84 633csi 5 spd

[tschultz]

I've done it both ways and there is still a very long throw stock. It tightens it up, but the stock shift lever actually attributes to a lot of the slop.

Might as well do it while you are already in there. But then again it isn't terrible to replace just the shifter.

[captain awesome]

Got a part number for the shifter you are using? If it's not too spendy I may snatch one up and get it over with. It does seem to be a long throw, and if bushings won't fix that I might as well.

[dwcains]

This thread has just about everything you'd want to know about shifters for our cars:

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=72458

[captain awesome]

So I finally got the car off the stands and took the first test drive tonight.

Shifting is much improved. Probably could still use a a shorter throw, but for now it's better.

Driveshaft however, worse. No thumping, but clearly vibrating unlike before. I'm certain I got the driveshaft halves put back correctly, sorta second guessing it now. I didn't realize there was a bushing that goes between the guibo and the driveshaft, so I'm going to guess that's where my problem lies. I'm also going to make sure the guibo is lined up properly. Really not happy that it's basically parked again until I figure this out but sometimes that's just the way stuff goes.

Oh, I also replaced the motor and trans mounts with poly ones. I know they may transfer some extra vibes in the car, but honestly there is no way they could possibly cause this. The old motor mounts were torn badly and the trans mounts were just wet mush.

[captain awesome]

I got a few minutes after work to try and troubleshoot the vibes.

A lot of them are clearly coming from these stupid poly mounts. I started the beast up this afternoon, threw a few revs it's way, and it was pretty gnarly. I don't know how anyone would be okay with this much vibration. It's silly. I'm baffled. It wasn't even in gear moving down the road and I thought the motor would just fall out.

Down the road the vibes kinda just keep consistently making life terrible. On top of that the driveshaft is clunking again on an uphill throttle blip from first. I'm unhappy.

So the current plan is to replace the motor and trans mounts with OEM ones and see how much vibration goes away. I've got the center bushing for the driveshaft ordered, but I'm not too confident it's going to make a difference. There's a driveshaft place nearby I'm going to check with and see if they can balance or replace cv joints. Otherwise I'm afraid the money for a new driveshaft will have to come from some form of prostitution because they are INSANE in price. I'm going to go cry now.

[captain awesome]

So I swapped trans mounts for e21 HD rubber ones today. NIGHT and DAY difference. A few people suggested that it's probably the trans mounts causing the vibration and they were correct. A lot of it had to do with a bolt through design, but I've learned my lesson. I think I'll keep the poly motor mounts in for the time being.

Unfortunately I'm still getting thumping from the driveshaft. I'm hoping it's just the driveshaft bushing, but I'm afraid it's the u-joints.

[captain awesome]

Drove to work today and I'm happy. No thumping from the driveshaft yet, but I plan to replace the nose bushing on the driveshaft and preload the bearing properly soon just in case. What I noticed most of all was shifter improvement. The slop is gone for the most part. I also replaced my shift knob with one that didn't want to pull off on any hard shifts. Between the both of those upgrades I'm pretty smitten. I could see a short shifter in my future, but for now I'll just enjoy the stock setup.

I also forgot to mention my muffler is gone. When I dropped the exhaust to get the driveshaft out it was barely attached the pipes. I cut the last strip holding it in place and figured it would get me to replace it much quicker. Surprisingly it's not half bad without it, maybe a bit louder than I prefer. We shall see what the local muffler shop has to offer and if my wallet wants to release any cash.

Another thing worth mentioning is that I need to get my heater valve rebuilt. Cold weather is coming back and I've completely forgotten about it until now. I'll just keep checking stuff slowly off the list....

[captain awesome]

Snapped some pics of the old parts I pulled.

[tschultz]

Here's the shift lever I used (Part#: 25117527255). The shorter Z3 1.9 shift lever sat lower and made it more difficult to engage gears on cold days.

[captain awesome]

Thanks for the part number. I'll get around to swapping it sometime in the future, but for now I'm going to enjoy it as is. I may try and do the pre-loaded spring trick I've seen posted here before when I get around to it.

[captain awesome]

The garage saga is over. Sold the house due to some foundation issues AS IS. No more work from me, and the new house we are buying has a 2 car garage and will require no work so I can just get back to the e24 and my e21 m42 transplant. I'm aggravated that I've lost all the time, work, and money but the fact that I can just wrench when needed will be nice.

[hornhospital]

Holy cow, seriously? Well, at least that nice shop/garage had to add to the value of the property. Nice work, good luck at the new place.

[dwcains]

What a story, so sorry to hear, but hopefully things will work out better at the new house. We should have an online bigcoupe house-warminng.

