What did you do to/for your 1er today?

[Blau]

Originally Posted by summitp

Exactly. Drop one side of the subframe until you have room to get a nice size socket in there, i unbolted the bottom of the shocks. Position jack beneath trailing arm mount, Lower sub frame, fit socket into place, raise jack until car lifts off jack stands, then choose front or back bushing and start going to town with the torch careful not to hit gas tank or any other hoses in the vicinity. After a few minutes, the bushing will start to smoke and the bushing will slowly start to push out. Raise further, repeat until socket and bushing fall out. Repeat for other 3. Takes about 5 minutes per bushing to get them out.

Any chance you have pics? The part that isn't clear for me is where to put the socket. Do you put it in between the subframe carrier and the car? Also, do the old bushings pop out from the top or bottom?
Thx

[summitp]

I didn't take pics of that particular step. Basically, the idea is to use the body weight of the car to press the bushing out. Assuming you have gotten to the point of lowering the frame to remove the bushings...
Step 1. Position jack under sub frame. I put it under where trailing arm bolts up to sub frame.
Step 2. Remove bolts on side you are going to do first. Lower sub frame on that side with jack until there is enough room between the bushing and the body of the car to slip a big socket in top of the bushing.
Step 3. Raise jack slowly until body of car begins to lift off jack stands. Stop.
At this point, the body weight of the car is on the socket pushing down on the bushing.
Bust out the torch and heat the sub frame around the bushing until it begins to slide out. It takes several minutes of heating. Eventually you can just grab the bushing and pull down and it falls rough out and socket lands on the ground. Falls out the bottom.
Don't torch the gas tank or other lines in the area. It is my opinion that there is plenty of room. Use care. Look around where you are going to be aiming the torch before you go there. Don't blow yourself up.
It did help to climb onto the open trunk to add weight to push bushing out.
I did front and back on one side, and installed bushings prior to working the other side.

[Ric in RVA]

Originally Posted by summitp

Exactly. Drop one side of the subframe until you have room to get a nice size socket in there, i unbolted the bottom of the shocks. Position jack beneath trailing arm mount, Lower sub frame, fit socket into place, raise jack until car lifts off jack stands, then choose front or back bushing and start going to town with the torch careful not to hit gas tank or any other hoses in the vicinity. After a few minutes, the bushing will start to smoke and the bushing will slowly start to push out. Raise further, repeat until socket and bushing fall out. Repeat for other 3. Takes about 5 minutes per bushing to get them out.

That sounds too easy!

Propane torch have enough BTU's to work?

and whats your opinion on the NVH change after install?

[scratchgolf135]

Time for a wire tuck. Stripped all the corrugated garbage off and will be taping and putting woven loom on all of it. Fun fact, the second smaller loom (still pretty big, ~1/2") running across the to the DME has a whopping TWO wires (circled below) in it. This looks to be the trans loom. No reason this shouldn't be merged with the main harness where they intersect down by the starter. Will be extending the Vanos and coolant wires so they can go under the IM with the rest. Shouldn't see any wired on top of the engine after that.
Yes, I deleted the black box of death btw. Will fab up a bracket to hold the bundle and mount to one of the empty holes above the HPFP.

Also installed the Nexsys oil pressure sensor that'll get loomed up with everything else while I'm in there.

[summitp]

Originally Posted by Ric in RVA

That sounds too easy!

Propane torch have enough BTU's to work?

and whats your opinion on the NVH change after install?

Yeah, i just used a small torch on one of those little blue tanks. Can't remember where I picked it up. It just takes time to heat the steel frame.

On the NVH, i put whiteline polyurethane in. My setup is with 17" wheel setup and Bilstein B14 height only adjustable coilovers. I wouldn't say that there is additional noise and vibration, but rather that the handling of the car feels more composed. NVH is not what comes to mind, composure is.

[Papa Popov]

Shop installed a new oil pan, OPG, bolts, etc. Had them replace the motor mounts as a "while we're in there" kinda thing and holy shit, what a world of difference they made. No more clunking in lower gears, shifts are infinitely smoother, and the whole car just feels tighter. All this time I thought the 6MT in my car was trash and I sucked at driving stick cause of all the jerking but nope, it was because my 130k motor mounts were toast.

[1and1]

Originally Posted by Papa Popov

...it was because my 130k motor mounts were toast.

