Bringing back an E9.

[gnmzl]

This has to be a wonderful experience, driving that beautiful car.
I love the night shots after the wash, it looks so slick!

[hinrichs]

Glad to see it back together with a working trans with 5 gears. I bet it really improved the driving of the car.

[mpower5266]

Last week, my dad buttoned up the e9. He got the interior back together, and installed the new shift knob. Thankfully we found one that was identical to the old one that had the correct mounting for the z3 shifter.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Friday, he picked up the shortened driveshaft and installed it. He also installed the new exhaust hanger set up, and the exhaust.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Saturday I got it out for a drive and confirmed that there is indeed a 5th gear in there.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Now I am just driving it and looking for issues. I took it to work today, and had enough time to stop for a little photo shoot.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


I am leaving Thursday to go work an airshow so I will be gone for almost 2 weeks. After I get home it will kinda be crunch time for the vintage.

[mpower5266]

Long time no see. I figured Id copy/paste a few updates from another thread.

My only "resolution" this year, is to stop putting off projects and just knock them out. I started the year off knocking off a small one, although after working on it in a hunched position for hours, my back didn't see it as small. I finally got around to fixing the sanding marks in the e9's hood. I resanded with 3000grit, then compounded with megs 101 twice, jescar correction compound, and polished with Sonax perfect finish.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Its looking pretty good. There are a couple other spots that I want to touch up and I may coat it. But that's a little ways down the road. Saturday night before the bad weather moved in, I gave it a bath.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Up next will be the 5 speed swap, hopefully before The Vintage in May.

Present day.....

The e9 has been great, it has been out to some local cars and coffee runs and the occasional drive to work on a nice day. With the 4 speed trans acting up, I haven't wanted to take it much further. It seems like the days and weeks have been flying by and the The Vintage will be here before you know it, it seemed like a good time to get the 5 speed installed.

On Saturday, the e9 went up on the lift.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And after about an hour, I was looking at the clutch for what seems like the 5th time since installing it. Hopefully the last time for a while.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Yesterday while I was at work, my dad got the bell housing installed and then the 5 speed.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And buttoned it up with the shift platform and cross member.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And installed the z3 shifter.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Hopefully we can get the driveshaft out this week to be shortened and maybe get the car back on the road in the next week or so. I will be out of town for almost 2 weeks at the beginning of April so hopefully I can drive it a little before then.

[scweet14]

are we gonna see this thing slammed or what? just throw on some airbags, your dad can still drive it then!

[Councervany]

It is awesome model of car which design is inspired for car lover

[mpower5266]

Copy and pasting a couple updates from my thread on another forum.

11/16/21

Its been a while so I figured Id do a small update. A few weeks ago I had an Oktoberfest party at my house, and I wanted to have my 02 and the e9 parked near my Biergarten. So I grabbed the car and drove it for the first time since early September. It ran like crap but I got it cleaned back up from the vintage trip.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


I took the car back to my parents shop and looked it over. We found that one of the carb mounting bolts was loose, and one thing lead to another.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


One of the carbs was hanging open occasionally so we were going to work on the linkage. Once we had them out we noticed how dirty they were and decided to rebuild them.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Once cleaned, my dad started rebuilding them. He made a float gauge, I hope it worked.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


And how it sits currently.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


We are installing a "boost pump" to help it start after sitting a while, its apparently a common mod for these cars. Hopefully it will start today and I will be able to take it on a short drive this weekend.


The 5 speed we bought need a rebuild, and the guy we were going to have work on it broke his foot so its going to be a couple months. The 4 speed is noisy and my dad is nervous about driving it. We are going to try Swepco in the 4 speed in the hopes that it will quiet the trans down long enough to get the 5 speed going.

12/13/21

Finally some progress. We have been having issues getting the carbs to sync and after a few weeks we finally tracked it down to the throttle shaft nut being too tight and causing the throttle to hang open slightly. This has been our view for weeks.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Once we figured that out, it was simple to get them sync'd and its idling buttery smooth. We also put the swepco in and the transmission was noticeably quieter. Yesterday we buttoned it all up and sent my son out for a test drive.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

He came back with a pretty good report. The transmission is definitely quieter and actually shifts smoother. There is a slight stumble between 2500-3000 rpm and its loading up when cruising around 60mph. Its likely a timing issue that we will chase down this week, worst case a jetting issue. It was nice to finally have this view again.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[poondobber]

Picked up a new shifty boy for the e9. It obviously needs a clean up, not sure why its covered in great stuff.

