E30 s50

[eurotrashm20]

Just picked up this gem. Minimal body damage and no rot. Motor is in need of love (192K if cluster is orig). Suspension was fubar when I bought it but I had a good set up from my other e30 as a temporary fix.


I just landed a S50 swap of next to nothing. Plan is as follows: Swap in S50, replace every bushing and reinforce where needed, full respray, full interior retrim, new coils, and more i am quite sure! Starting on replacing timing chains, belts, hoses, etc on the s50 as soon as the parts get here!

[bmwguy87]

Nice can't wait to see progress pictures.

[eurotrashm20]

Today:
ordered in the basic maintenance goodies (belts, hoses, timing goodies)
ordered euro grills and smoked turns
ordered all the rear end poly bushings.
ordered e36 bentley

[eurotrashm20]

Started on Stage 0. Basically started going thru the car as it sits and repairing the misc issues. Lots o electrical issues centered around a shoddy alarm installation.
Door panels are out for recovering. Pulled headliner and wife is sewing up a new one. Planning out stereo and after reading Stereoinstaller1's thread about his boxes I am thinking I might have to jump on one. Getting ready to order carpet.
When I got the car the drivers parking lights didn't work, speedo inop, interior lights inop, dash lights were inop, power mirrors inop, passenger door lock inop, passenger window inop, more leaks than the Exxon Valdez, brakes shot, tires shot, and paint just plain defunct.

[Mohammed_A]

nice, keep the updates coming

[kid325e]

Suscribed. Looks like your making progress. What was the issue with your inoperative speedo? My car has the same problem and I don't know where to start.

[e30s52]

Try the cluster or it might be the sensor. If you have a meter check the sensor but it most likey is the cluster.

[jekaio]

are you going to keep the s50 stock?

[eurotrashm20]

Suscribed. Looks like your making progress. What was the issue with your inoperative speedo? My car has the same problem and I don't know where to start.

Mine was the sensor on the diff. wires were fubar so I pulled a portion off a parts car I have to replace it. I would start there as it is an easy check. Make sure the wiring is good and the contacts are clean.

are you going to keep the s50 stock?

Good question ... I don't have the answer just yet. I am toying with the idea of some cams. Still doing some research. As of right now I wil be running a 3.5 maf and boot, swapping to the later style tubular exhaust mani's (maybe headers), full custom exhaust, and maybe injectors. Ecu is chipped already.
My thought is that if it isn't enough (lmao) then I will add some forced induction or ... hell i don't know. Just cannot seem to make up my mind. It is all up in the air.

Biggest thing I am trying to sort out is the diff. Thinkin 3.25 LSD. Input here would be nice. I mostly drive around town. Road trips are mostly 1.5 hours to 2 hours. Longer trips are limited to once every 2 or 3 months if that. I could really care less about fuel mileage but I just don't wanna roll down the interstate taching out real high. My former car would be pushing 4500 at 80 and 5300 at 100.

[eurotrashm20]

This poor car has been really poorly taken care of and that really makes me wanna beat someone. The interior just isn't worth the hassle of trying to salvage. I tried the mr clean erasers on the headliner and it is just too far gone. Some previous owner was a heavy smoker who couldn't find a window switch apparently.
So as of right now I have pulled the headliner, removing carefully to give my wife a good template to sew up a new one. Removed all the door cards to start recovering them and adding custom built speaker pods to improve the tunes. Back seat has been pulled ... Talk about NASTY under there. Removed rear deck to recover and build custom speaker pods to better the tunes. Current dash is trashed but I have a minty one from my parts car that will be swapped in during the rebuild. At least a 6 point cage cause I won't be hauling people in the back and there is no way in hell the wife will let the kiddies in there! LOL
New paint (alpine of course) over a straightened body. Euro rubs for the bumpers, euro smiley's, hid's, new is lip, new mirrors (maybe cups), shaved antenna, and a different rear spoiler (undecided).
Have GC rear coils and will be adding fronts with prob Koni struts. All of my rear polys stuff is in as well as the camber kit. On the hunt for a pair of Borbet type BS 16x9's, I have 5 16x7.5's and will run those til I find the 9's.
Still planning other aspects but this is the general concept. No I am not loaded, no I don't sell drugs, yes I do own my own business (not car related) which is why I am NOT loaded ... I had about 12k in my mk2 16v Jetta that was totaled and I parted her out. So parts are coming in as I sell off those parts. I promised the wife that this would be my last project car (will be the 6th in a row) for a while so that I can get some stuff done on the house.

Anyway ... I by no means know everything but I do my research. I welcome suggestions or opinions cause I am sure I am forgetting something!! I will say that I am building this car for me and could care less whose "style" this doesn't fit.

[oekundar]

..... that I am building this car for me and could care less whose "style" this doesn't fit.

Signature worthy!

[kid325e]

Thanks eurotrash. I'll try that in the morning at work if I can rack up the e30. If not i'll crawl under it with a flashlight during my lunch break. : )

I'm sure I can figure it out but incase you know the answer off the top of your head. Where on the diff is the sensor? back, front, left side, right side?

[TwoJ's]

Looks like you've got a good basic plan. I can't offer much of an opinion on anything, but since you are "undecided" on the rear spoiler, I'm going to recommend a mtech1 spoiler. I have one for my car and absolutely love it. I think it's the best spoiler there is for our cars.

[eurotrashm20]

Thanks eurotrash. I'll try that in the morning at work if I can rack up the e30. If not i'll crawl under it with a flashlight during my lunch break. : )

I'm sure I can figure it out but incase you know the answer off the top of your head. Where on the diff is the sensor? back, front, left side, right side?

Back and passenger side of the diff. you can't miss it.

Looks like you've got a good basic plan. I can't offer much of an opinion on anything, but since you are "undecided" on the rear spoiler, I'm going to recommend a mtech1 spoiler. I have one for my car and absolutely love it. I think it's the best spoiler there is for our cars.

Will have to look at it again. But I am really leaning towards the mtech II.

[neighborhood]

Knowing you, N/A isn't going to be enough........