My Official "E30/M50 (+ S52) Improvement Effort Thread"

[Skarpa]

Nice work!

[RenaissanceMan]

thread updated to include embedded pictures instead of links you have to click on...

[ba114]

thread updated to include embedded pictures instead of links you have to click on...

And none are working for me...

[RenaissanceMan]

And none are working for me...

that's weird. i'm able to see them fine even if i'm logged out...? i wonder if it's a photobucket issue? i double-checked to make sure the pictures were set to public, as well. not sure what's going on...

[RenaissanceMan]

sorry everyone, pics should be fixed now. just learned something about photobucket that i didn't realize would affect the links. hopefully they are visible now!

[Skarpa]

Works now. Embedded pictures FTW! They make the thread much nicer to view.

[RenaissanceMan]

More parts collecting...

So while the S52 head is at the machine shop getting worked I'm ordering various parts prepping for different mods and maintenance. As mentioned earlier, this car is going to have the same Massive BBK race kit front/rear that I had on my E30/M52 racecar. I purchased an install kit from another forum member and now will just need to get calipers, pads, and rotors. I'm kicking myself for giving all of my spare rotors and pads to the new owner of my racecar! But, at the time I had no idea I would be going in this direction for brakes.



For those of you that aren't familiar with this kit, it uses 11.75" x 1.25" vented rotors all-around that are floating in the fronts. I'll be using Wilwood 4 piston Superlite calipers front and rear that share the same pad size. The awesome thing about this setup is that you can rotate pads and rotors from front to rear to maximize life if you like.

The other significant part of the brake upgrade as mentioned earlier is my switching to an ix booster with an E34 M5 (E32) master cylinder. Recall that I had been looking for the original connector tube for the booster since my reman one didn't come with it. I searched far and wide and could not find anyone who had that one little part to sell, so I ended up having to pony up for an entire booster assembly from a salvage yard 735iL just to be able to get the connector. Fortunately they cut me a deal and I was only out $70 for the booster plus shipping. After receiving it, I decided that it looked pretty good and that it would be worth testing as-is. If this used booster turns out to work fine, I'm going to return the reman since I have no need for 2 of these things!



I'll be using a 2002 remote reservoir setup since I will be installing with the connector tube. I had received all of the parts I needed (so I thought), including my new (used) ix booster, new reservoir, brake hose for remote setup, and elbow connectors to be placed through the grommets at the top of the master cylinder.



Unfortunately, I ran into an issue. The elbow connectors were way too small to fit with the grommets on the M5 master cylinder.



So after doing a bit of research I discovered that the 22mm version of the 2002 master cylinder grommets could be used successfully. For those of you also running into this issue, the part # of the grommet you need is 34311121911. (Thanks G22 and HertE30)



The bad news was that I couldn't install and test my new booster setup this past weekend, but at least I knew what I needed to order. :) I will resume that project later this week after the grommets come in.

Oh yeah, also got in my new head gasket kit, head bolt set, and non-return valve which will patiently await the return of my cylinder head.

[RenaissanceMan]

A little paint to make things look new.

Had some time today to work in the garage and the weather was gorgeous so I decided to paint the block. I did the same thing to my M52 build and it came out really nice. Used POR-15 since it 'soaks' into the metal nicely and prevents corrosion. Plus it dries into a nice glossy black color. :D

Of course, before I could get to the block surface to paint, I had to remove a bunch of stuff.





Evidently a lot of moisture (coolant leak?) had previously made its way in between the old paint and the block metal. As a result, a lot of the paint was flaking off and areas were looking pretty well-oxidized... Here are both sides as I was prepping for paint after I removed the motor supporting brackets and the harness and sensor stuff:





An air tool die grinder with a steel brush rotating attachment came in very handy as I was prepping the block. It allowed me to get into all of the nooks and crannies and it scuffed off the surface rust really well. I made sure to cover up any coolant passages or oil passages that were exposed so as not to get any of the debris in the motor.

I applied the POR-15 using a couple of different sized brushes and here's the end result:





While the paint was drying I was staring at my harness mentally trying to prepare this OBD2 conversion. I'm sure I'll be utilizing all of the OBD2 threads up here as I try to figure out all of the wiring and whatnot.



Hope to have more brake upgrade progress to report soon...

[RenaissanceMan]

Booster Swap

Sorry it's been a while since I have been able to update. Lots going on over here... Anyhow, I completed my booster swap project and wanted to share that with y'all...

