Cant believe those rich posers with their brand new supercars have 100s thousands of suscribers and you have only 5k.This is the most interesting channel in YT..i've been checking you out since the 996 review.Awesome work man,keep putting out content.
Btw...I’m so glad you didn’t “dismiss “ the E30 after finding all the rust. Really glad you paused to repair the rust and make the car “whole” again. BRAVO on your tenacity on the rust repair. ...and now the fun! :-D
I have been an E28 owner for about 20 years along with an Early mgb. Everything you have done to your car i have done also, there is great satisfaction in keeping these older BMWs on the road.Your videos are nothing short of fantastic and I appreciate you taking the time to make them the're very informative. Thanks again and keep up the great work. God bless!
Put new axles and LSD (and new bushings) on my 325ic E30 along with 5speed swap from auto and engine rebuild...and DIGGIN it! Well worth it! 👍 My lineup: E30 325ic (childhood wet dream & my daily in nice weather) E30 Super ETA (bone stock restoration and my baby) E30 325i (possible track car...FUN!!) E39 540i (my daily and beast)
Love this video series! I don't know why I enjoy watching them because I have already done nearly everything you have done (couple hundred hours and over 5k in parts). I photo documented my work, but didn't have the setup to video document like this. Perhaps I simply enjoy reliving the adventure 😁. Btw as others have said, you're going to regret not replacing the trailing arm bushings while you're there. They make a huge difference.
I really like your reasoning for replacement parts. You got a steal on that diff too! Unless that's the going rate over there. I have different goals for my so it's costing me more in money and time. It's really good to see you care the time to do things well. Keep on 💪
Ive two e30s and I do enjoy watching your "struggles" with it , one thing i should say that that limited slip diff you've got for $400 it's cheep compared to us here in Europe. So thank you again and make some more E30 videos..;)
good job ! dont know how I feel about changing those bmw axles for the after market ones... 80s and 90s e30 and e36 were pure quality unlike now a days.
I am sure that you have your reasons but, man, it was almost heartbreaking to watch you completely bypass replacing the rear subframe and trailing arm bushings. You could never have been closer, especially after removing the Diff.
You're right, and I hesitated when putting it all back together. I didn't have the parts to do the bushings because I hadn't originally planned to do them. In order to keep the project moving along, I decided to just put it all back together. The truth is eventually I will need to overhaul the suspension on this thing (front & rear), and I'll need to set aside finances to do that. At this point I just want to take care of the critical issues and get the car back on the road. I'm not sure I like the lowered suspension on it right now, but I won't know for sure until I get some time driving the thing. After that, I can take a more educated stab at how I want to tackle the suspension, and then figure out how much it's going to cost me, both in money & time.
There is no real reason not like the lowered suspension but your setup doesn't allow for any camber adjustments at the rear and your tires will suffer uneven wear from the inside. Neglecting the bushing change will leave the car with a wallowing feeling. Those particular axel half shafts will probably be ok for lite cruising around town but over the long haul with any type of long distance or spirited driving don't expect them to last. There is a huge difference in quality between the oem & GKN axel half shafts and in this case the price really proves it. I guess the secret to dealing with these cars on a budget is knowing where one can save a buck and where is doesn't make sense to try. The axels are not one of those areas to pinch pennies. The oem bushings are not that bad money wise and are probably a good choice for your application. Just my two cents worth
@@sumporfuk a chav is a common or lower class person that displays brash or loutish behaviour. It's not a good look. Although lowering a car can look good, as in the vw corrado which came from the factory with idiotically raised suspension, it's usually taken too far.
I used same axles on my car. Mine came with boots installed incorrectly. They had larger boots on the end that attaches to the wheel and when installed boots were coming in contact with rear shocks. I had to take the axles apart and redo the boots so smaller boots were near the wheels. They also sent me 1 wrong size cap so I had to reuse my original.
The limited slip indicator, and ratio identifier can be found on a little tab on one of the bolts for the diff cover. And depending on the ratio, you got your differential for a very good price.
That's good to know, thank you. I looked around quite a bit, and this was the cheapest "nice" diff I could find. And, it was the only one I could find locally. I'm happy to hear I didn't overpay!
