BMW E30 Engine Bay Cleaning & Floor Pan Rust Inspection | 029
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ต.ค. 2024
- BMW E30 Engine Bay Cleaning & Floor Pan Rust Inspection | 029
In this BMW E30 build project episode, I take on the grim task of cleaning the engine bay and scrubbing the floorplan ready to restore it.
As the M40B16 engine and gearbox are now removed from the E30, and I've also stripped all of the accessories from the bay (aside from the fuse box), it's time to start scrubbing away the grease and dirt which has built up over its 30 year life.
Here's what I used in this video:
No Nonsense Degreaser: ebay.us/uxUtpu
Stiff Bristled Brush: ebay.us/9S31O3
White Coveralls Hazmat Suit: ebay.us/R3wsQu
Safety Goggles: ebay.us/2Dvt5C
Mechanic's Creeper: ebay.us/bFaKrB
To start with I suited up in a protective hazmat suit, got my goggles on and used a strong degreaser working my way around the engine bay, giving it all a good heavy dowsing.
Then I worked my way up the transmission tunnel under the car, spraying all the floorpan underside down with the cleaning solution.
Once that degreaser was applied I allowed it some dwell time to really soak into the grease and grime.
I then introduced a bucket of hot soapy water and started to methodically work my way from back to front with a combination of stiff bristled brushed, including an iron-shaped one and also an old dish brush which is brilliant for getting into all the tight corners, especially in the engine bay of the car.
Laying underneath the car on my back on a creeper scrubbing upwards was extremely unpleasant, as it was last time when I did the rear end of the BMW E30 which is all nicely back together now.
Once this was done, I simply used a hose pipe to hose all of the soap away and also hose the filth out of the garage under the main door. Once done I used a hair dryer to blow some water out of the chassis to ensure it didn't sit and rust, then left it over night to dry properly.
Coming back to it the day after, there's time to take in the results. It's a mixed bag really. Theres some good news and some bad news for the E30 build.
Starting with the positives, the underside of the car is better than I expected and I didn't find a single rust hole, even though I was expecting to. Plenty of surface rust though. Plus, the firewall goes from good to great now it's been properly cleaned.
On the negative side, I did find out that the engine bay paint is in a very sorry state and the clear coat is pretty much flaking right off, and there's a black tar-like underseal on the floorpan of the car which simply could not be removed by cleaning and scrubbing. Only an angle grinder wire brush with get that off.
The front jacking points are without doubt the worst part on the front end, and on both sides are rusted to oblivion. Although this is a very common area for BMW E30s to rust anyway so no surprise there.
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![Dinitrol 447 Underseal & ML3125 Cavity Wax Review [BMW E30 Underbody Restoration + Protection] 020](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/K8jgKf9pgS4/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you for this and for all your E30 videos!
Really glad you enjoy them, cheers! 😃
@@SPANNERRASH please tell me where can I ask questions about E30! I went to spanners forums site. Can I send a mail there to ask simple questions about E30?
Best regards
@@eberaladar5530 Feel free to email through the website or send us a DM on Instagram.
@@SPANNERRASH Thx I will try the Insta.
Love your videos! Verry good work! Grts from Holland
Thanks so much Frank! 😁
Great vid again bro can see this channel blowing up 🤞
Thanks Michael, I hope to reach lots of people with this E30 project! 🤞
I've spent hours on my E30, welding in repair panels in the same area as you. Although I had to replace the outer sills, half the inner sill and half the floor pan on the passenger side. I haven't got to the driver's side yet! The bulkhead needs a lot of work as well 🤣 Most of the damage is caused by where / how the car has been jacked up in the past. Great videos, keep them coming 👏
Cheers Mark, sounds like your E30 started off in worse shape than mine. I bet you had to dig deep to see that project through when you found that much rust.
Don't know about you, but it takes me an insane amount of time to do a weld repair. I really struggle with getting the patches to fit right. 😂
Sounds like the last guy wasn't doing you any favours when we was jacking the car up by the floor pan! Luckily none of that on this one.
I recently finished my rust works on my e30 tomorrow i will bring it out of the garage after 1,5 month of work. I had the same sill rust problem as you both driver and passenger side, with most rust in the passenger side (for you the driver side cause in i am from greece). After looking around on why this spot rusted i discovered that the seam sealer where the windshield wiper motor located (cowl) was cracked and when it was raining the water was entering the interior and rusted the sills from the inside. So i advice you to chech the cowl carefully and if you see cracked seam sealer remove it and apply new one to be 100% sure. I am really enjoy your e30 series keep up the great work you are doing !!!
Awesome I bet you're excited to get back in the E30 after it's had a refresh. Ahh that's really interesting, do you mean the seam sealer on either side of the cowl where it meets the front wings, or do you literally mean around where the wiper motor is?
I will look there in detail now you've mentioned that. The last thing I want is for my E30 to start rusting again as soon as the job is done! Thanks for the tip on that, glad you're enjoying the videos mate! 👍
@@SPANNERRASH I mean the seam sealer which is under the cowl panel. In this seam sealer the water flows to go to the elepant trunk or to the side's sinks. I hope you understand what i mean. My english is not the best 🙁
@@vagkos3060 I think I understand where you mean, I will inspect there carefully. Thanks again 👍
Great videos always a good watch. I’m doing my 2 door E30 at the moment. Solid in all the normal places but rotten as a pear on the rear inner arches where the filler pipe is, horrible place to have to weld too. Keep up the good work ATB Gaz..
Thank you Gaz, that is a swine that filler pipe area, a real harbour for muck which causes it to rot over time. I'm not sure the design of it is BMW's finest work! 😂 If its solid in the other places though then sounds like you're off to a solid start! Hope it comes together for you mate and you get that E30 sorted.
Try wiping the black tar underseal with a diesel soaked cloth, dont know if it works on all brands of the stuff, but it's worked for me. Still a messy job though.
Interesting idea! I tried a few things on the rear end of the car but only wire brushes removed it in the end. Although others have pointed out that a reciprocating multi tool works great to trim off the underseal in strips like a donner kebab. 🤣
I've not tried diesel though, thank you for the tip on that, I'll have a go with it!
i have been watching your stuff on e30 this red car. i think the outside is a lot worse than the inside. rusty. i have a 1989 e30 with 603,000 km and mine does not rust that bad, although the driverside floor rusts at the bottom, visible from the outside bottom.
Thank you for watching 😁 Wow that's an incredibly high mileage for an E30, I'm impressed! Where are you based? In the UK things rust terribly, so for a UK car this one is in particularly good condition apart from the poor work, abuse and neglect that's happened to it later in life.
@@SPANNERRASH i am based in singapore but i drive to malaysia very often. it is used as a daily and i often average 30000km a year. in 2014, i took it to phuket, thailand. that's like ~3000km and for a 25-year old car (e30 316i 1989-2014), many just could not believe. i did this for the love of driving. 🤭
late last year, i bought another e30 but this time a may 1988 325i. this one has fewer miles. like 270,000 km only. i just wanted a 6-cylinder and it's incredibly smooth engine. i use this as a "reference" to repair the other high-mileage e30.
So glad my jack.points are still solid. Not a fun looking prospect.
Yep, it's quite an intimidating-looking problem this one. It will be a challenge I'm certain. But I'll give it my best shot!
@@SPANNERRASH the jack pad and floor pan area rusted on yours is available as a replacement part now. Not sure if you were aware of that.
@@SeventyRS Thanks I've seem some panel sets for these jacking points but they seem quite expensive for what they are. I'm hoping to have a go at making my own.
@@SPANNERRASH Making your own is a great idea. Looking forward to the next steps. 👍👍