[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by RealJ22

Test fit these 20” alpinas. Not sold on them. Have to do some spacers and tire adjustments.

I like 'em! I'm not a huge fan of 20s, but those look pretty good.

[fazm]

I got the valve spring off and put the rollers back where they go. Just need to re-seat the spring and my car is no longer broken.... just disassembled

I'm hopeful I can be back in action by the weekend.

It's gonna feel so good to hear the engine come back to life!

[tcphoto]

Just waiting patiently for my Sport bumper to be shipped...first world problems, right?

[neilvan]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

I went in looking to grab a oil cooler assembly off of an E60, and still might do that someday, but everything is so trashed I am reluctant to go that route. I'm thinking the housing and cooler are pretty solid pieces, so if I get them used, the rest of the kit isn't too bad.

I did this swap on my brothers 328 with junkyard parts. E60s, LCI E83 X3s and pre-lci E70 X5s are the most common in yards around me.

I just grabbed the whole unit, changed gaskets and a new hose (If you are manual too then ya you will need that metal pipe as well). Super easy install other than the metal pipe bit

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by neilvan

I did this swap on my brothers 328 with junkyard parts. E60s, LCI E83 X3s and pre-lci E70 X5s are the most common in yards around me.

I just grabbed the whole unit, changed gaskets and a new hose (If you are manual too then ya you will need that metal pipe as well). Super easy install other than the metal pipe bit

Thanks for the info and motivation! I found a couple, but the cars were just trashed so I didn't want to mess with them. Even though the housing is pretty solid state and new gaskets would get it running, I'll just be patient. I practiced pulling the pipe as I have a MT, but the gaskets and rubber were pretty old.. I figure that will be the situation with a junk yard find, so will probably buy new for that. I figure it will be a nice upgrade... of course I just did my OFHG a few months ago!

[neilvan]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Thanks for the info and motivation! I found a couple, but the cars were just trashed so I didn't want to mess with them. Even though the housing is pretty solid state and new gaskets would get it running, I'll just be patient. I practiced pulling the pipe as I have a MT, but the gaskets and rubber were pretty old.. I figure that will be the situation with a junk yard find, so will probably buy new for that. I figure it will be a nice upgrade... of course I just did my OFHG a few months ago!

Pulling that pipe off can be a pain but most cars have the cats cut; of better yet an N52 on the ground.

You can do the pipe with the ex manifold in place with some 1/4" sockets and extensions but you do have to take the waterpump/thermostat out to replace it basically.

I managed to do both that and an oil pan gasket in a day (8ish hours) and it wasnt even my damn car

[BRG_N54]

Replaced the coils on the green car. Removed coils were all dated 12/06, no real issues, not bad for 16 years! Also replaced knock sensors due to fault code.

[bimmermech123]

Originally Posted by neilvan

I did this swap on my brothers 328 with junkyard parts. E60s, LCI E83 X3s and pre-lci E70 X5s are the most common in yards around me.

I just grabbed the whole unit, changed gaskets and a new hose (If you are manual too then ya you will need that metal pipe as well). Super easy install other than the metal pipe bit

I see you are a fellow Ontarian. Which scrap yards do you go to?

[neilvan]

Originally Posted by bimmermech123

I see you are a fellow Ontarian. Which scrap yards do you go to?

I'm around west endGTA /Hamilton so there are a few around here

[bimmermech123]

Originally Posted by neilvan

I'm around west endGTA /Hamilton so there are a few around here

I'm in Hamilton too lol, can't find any scrap yards around here except Kenny-U-Pull which almost never has inventory

[lowrydr310]

Not today, but last week I hit a pot hole and it made a nice picture in my sidewall. I carry a plug kit and compressor, but that wasn't going to fix this. I've even driven (temporarily, short distances) with sidewall punctures that I've patched but this time it was a big flap that I couldn't fix. Since I was far from home, I got AAA to tow me to the only tire shop nearby that was open at the time, and they installed a used tire to get me on my way. Tire was the wrong size, too narrow and sidewall too thick, and it had a bulge in the sidewall but it got me home. Then a few days later I found a perfect matching used tire!

I'm wondering if there's any other damage from the impact, or if I got lucky and it was just the tire that suffered. I don't feel any unusual vibrations and visually the strut and control arms look fine. The rim looks fine too aside from the rubber scuff marks where the tire impacted it. Two years ago I had an issue with high speed vibrations (70+ on perfectly smooth roads) and after two attempts at road force balancing my tires I learned one tire was out of round and no balancing would have countered it. I left it alone thinking I'd just wait until I needed new tires. Well this out of round tire was the one that got the puncture from the pot hole, and it's been replaced. I just don't have any smooth roads nearby to test the new tire out yet to see if that resolved the vibrations.

