Write off....no way !!!

[Mazza]

Car came back this morning, so made a start this afternoon as I had a couple of hours.
After staring at it for about 15 minutes wondering what to do, and how to start....decided to go with the lights, then the bumper, and anything else afterwards.
O/S light came off ok, 4 screws, disconnected the connectors and then took out all the plastic inserts.
NS light was a bit of a pain as had been pushed back and some bits broken, but came out and only one of the plastic inserts needs to be replaced in addition to the light itself.
Bumper came off really easily, six screws underneath on each side, then the two T50 bolts and pull it away from the car.
I will get a new one so will strip it down to remove the fog lights, numberplate and metal work later.
Then took off the impact shocks 4 10mm nuts on each one .
Then removed the plastic air scoop pieces which are only held on with plastic clips
Took the bonnet locks etc off the slam plate, and then the remaining grille , badge and catches off the bonnet.
Need to get help tomorrow to remove the bonnet itself.

I do have one question.....is it possible to support the radiator and power steering cooling loop and remove the slam plate without having to drain the fluids???

A few pics

 

[t-tony]

I'm sure you can cobble something together to support the rad. and P/S cooler mate. No A/C ?

Tony.

 

[Mazza]

If A/C stands for Abilty and Capability......
Then No, None whatsoever

 

[t-tony]

Ha,Ha. You'll soon be an expert Malc. Good luck mate and take it slowly.

Tony.

 

[Dalek]

Glad to see she is home and surgery has started.
With luck you will soon have her back on the road.

 

[Jjim]

Good work so far

 

[Sean d]

The rad should supprt its self but the oil cooler will need a zip tie or something to hold it up, the slam panel is easy to remove but you will need a spot weld drill bit, its got a flat end so only removes the top layer of steel, for some reason BMW put 1 on one side and 6 on the other, no need to weld it back up it is trapped between the end of the chassis rail and the bumper mount

 

[Jack Ratt]

A long piece of wood such as broom handle and some cable ties is as good as anything to support the rad and stuff

 

[Mazza]

Been out tiding up all the tools and bench and cleaning a couple of bits.
One thing I had read was that to adjust the bumper height, you need a BMW special tool.
This is basically a hex drive that is the same size as the diff drain plugs. Fortunately I have one.
BUT....the adjustment is a nylon sleeve inside the shock (number 3) where the bolt ( number 4 ) is located.
Before the bolt is inserted the sleeve, it is adjusted to get the shut lines correct. On both the RH and LH shocks these are seized/stuck. But the part is not listed so does that mean they are not available to buy on their own??
Got them soaking in release agent overnight, but is it ok to heat the metal part if needed?
If I can get them moving I’ll take them out, clean them and put them back with copper anti seize grease.

 

[Sean d]

I've never needed to adjust via the sleeve and to be honest never new it exhisted, you can adjust the sliders at the ends that are fitted on the car,
Heres the pics of mine with the slam panel off

 

[mrscalex]

 

[Mint]

Watching with interest Malc. Looking good so far

 

[Mazza]

More done today, and a big thank you to Alan & Maxine (@Alan Slade ) for phoning me and then coming round to help take the bonnet off. You suddenly realise what a great chunk of metal it is !!!!
With the bonnet off....next was tea and a chat as that was much more preferable than what was next on my list

Tea over, and Alan & Maxine on their way home, I started on the Slam panel. Thanks to @Sean d for the post above. With the spot welds centre popped used a std 8mm HSS drill and drilled out the welds. Kept checking the depth and stopped when I could see a line in the hole. Used a screwdriver and a hammer and persuaded the panel to separate.
Made a support piece to take the Power steering cooler and unbolted the slam panel and lifted it off.
All good stuff.......until I noticed some water at the bottom of my new radiator.........there is a leak from the expansion tank area.where the main part of the accident damage was done. so no alternative other than to get another new rad, so I am going to have to drain down anyway..

Tomorrow I have to cut two of the fixings from the PS cooler as they are seized. I will replace all 3. The cooler will have to be rubbed down in places and re painted, as will the drilled out welds on the chassis ends.
I will also get all the parts stripped off the bonnet and front bumper

Might as well remove all the fan housing plastic, plus air intake etc to make the rebuild easier.

And I suppose if I get bored I could swap over the Camshaft sensor that is on the bench

.....a thought keeps going through my mind, when I start on the rear damage, should I take out the rear end and replace the bushes while its off the road............perhaps alcohol will kill off this thought

 

[Jjim]

Great work

Just a thought, but it looks like your halfway there on an engine swap / upgrade

 

[Dalek]

 

[Mazza]

Meeting @ZedHead has obviously has had an effect on me, as every time I go out to the car, I keep taking more off.

Stripped the bonnet and front bumper, removed the radiator as it has to be replaced, and thought while its like this might as well swap the camshaft sensor. Got it stripped out, but found a few bits that need to be replaced, No point rebuilding it until I have all the new parts.
The bit of string is so I can pull the new camshaft sensor wire back.

Remembered to put some rag over the holes to stop any crap getting in!!

Bought some 1mm cutting discs and cut off the seized mounting studs from the Power Steering loop so now ready for a bit of a refurb.

So I think that’s as far as I need to go on the front end now.....so for the next day or so, cleaning, derusting where needed and painting bits and pieces.
Then start on the rear damage, which is nowhere near as bad.

For those that didnt know of the bumper height adjusters you can see part of the plastic insert sticking out. The other end has a hex (same size as diff) not that I can adjust them as the are locked solid in the shock body.

 

[Jjim]

Great work

Just a thought, but it looks like your halfway there on an engine swap / upgrade

@Geoff Crispin any reason for the disagree?

 

[Geoff Crispin]

Great work

Just a thought, but it looks like your halfway there on an engine swap / upgrade

@Geoff Crispin any reason for the disagree?

Sorry I have no idea, the only dislike I have posted of late was about black wheels, but don't know how to remo ve it do you ?
I will find the post where I thought I did post a disagree and check.

Geoff

 

[Mazza]

Geoff, I do it all the time...I think I have hit funny, then look back and its either disagree or thank you!!!!
But I just hit ‘undo rating’ and re enter the correct one.

 

[Geoff Crispin]

Undone but I cant find the post that I put it on Geoff