forgot to ask how the optima faired in that collision? Did its rear bumper over ride yours thus causing your damage?

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Current stable......
17' Rogue SV 70k
11’ Saab 9-5 NG 94k
10’ e550 4matic 185k

sold
02' e320 210k
00' e430 167k
01' e320 171k (regret sale)
91' 300d 2.5t 300k (sold to ecoofidaho)
79' 240d 177k (old yellow my avatar)
87' 300d 169k (junk but fast)
85' 300tdt 261k (RBM parts delivery)
85' 300dt 68k (one owner cream puff)
82' 240d 250k
84' 300dt 198k (sold to diesel don)
91' 190e 2.3 61k
88' 260e 140k

Thats what I did - I found one with a bad trans, broken ball joint and a few bits missing from the interior. I needed straight sheet metal from it.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

Pretty much. I was braking hard obviously, so my front end dug down low. My bumper was only damaged up top.

Yep, while it sucks it's still more financially reasonable to do it this way.

Got a few more things done yesterday. Pulled the headlights, the drivers side fender, radiator, coil packs, air box, and a few small other things. I want to get the condenser, fan clutch, and idler pulley removed and placed on my wagon today. Well everything minus the condenser that is.

Also I popped open the thermostat housing to find this. NEVER use green coolant EVER!!!

More progress!


Everything removed from the donor E320 sedan. Time to transfer the radiator support!


One more shot to make sure I get the spacing right upon transfer.


Radiator support removed.


My welds are terrible. Good penetration, just bad presentation.


One side welded in and so far so good. I put in the new radiator to see how close it was and it's lined up perfectly so far.


...buuuuttttt the other side I chopped wrong. Measure twice, then measure again, then cut. That's what I did and still came out with this!

Lookin good!

__________________
Current stable......
17' Rogue SV 70k
11’ Saab 9-5 NG 94k
10’ e550 4matic 185k

sold
02' e320 210k
00' e430 167k
01' e320 171k (regret sale)
91' 300d 2.5t 300k (sold to ecoofidaho)
79' 240d 177k (old yellow my avatar)
87' 300d 169k (junk but fast)
85' 300tdt 261k (RBM parts delivery)
85' 300dt 68k (one owner cream puff)
82' 240d 250k
84' 300dt 198k (sold to diesel don)
91' 190e 2.3 61k
88' 260e 140k

Looks like a little Filler will be needed.....

Worked on the car a bit more last night...


I decided to better align the radiator support that I would replace the damaged section first. Here is the corner cut out of the parts car. I cut out a bigger piece than I did on the wagon so that I could trim it down to match.


The two pieces side by side, damaged one on the bottom.


It's damn near perfect. Still had one cut to go after this, but it ended up fitting pretty well once I trimmed it up. It's going to require a decent amount of welding, but this shouldn't even been seen unless you look for it.

She's almost finished...

I have an update, and it's not a good one.

I finished the wagon about a week ago and have been driving it ever since. It was great, ran fine, aligned perfectly, nothing seemed out of the norm at all. I even got my monoblocks some new tires and put them on.

Tonight though, that all changed. I went to a movie with the girlfriend and it had been raining all day. It was still slick out when I left, and upon making a left turn out of the theater I lost the rear end. Oddly enough, the ASR didn't do anything for some reason, and when I corrected I ended up hitting a curb.

The lower radiator support got pushed in, and as a result the radiator went in to the fan. The upper support got tweaked as well. My lower control arms got pushed back, and I broke a tie rod. Finally, the oil pan cracked completely leaked out all of its contents.

I stopped immediately and shut it down. The passenger rear tire is damaged, and passenger front is flat.

I think I am able to fix it, but upon doing so I think I'm just going to sell it very cheaply.

It really looked good too, I was really looking forward to driving it for years to come.

Oh, holy cow... that stinks. ASR helps reduce wheelspin during acceleration, so if your traction problems were related to sideways sliding, ASR wouldn't have much to say about that.

Out of curiosity, why sell it after this?

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

I've had the ASR kick in in snow due to sliding and while it obviously doesn't correct the steering it does cut the engine out. My hazard light came on, but it did not cut out the engine from what I could tell.

I don't know, I'm just losing interest in the project now and that's about it.

Oh man, that sucks royally. I feel your pain after you've put so much effort into the car. I suggest parking it and waiting a few weeks to cool off. If you still feel like punting the car, do it then, in cold blood, so to speak.

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D, 418K

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Objects in closer are mirror than they appear.

Here's a picture.