[dephrank]

Found a leak in the flex pipes so got new ones and had em welded on by an exhaust shop. The difference is night and day. All this time, was thinking the exhaust was loud by design

[FimbulWinter]

Gasket at 50k miles, I use elring gaskets and didn’t replace the valve cover.

[tcphoto]

FimbulWinter I did mine over two years ago and just replaced the gasket, no issues so far. It’s a straight forward job but there’s so many little things to pull or move before getting to the gasket but I know how much I saved doing it myself.

[colorado.e9x]

RealJ22 cool thing about those alpinas is the hidden valve stem in the center cap . Always liked that idea. Too bad they're not 19s
-
On things I've done today- more ACC retrofit prep. Couldn't stand all the corrosion. Wire brushed it and sprayed all the metal black. Also my new trim pieces arrived

Since the M3 style bumpers naturally do not have an ACC trim, I'm going to do something similar to what I did on my old bumper for my ram intake. If its possible, I'll be doing that again as well.

stormtrooper_f80 was my original inspo for the rings. To give you an idea, the ACC will be in the left ring, and a tube into the intake box will be in right ring.

[BlackNight28]

Once again I attempted to clean the wheels of the brake dust from factory pads! Alas, to no avail. Have ceramic pads and rotors ordered and will solve this soonest. Feeling better now.

[FimbulWinter]

Originally Posted by tcphoto

FimbulWinter I did mine over two years ago and just replaced the gasket, no issues so far. It’s a straight forward job but there’s so many little things to pull or move before getting to the gasket but I know how much I saved doing it myself.

I done it at an indy shop, labor cost here for this job is $20
Sadly I don’t have the tools.

[GnomeChild]

I didn't do any work on my car today, but I spent an exorbitant amount of money sourcing parts together for a bracketless B58 coil install, something exactly along the lines of this member's install:



I figured I would always need a bracket or plates to install B58 coils but after seeing someone do it without, I absolutely jumped on the idea to do so. I may do a DIY writeup to share my experience once I get around to installing these

[fazm]

I'm making progress. I'm 4/6 on installing the MILVs and have a rhythm going now. The install method in the instructions isn't working for me, the springs are still too tight, so I'm just using my spring tool to take the spring off, seat the MILV, then put the spring back on. The most time is spent making sure the spring is back on the rollers correctly.

I'm hopeful to start buttoning up the car tomorrow.

Had a really excellent scare earlier today: I decided to replace the eccentric shaft sensor while I'm in here. Sadly, the bottom bolt on that sensor can only be accessed through a hole in the plastic timing chain guide and my bolt fell into the timing chain cavity. I thought I was toast! I managed to fish it out with a magnet and I'm back in business. When I went to install the new sensor, I glued the bolt into my 10mm socket to avoid that risk a second time.

I'm deffo getting some intimate bonding time with my bmw! I probably will not plan to do a major service solo next time. A second set of hands and a little bit of moral support go a REALLY long way on this stuff and youtube and bmw bros via text only cover so much.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by BlackNight28

Once again I attempted to clean the wheels of the brake dust from factory pads! Alas, to no avail. Have ceramic pads and rotors ordered and will solve this soonest. Feeling better now.

I can't believe the difference from putting some Akebonos on... stock pads are the dirtiest things ever! I had to clean them weekly just to keep ahead of the layer of grime... now it's just whenever I feel like it!

[Runnin'Rich]

FAzm, instead of gluing the bolt into your socket you can do the ‘Ed China’ trick. tear off a bit of plastic bag, spread it over the socket before inserting the bolt head into the socket. The plastic will stop the bolt from falling out of the socket. Go to a thicker bag if it’s not tight enough

Looking forward to hearing your review on the MILVs

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by Runnin'Rich

FAzm, instead of gluing the bolt into your socket you can do the ‘Ed China’ trick. tear off a bit of plastic bag, spread it over the socket before inserting the bolt head into the socket. The plastic will stop the bolt from falling out of the socket. Go to a thicker bag if it’s not tight enough

Looking forward to hearing your review on the MILVs

a piece of masking tape also works well, and if you apply it to the inside of the socket on a few flats is far less likely to fall away and into some place where it's a problem.

I usually just put some tape on two flats of the socket.