E30 325I Convertible Issues

[TROOPER88]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 23 February 2011 at 17:46

[GrilledBeans]

TROOPER88 said:

Hello
1) The front seats are not in bad condition but I could not get comfortable on the short drive home. There are 2 adjustment handles; one is for the angle of the back rest and the other tips the base up and down. The reason I was not comfortable is I felt far to low in the seat. Usually when I am driving my other car; a Golf, my head is only a coupe of inches from the roof. In the BMW i am much lower. Is this the norm for these or is it a fault. The passenger side is the same.

2) The speedo does not work at all and the rev counter only a little bit; rev needle barely went over 2000. Is this most likely the cable/s?? If so is it a difficult job to change? (I will be buying the Haynes manual)

3) Are the front wings bolt on? The drivers side front wing needs painting. If they are simply a bolt on/off job it may be easier to chnage the wing completely.

4} The seller said that there is drain on the battery which he had investigated and they could not trace the fault. I am guessing it needs a new alternator?

5)Electric mirrors (Both) do not work: Fuse, switch or motor? Any common traits on the E30?

Any help and guidance on the above would be great!!

Thanks in advance

1) On mine when not on the seat, one of the levers raises it up and then sinks inward when weight is put on it, but they do seat rather low.

2) The clocks could be down to a fuse issue as the speedo is electronic, the revs are measured from a sensor on the diff. If any other dials aren't operating most definitely fuse or new clocks.

3) Front wings are bolts only, some are attached the valance IIRC from when I replaced mine.

4) Drain on the battery? Does the battery die over night? Could be a number of things related to this such as dud battery, interior/boot/glove box lights staying on, bad earth ect ect.
Attach a voltmeter into the circuit and watch it as the car's running about 14v, turning lights or heating on whilst monitoring it to see if the voltage drops and stays dropped, if it does most likely dud battery.

5) Check fuses, then for any corrosion on connectors. Unlikely the switch would be the issue.

[GrilledBeans]

TROOPER88 said:

Thanks for your input.
I will begin investigating over the next few days.

The guy I had the car from said that he had a mechanic look at the battery draining issue. They went as far as fitting a cut off switch to the stereo as they thought it might be the cause; it was not.
It is a new battery but as far as I am aware it over a few days of not being used that it requires a jump.
Im guessing it could be an alternator issue.

I researched on Google the speedo and as you say there is an attachment for this on the rear diff. Aparantly this is a common problem as they corrode.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

Cheers

Best of luck, also in reply to the battery then if you're not planning on using it in a few days try disconnecting the battery from one of the terminals, if it still requires a jump consider the battery could be at fault. Just check all earths and connections, tedious but worth doing!

[fixedwheelnut]

TROOPER88 said:

1) The front seats are not in bad condition but I could not get comfortable on the short drive home. There are 2 adjustment handles; one is for the angle of the back rest and the other tips the base up and down. The reason I was not comfortable is I felt far to low in the seat. Usually when I am driving my other car; a Golf, my head is only a coupe of inches from the roof. In the BMW i am much lower. Is this the norm for these or is it a fault. The passenger side is the same.

2) The speedo does not work at all and the rev counter only a little bit; rev needle barely went over 2000. Is this most likely the cable/s?? If so is it a difficult job to change? (I will be buying the Haynes manual)

3) Are the front wings bolt on? The drivers side front wing needs painting. If they are simply a bolt on/off job it may be easier to chnage the wing completely.

4} The seller said that there is drain on the battery which he had investigated and they could not trace the fault. I am guessing it needs a new alternator?

5)Electric mirrors (Both) do not work: Fuse, switch or motor? Any common traits on the E30?

Any help and guidance on the above would be great!!

Thanks in advance

1/ Not all models had height adjustment, look under the seat and make sure all the levers operate the base mechanism.

2/ Speedo not working is often the diff sensor or the wiring too it, it breaks approx six inches from the sensor near the cable tie at the body or at the plug on the sensor.
2b The rev counter can be a dry solder joint on the instrument cluster pc board, try E30zone for a DIY tutorial.

3/ Not sure

4/ Battery drain I would check Glovebox and boot lights, especially the wiring loom for the boot at the hinge, breaks and shorts causing the light to stay on.

5/ electric mirrors not working check the power supply to the switch and mirrors, the wiring plugs at the door hinge get corroded red/black wire.

[TROOPER88]

Hi
Check under the car and the speed sensor on the diff has a broken wire!

Thanks for all who suggested this.

Is it a case of soldering a section on? I can see that it has been repaired in the past.

Electric mirrors now work!!
The switch was at fault.

Thanks so far!

[GrilledBeans]

Repair the wire should be fine but you might feel better replacing the whole wire at some stage for piece of mind

[E30M3SE]

Re the battery drain, test the alternator and battery, if they are OK then check for drains yourself, if the cars wiring does not point to anything then carefully check all and any aftermarket devices, alarms/trackers etc.

I pulled 2 old trackers from a friends 325i Motorsport convertible afew years ago that were causing him draining issues.

[g3org3y]

www.e30zone.net

Best E30 forum out there.