Maytag: The Alpine '87 529i

[dsmith]

It would have taken me a while to find the clutch switch connector. And the thought to put a weld blanket under the carpet was a great tip too.

One thing that I haven’t seen anywhere is that the two side brackets from the early pedal cluster that attach to the steering column are shorter than the later ones. I had to pull everything back out and swap those from the auto pedal bracket.

[cek]

Then a test drive... Nice and cool. Quiet fan! However, I noticed every time the compressor would engage it sounded like a 1940s ford tractor up there. I stopped and took a little video. After about 10 seconds you'll see the clutch engage and you'll hear what I mean:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yCwpIFElKA

Jay now has the compressor back at his shop (he's covering shipping) and seeing what went wrong. I had to have my R12 guy come out and evacuate the system again which is a bummer.

I got the AC compressor back from Jay Stratton (again) and got it connected last weekend. It wasn't until this morning that my R12 guy could come by and fill 'er back up. He did so and I'm please to report Jay finally got it right. Kudos to him for taking care of shipping etc... I am out an extra couple hundred bucks due to having to pay my R12 guy twice vs. once, which is a bummer. But I like Jay and am glad he offers his services to the community so am going to just eat it myself and smile.

Jay says he's now built a 1000rpm test fixture so he can test compressors before he starts rebuilding them. Our working theory is the one I sent had wear and the cleaning caused the tolerances to be further off causing the noise. I had another compressor here that I sent him (he bought it from me) and he used the nicer parts from it to finish this one, which he then tested on his bench.



Video of it running: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYq493tCX0Q

[1st 5er]

Video of it running: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYq493tCX0Q

Brrrrr...

[cek]

This is very strange. For the first time since I bought this car, there is (almost) nothing that "needs" to be done to it.

Here's the list:

• New sunroof gasket (wind whine) and fix sunroof so it stops at right points.
• Install H&R springs.
• Rebuild exhaust with moar flow (exhaust is stock 87 Eta with cat).
• Give it a tune (currently running stock Super-Eta tune)
• Euro bumper conversion.
• Fix paint. Thin in a few spots; poor respray in others.
• Fix a few rotting window seals.
• Replace windshield with OE glass that fits.

I mean, that's *IT*. And other than the sunroof, none of it is really needed because the car looks and drives great.

One nit, which is a very odd thing to say about an Eta: This car loves to spin the rear tires under throttle. Much more than Vlad, which has more power.

[cek]

I started swapping out the Spax for H&Rs last night. I got the rears done; took me almost three hours when it should have taken me about 1. But that's how I roll.

Thanks for these, Sam!


The Oracle of the Desert noted I never put bump stops in. Oops.




After consulting with said Oracle on proper orientation of the conical washers I got everything back together. I had freshly plated washers, so of course I used them.



Note to future self: Disconnect the sway bar when doing this job. Doing so will allow you to get the lower strut pin into the trailing arm without having to ask a neighbor to come over and help extending the time required by an hour or so. Or, don't, because it's always nice to catch up with Scott the neighbor because he's a great guy.



These (plus the fronts that go with will be for sail soon).


I killed two birds with one stone by a) a celebration dinner, and b) a shake down drive to dinner.

First impressions: I like these springs better, as I expected. This car is the same as Vlad now. And I like Vlad.

The drive home after dinner made it clear that I should never comment on how a car like this is "done".

First, my turn signal relay is, apparently, toast: https://youtu.be/BdUXQ7W-00E

Of course this happens right after I've just finished buttoning up the driver's kick panel and all that. Sigh.

But the real excitement came during a very intentional throttle-induced oversteer event intended to really test those new springs. The throttle stuck wide open after I exited the turn.

I had this issue before (I don't recall if it's documented here) but the throttle cable catches in the hood insulation. Since it had happened before I instantly knew what the issue was, didn't panic, and simply shut off the ignition and got to the side of the road.

I gotta fix this right, I guess. My previous fix was to clean the insulation of the 35 years of oil accumulation, making the material stiff again. I guess it's still got some ED.

[Bonsaibacker]

Curious what you prefer about the H&R springs over the Spax. And how about a stance shot of the rear (would like to see the ride height with the perch on that notch).

#neverdone
#needsattention

[cek]

Here's the updated measurements after putting the H&Rs on in the rear. Note the fronts are still Spax in these photos, and there's likely some more settling gonna happen.

