Engine, I'm OK with . I get that intuitively. Under dash.. yikes!!
72 3.0 CS 2240344 Restoration
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Well, I have to say that removing the heater and the dash on an E9 is probably one of the most frustrating and involved jobs I have done on a car. I did this on my E24 many years ago, and I thought that was a PITA.. This has it beat by a mile. Took me 5 hours of continuous work... 
I had removed the steering wheel and the lower steering column cover a few days ago.
I started today by very carefully pulling the aluminum trim strip loose. As I was advised yesterday by @HB Chris, this is held on with small pins on the back side of the aluminum that engage small spring clips embedded in the lower dash pad. I guess these had loosened over time because some joker used clear silicone goop to glue the strip on as well as using the pins. So prying it off was exciting.
Managed to remove it with zero bends.
Once that was off, it was a simple matter to remove a bunch of screws to get the pad off. The only quirk in this step is that the headlamp switch is mounted to the pad. I unscrewed the knob and then used my clever circlip pliers to unscrew the bezel, and removed the switch. The other attachment was the flasher switch, which like the E24 has EIGHT wires going to it. I took a pic of that, and also made a diagram of the wiring that I stuck in the baggie I stored the switch in. A little present to myself for some time down the road..
And, with that, the pad was free.
After unbolting and lowering the steering column. I discovered and removed numerous wire splices for the miscellaneous stereos that seem to have inhabited this car.
I was able to reach and remove the M6 nut on the left side of the instrument cowl, but the right side was inaccessible because of the heater, and a metal brace between the speaker hole and the instruments. Turned out this was not the least of my woes.. After farting around unsuccessfully to get the upper dash pad off, I decided the only way this was going to happen was to remove the heater and AC unit. I'll post better pics of this tomorrow, but here is the basic setup for the AC unit:
The heater controls (the sliders and cables) are attached to the heater flaps, and are pretty much impossible to remove in-situ. I did find that the control unit could be moved to the right side footwell by disconnecting a couple of wires on the right side. That got that contraption out of the way (only took me 30 minutes to figure this out...)
I then removed the 10 mm bolts at the lower front of the AC unit. Undoing these had no immediate effect. After messing around trying various things I discovered a couple of slot head screws on either side of the forward end of the unit (up toward the firewall). Of course these do not have captive nuts, and the nuts are hidden on the back of the bracket, so getting these loose took some time. I then realized I was going to have to remove the AC refrigerant lines. I was pretty sure that there was no pressure in the system (it has been sitting unused of nearly 20 years). So I cracked open the fittings in the engine bay. Nada.. No refrigerant at all. I then disconnected the lines on the right side of the under dash unit, and was finally able to wrestle it free after disconnecting some wires at the bottom.
I was still unable to reach the cowl nut on the right side, so I then proceeded to remove the heater itself. This was an awful job.
The heater is attached to the car by four 10 mm nuts that bolt to some captive studs on the under side of the upper firewall. You can see the back end of these on either side of the blower in the cowl area aft of the engine. After removing the defroster hoses, I was able to reach these with a long socket and extension. The left side was MUCH harder. I ended up using a long extension and a u-joint to get these off, since the steering column/pedal bracket is in the way on one side, and the heater ducts are in the way on the other side. Of course the lower one is a tease. There is a grounding lug attached to the stud with a second nut. So I undid the nut, allowing the grounding lug to come free, and then undid the upper nut. The heater would not budge.. After more time than I want to admit to, I realized that there was a second nut under the grounding lug...
So I got out the u-joint socket again and undid that. This freed things up a bit. However, I then realized I needed to undo the heater hoses in the engine bay. That took 15 mins since the hose clamps are very hard to reach and the hoses were well mated to the heater core pipes. Once this was done, the heater was fairly loose I started pulling it out and then it got stuck. To my dismay, I realized there was one more 10 mm bolt holding the dash tray to the car structure (there are three of these, one on each side and one smack dab in the middle sandwiched between the AC unit and the body structure that holds the dash) , and the heater had caught on that. So I had to push the heater back into place and undo that bolt, and then the heater came free.
Isn't this special...
I then was able to disconnect the m6 nut from the right side of the instrument cowl. However, the dash pad and cowl would still not move. After more messing around I discovered that there are two very small wood screws under the dash that hold the cowl down. These are rather hard to see, but they engage the lower sides of the cowl from below. Once these were loose, the dash pad and cowl came out as a unit. Turns out the cowl is attached to the dash pad as well. You can see the hidden holes here:
And here is where I left things today after deciding it was time for some adult beverages...
I had removed the steering wheel and the lower steering column cover a few days ago.