Amazing what a difference mounts can make eh?

[Ric in RVA]

Originally Posted by Papa Popov

Shop installed a new oil pan, OPG, bolts, etc. Had them replace the motor mounts as a "while we're in there" kinda thing and holy shit, what a world of difference they made. No more clunking in lower gears, shifts are infinitely smoother, and the whole car just feels tighter. All this time I thought the 6MT in my car was trash and I sucked at driving stick cause of all the jerking but nope, it was because my 130k motor mounts were toast.

Still have the Clutch Delay Valve in the car? That needs to go away if you do!!!

[Papa Popov]

Originally Posted by Ric in RVA

Still have the Clutch Delay Valve in the car? That needs to go away if you do!!!

That thing is long gone. Was one of the first things I did to the car

[woltersjason]

Finally had a nice day that wasn’t rainy, first full wash of the year. My buddy with his Thundernight G42 joined in as well

[Donkeyshins]

No shade intended towards your buddy, but your E82 looks much better.

[tracer bullet]

Originally Posted by Donkeyshins

No shade intended towards your buddy, but your E82 looks much better.

Well, of course we like our own cars, but I've finally come to realize it's simply a different car from a different era. If you look at it as a replacement for a 1-er you'll find all sorts of things you don't like (and some you do). It debuted like 12 years later so it's just hard to even compare.

[summitp]

Originally Posted by Ric in RVA

Still have the Clutch Delay Valve in the car? That needs to go away if you do!!!

I need to do that on mine...
Next week...

[N55135i]

Originally Posted by summitp

I need to do that on mine...
Next week...

I really don't notice any significant difference in my shifts or clutch feel without the CDV.

[K9Leader]

For my 1er today, I removed the BMW CCA grill badge that I had repurposed as a trunk badge as in less than 18 months on the car, it looked terrible - corrosion, enamel paint areas falling off. Replaced it with the same logo but as a magnet which is a bit too large for my liking but it is a magnet so . . . easily removable.





Speaking of things prematurely deteriorating, when I pulled my winter wheels off I was very disappointed to see that the center caps had significant corrosion after only about one year of use (two winters) and only 4,000-5,000 miles. These were not cheap knock-offs, either, these were genuine BMW. And, yes, I know that this corrosion is common and appears to be acceptable among BMW enthusiasts, as most comments are along the lines of "they all do that, just buy new ones." No, dadgummit, they should last longer than a few months before this happens. I would happily give up the shiny metal look for black or silvery plastic if anyone makes such a thing. Y'know, I'm willing to deal with the mechanical gremlins (oil leaks and such) for the driving enjoyment of these cars but wheel center caps that have to be replaced every year or so?



Okay, curmudgeonly rant over. Oh, wait, I need to go yell at some kids to get off my lawn.

[Ric in RVA]

Originally Posted by N55135i

I really don't notice any significant difference in my shifts or clutch feel without the CDV.

Really?

For me it was huge.

All the CDV is is a calibrated hole that only allows flow at a certain speed. So you can raise and lower the clutch pedal as fast as you want and the rate will be limited by the hole.

The stated purpose was to not shock load the drive drain. (I.e. You can't side step the clutch and do a clutch dump and this system would theoretically protect u joints, diff and axles)

I suppose if you only depressed the clutch pedal at a rate below max flow of the hole. (ie relatively slowly ) you wouldn't notice this, but if you release or depress the clutch quickly you would be very annoyed.

I typically double clutch all my down shifts. (A by product of driving old shitty british cars with worn out synchros in my youth). The CDV created havoc with the speed of the clutch release in order to actually DC a down shift.

It created a clunky un coordinated feel since YOU no longer had control of clutch engagement/ disengagement rate.

It is super simple to do and well worth doing.



For all you kiddies that never had to suffer through worn out synchros....just search double clutch downshift on youtube.

And if you really want to get fancy ...look up clutchless downshifting. Don't try this at home and don't blame me if you blow something up.

Back in poor college kid days I nursed an MGB around for almost a month with NO clutch at all. Hills helped and I ran a lot of stop signs...but I'd just slip it into neutral at a stop. restart it in 1st gear and chug away then up shift and down shift by rev matching.

Lost a clutch cable in a GTI a couple hundred miles from home and drove it back same way.

[K9Leader]

Originally Posted by Ric in RVA

And if you really want to get fancy ...look up clutchless downshifting. Don't try this at home and don't blame me if you blow something up.

