1978 euro 635csi disbrokenation

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kronus

1978 euro 635csi disbrokenation

Post by kronus »

Hello, world! This is my new E24:

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And this is the project thread in which I blunder through returning it back into a presentable state. First, some info/stats

1978 E12-based E24 635csi
177K miles at time of purchase
Dogleg transmission
Posi rear end (need to confirm ratio)
Slicktop (is this common?)
Black leather interior


Now, my at-a-glance list of grievances. Any insight into these is welcome.

Motor makes a lumpalumpalumpa noise, kind of like a diesel. Idles at 1500, goes down to 1000 after some time idling. Sounds like it's running on 4 or 5 cylinders or firing out of order, but I haven't confirmed this yet. Smokes a bit on startup.

Shifter feels "like stirring tapioca with a dildo", to use an expression borrowed from a fine gentleman in Colorado. The z-shaped shoulder bit spins around. On the plus side, there are probably five forward gears and one reverse gear, and they all seem to work.

Suspension is very gone. Drives like a boat. Potholes, cracks, and small-to-medium-size animals can be ignored safely. Aside from custom coilovers, what options do I have for early E24 suspension?

Locks do not immediately operate, you have to wiggle it around a bunch until the cylinder turns. I suspect that the cause is a worn-down key.

Trunk lock button does not spring back. Simple rebuild? Is there a spring in there?

Black tails. Anyone want to trade? They look to be in good condition, just more shadowy than I like.

Passenger door is sideswiped. Needs a new one. Door cards need attention.

Only the passenger door window works. Switches?

Everything is in german. I am having trouble operating the HVAC and window defrost. Need to get a dictionary.

Valence is attached with sheet metal screws. Amend.

The clutch has a foot of travel, but is only useful for about an inch of that.

More things as I think of them.

===========================

almost-2-year-in-update: paint!

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==================================

2.5 years - on the road again
here
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Last edited by kronus on Mon Mar 18, 2013 9:29 pm, edited 5 times in total.
kronus

Post by kronus »

Quick snap of her good side before I left for work this morning:

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Brucey
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Post by Brucey »

a fair chunk of car there for 1100 bucks I reckon, should keep you busy for a while!

so, welcome aboard!

What is your chassis number? This will help us help you!

BTW if you search the site for 'boilerplate' you will find Chris Wright's postings with a comprehensive summary of info and links for newbies; well worth finding!

If you look hard you will find a post I did a while back entitled 'DIY shortshift' which contains info re a linkage upgrade and short shift conversion. This may be interesting to you.

Hopefully others will chine in as they can. I've got a good set of struts and springs, but I'm in the UK so the shipping cost would be horrendous. Upgrade pieces for the early suspension are a little hard to find but not impossible. Alpina may supply their kit if you are feeling spendy...

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
kronus

Post by kronus »

Brucey wrote:a fair chunk of car there for 1100 bucks I reckon, should keep you busy for a while!
700, actually. I could have probably gotten it for less because the seller just took 700 with no haggling.
so, welcome aboard!

What is your chassis number? This will help us help you!
5545448
BTW if you search the site for 'boilerplate' you will find Chris Wright's postings with a comprehensive summary of info and links for newbies; well worth finding!

If you look hard you will find a post I did a while back entitled 'DIY shortshift' which contains info re a linkage upgrade and short shift conversion. This may be interesting to you.

Hopefully others will chine in as they can. I've got a good set of struts and springs, but I'm in the UK so the shipping cost would be horrendous. Upgrade pieces for the early suspension are a little hard to find but not impossible. Alpina may supply their kit if you are feeling spendy...

cheers
Thanks! I will take a look for those DIYs.
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Brucey
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Post by Brucey »

what you have there is #448 from the first batch of 5000 LHD 635CSi models. Looks like you have lost your 'i' on the rear badge there!

This should have the L-jet injection system. When it came out it was BMW's flagship car for the road.

The front spoiler may have lost its original mountings; it is meant to be sandwiched between the black strip and the main metal section of the bumper, but these mountings can pull through. If the spoiler is the correct one it will have holes for brake ducts, and driving lights (if fitted) will be mounted out front on extra brackets like an afterthought (even though they may have been factory fitted).

Will post more as it comes,

welcome aboard!