Front Left 563mm (was 560mm with Spax on Rear):


Front Right - 565mm (was 567mm with Spax on Rear):


Rear Left - 545mm (was 523mm with Spax on Rear):


Rear Right - 553mm (was 533mm with Spax on Rear):


Thus the H&Rs raised the rear ~2 cm. For the record, as you can see in the Official Ride Height Thread, Vlad is at ~550mm in the rear with the exact same setup. Pretty conclusive evidence that H&R Springs + Bilstein 6-Perch Sport struts gets you ~550mm height in the rear when using the top perch.

I still want another ~2cm of height in the rear, FWIW.

Curious what you prefer about the H&R springs over the Spax.

First: Ride height (see above)
Second: The H&R are progressive and thus do not bottom out as easily.
Forth: Blue is my favorite color.

So, on to the fronts...

First, thanks again Sam and Sam's Dad:




I choose to remove these by undoing the three bolts on the base of the strut. There was some discussion about how it's possible to swap springs by only unbolting the top of the strut, but the consensus was you'd only want to do that if you didn't care about your fenders.






Both struts have very loosey-goosey strut mounts. They spin nice and free, and I don't get any growl/grind when turning, but there's quite a bit of wobble. Multiple good folks, including The Oracle of the Desert say "They all do that". So while it annoys me greatly, and while I'm not sure whether these are the originals or not I'm not going to replace them. This is the correct ordering of the washer and grease shield.

BTW. I did clean and regrease.


These are the Ireland Engineering camber adjustment plates.


I have the KMac "Stage 1" kit on Vlad and Minerva. I don't love how these IE plates adjust (and neither does my alignment guy). He does like the KMac plates.

In a chat last night, I came to know about the Vorshag and Ground Control kit, which both look to be made much nicer than the KMac kit. I briefly considered stalling this project to order a set of the GCs. But in the end, I like the fact that the IE kit adds ~3/8" of ride height in the front and to leave well-enough-alone. Also, in-reality, with stock spring diameter you can't get much camber adjustment anyway.

I hope to finish up this afternoon.

[muleskinner]

Come on now....this is a family website, damnit.

[cek]

Got the front done last night.

I somehow have three bottles of 2701. This is equivalent to 270 except it fluoresces.


I like to use a paint pen to ensure these puppies don't ever move.






Front now measures 585mm.



Here's how she sits; I'm hoping it settles a bit because with the IE camber plates, I am afraid the front is TOO high. If it doesn't settle then I'm ditching the camber kit (which, as noted above) is not really doing much anyway.

[Seeker]

Got the front done last night.

I somehow have three bottles of 2701. This is equivalent to 270 except it fluoresces.


I like to use a paint pen to ensure these puppies don't ever move.






Front now measures 585mm.



Here's how she sits; I'm hoping it settles a bit because with the IE camber plates, I am afraid the front is TOO high. If it doesn't settle then I'm ditching the camber kit (which, as noted above) is not really doing much anyway.

From a 2014 post of yours... “I have NO plans to change up the suspension”

Funny how time changes things, lol.

[cek]

From a 2014 post of yours... “I have NO plans to change up the suspension”

Funny how time changes things, lol.

I also have no plans for dinner tonight.

[e28Sean]

it seems we have similar tastes...

I'm not so sure. Did you happen to read the part above where mentioned my extremely deep hatred of pearl beige?

And I have a deep hatred of black interiors. That said, this:

... looks amazing!

[dsmith]

Got the front done last night.

I somehow have three bottles of 2701. This is equivalent to 270 except it fluoresces.

Probably leftover from CV boot kits. Like a lifetime supply.

[cek]

I knew, once I saw the profile photo I posted above, that the extra 3/8" up front from the Ireland Engineering camber kit was going to drive me nuts.

So I ordered a set of front strut mounts (Sach). Yesterday I pulled the front suspension apart and replaced them. It's amazing how much faster you can do something the 2nd time..

Not sure if I noted this above, but the strut mounts that were on the car were very loosey-goosey once installed in the struts. I don't know what brand they were. But these Sach's units are MUCH tighther; they actually feel correct where the other ones really felt wrong.






Much better (and it will settle some):


(Before):


As you can see it's now at 577mm (was 585mm) which is as close to 3/8" difference as you can get eyeballing a tape measure in photos.


My shakedown drive was not enough to really determine if the looseness I've always felt up front was gone. I'll report back...

Note Vlad in background. He's back in WA! Since I drove Maytag & Vlad back to back yesterday for the first time in years the differences in how they drive is more pronounced. Vlad just feels more solid and heavier (as he should). I do think I can tell the difference between the 19mm F sway bar in the Eta vs. the 21mm F in the 535is.

[Tiit]

Have you considered adding camber from below instead of strut tower? I don’t know if such offset spacers are available, but for bmw 2002 they look like this https://www.iemotorsport.com/product/of ... 13mm-2002/
This spacer is kind of needed Anyway, when suspension has been lowered.
Another possibility could be offset control arm bushings. If I had some spare time, I’d definitely try to fabricate something.

