E85 rescue. I can fix this… Right?

[DarkApollo]

Well that's a positive response. (It was only an alternative suggestion)
Prices in the UK are so much lower.
Even if you pick up a car for £1000, it is touch and go if you can rescue it and sell on at a profit. I do it as a hobby and therefore my only brief is not to lose money. Even then it is sometimes a close run thing.

Believe me, I contemplate breaking it every day..
I paid $6500 out of my $8000 budget. It ticked all of the right boxes and from all of the pictures and videos the PO sent, it did not look as bad as it is. IF I can get it fixed, I could make my money back and then some. IF I decide to get rid of it.
We arent quitters in this family… we have two broken rescue dogs too..

[DarkApollo]

Harness is finished. Continuity is checked and all voltages are good.
Brown -> ground
Yellow Green -> Low beam
White Green -> High beam
Black Green -> Signal (xenon?)
Blue Green -> Turn signal
Brown -> Ground
Yellow Brown -> Side? Turn signal?

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[MikeyH]

Keep going, there is now light at the end of the Z4 tunnel. Your doing well

[DarkApollo]

This car has obviously been in an accident.
Fender bolts are not right, so they have been off... the headlight bracket is bent on both sides.
I was trying to reinstall the headlights and nothing was lining up.

[TOMGREEN413]

Well done, it's looking amazing already

[enuff_zed]

Impressive work indeed.

[DarkApollo]

Front pass side (or for you on the other side of the pond, drivers side) was damaged and covered up.
Took off both fenders to fix the headlights and it is a snowball.. this explains why the strut brace does not fit.

[TOMGREEN413]

I wonder if the geometry is out? That bracing strut looks pretty badly bodged

[DarkApollo]

There is no doubt it is out of camber.

[DarkApollo]

Well.. sadly… the car is beyond what I am willing to do to fix it.

I suspect it has a blown head gasket. I filled it with coolant a few days ago and the res is empty again. The battery is toast. I have to jump it every few days and I don’t drive it so the battery just is not charging.

[enuff_zed]

Well.. sadly… the car is beyond what I am willing to do to fix it.

I suspect it has a blown head gasket. I filled it with coolant a few days ago and the res is empty again. The battery is toast. I have to jump it every few days and I don’t drive it so the battery just is not charging.

May not be a head gasket.
Could be a hairline crack in the expansion tank. They are well known for that. Crack only opens under pressure and the water escapes as steam, so once it cools down again you can't tell where it's leaked from.

[DarkApollo]

My e46 had the dreaded ‘explosive’ tank. Thats not going to be fun.
I will run through the regular checks, but the coolant looks really sludgy too. I can’t check the oil because, well, there is no oil. Ill throw in a few quarts to see if it turns to milk.

[Pondrew]

I can’t check the oil because, well, there is no oil.

Sorry but that did make me smile.
I have read all of this thread, and must say I admire your determination, despite at every turn it just getting worse!

Good luck with whatever you do with it. BTW the loss of coolant could also be a hairline crack in the thermostat housing.

[DarkApollo]

Stepping away from the technical for a bit.
Decided to update the interior just a bit with the aluminuminum trim pieces. I had a helper today as well.

Small victories are still victories. Need to remove the center console trim which is apparently a huge undertaking… It was getting to be bitter cold out so called it a day.

[TOMGREEN413]