Someone didnt know how to use instapak. Probably filled the bag then dropped the trans in and popped it before the foam set.

[SebastienPeek]

Oh this is an exciting update!

[mpower5266]

Huge update but the photos are going to be boring.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Picked up a new shifty boy for the e9. It obviously needs a clean up, not sure why its covered in great stuff. We have the bell housing, so we just need to gather a few other parts, and put new input and output bearings and seals in it. I am so excited, this car with a 5 speed will be amazing.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[mpower5266]

This weekend the E9 went on its first major trip. Wed night I set up the infotainment screen...

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And loaded up the essentials, a cooler full of beer.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Thursday morning, I made the rainy trip to north Atlanta to meet up and caravan with a group, but most of them bailed out because of the rain.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

So it was pretty much my buddy Gary, his girlfriend, me, and my dad following in the Jeep. We cruised back roads all the way to Asheville.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

We stayed the night in Asheville and partied in the host hotel parking lot Thursday night. That is where we will be staying next year for sure. Friday morning we cruised down to the BMWCCA foundation in Greer SC for a little meet. We hung out there for a couple hours, saw some old friends and made some new ones. We left Greer to head to the Air B&B in Hot Springs Nc, but first we made a quick stop by the mothership.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

The parking was a little scary at the Air B&B.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

But the views were awesome.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Saturday we went to The Vintage and parked with a group of 12 other E9's. I did not take many pics at the show, I just hung out with friends and relaxed. It was such a good time. Sunday, we drove about 5 or so hours home and made it back with out any major issues. There are a few things we need to address though. It will be getting a 5 speed, the 4 speed is horribly noisy and the extra gear would be nice for interstate cruising. We are going to wire in a hidden USB port for phone charging, the cig lighter fried on the way up. And there is a power steering leak, but that hose is already on order. All and all it was an awesome trip and went better than I could hope for, now I just need to get the cleaned back up and address some issues.

[mgpdoc]

This is so good looking, and also practical with your mods. I love it.

[mpower5266]

I have pretty much been working the last 20 days straight, between normal work and having to go to an airshow. Saturday, my wife let me have some much needed alone time so I took the e9 to cars and coffee. After putting some miles on it, I am confident in the fuel system and that the tank is leak free so I filled it for the first time.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


I also stopped a local coffee shop to grab a cup. I put the new Patina Handle cup holder to the test. It worked great and I will likely get one for the 02.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


On the drive back I noticed a clicking noise in the right front. I planned on doing an oil change on my daily Sunday morning, so it was already at my dads shop. I drove the e9 over in the morning and the noise got worse. After changing the oil on my wagon we put the e9 up on the lift and found a loose wheel. I torqued the wheel back down and gave it a shake, and found a bad wheel bearing. So the e9 is down now for wheel bearings and a brake system fluid flush and change. I dont know of the bearing caused the wheel to loosen or if it was from painting the wheel and leaving some paint on the mounting area. I am going to pull all the wheels anyway for new tires so I will sand the mounting surface down as well.

[Yezzz]

I love this thing so much. So clean.

[mpower5266]

Got the E9 out for a photo shoot Saturday afternoon, and drove it around a little to test it for the Atlanta trip Sunday morning.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


This is such a nice place to be, especially with AirCon.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


Sunday morning I drove the car about 70 miles north to the local BMWCCA cars and coffee. This was the first time I had the car on the interstate, and I was a little nervous at first. After a few miles at about 65 it settled right in. The AC was amazing, and I could actually see my breath in the car after a sip of coffee. The trip back was also uneventful except for a little traffic. Thankfully the temp gauge didn't creep up while stopped. There are a few issues, but nothing major and it should get to The Vintage and back with no issues. A 5 speed would be nice, its a little buzzy on the interstate.


Photo taken by a semi unprofessional driver, do not attempt. Compared to most drivers in Atlanta, this is perfectly safe and the phone was in my hand for 3 seconds.


Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr


I would like to work on the hood paint a little before the vintage, I have some sanding marks to dig out but it is pretty much ready for the show.