Also have you considered painting wheel wells black?

[cek]

Have you considered adding camber from below instead of strut tower? I don’t know if such offset spacers are available, but for bmw 2002 they look like this https://www.iemotorsport.com/product/of ... 13mm-2002/
This spacer is kind of needed Anyway, when suspension has been lowered.
Another possibility could be offset control arm bushings. If I had some spare time, I’d definitely try to fabricate something.

Not really sure this car needs camber adjustment. But if, next time I get it aligned we think it will help, I might give those a try. Thanks.

Also have you considered painting wheel wells black?

No. I just need to clean them better.

[cek]

[Adam W in MN]

And I have a deep hatred of black interiors.

I have a love of black interiors and a loathing of tan interiors. Case in point is the worst combo ever is the e34 in green over tan.

[Bonsaibacker]

Damn Charlie. That is a mic drop picture.

I have a love of black interiors and a loathing of tan interiors. Case in point is the worst combo ever is the e34 in green over tan.

Plus one Adam. I don't know why, but every car I loved had a black interior.

[cek]

Maytag's sunroof has been whistling and the sunrroof gasket is old dry and looks original. In addition the sunroof has never operated quite right. When closing it, it stops just before 'going up', another press closes it correctly. Then it takes two more presses for it to raise into popup position. When going the other way, two presses are required to get it closed flush, then two more to get it to go all the way back.

I ordered new gaskets and spent some time trying to adjust the motor to see if I could get it to close properly before disassembling. After struggling with a similar issue on Minerva (where I had refurbished the motor/gearbox before ensuring it worked properly, leading me to believe *I* effed it up) I wanted to make sure the motor, as installed could be adjusted properly.

I am now 100% convinced this motor is f**ked similar to the one that I pulled out of Minerva. No matter what I do, following the instructions on how to adjust that Kohler provided, it behaves in this odd way. Looking at the mechanism I just can't comprehend what is wrong...it is possible the microswitch is somehow bad.


I'm now ISO another motor/gearbox, but I have low confidence anyone knows for sure if the one they have actually works. Sucks these are NLA.

Anyway, I got the gasket and pulled the roof to install it. Of course this would not go easy, as I discovered rusr:


Not horrible, but there's no way I can put this back on the car like this. So...


















I pulled the mechanism apart and cleaned/inspected. I was pleased to find that this mechanism is in great shape. No cracks in the plastic or other parts that commonly fail. I greased it all up and re-installed it and it operates very smoothly.


Geordi has graciously offered to send me a rattle can of Alpine White he has, so finishing this will likely happen next weekend...

[cek]

Thanks to @geordi I can haz some Alpenweiss.





Got 'er all back in with the new seal.



The good:

The rusr is fixed.
The paint looks damn good.
No more whistle.
The mechanism works smoothly, quietly, and mostly stops where it's supposed to.

The bad:

I fu*ked up the headliner material in two places. This is after removing the panel and really cleaning it too (bad stain that turned out to be excess glue from above that has soaked through; I didn't get it out).

First, when testing the panel going all the way back, I didn't have one of the clips snapped in. It got caught and poked its way through the fabric. I decided to install it visible to 'cover the hole' and to remind me every time I drive the car of my idiocy.




Second, during one test of closing the panel, the left edge didn't go *down* into the rail, but above it. I didn't notice because I was watching the other side. It ripped. This happened partially because I had removed the panel to clean the fabric (see above) and bent it a little. Sigh.



Maytag needed a new headliner anyway.

[Adam W in MN]

Ouch thanks for sharing the real story. I bet there were some choice words yelled in your garage during this work.

[cek]

Thanks to @bengerman I got a "three to make one" light switches to replace the one I poached from Maytag to put in Minerva.

I am so glad he sent me three, because although they all looked ok on the outside, two had broken internals.





I cleaned all the contacts and applied some dielectric grease and then tested the good one. Should be good for another 200k miles.

The connector in Maytag has not aged well. it literally fell apart last time I swapped a switch in. Anytime I tear into a harness from a parts car I pull off good looking connectors. Both donor harnesses I have came from cars that, apparently, had few electrical issues.









Yum.



Snows are on (Nokian Hakkapelitta R2 on BBS RX).






My bet is, it won't snow now though.



ISO one of these guys that holds the ICV on an M20...

[Ordnator]

Try P/N 13.41.1.705.564 still looks to be available.

Best regards,

Mick

[Bonsaibacker]

Solid work on the connector swap. That level of detail keeps me coming back to see what you're up to.