Back in poor college kid days I nursed an MGB around for almost a month with NO clutch at all. Hills helped and I ran a lot of stop signs...but I'd just slip it into neutral at a stop. restart it in 1st gear and chug away then up shift and down shift by rev matching.

Lost a clutch cable in a GTI a couple hundred miles from home and drove it back same way.

I remember one of the big car magazines publishing an article on clutchless shifting in the late 1980s and then having to publish a disclaimer the next month that it wasn't their fault so many people destroyed their clutches trying it. At the time I had a new 1988 Mercury Tracer (a version of the Mazda 323) with manual and the shift cable broke. I used clutchless shifting to get it the several miles home and then the several miles to the dealership the next day.

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by Ric in RVA

Really?

For me it was huge.

All the CDV is is a calibrated hole that only allows flow at a certain speed. So you can raise and lower the clutch pedal as fast as you want and the rate will be limited by the hole.

The stated purpose was to not shock load the drive drain. (I.e. You can't side step the clutch and do a clutch dump and this system would theoretically protect u joints, diff and axles)

I suppose if you only depressed the clutch pedal at a rate below max flow of the hole. (ie relatively slowly ) you wouldn't notice this, but if you release or depress the clutch quickly you would be very annoyed.

I typically double clutch all my down shifts. (A by product of driving old shitty british cars with worn out synchros in my youth). The CDV created havoc with the speed of the clutch release in order to actually DC a down shift.

It created a clunky un coordinated feel since YOU no longer had control of clutch engagement/ disengagement rate.

It is super simple to do and well worth doing.



For all you kiddies that never had to suffer through worn out synchros....just search double clutch downshift on youtube.

And if you really want to get fancy ...look up clutchless downshifting. Don't try this at home and don't blame me if you blow something up.

Back in poor college kid days I nursed an MGB around for almost a month with NO clutch at all. Hills helped and I ran a lot of stop signs...but I'd just slip it into neutral at a stop. restart it in 1st gear and chug away then up shift and down shift by rev matching.

Lost a clutch cable in a GTI a couple hundred miles from home and drove it back same way.

No history of old British cars, but I double-clutch most of my downshifts, too.
In normal driving, I hardly noticed the CDV, but in situations where I want control faster than it allowed, I hated it.

I did the rev-match clutchless downshifts on my Colt, Sentra and Jetta when the clutch went on those machines. And a couple times for practice.
I've done 1 on the Bimmer, just to make sure I could. But I don't want to prematurely wear out those synchros or blow anything up!

When the clutch died on the 135, it was because of a hydraulic fluid leak. Clutch pedal went to the floor, but wouldn't come back up. I guess it's rare - the shop took 2 days just to troubleshoot it (and another to bleed it properly after repair.)
Twice I reached down and popped the thing up by hand, just so I could crawl to a safe place to call for a tow. Not my favorite day.

[mkeiser]

i've tried learning double clutch and can be pretty consistent at it, but when i mess up and grind some gears i always feel like i'm shortening my transmission lifespan another 10k miles or something lol

[gjm120]

Did a brake fluid flush and coolant. Didn't really flush the cooling system - just removed about 5 liters and replaced. Also did the Mickey Mouse flange replacement. My flange was starting to break apart, so good thing I did it.

[fotontom]

"Back in poor college kid days I nursed an MGB around for almost a month with NO clutch at all. Hills helped and I ran a lot of stop signs...but I'd just slip it into neutral at a stop. restart it in 1st gear and chug away then up shift and down shift by rev matching."

I hear you well. Have owned every MG model from the TD to the factory V8 MGB. I have learned the hard way that using the brakes most of the time is far less expensive than clutches, gearboxes, u-joints and engine / trans mounts.

[Ric in RVA]

Originally Posted by K9Leader

I remember one of the big car magazines publishing an article on clutchless shifting in the late 1980s and then having to publish a disclaimer the next month that it wasn't their fault so many people destroyed their clutches trying it. At the time I had a new 1988 Mercury Tracer (a version of the Mazda 323) with manual and the shift cable broke. I used clutchless shifting to get it the several miles home and then the several miles to the dealership the next day.

Probably didn't bother the clutch.....but it can and will destroy a gearbox if you don't get it right. Easy 10k miles of damage I'd imagine to the synchros...