Oh trust me, I had a wonderful $500 dollar event that ended up with my losing out on $120 to ship it back. Wrong ratio, wrong output CV points, and damaged diff. Trust me you came out ahead on this one.
A quick note regarding installing the output drive flange seals. The bore does not have depth stop. You can drive the seal too far and block the oil hole on top where the seal seats. Just drive the seal flush with the surface and make sure that the oil hole is not blocked. Bentley manual is kind of misleading mentioning that drive the seal until fully seated. I thought I can drive it all the way home without concerning the depth. I had to carefully extract the new seal with a puller after figuring out the oil hole was partially blocked .
Thanks! The pads & rotors look old, but they actually have quite a bit of life left in them. I figured I might as well use them up while I'm getting the rest of bigger issues sorted out on the car.
I purchased the same half shaft CV axles after watching your video. I had a hard time inserting the provided hex bolts because the boot strap was in the way. Did you have the same problem? Did you reuse the locking plates in the original axle? Thanks a lot for the insights.
I did have the same problem with the boots being in the way. I used the new bolts without the locking plates on installation. Unfortunately the plates don't fit on the new axles. The bolts will go in fine after getting past the boot - it takes a little bit prying to get the boot out of the way, but it will deform enough to allow the bolts past it.
Thanks for your reply. I am following your foot steps to get my E30 in good working order. Hopefully the rear differential is last piece of the puzzle. The pinion/carrier bearing(s) is/are making constant whirling noise and high speed vibration. However, I cannot find a good E30 clutch type LSD like you. So, I just ordered a Torsen LSD from a 2001 Z3 instead. I was told that it should fit E30 by just swapping output flanges. By the way, is there a o ring on the output flanges? Is it inside or out side the seal? I am wondering if it is needed for replacement. Thanks
@@poching0521 I'm not familiar with that particular swap, but if it works then that is awesome! The only thing that seals the output flanges are the output seals on either side of the differential. There are no o-rings that I know of. I would recommend replacing those seals as it is a fairly straight-forward job. I wouldn't mess with the input flange seal unless it is leaking. This is because you must set the proper preload on the input bearing/pinion which is a somewhat involved process.
@@PracticalEnthusiast The Torsen LSD will arrive tomorrow. Hopefully, the swap will work out as planned. I saw the o rings in a reseal kit. After further checking the part diagrams, the o rings are probably for sealing the carrier bearing housings. No intention to touch that, I am afraid of messing up the preload/backlash/mesh pattern. I will replace the output flange seals as you suggested. Thanks for the clarification.
Great videos!!! I am working through the issues on my '89 325is and seeing these makes the whole process seem a little more manageable. Did you have any issues removing the old parking brake cables from where they enter the tube on the body of the car?? Mine appear to be rusted in place and I am at a loss of how to get them free outside of my PB plaster and vise grips. Any tips?
Thank you for watching! I was expecting to have more trouble than I did when removing the parking brake cables. I sprayed some PB Blaster on the fittings going into the body, then used some large channel lock pliers to rotate the cable fittings. This freed them up quickly and they pulled out from the car without much hassle. If this hadn't had worked, I would have cut the cables at the metal fittings entering the body. Then I would have used a Dremel with a tungsten carbide bit to carefully grind away the seized metal fittings so that the new cable could be inserted. The Dremel has been my get-out-of-jail card on nearly every project I work on.
Getting PTSD flashbacks of doing this on my drive on my back, in the snow! I took off the entire subframe as I needed to do the bushes, the two big heavy ones that bolt in under the seat. Not sure if you've done the subframe bushes? Definitely worth doing, but you can do them it situ with the right tool.
Hey I have the same car you do except mine is a 87’ was wondering were you buy the majority of your parts from? Found a couple of places online but was wondering about your buying experience. Especially like your steel brake lines (after market)
@@PracticalEnthusiast Thanks so much for the reply. I SUB you channel. I also just purchased the Daytona yellow jack from harbor freight on black Friday. I guess I have two of the main tools I'll need to do my 5 speed swap in the spring. Thanks again.
