[grandeswag]

Hey all welcome to my first post!

I was looking for something a little more winter friendly and practical to pair with my s50 swapped e30. Finding a 5spd xi was not easy, but not impossible. Saw this touring on craigslist all the way in San Francisco. 2 owners, 80k miles, tan interior, 5spd and bone stock. About 4 weeks later the wagon arrived in NY.
.

First impressions - wow that clutch is light compared to my e30! Pretty sure it's nearing the end of its life.. only grabs at the very top of the pedal. Interior is in great shape and the ride is nice. Came with extensive service records - the first owner didn't even change the lightbulbs himself! Recent receipts include a new coolant reservoir, water pump, hoses, etc. That was a great surprise.

With the cooling being fully sorted (hopefully), next thing on the list was updating the head unit. I went with the Eonon 9450b. It's not the most OEM looking unit, but for just $250 it was hard to go with the other options. I used the dynavin HVAC relocation bracket. Fairly easy install, bit of a pain to trim the din slot to fit the screen. I used a jig saw blade clamped to a pair of vice grips. Works great for carplay.

Wheels were next. I found a set of staggered ZHP wheels with lightly used blizzaks on them. Great deal.

Loaded up for a quick ride to a buddy's place with a little more driveway space.

That's all for now.

Near future to do list:

• Clear side markers, front corners and euro tails + new emblems
• H&R sport springs + B8s all around
• Mini H1 retrofit
• Mtech 2 bumper (ordered, stuck in Latvia until January)
• Alcantara boot set + zhp knob
• Replace floormats (maybe black?)
• Repair back seat cupholder - the cover/trap door part is broken. One of the retaining pins on the side is snapped off. Car came with another fold down/ski pass section in the wrong color as a core for this if possible. Anyone ever fix this?
• Gloss black grills + gloss black chrome wrap
• Replace front passenger window regulator
• Replace drivers door lock actuator
• Replace rear differential bushing
• Wheel stud kit - these lugs are nasty looking and figured I would just go with studs in the event some spacers are needed.

Wish list

• M54B30 swap (+supercharger? ) - Would love an s54 swap but it seems to be like a lot of trouble.
• Summer wheels, don't have anything particular in mind. Style 32, M parallels.. Not sure.
• Sport seats - I used to have an e46 M3 and I miss them

Bonus e30 pic


Thanks for reading!

 

[VpointVick]

IIRC the rear cupholder is an easy fix. Unclear from your post if it's the cover part that pivots or just the upholstered cover that you're having difficulty with, but both easy fixes. Pivoting cover just needs to be carefully pried with a screwdriver, and hope that your donor doesn't end up broken the way that your existing one is. the upholstered cover seems to fly off even if all of its retaining tabs are intact (both my beige one and my tannin red one did this), so I added a strip of butyl tape and it hasn't budged since.

 

[grandeswag]

IIRC the rear cupholder is an easy fix....

Awesome! It is the upholstered cover that needs to be replaced, the one that is in the back of the headrest. I'm hoping to be able to reuse the material off the broken one, need to investigate.

 

[VpointVick]

Butyl tape is your friend!

 

[rwd7]

I would turbo/supercharge the stock engine before doing the 3.0, but that is just me.

 

[VpointVick]

I would turbo/supercharge the stock engine before doing the 3.0, but that is just me.

Why?

 

[Touring Racer]

Super nice looking car. Congrats

 

[PdZHP]

Nice touring!

 

[VO2MAX]

Great Touring! Congrats

 

[grandeswag]

Thanks all, super minor update..

Ta da! Cupholder fixed. Thanks to Vick!

 

[rwd7]

Why?

Can make a decent bit of power with some boost. The 3.0 is a cheaper option but y'know. I almost put a 3.0 in my car a few times but I couldn't bring myself to tear apart a running and driving car.

 

[VpointVick]

Can make a decent bit of power with some boost. The 3.0 is a cheaper option but y'know. I almost put a 3.0 in my car a few times but I couldn't bring myself to tear apart a running and driving car.

For me getting the extra 40hp from B30 first is the easy button, then apply boost.
As they say, no replacement for displacement.

 

[grandeswag]

Pretty lame update but need to get my post count up so I can send some PMs..

Replaced the emblems, front and back. Back wasn't budging until I broke out the heat gun - that made quick work of it.

 

[tbouchard991]

Nice looking wagon! Enjoy it.

 

[grandeswag]

Trying to fix an erratic idle problem, got my hands dirty yesterday. Car would sometimes shudder at a stop, red oil light flickering for a second. A lot of reading later I figured I would try a shotgun method to this, obviously not the most scientific but the parts weren't expensive: upper+lower intake boots, oil pressure switch. I also cleaned the ICV.

Got everything back together and... I now have EML, DSC, BRAKE all lit. I scanned for codes: P1504 and P1508. ICV open circuits. I'll have to get back in there and double check that it's plugged in all the way.

 

[grandeswag]

ICV harness wasn't connected all the way. Frustrating but an easy fix at least. Side markers switched to clear, corners in the mail still.

 

[VpointVick]

ICV harness wasn't connected all the way. Frustrating but an easy fix at least. Side markers switched to clear, corners in the mail still.

View attachment 943139 View attachment 943140

Which ones did you go with? The ones that I got several years ago are cloudy and due replacement. Looking for some better ones this time.

 

[grandeswag]

Which ones did you go with? The ones that I got several years ago are cloudy and due replacement. Looking for some better ones this time.

I wanted to get ULO but couldn't seem to find both left & right sides in stock at a single place. Same case for the corners. Ended up going with DEPO on ebay...😬

 

[VpointVick]

I wanted to get ULO but couldn't seem to find both left & right sides in stock at a single place. Same case for the corners. Ended up going with DEPO on ebay...😬

The ones that I currently have are ULO and they got hazy really quickly, in addition to leaking a bit.

I just found BMW ones on eeuroparts for $28/ea. Need to figure what else to put in my cart to get free shipping.
Considering MM headlight lenses but I had been planning on FCP for those for the warranty.

 

[Effduration]

OP - this is the way to buy an E46 touring these days....from a salt-free state...That car in the Northeast would likely be pretty rusty even with the low mileage. What did it cost to ship across country? I am guessing $1500?