Firstfives.org

First hello to all. I've recently acquired a 79 from a local owner who took very good care of the car. He was the third owner (second was his father). When he took ownership from his father he swapped in a 89 M30B35. The car runs very well but has a couple minor issues. Mind you I can work my way around jeeps and suspension but i'm not a motor guy (yet ).

First issue is the thing runs a bit hot so i'm considering swapping in a E28 radiator but before I do what is the best way to add a secondary temp gauge to rule out an incorrect reading from the OEM gauge. Or, should I just use a heat gun (IR) and point it at??

Second issue is when the swap was done the oil dipstick was never calibrated. The original pan (528i) is still on the car and the current dipstick doesn't reach the pan. Should I just fill the engine with 6 quarts as per the spec of the 3.5 and take a reading with a dipstick that is long enough?

Thanks,
dave

davidaf wrote:First hello to all. I've recently acquired a 79 from a local owner who took very good care of the car. He was the third owner (second was his father). When he took ownership from his father he swapped in a 89 M30B35. The car runs very well but has a couple minor issues. Mind you I can work my way around jeeps and suspension but i'm not a motor guy (yet ).

Welcome!

davidaf wrote:First issue is the thing runs a bit hot so i'm considering swapping in a E28 radiator but before I do what is the best way to add a secondary temp gauge to rule out an incorrect reading from the OEM gauge. Or, should I just use a heat gun (IR) and point it at??

You can also take the sensor out (it's at the thermostat housing) and put it in boiling water of which you know is 100 degC. Then read the original temp gauge. If it reads correctly then make sure the thermostat is opening. If not replace it. (I've swapped in an M30B35 and run the original 525 radiator and it's perfectly fine concerning temperature).

davidaf wrote:Second issue is when the swap was done the oil dipstick was never calibrated. The original pan (528i) is still on the car and the current dipstick doesn't reach the pan. Should I just fill the engine with 6 quarts as per the spec of the 3.5 and take a reading with a dipstick that is long enough?

Thanks,
dave

Use your original 528i dipstick it has the correct length for the original pan. The just don't force it in as it could miss the gap in the baffle and get on top of it. I did it once and didn't remember if I filled the engine with oil. Then measured and there was notthing on the dipstick. So I filled it (again). The engine ran fine but with 12 liters of oil in it, you can imagine how I filled the high way with smoke at 160 kmph and slightly increased blowby.

Cheers,
Jan

I think you should use the dipstick that goes with the engine, not the pan, the length of the tube may not be the same, and you want the oil to reach a certain point vertically.

Thank you both. This should be an interesting couple of months making sure all is well.

davidaf wrote:Thank you both. This should be an interesting couple of months making sure all is well.

So to be safe I bled the cooling system and added some water wetter with the new mix temp guage appears to be reading better. My guess is there was some air in there that was throwing the guage.

So now how anal should I be about bleeding air? Should I open the bleed screw and let a quart of water out or? The description until I dint see any more bubbles is a bit vague. I have no bubbles but I'm not getting a stream of water either. If a squeeze the top hose I do get a nice spurt though.

I've searched the archives to no avail maybe I just missed a post. Maybe I just need to stop overthinking something so simple. Stupid brain.



Tx Dave

It will self bleed to a degree. The gauge I always use is does the heater work? If it does, you are getting circulation, if it doesn't, you aren't and need to bleed it. So start it up, warm it up, and feel for hot air out the defrost (I say defrost as I'm lazy and don't feel like bending down when I can just reach up towards the winshield) to see if it's hot or not. If it is, you're good to go.

Mike W. wrote:It will self bleed to a degree. The gauge I always use is does the heater work? If it does, you are getting circulation, if it doesn't, you aren't and need to bleed it. So start it up, warm it up, and feel for hot air out the defrost (I say defrost as I'm lazy and don't feel like bending down when I can just reach up towards the winshield) to see if it's hot or not. If it is, you're good to go.

thanks mike the heater is nice and hot so I won't worry about it any more. I'll add some after market gauges in the near future if I can find a spot to put them where they'll look "stock". Below the radio seems like a good spot.

Dave

check out my gauge locations. The missing spot is for boost. It's a bit more work but at a much better location to keep your eyes at the road.