What 400 US for a lsd that cheap. Good luck buying one second hand here in Australia for that price and a rebuild one us like 1800 dollars Australia. You can rebuild them at home with a manual /tools not a big job really
@@PracticalEnthusiast your lucky then indeed mate . I ended up finding one about 3 years ago fir 500 aus but its from a e34 m5 . I Have a couple of open diffs just need to swap the centre ,pinion and crown gears or ring gear for you Americans . Great build mate 👍👍
Thank you for sharing details and know how.... LiKE and subscribe..truely... however why add loud music instead of informative commentary on steps being performed.... AFTER we all learn from you, and are done rebuilding our cars we play whatever music we each want... you KNoW your viewers want to learn how to work on a BMW ... you HOPE they like whatever music you can get license for
You make a good point, but the reality is that doing so would add to the already long editing process. I hope these videos can give direction (or even entertainment!) to a particular repair process, but they are in no way intended to be a stand-in for a proper service manual or some detailed, component-level research. Thank you for choosing to subscribe anyway!
Chinese CV axles are indeed inferior, especially compared to anything European. They work fine but in my experience are not as precisely balanced which can cause a faint vibration under load.
Nice video on e30. i learn a lot from you... A LOT. Very educatif for me. of course i am subscribe for you. I always waiting for your e30 update. note ::: bro... can you teach me how to diagnose e30 from socket 20pin ?? cheers from Indonesia.
Cant believe those rich posers with their brand new supercars have 100s thousands of suscribers and you have only 5k.This is the most interesting channel in YT..i've been checking you out since the 996 review.Awesome work man,keep putting out content.
I really appreciate the encouragement and keeping with the channel after all this time! More videos are on the way!
Btw...I’m so glad you didn’t “dismiss “ the E30 after finding all the rust. Really glad you paused to repair the rust and make the car “whole” again. BRAVO on your tenacity on the rust repair. ...and now the fun! :-D
I have been an E28 owner for about 20 years along with an Early mgb. Everything you have done to your car i have done also, there is great satisfaction in keeping these older BMWs on the road.Your videos are nothing short of fantastic and I appreciate you taking the time to make them the're very informative. Thanks again and keep up the great work. God bless!
Another awesome quality video. No garbage, fluff, or banter. Keep it up!
Put new axles and LSD (and new bushings) on my 325ic E30 along with 5speed swap from auto and engine rebuild...and DIGGIN it! Well worth it! 👍
My lineup:
E30 325ic (childhood wet dream & my daily in nice weather)
E30 Super ETA (bone stock restoration and my baby)
E30 325i (possible track car...FUN!!)
E39 540i (my daily and beast)
Love this video series! I don't know why I enjoy watching them because I have already done nearly everything you have done (couple hundred hours and over 5k in parts). I photo documented my work, but didn't have the setup to video document like this. Perhaps I simply enjoy reliving the adventure 😁. Btw as others have said, you're going to regret not replacing the trailing arm bushings while you're there. They make a huge difference.
I really like your reasoning for replacement parts. You got a steal on that diff too! Unless that's the going rate over there. I have different goals for my so it's costing me more in money and time.
It's really good to see you care the time to do things well. Keep on 💪
Ive two e30s and I do enjoy watching your "struggles" with it , one thing i should say that that limited slip diff you've got for $400 it's cheep compared to us here in Europe. So thank you again and make some more E30 videos..;)
good job ! dont know how I feel about changing those bmw axles for the after market ones...
80s and 90s e30 and e36 were pure quality unlike now a days.
Glad to see you are back on track!
I am sure that you have your reasons but, man, it was almost heartbreaking to watch you completely bypass replacing the rear subframe and trailing arm bushings. You could never have been closer, especially after removing the Diff.
You're right, and I hesitated when putting it all back together. I didn't have the parts to do the bushings because I hadn't originally planned to do them. In order to keep the project moving along, I decided to just put it all back together. The truth is eventually I will need to overhaul the suspension on this thing (front & rear), and I'll need to set aside finances to do that. At this point I just want to take care of the critical issues and get the car back on the road. I'm not sure I like the lowered suspension on it right now, but I won't know for sure until I get some time driving the thing. After that, I can take a more educated stab at how I want to tackle the suspension, and then figure out how much it's going to cost me, both in money & time.
