1982 BMW 320i
MISCELLANEOUS
EXHAUST SYSTEM
6/02
(Total Cost $505): Changed the entire exhaust system (Catalytic converter,
center pipe, muffler). Added a Ansa sport muffler from BMP Design
for $120.00. If you are interested in this muffler be sure to ask a
BMP since it is not picutred on their site. Catalytic converter and center pipe were purchased from
Bavarian Autosport. Perfect fit. No welding required, just
bolts on. Picture shows old muffler with old center pipe beside the
new muffler with new center pipe.
AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM
7/02
(Total Cost $0): During the 20+ years I have owned this car the
A/C has been the weakest link. Over the years I spent many $$ on
it. It was always noisy and did not cool worth a flip plus it just
was not worth the drain on the 100 hp. Finally my son and I (bought
the car when he was born) decided to yank it out. Tough decision
living in Texas but glad I did. It weighs about 40 lbs. not
including the coil which we will get the next time we flush the radiator.
It could be psychological but we both feel that the car has much more
get-up-and-go!
OIL PAN GASKET CHANGE
7/02
(Total cost $25): This job was one of those, "Let's just do it
and see what we get into." The Haynes book was my first
stop. I then sought out the expertise of the message boards.
The Haynes book was conflicting with what I heard on the boards about the
oil pump having to come out. It only said that the steering rack
(procedure on page 25 under sump removal) had to be disconnected.
Before this procedure, I had no idea where the oil pump was or what a
"rack" was. I went to www.howstuffworks.com
to read up on "racks" and learned it was the link to the
steering system.
We
decided to dress it up a bit so we cleaned it up, sanded it down and put 6
coats of Dupli-Color (Red DH 1608) high heat (1200c) paint on the outside
of the pan (Auto Zone).
I drained the oil the day before. Here is what I did to
get this pan out. You have to unbolt the steering rack which is
bolted to the suspension crossmember. On my car I had to also take two of
three bolts out of the metal shield (which I also ended
up removing and painting to match the pan) on the passengers side in order
to grab hold of the nut on the back of the bolt holding the rack to the
crossmember. The drivers side did not have a shield so it was easy. Then
by pushing the rack towards the rear of the car you can "barely"
get to the screws on the back of the pan using an extension on a ratchet.
By the way, there are 21 screws holding the pan on.
So once the screws are out I had to take a trial and knife to slide
between the old gasket and the pan to get it to come free. I even used a
hammer and lightly tapped on the trial to get it to slide between the gasket
and pan. After 21 years, it was not wanting to let go.
Then the hard part, the oil pump. It is a physical impossibility to get
the pan off with the engine in place while the oil pump is there. So
blindly with very little room I was able to just get my hand in the space
between the pan and crankcase to remove the bolts holding the oil pump to
back of the chain driven pulley. Once the bolts were out, the pump will
rotate to a 90 degree angle and then the pan can be moved forward and
down.
After cleaning, sanding and painting, I used a new gasket with Permatex
Blue RTV Silicon gasket maker for the
reinstallation.
