if we can find him a rare set of wheels he's seen pictures about, or supply extra panels and paint so he has spares in the future just in case...

Thirdly, one that didn't get shown up on here, a Chiaretto Red E39 530d.
This one came to us covered in green from living under a tree. It is essentially a one-owner car, having been bought in 2002 by a retired couple as their last car, and a nice one at that. An SE manual with Sand Beige Montana leather and a nice spec sheet, but running poorly and looking a little sorry for itself.
The son of the now deceased couple wanted the car brought back up, and again was a pleasure to deal with - a money no object, within reason, get-this-car-back-to-how-it-should-be kind of approach.
Thus we gave it an overhaul - it had been looked after, so it was nice to work on (after a good powerwash!). A full service, including brakes, brake hoses (as a matter of course due to age) and a total brake fluid replacement, a few trim replacements, a new battery, a fuel pump, a fresh MOT and after that we had it sent across the road for a thorough detail, which made the car sparkle inside and out. We also repaired and repainted the offside sill which had a crusty bit starting to show up.
We should be able to get a couple of pictures from the valeter to show here.
 

willswheels

RMS Regular
OP
willswheels
Messages
148
Location
Dungannon
Drives
BMW!
Also another difficult job (with another understanding, pleasant customer) - a 1992 318i Neon special edition E30 convertible.

Initially it came in with a badly running engine, under instruction to replace it. But when it got here we had a chat with the owner - it sounded very repairable. And so we set to, trying to find the running fault - rather than needlessly replace a good engine.
All compression tests, hot and cold, were very positive.

And then the immobiliser died.

It just cut out one day and refused to start. Making a headache into a proper migraine-inducing problem.
After managing to get it inside, after re-inflating the nearside tyres which lose pressure after a day or so, the job became to figure out the wiring problem. The customer was told of course, and he was happy to have the whole system removed, but before just pulling out random wires, we needed to understand the failure so we could re-wire around it.

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First thing to find was where the immobiliser interrupted the power supply. Fuel pump relay was the obvious start and there was no power present.

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Inside the fusebox there was a wire split and re-routed, and that was the pump supply.

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That was bridged to see if that got us going. It did get power to the fuel relay, but still the pump wasn't priming.

So the pump was checked. First the continuity of the supply wire, which was fine, and then the pump itself was bench tested, and was fine. Good news indeed - back to the front end.
Bridging the fuel relay brought the pump into life. But the car still wouldn't run when cranked.

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This is the nightmare under the dash. There is both a factory BMW alarm system and a Thatcham approved immobiliser located in there and they were heavily integrated, so the only solution was a full removal - but still we needed to locate the fault.

The ignition circuit interruptor was located and bridged. Still no fire.
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Then another secondary fuel system wire was spotted as having a hidden break in it, and those wires were cut back, and joined.
immedaitely at that, the car was able to start.
20191209_170331.jpg

See? It runs.

The defunct wiring was then all removed, inclduing the BMW alarm which was part of the factory wiring, so that all had to be sorted out with different plug routing and various earthing points moved, but it was all taken out and put back to something like standard. All late cabriolets had an alarm system on them so there is no factory alternative, but by the end up, there were no cut and joined wires, everything is on a proper BMW plug.

There will be a more reliable immobiliser system fitted into the car for the owner, but for now we can concentrate once again on getting it to run nice.
In the pursuit of a smoother idle, the ECU, plug leads and coil unit were all replaced with good known spares, and the results were a much nicer sounding car. Plugs and a brand new set of leads are on order, leaving only one important issue left to address:
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Swapping out the colour-coded side repeaters for original black ones.
That'll just take the cheesiness away from this original car, as having those on makes it look like a replica / repaint, when it's actually one of the original Neon editions.
 
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