There is no real reason not like the lowered suspension but your setup doesn't allow for any camber adjustments at the rear and your tires will suffer uneven wear from the inside. Neglecting the bushing change will leave the car with a wallowing feeling. Those particular axel half shafts will probably be ok for lite cruising around town but over the long haul with any type of long distance or spirited driving don't expect them to last. There is a huge difference in quality between the oem & GKN axel half shafts and in this case the price really proves it. I guess the secret to dealing with these cars on a budget is knowing where one can save a buck and where is doesn't make sense to try. The axels are not one of those areas to pinch pennies. The oem bushings are not that bad money wise and are probably a good choice for your application. Just my two cents worth
@@sumporfuk There is a reason not to like lowered suspension. It looks chav as we say in the UK, and that's reason enough. Axle.
GreetinFace #1 please bring me up to date on what looking chav is
@@sumporfuk a chav is a common or lower class person that displays brash or loutish behaviour. It's not a good look. Although lowering a car can look good, as in the vw corrado which came from the factory with idiotically raised suspension, it's usually taken too far.
I used same axles on my car. Mine came with boots installed incorrectly. They had larger boots on the end that attaches to the wheel and when installed boots were coming in contact with rear shocks. I had to take the axles apart and redo the boots so smaller boots were near the wheels. They also sent me 1 wrong size cap so I had to reuse my original.
The limited slip indicator, and ratio identifier can be found on a little tab on one of the bolts for the diff cover. And depending on the ratio, you got your differential for a very good price.
That's good to know, thank you. I looked around quite a bit, and this was the cheapest "nice" diff I could find. And, it was the only one I could find locally. I'm happy to hear I didn't overpay!
Oh trust me, I had a wonderful $500 dollar event that ended up with my losing out on $120 to ship it back. Wrong ratio, wrong output CV points, and damaged diff. Trust me you came out ahead on this one.
Can't wait for the next one man! Keep em coming!
Been waiting on this video! Can’t wait on the next
A quick note regarding installing the output drive flange seals. The bore does not have depth stop. You can drive the seal too far and block the oil hole on top where the seal seats. Just drive the seal flush with the surface and make sure that the oil hole is not blocked. Bentley manual is kind of misleading mentioning that drive the seal until fully seated. I thought I can drive it all the way home without concerning the depth. I had to carefully extract the new seal with a puller after figuring out the oil hole was partially blocked .
Good job man
This build went from daily driver to daily drifter.
well done, why u didnt change the rear brake pads and rotors? some drilled and ceramic pads will work better.
Thanks! The pads & rotors look old, but they actually have quite a bit of life left in them. I figured I might as well use them up while I'm getting the rest of bigger issues sorted out on the car.
I purchased the same half shaft CV axles after watching your video. I had a hard time inserting the provided hex bolts because the boot strap was in the way. Did you have the same problem? Did you reuse the locking plates in the original axle? Thanks a lot for the insights.
I did have the same problem with the boots being in the way. I used the new bolts without the locking plates on installation. Unfortunately the plates don't fit on the new axles. The bolts will go in fine after getting past the boot - it takes a little bit prying to get the boot out of the way, but it will deform enough to allow the bolts past it.
Thanks for your reply. I am following your foot steps to get my E30 in good working order. Hopefully the rear differential is last piece of the puzzle. The pinion/carrier bearing(s) is/are making constant whirling noise and high speed vibration. However, I cannot find a good E30 clutch type LSD like you. So, I just ordered a Torsen LSD from a 2001 Z3 instead. I was told that it should fit E30 by just swapping output flanges. By the way, is there a o ring on the output flanges? Is it inside or out side the seal? I am wondering if it is needed for replacement. Thanks
@@poching0521 I'm not familiar with that particular swap, but if it works then that is awesome! The only thing that seals the output flanges are the output seals on either side of the differential. There are no o-rings that I know of. I would recommend replacing those seals as it is a fairly straight-forward job. I wouldn't mess with the input flange seal unless it is leaking. This is because you must set the proper preload on the input bearing/pinion which is a somewhat involved process.
