AngryCorvair wrote:Harvey wrote:If it takes a day, you're doing it wrong.AngryCorvair wrote: Valve cover gaskets are pretty easy to change on this car.Relative to a Miata or other German cars? Cause it usually takes a day to swap them IIRC.
I probably would do it wrong.
How long does it take you?
My phone flaked out and didn't upload my complete reply. I didn't mean to be such a dick. :-(
Passenger side is unobstructed, so remove coil cover (2 bolts), remove coils (8 nuts), remove VC (11 nuts). Maybe 1 hour to R&R?
Driver side is obstructed by alternator wires which are no fun to disconnect at back of alt, but are doable with correct combination of universals and extensions. After said wires are defeated, same job as passenger side. Maybe call this one 2 hrs to R&R?
AngryCorvair wrote: If it takes a day, you're doing it wrong.
Or you're doing everything just right ...
I'm betting I break a lot of clip things doing it.
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/124059
There is no way I would get that done in 2 hours. Pretty sure it takes me 2 hours just to find the hood latch.
edit: fixed link
In reply to Harvey:
I found another tutorial online, probably for the timing guides, which said "to release wiring boxes from injectors, simply give a good sharp tug upward on the box and the connectors will pull right out." or something very similar. that's what I did, and it worked. I found this info after fighting for about 30 minutes trying to get one of the injector clips released. all the clips stayed in place on the injectors, and everything snapped back together no problem.
I did forget about needing to remove air box and MAF, so add 5 minutes to my "working from memory" time above.
t25torx wrote: Good progress, I'm sure your heart skipped a small beat when that steam started coming out. How much more do you have to take care of on it before it's ready to put up for sale?
i just need to finish treating the corrosion on the rims and it'll be ready to list. in a perfect world I'd apply some leather dye to the seats to make them look a little better, but i think that's getting into the land of diminishing returns. the seats are in excellent condition, they're just a little faded after 19 years of butts sliding across them.
AngryCorvair wrote: In reply to Harvey: I found another tutorial online, probably for the timing guides, which said "to release wiring boxes from injectors, simply give a good sharp tug upward on the box and the connectors will pull right out." or something very similar. that's what I did, and it worked. I found this info after fighting for about 30 minutes trying to get one of the injector clips released. all the clips stayed in place on the injectors, and everything snapped back together no problem. I did forget about needing to remove air box and MAF, so add 5 minutes to my "working from memory" time above.
It doesn't look overall that bad now that I look at it again, but I've gotten a bit farther in my tool collection and on DIY jobs than back when I had the 1997 540i.
The rim thing seems to be common to the BMW cars of that vintage as my 1997 when I bought it had low mileage and overall looked like it was in great condition, but the rims had large sections of paint flaking off them and looked terrible.
Minor update: since I don't have money to buy summer tires for the E60 this month, I'm going to DD the E38 for a while. Ive put over 1k miles on her and she hasn't missed a beat other than the misfire that never came back and the exploded heater hose. Hot heat, cold air, and effortless 2300 rpm at 80 mph makes her a pretty sweet cruiser.
I'm overdue on transaxle and transmission services on the E60, and mama's Ody is also due for trans service, so I will continue to rock the E38 until I get those things knocked out as well. FWIW I'm getting an indicated 19 mpg in mixed driving, but the speedo reads 5% fast so I'm really getting about 18.
I averaged out at a little under 20 as indicated on the computer with my six speed 540i so 18 sounds about right.
Minor update, she's needed nothing but gasoline since last post. I was out of town for a few days and left her in the Baller section of the garage at DTW:
I'm driving from Detroit to Washington DC this weekend. Pretty sure I'm taking the E38.
Minor update: weekend road trip in the E38 was excellent! 984 miles round-trip, knocked down 22 mpg and didn't miss a beat. Smooth, quiet, geared for effortless highway passing. And as a small bonus, I tried the OE 6-disc changer in the trunk and it works great. Met up with GRMer "Hal" in Frederick for a few minutes on Saturday, then bashed it up with some old friends all night Saturday night before driving home yesterday.