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
kronus

Post by kronus »

Thanks for the additional info! It looks like there never was an extra 'i' anywhere. At least, no signs of it remain. Kind of cool that this is one of the first 500 proper 635csi's in the world :p

The front spoiler seems to be off a later US model. There are unoccupied mounting holes that would be occupied by the diving-board bumper shrouds.

Here are some shots of the front:

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alpinacsi

Post by alpinacsi »

Great find! Have fun.

The 635 badge that is installed is not the one that was originally installed on the car and was most likely off the same car that supplied the spoiler. Also, when that spoiler was added, the "i" would have to be removed or the badge relocated. The spoiler for the 78 model was completely different and the one on this car was not available until sometime around late 81 or early 82. Very likely that the trunk lid was replaced at some point
kronus

Post by kronus »

I had some time to tear into it today, and planned to have a go at the motor.

Instead I discovered that I inherited four lakes when I purchased this car, one in each footwell. Fuck.

Pulled seats, pulled console, pulled some random trim, basically tore out the carpet and discovered an inch of soggy foam all around. Had fun tearing that out and breathing the asbestos, but now it's clean, at least. I feel real dumb for not checking if the floor mats are dry.

In any case, after rescuing the floor of the car from sure death, I discovered that the motor does not start. It cranks, but does not catch. Some photos coming up after I check the plug order, injectors, and some other bits for functionality.
kronus

Post by kronus »

Eventually got it started, not sure how. With no foam inside, it sounds even more like a diesel truck and I can hear all sorts of fun noises from various things. Still need to get under it and check the suspension and motor underbits.

Pics:

The front seats. Due for a re-dye, but they are surprisingly intact. Probably going to dye them black or dark brown. Blue sux. Sadly these are not the buffalo leather sport seats.

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The view into the murky lake known as The Floor of My Crappy E24:

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One of the foam bits that came out. Nasty:

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After pulling the carpet, foam, and drying up a bit:

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This is the only really bad part of the floor. Might be a gamebreaker:

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Interestingly, the driver side seat mount is height-adjustable (or, it would be if the mechanism wasn't seized) but the passenger is fixed.

At this point, I cleaned up, got the seats back in, and went to check out the motor. The AFM is from a junkyard '78 euro 633csi. Hawkward. Do you think this intake boot leaks air? (yes it does)

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Distributor cap. 5 is on the bottom, pattern is correct. Plug wires are done for...

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Am I missing something here?

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The plugs are Autolite 64's. All 6 are dark black and smell like oil. Looks like I will have to descend into the engine.
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Post by Brucey »

shame about the 633 motor. Maybe you can get the correct one from a breaker, but it'll do for now I'm sure.

The 'firstfives' website is excellent for L-jet info; I would check there for technical info re this system.

I note you don't have a sunroof; this is rare! (and one less place to leak water....)

There are loads of places to leak water into the car, so a bit of effort required to sort this out.

A bit of effort and you will have a sweet 6er there, and one of the oldest 635's around.

BTW I have a correct front spoiler here, but shipping......

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
alpinacsi

Post by alpinacsi »

Must have factory AC. The early euro cars that I have had either had factory AC or the sunroof but not many had both until you got into the 80s. Check the windshield gasket and the cowl area seals to see if you have any leaks. The starting issues could be related to a leaking windshield gasket that allows the ECU to get wet.
kronus

Post by kronus »

Brucey wrote:shame about the 633 motor. Maybe you can get the correct one from a breaker, but it'll do for now I'm sure.

The 'firstfives' website is excellent for L-jet info; I would check there for technical info re this system.

I note you don't have a sunroof; this is rare! (and one less place to leak water....)

There are loads of places to leak water into the car, so a bit of effort required to sort this out.

A bit of effort and you will have a sweet 6er there, and one of the oldest 635's around.

BTW I have a correct front spoiler here, but shipping......

cheers
It's a 633 AFM, I'm pretty sure the motor is still an M90B35.