I started today by very carefully pulling the aluminum trim strip loose. As I was advised yesterday by @HB Chris, this is held on with small pins on the back side of the aluminum that engage small spring clips embedded in the lower dash pad. I guess these had loosened over time because some joker used clear silicone goop to glue the strip on as well as using the pins. So prying it off was exciting.
Managed to remove it with zero bends.
Once that was off, it was a simple matter to remove a bunch of screws to get the pad off. The only quirk in this step is that the headlamp switch is mounted to the pad. I unscrewed the knob and then used my clever circlip pliers to unscrew the bezel, and removed the switch. The other attachment was the flasher switch, which like the E24 has EIGHT wires going to it. I took a pic of that, and also made a diagram of the wiring that I stuck in the baggie I stored the switch in. A little present to myself for some time down the road..
And, with that, the pad was free.
After unbolting and lowering the steering column. I discovered and removed numerous wire splices for the miscellaneous stereos that seem to have inhabited this car.
I was able to reach and remove the M6 nut on the left side of the instrument cowl, but the right side was inaccessible because of the heater, and a metal brace between the speaker hole and the instruments. Turned out this was not the least of my woes.. After farting around unsuccessfully to get the upper dash pad off, I decided the only way this was going to happen was to remove the heater and AC unit. I'll post better pics of this tomorrow, but here is the basic setup for the AC unit:
The heater controls (the sliders and cables) are attached to the heater flaps, and are pretty much impossible to remove in-situ. I did find that the control unit could be moved to the right side footwell by disconnecting a couple of wires on the right side. That got that contraption out of the way (only took me 30 minutes to figure this out...)
I then removed the 10 mm bolts at the lower front of the AC unit. Undoing these had no immediate effect. After messing around trying various things I discovered a couple of slot head screws on either side of the forward end of the unit (up toward the firewall). Of course these do not have captive nuts, and the nuts are hidden on the back of the bracket, so getting these loose took some time. I then realized I was going to have to remove the AC refrigerant lines. I was pretty sure that there was no pressure in the system (it has been sitting unused of nearly 20 years). So I cracked open the fittings in the engine bay. Nada.. No refrigerant at all. I then disconnected the lines on the right side of the under dash unit, and was finally able to wrestle it free after disconnecting some wires at the bottom.
I was still unable to reach the cowl nut on the right side, so I then proceeded to remove the heater itself. This was an awful job.
The heater is attached to the car by four 10 mm nuts that bolt to some captive studs on the under side of the upper firewall. You can see the back end of these on either side of the blower in the cowl area aft of the engine. After removing the defroster hoses, I was able to reach these with a long socket and extension. The left side was MUCH harder. I ended up using a long extension and a u-joint to get these off, since the steering column/pedal bracket is in the way on one side, and the heater ducts are in the way on the other side. Of course the lower one is a tease. There is a grounding lug attached to the stud with a second nut. So I undid the nut, allowing the grounding lug to come free, and then undid the upper nut. The heater would not budge.. After more time than I want to admit to, I realized that there was a second nut under the grounding lug..
.So I got out the u-joint socket again and undid that. This freed things up a bit. However, I then realized I needed to undo the heater hoses in the engine bay. That took 15 mins since the hose clamps are very hard to reach and the hoses were well mated to the heater core pipes. Once this was done, the heater was fairly loose I started pulling it out and then it got stuck. To my dismay, I realized there was one more 10 mm bolt holding the dash tray to the car structure (there are three of these, one on each side and one smack dab in the middle sandwiched between the AC unit and the body structure that holds the dash) , and the heater had caught on that. So I had to push the heater back into place and undo that bolt, and then the heater came free.
Isn't this special...
I then was able to disconnect the m6 nut from the right side of the instrument cowl. However, the dash pad and cowl would still not move. After more messing around I discovered that there are two very small wood screws under the dash that hold the cowl down. These are rather hard to see, but they engage the lower sides of the cowl from below. Once these were loose, the dash pad and cowl came out as a unit. Turns out the cowl is attached to the dash pad as well. You can see the hidden holes here:
And here is where I left things today after deciding it was time for some adult beverages...
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The dash tray plywood is basically toast. I'll have to re-make this.
I recognize this phase in deconstruction. It is the phase where your spouse no longer wants to come into your shop to see how things are going. Just too much disorder for them to see. Also recognize this phase as requiring some "adult refreshments"! Great progress, it is all necessary. Good luck! Mike
Great progress, it is all necessary. Good luck! Mike
Someone added a vent hole to the end of your dash wood?
And when you reassemble your dash wood be sure you turn the speaker grille right side up
They are on both sides. Seems like it was made this way. I'll know more once I get the dash off. There are two ports on the upper sides of the AC unit that connect to those vents via a small corrugated tube.
