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Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5: Alive and major progress!

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 7:51 pm
by e21-Mark
Sorry to hear about the girlfriend Rob. I hope she was OK?

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5: Alive and major progress!

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 8:12 pm
by drjim
I'm more worried about the landy!

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5: Alive and major progress!

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 1:45 pm
by tommi_e21
poor little landy, she wasnt towing anything when she got knocked off road. that would be just really upsetting

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5: Alive and major progress!

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:23 pm
by rob0r
Basically she was in my Defender on her own going down a tightish two way country lane, another Defender came head on way over the speed limit in the middle of the two lanes and gave her no choice but to smash through reinforced concrete boulards and heavy metal railings. The other defender fled the scene of the accident and hasn't been caught by the police to date. She was taken to hospital in an ambulance and was checked over/xrayed etc, she's suffered severe whiplash, a damaged knee and is generally very sore, still after 2-3months.

I was about 40mins away from where she had the accident, went straight there and saw this...
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I know the stretch of road quite well and it happened in the worst possible place, she went through all that concrete! The Land Rover is deemed a write off but it is fixable so we're buying it back from the insurance. When I saw what it went through I assumed the transmission had been ripped off! All the steering is bent, the front diff casing is pierced and the bumper is a banana'd since it took most of the force. The insurance company wants to fit a new front axle as the diff pan is pierced but it can be welded, the front axle is why it was written off.

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5: Alive and major progress!

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:27 pm
by jimbob
good job she was in a sturdy vehicle
hope they catch the other f***

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5: Alive and major progress!

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:41 pm
by rob0r
We think we know where the car is based but it's gone to ground, hopefully we'll get him soon enough.

I'd hate to think what would of happened if she wasn't in the Land Rover... I'm repairing the Defender on the cheap and she's getting a Freelander with the payout, at least something good comes of it.

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5: Alive and major progress!

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 3:31 pm
by tommi_e21
i had a simaler thing in my peugeot 309, got pushed off the road by a delivery van and rolled into a hedge. headge was softer than concrete though and car was undamaged except it stank of fuel for ages from bein the wrong way up.

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5: Alive and major progress!

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:05 pm
by murran
bloody hell good job she was ok.

ive just ordered a n/s sill for our disco.

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5: Alive and major progress!

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 1:01 am
by rob0r
I spent a lot of time tonight measuring up the sump ready for it's chopping and winging, when I found this :x (passenger side side mount)
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Before my car went for it's exhaust the steering linkage was clearing the exhaust manifolds, when I got it back it had started binding against the guibo mounts. I put this down to the engine settling, obviously not. I'm not sure what to make of it just yet, I suspect some leveraging force was used in order to get more clearance when the exhaust was fitted... SNAP. Though I'm wondering if the mount was weak anyway, and it would of given up with the abuse it will be getting next year. Just to be clear, I have driven it up and down the farm and thats about it due to a coolant leak, this has not busted during me driving it!

I dug into some filler that was on the passenger arch... something else to chalk up on the list!
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Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 6:51 am
by e21-Mark
Mount doesn't look very old either. Glad you spotted it sooner than later. I think you could be right about it being when exhaust was done although hard to be certain I guess? How much is left to do now?

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 10:46 am
by rob0r
I'm starting to think the mount was weak whatever the scenario, even if the engine was leveraged to one side it should take quite a lot to break that mount(?).

I have a fairly substantial list to get through, but I'm working on it! The engine swap is done, starts on the button, but it's the rest of the car that's letting it down.

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:11 pm
by nas80
that must have taken some force snap that mount, what I dont understand is why they would need to lever the engine to fit an exhaust!?

What have you got left to do?

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:23 pm
by rob0r
You really want to know!? Copied and pasted from my jobs list spreadsheet - yes I am that sad.

Finish wiring
Fit seats - what seats!
Fit good TCAs - remove locking wheel nuts from Red struts
Fit rear ARB - new ARB? - Find ARB Bits
Finish rear arch welding
Grind back external welds
Grind off all surface rust where I haven't painted welds
Make new drain covers for cabin floor
Sort ignition wiring and push button
Fab switch plate under dash
Sort surface rust around inlet hole inner wing
Secure air filter
Air filter hot air barrier
Remove all sound deadening tar
Paint floor/interior
Grind back external rear arches
Remove sunroof cage
Refit sunroof hatch with brackets and seal
Tidy wiring and tape up, inc fuel pump
Hole saw bulkhead and mount ECU on trans tunnel
Battery Bar
K-Seal leaking radiator
Drop subframe to…
fit engineered sump
fit engineered steering linkage
fit quick rack
Fit horn button
Swap passenger wing and paint
Fit BBS spoiler and paint
Paint MiMs and fit
Refit side trim - find
Clean and paint boot - damn battery acid!
Fit rear coilovers
Fill rear subframe bushes with PU
Check electrics eg lights/hazard switch
Prep for MOT
Sump guard
Tighten brake hoses and rebleed brakes
Rebleed clutch
Fit fuel filter - find filter
Measure up sump
Finish welding on rear archs external
Finish welding on rear archs internal

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:24 pm
by rob0r
Oh missed something, replace busted engine mount!

Re: BMW 323i M50 2.5

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:26 pm
by E21meister
wiz0r wrote:You really want to know!? Copied and pasted from my jobs list spreadsheet - yes I am that sad.
No, you're that organised. 8)