@@PracticalEnthusiast The Torsen LSD will arrive tomorrow. Hopefully, the swap will work out as planned. I saw the o rings in a reseal kit. After further checking the part diagrams, the o rings are probably for sealing the carrier bearing housings. No intention to touch that, I am afraid of messing up the preload/backlash/mesh pattern. I will replace the output flange seals as you suggested. Thanks for the clarification.
Great videos!!! I am working through the issues on my '89 325is and seeing these makes the whole process seem a little more manageable. Did you have any issues removing the old parking brake cables from where they enter the tube on the body of the car?? Mine appear to be rusted in place and I am at a loss of how to get them free outside of my PB plaster and vise grips. Any tips?
Thank you for watching! I was expecting to have more trouble than I did when removing the parking brake cables. I sprayed some PB Blaster on the fittings going into the body, then used some large channel lock pliers to rotate the cable fittings. This freed them up quickly and they pulled out from the car without much hassle.
If this hadn't had worked, I would have cut the cables at the metal fittings entering the body. Then I would have used a Dremel with a tungsten carbide bit to carefully grind away the seized metal fittings so that the new cable could be inserted. The Dremel has been my get-out-of-jail card on nearly every project I work on.
Nice tutorial!!!
Getting PTSD flashbacks of doing this on my drive on my back, in the snow! I took off the entire subframe as I needed to do the bushes, the two big heavy ones that bolt in under the seat. Not sure if you've done the subframe bushes? Definitely worth doing, but you can do them it situ with the right tool.
I haven't done them yet but I think I'll have to grab the tool that let's you change them with subframe in the car. It's on the list... eventually!
Sorry.... consider the trailing arm bushes too! They are a lot harder wearing but still, if you've done everything else and you're there...
Hey I have the same car you do except mine is a 87’ was wondering were you buy the majority of your parts from? Found a couple of places online but was wondering about your buying experience. Especially like your steel brake lines (after market)
How often do your neighbors ask for car maintenance advice?
Haha. All the time.
damn i wish i could find an e30 LSD for 400 man...
is that a typ188?
you should have replaced the subframe bushings while you had everything apart.
dig it
What type of Jack do you use to get the e30 so high in the air?
I use a Harbor Freight 3 ton low-profile floor jack and 6 ton jack stands. They work great!
@@PracticalEnthusiast Thanks so much for the reply. I SUB you channel. I also just purchased the Daytona yellow jack from harbor freight on black Friday. I guess I have two of the main tools I'll need to do my 5 speed swap in the spring. Thanks again.
What 400 US for a lsd that cheap. Good luck buying one second hand here in Australia for that price and a rebuild one us like 1800 dollars Australia. You can rebuild them at home with a manual /tools not a big job really
I'm glad to hear I didn't overpay! I guess I should count my blessings haha.
@@PracticalEnthusiast your lucky then indeed mate . I ended up finding one about 3 years ago fir 500 aus but its from a e34 m5 . I Have a couple of open diffs just need to swap the centre ,pinion and crown gears or ring gear for you Americans . Great build mate 👍👍
Thank you for sharing details and know how.... LiKE and subscribe..truely...
however
why add loud music instead of informative commentary on steps being performed.... AFTER we all learn from you, and are done rebuilding our cars we play whatever music we each want... you KNoW your viewers want to learn how to work on a BMW ... you HOPE they like whatever music you can get license for
You make a good point, but the reality is that doing so would add to the already long editing process. I hope these videos can give direction (or even entertainment!) to a particular repair process, but they are in no way intended to be a stand-in for a proper service manual or some detailed, component-level research. Thank you for choosing to subscribe anyway!
Chinese CV axles are indeed inferior, especially compared to anything European. They work fine but in my experience are not as precisely balanced which can cause a faint vibration under load.
Too much your face on your camera, but when your working on it your accelerated.. actually what's the point ?
Nice video on e30. i learn a lot from you... A LOT. Very educatif for me. of course i am subscribe for you.
I always waiting for your e30 update.
note ::: bro... can you teach me how to diagnose e30 from socket 20pin ??
cheers from Indonesia.