I am thinking I may use the @Stevehose idea of placing some auxiliary gauges there. It is useless as a speaker.
It must be modified with an e3 a/c evaporator box, that is not factory.
Interesting... Maybe that's why it was such bear to remove!
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No, they are always hard to remove!
It looks like the upper air box may be different. It does not have the large round vents on either side, but instead has smaller angled outlets that connect to the corrugated hoses that run to those side vents. One of those hoses runs across under the dash above the glove box. The other one snakes through the column area and finds its way tot he left vent.
I'll run over to the shop later and get some good photos of the unit.
The evaporator itself look the same, at least from the RealOEM diagrams.
Where does the air exit on the E9 evaporator?
Footwell i believe
OK. I think I solved the mystery of the errant dash vents. Apparently these were added with great effort by some PO. They had to remove the dash to do this because there are holes inthe bodywork behind the dash where the vent hoses go through. They also modified the upper air box to fit some hoses and ductwork. Seems easy enough to undo. Just patch the holes in the side of the air box. But man, what a lot of work they did for this...
I'll also have to plug the holes in the dash wood, and may weld up the holes in the metal dash support.
I'll also have to plug the holes in the dash wood, and may weld up the holes in the metal dash support.
I also removed the dash wood trim, and managed to surgically disassemble it. Most of the wood screws were rusted to the point of not having enough of a slot to turn them. This was not a huge issue since the screws pretty much pulled out of the wood anyway.
On the left side the wood was better, but the screws were still rusted. I ended up using a Dremel saw to cut between the wood plies and lop off the heads of a the screws, and then the assembly came free. I will need to get some 10 mm marine ply and replicate the lower shelf. I think the upper right hand piece can be saves using some penetrating epoxy and some clamps with custom shaped clamping blocks..soak the wood in CPE put a plastic bag over it, and then clamp it together. I'll do the same with the edge where the screws pulled out.
I think I will use stainless T-nuts for the captive three hold-down bolts, and stainless wood screws on the re-assembly.
On the left side the wood was better, but the screws were still rusted. I ended up using a Dremel saw to cut between the wood plies and lop off the heads of a the screws, and then the assembly came free. I will need to get some 10 mm marine ply and replicate the lower shelf. I think the upper right hand piece can be saves using some penetrating epoxy and some clamps with custom shaped clamping blocks..soak the wood in CPE put a plastic bag over it, and then clamp it together. I'll do the same with the edge where the screws pulled out.
I think I will use stainless T-nuts for the captive three hold-down bolts, and stainless wood screws on the re-assembly.
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looks like your coupe saw a lot of moisture over the years. My base plywood was delaminated on just the driver's side and I was able to clean it up and re-glue it. Like yours, all the screws were rusted. I used brass screws when I re-assembled.
Hi Scott, I am interested in that creative "intermediate piece" that is sitting on top of your a/c evaporator. Looks "custom". I have attached photos of a genuine E3 intermediate piece, on top of evaporator. Different. Those "vents" in your dash, I am sure you know they were added at some time. I have often wondered if an E3 intermediate piece with the extra outlets could, in fact, be used in an E9 to direct some more cooling where it would actually be helpful? I have also added a photo of the 3 different intermediate pieces that were used. 1 E9 with a/c, 1 E9 without a/c, 1 E3 with a/c.
I think the intermediate piece is original, but the PO cut side ports and added the ducts to the dash vents. Looks like a ton of work for a fairly small amount of extra air.
Which piece is which in the photo above? E3 in the middle? E9 A/C in the back?
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Quick question for the forum...
I am readying my interior parts to take out for restoration. I noticed that the A-pillar covering is held on by a metal strip that is riveted to the window seal lip.
Question 1: do we drill out the rivets and then re-rivet the old piece back in when we re-cover the A-Pillar?
QUestion 2: Looks like the "padding" on the pillars (front and back) is just some thin foam. Has anyone explored alternative materials? denser foam, etc?
I am readying my interior parts to take out for restoration. I noticed that the A-pillar covering is held on by a metal strip that is riveted to the window seal lip.
Question 1: do we drill out the rivets and then re-rivet the old piece back in when we re-cover the A-Pillar?
QUestion 2: Looks like the "padding" on the pillars (front and back) is just some thin foam. Has anyone explored alternative materials? denser foam, etc?
front: E9 with aC
mid: E3 with AC (similar shape to the E9 as they have he same evaporator box, but has the ears on the side as additiona air outlets)
back: E9 w/o AC
Scott, Those were for the US windshield rubber as the US got safety glass while Germany did not. If you get a US seal I would leave it on.