[captain awesome]

It's been a huge learning experience so I'm considering it to be a cheap apprenticeship. I've learned that I can do anything I want but it costs time. I value my time a lot more now and am willing to pay others to do the work on home stuff like this again. The new house requires nothing so it works out in the end. I still had a big list of stuff to do on this house and the list seemed to never end. I'm almost relieved it's over. There's a euro bumper just begging to be refurbished and installed.

[captain awesome]

Water pump took a dump. Swapped it out today since my other daily driver is throwing fits as well. When it rains it pours.

I'm going to have to pull most of it apart again to replace some ratty looking hoses, but since they aren't available locally at least for a few days I had no choice but to ignore them and hope they can just make it a little longer.

[captain awesome]

So my heater valve has been acting silly lately I decided to replace with the MTC kit. Unfortunately the MTC unit doesn't work any better. We've been getting single digit cold the past few days so I haven't been able to drive the car without a way to thaw while at speed. I ordered what I think is an NOS valve for $30, but I've also seen that I can probably modify the MTC one from the old OEM parts. We'll see how that turns out soon.





I guess I should also mention my spare heater motor burnt up terribly so a brand new Bosch unit without the cages was ordered on clearance for $50.

Another good bit of info is that I moved into the new house Friday. Been unpacking like mad, but I'm close to getting back in the garage. Bought a new 41" tool chest last night on sale with a 15% off coupon for $350. Also scored some old metal upper cabinets for $20 off CL.

[dwcains]

This thread has some interesting info about using an E46 heater valve:

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=130485

[captain awesome]

This thread has some interesting info about using an E46 heater valve:

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=130485

I read through that a bit the other day. I'm on the fence about swapping to the different valve. I spent the afternoon taking the MTC valve and making a hybrid with the OEM valve. I also got the cages slid on to the new blower motor. Both function, but I feel like the level of warmth is still lower than I would expect. Maybe I'm expecting too much from this old system, but it seems odd.

[dwcains]

It was 80F here today, so I don't know if the heater in mine even works. Sorry

[captain awesome]

I'm wondering if I just haven't bled the coolant system properly after replacing the water pump?

[dwcains]

That's certainly a possibility.

[captain awesome]

Took a few minutes in the nice weather to wash the 6er. I only really need to wash the insane amount of brake dust build up on the front wheels, but it makes sense to just wash everything. I've been kinda torn lately about either selling the car off and buying a decent 2002 or trade for one. I don't know if I'll actually go through it, but regardless there are a few things that need attention before I could really do that anyway. I've still got the brake bomb to install, front strut mounts, rear bump stops, lower the rear springs one or two notches, and address the gauge cluster. I also need to consider refurbishing the euro front bumper as I think it might be a worthy selling point.

[songzunhuang]

Antique car? Do you get anything special for that?
The car is looking good. I know all too well the things that you have listed as needing to be fixed. I've been through all of them.

If I was to sell mine, I think I would get a new M4. Friend of mine got one and it's awesome. Yeah, it's not an antique, but I bet I won't have to fix anything for quite a while. LOL!

In any case, I'll see how I feel after the A/C work this summer. If the past is any indicator, I'll fix everything and then be bored and sell it - way before the value rises. Then 10-20 years later I'll be telling people about the BMW I should of kept.

[captain awesome]

In Arkansas any vehicle 25 years old can get an antique plate which is permanent to the vehicle as long as you own it. No updating registration, only standard property tax. The catch is that you have to have a standard plated car for eligibility. My wife always has one standard car and for the last 7 years I've had antique tags. Motorcycles are the same way, and if the car doesn't have a title you can get a bill of sale for a motor and a separate bill of sale for the chassis to get one.

It seems the only time I want to sell or get rid of the car is when it's giving me fits or I'm just missing creature comforts. The wonky electronics in this car drive me nuts. I've heard the M2 is the drivers car worth getting, but I have trouble spending more than 5k on any car.

[captain awesome]

One of the glaringly obvious issues I'm having with this car now is keeping my battery charged. The route to work from my old house was a good bit of highway, speeds mostly ranging from 55-80 for about 20 minutes with a few minutes of stop and go. My new house is in town and my commute is about 12 minutes of stop and go. When the car sits for two days, the charge just isn't where it needs to be, and this morning finally wasn't enough to turn it over. I set up some jumpers from the wife's car real quick to get it going, and this go round it just didn't want to fire. I decided to plug in the trickle charger and commute with the wife for the day.

When I get home I'm going to start tracing the parasitic draw, and also make sure my newish alternator hasn't already kicked the bucket. I have a feeling the Optima Yellow top just had too many discharges in it's short lifetime, but that's just speculation at this point. Either way, the wife is pushing me in the direction of getting something more reliable for a daily driver. I really can't justify having 3 cars, and with the e21 project in full swing the e24 may just have to go. She did say it would be fine to keep it, but at this point it doesn't make sense.