Alpinacsi - yes, it has factory AC. I'm not sure if it's functional, but it is there.
bpoliakoff
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Post by bpoliakoff »

I do not believe the M90 is a B35. I have a very late, made in 81, original in my car and I can assure you it is not a B35. In fact you ill find that BMW refers to the M90 as an M30. Keep everything you have in German. Lofter on the Hvac panel is the fan control and Kalt is cold.
81 Euro 635 M90 with motronic. Currently under a complete nut and bolt restoration. Pictures at
flickr.com/photos/bertsphotos.
kronus

Post by kronus »

bpoliakoff wrote:I do not believe the M90 is a B35. I have a very late, made in 81, original in my car and I can assure you it is not a B35. In fact you ill find that BMW refers to the M90 as an M30. Keep everything you have in German. Lofter on the Hvac panel is the fan control and Kalt is cold.
well, it's a B30-something. Definitely a 635csi (vin, chassis plate all agree), so I just guessed that it will be a B35.
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Post by bpoliakoff »

Well if all the numbers match, you should for sure have an M90 engine unless it was swapped out at some point
81 Euro 635 M90 with motronic. Currently under a complete nut and bolt restoration. Pictures at
flickr.com/photos/bertsphotos.
Mister6er

Post by Mister6er »

Nice project! I would have been interestd in something like that. I have a passengerside door off a 1983 that I'm selling cheap. I'm not sure if it's the same though.
kronus

Post by kronus »

Well, what do you know. Changed out the spark plug wires and it runs 100% better, even has some power.

Also, took out the old taillights and put in a set that hasn't been smoked by a monkey. Looks much better. Photos tomorrow.

Next items in the project:

- Swap out smashed door with good one. Look into paint for it.
- Pull rear seats. There is some moisture behind them, it seems.
- fix all the windows
- fix leak, wherever the hell it is
- order Dynamat, cover the trans tunnel and footwells. Reinstall carpet.
- Engine maintenance: coolant, oil, distributor, spark plugs, AFM boot, air filter, oil filter. Radiator shroud.
- Short-shifter, bushings for the shifter carrier and mounts, cause holy crap.
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Post by Brucey »

re the leak; if your rear window rubber seals are bad water can leak into the car here. It is meant to run out of drain holes in the sills (rocker panels) but if the car is parked on a slope and the holes are blocked then the water will run into front and rear footwells.....

There are lots of other potential leak spots but this is a common one.

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
kronus

Post by kronus »

Thanks for the advice on the leak. I will check it out when I pull the rear seats tomorrow.

Pictures time!

E24 gettin' some gas.
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German German German. The novelty wears off.
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Got polite-company taillights. I'm thinking I want to black out the area between them with some flat black paint and pull the bumper back to the correct position (it had a minor ding before my relationship with the car began)
Image
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Post by val_c »

Regarding the leak: Taylor M is fighting one now, see http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh ... ?t=1588696

Cool project, good luck with it!
kronus

Post by kronus »

Car's at a shop now, getting coolant, oil, and a general suspension inspection. (mainly, I didn't feel like messing with fluids after doing an e30 headgasket on Saturday/Sunday)

I got the front windows to work again by cleaning out the switches - they're a much better design than the e30 ones! Come apart easier, less fiddly bits inside. However, the back windows still do not work. Anyone have a ETK for early E24s handy?
kronus

Post by kronus »

Question: It's hard as hell to find parts specifically for a '78 635csi. Will things intended for an early 633csi (like the distributor, plugs, O2 sensor, air filter, oil filter, other basic maintenance consumables) work? What is a good parts source?
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Post by Brucey »

you can check for part number compatibility by using realoem.com or one of the other online ETKs.

AFAIK the 633 parts are mainly the same, although of course some bits are smaller and those that calibrate the fuelling and ingintion may also vary somewhat. So, for example I'd expect the distributor internals to vary slightly, but the cap to be the same.

I believe the first 635 wasn't available in the USA except as a grey import, thus parts factors won't list parts for the 635, only the 633. This is why you need realoem.com or similar.

Most chassis and trim parts for your car run on until 5/82. The L-jet injection parts run on until mid 1980; after that the 635 got the first motronic system bolted onto a similar engine but with different intake , injection and ignition parts.

Keep with it!

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
kronus

Post by kronus »

Allright, got a call back from the mechanic.

Bad news: he pulled a chunk of metal about the size of a penny out of the cooling system. Ideas?

Good news: the car does not have catalytic converters, is exempt from needing them at all, and gets much less strict smog gas level limits. I have no idea how all of this is possible, but it is. Hell Yeah.
alpinacsi

Post by alpinacsi »

Even the US 633 for 78 did not have a cat conv. BMW used the thermal reactor system at this point.
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