And in the "it's a small world" category, the party host mentioned a friend named Dave who has "a bunch of old British cars with Ford engines" including one he built for the GRM Challenge. Turns out Dave is GRMer "dherr", who I met at the 2003 or 2004 Challenge and haven't seen since. Without any introduction I walked up and said "so you've still got the Spit with the 2.3T?" and he said "oh, hey Pat, what's up? How's the Corvair?" Then we LOL'd because we can't remember to pick up bread on the way home from work.
Glad to see you enjoying it man
Another minor update: I replaced the power windows/mirrors master switch assembly in the driver's door, now all four windows work as intended. Hooray!
Aww, man, you were in my neck of the woods. Could have had a mini E38 meet with my '01 Sport...
Good work so far. I loved my '98 iL too. IN some ways, I like the pre-facelift cars better for looks and ease of working on, but the later Sports are better driver's cars. I"m two years into the daily driver ownership of my '01 and I've spent about $106.00 in repairs.. ;)
In reply to Chris_V:
A buddy in SC is about to sell his '01 Sport, but I can't afford it. I hear they are fantastic, but I must say I really enjoy the iL.
Another minor update:
CEL has been on for P1622, which is a fault with the electrically heated coolant thermostat circuit. Yes, an electrically heated coolant thermostat. Because, you know, why let the coolant heat the thermostat when there's an opportunity to add a circuit to the PCM and introduce some unnecessary failure modes like failed heaters, leaking threads, etc?
Again I ask, was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? berkeley no! And apparently some Germans are still fighting that war, just on different fronts and with different weapons.
Anyway, googling "M62 P1622" and reading a lot of doom and gloom eventually led me to this thread in which someone suggested installing a 10-ohm resistor (>25 W) in place of the thermostat heater. So that's what I did. Cleared codes, and it hasn't come back in 2 weeks of regular driving. 
AngryCorvair wrote: In reply to Chris_V: A buddy in SC is about to sell his '01 Sport, but I can't afford it. I hear they are fantastic, but I must say I really enjoy the iL.
Would he trade for a 2000 miata?
I want one of these...
Dusterbd13 wrote:AngryCorvair wrote: In reply to Chris_V: A buddy in SC is about to sell his '01 Sport, but I can't afford it. I hear they are fantastic, but I must say I really enjoy the iL.Would he trade for a 2000 miata? I want one of these...
Sold in 4 days to a guy who came down from TN. It was without a doubt the cleanest E38 Sport I've ever seen. Black on black, rims were perfect, interior was spotless. Asked $5500, sold for $5250.
I might trade mine for your Miata. But that's not the question you asked. :-(
If yours was short wheelbase, black, and southern, wed definitely be talking.
Another minor update, and why I love working at Mando. Today at lunchtime I put her up on the hoist and replaced the left front outer tie rod end. This was the only loose component, but it was very loose. Like, "I think the pickle fork might pop the ball out of the socket" loose.
Test drive confirmed the steering shake from 35-50 mph is gone. :-)
In reply to AngryCorvair:
For a fix-n-flip you really seem to be enjoying driving this car. 
Pete Gossett wrote: In reply to AngryCorvair: For a fix-n-flip you really seem to be enjoying driving this car.
My older kid will start driving in about 7 months. At the rate I'm going, she will inherit my '07 525xi and the E38 will become my permanent DD.
She says she wants a Mercury Mariner. I'm keeping my eyes open for an X5 4.4i with noisy chains instead...
Very minor update, just adding a pic of the passenger side that shows a couple of flaws in the body:
There's a scrape just below the height of the door handle and just below the B-pillar, there's a crease in the rocker panel below the rear door, and the paint is beat up on the same rocker panel under the front door.
Looking good. X5 sounds like a fun starter car...
great looking car. I've always loved these and would love to have one. could a good dpr guy fix those?
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