So here is what my setup looked like originally. Like so many of the swap cars out there, I had an e21 booster with the e30 22mm master cylinder:





Although my brakes had been operational, I lacked serious confidence in them because of a hard pedal with limited braking force in instances where I had to panic stop. It was the one thing about the car that was driving me crazy, and having gone through this before with my e30 racecar, I was determined to finally get to the bottom of the issue. As was mentioned earlier in the thread, I purchased a used e32 7 series booster (same part number as the ix booster) for a song which already had the spacer on it. First order of business was painting it to make it look more presentable. Before:



After:





Mounting the booster using the spacer tube meant that it was going to protrude farther into the engine compartment. Although the diameter of the twin diaphragm casing was basically identical to the e21 booster, its mounting position with the spacer required some serious filing of the intake manifold vanes. I had no room whatsoever between the booster and the manifold so I did a series of flle-test steps to evaluate whether or not I could clear. I loosened the motor mount nuts and lifted the motor up far enough to where I could get a file in between, file a bunch, and then lower the motor to see if it cleared. I didn't want to file more than I had to; hence the reason I kept raising and lowering the motor to check things. It was quite unnerving how much I had to file. Where the contact was greatest, I actually filed past the vanes, continually checking to make sure I wasn't going to break through. Yes, I could have shimmed the mounts, but since I was already in there I wanted to get it as close as I could without futzing with shims. In the end, I got the contour the way it needed to be and so far after many miles of driving no manifold leak issues. :D Here are a few pics of the many stages of filing I undertook. You can see how I had to keep eliminating more and more material...







Super-tight fit, obviously.

Here is the booster in place with the e34 M5 master cylinder mounted and the brake lines bent to connect to it:



New 2002 grommets and connector tubes installed:



New vacuum hose cut to properly fit the check valve:



Since I was going to be using a 2002 remote reservoir, I needed some kind of bracket to mount it. Being that I like to try and keep things looking as factory as possible, I decided to take the old black plastic relay mounting bracket that was no longer being used and modify it to mount the reservoir. Because of the height I needed to mount the reservoir, I needed to change the orientation of the bracket, so I decided to mount it upright and sideways. I had to first remove the relay mounting clips:



I also had to drill mounting holes for securing bolts and file off the back of the bracket to allow it to fit more flush against the mount:



I then made a bracket backing plate to secure it to my modded mount:



To finish it up I am going to paint the bracket black and also use more appropriately-sized hardware to make it look more factory, but for now this is at least a functional version of it.

Attaching the new brake hose to the reservoir after measuring and cutting to fit:





Since I needed to use the original reservoir cap and level sensor with the new reservoir, I had to extend the wiring to reach the new location. The harness wiring that was there already was too short to reach. Cut and soldered new extension wires for the sensor connection and shrink-wrapped everything to look more factory:







The remote mounting location also required a brake hose extension for the clutch line, which was also too short to reach. I cut an extension to reach the reservoir and purchased a brass hose union fitting to join the hoses:



Here is the extension mounted and finished off with mounting clamps:



And here is the finished product:



SUMMARY:

This is hands-down the best improvement that I've made to the car so far since buying it. The brakes are NIGHT and DAY different from what they were before. Braking power is plentiful and well-balanced. Pedal modulation is just like that of a modern BMW and I can finally lock up the wheels and get into ABS if I want to. I have to be honest and tell you I didn't have a whole lot of faith that this booster upgrade would make a super-significant difference, but I had to give it a shot to see what it would offer. Although this ended up being a much more time-consuming project than I expected due to the little details I wanted to incorporate, it was well worth the effort. The brakes are so much better now that I am actually considering not going the direction of the BBK... This would allow me to keep running the Ronals which I really like the look of better than my Team Dynamics Pro Race 2.0's that I kept from my racecar... In the meantime, I am enjoying the car much more now that I have so much more confidence in the brakes!

[RenaissanceMan]

Wheel options

For fun I put my Team Dynamics Pro Race 2.0's on the car to compare to the look of the Ronals. They are anthracite gray, but look a bit darker in the pics. These are the wheels I was planning on running with my Massive BBK F&R race kit since they allow enough clearance for the large Wilwood calipers. Now that the brakes are so much more improved, I may not do BBK on this car... Still deciding.

Ronals:





Pro Race 2.0's

[Skarpa]

Nice work! I like it how thoroughly you document your everything and share it.

[2mAn]

The Ronals look much better, but Im guessing theres a weight penalty for that beauty.

I think the iX booster is THE ideal braking setup for a swapped E30. I feel like using the appropriate parts for the E30 without modifying braking components is the best way to have OEM brake feel. I never liked the idea of using other boosters or modifying the clevis and rethreading stuff. K.I.S.S.

[RenaissanceMan]

The Ronals look much better, but Im guessing theres a weight penalty for that beauty.

Yup, the Pro Race 2.0's are definitely lighter, but they certainly don't look as 'classic' as the Ronals.

I think the iX booster is THE ideal braking setup for a swapped E30. I feel like using the appropriate parts for the E30 without modifying braking components is the best way to have OEM brake feel. I never liked the idea of using other boosters or modifying the clevis and rethreading stuff. K.I.S.S.

I'm in total agreement. I'm really glad that I sussed out the boost issues before going ahead and upgrading other components. It gave me a super-strong baseline knowing that everything else is still basically stock but now provides great performance.

It was also nice not having to cut and re-thread the rod like I did with my last 2 boosters on the racecar. The car is so much more pleasurable to drive now.

[RenaissanceMan]

Head back from the machine shop!

A couple pics of my newly-reconditioned cylinder head. Got a multi-angle valve grind and decked the surface. All flow-tested and ready to go! Going to try and put it back on the motor over Thanksgiving. :)





Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!

[Kershaw]

The Ronals look much better, not only is the design better, but the silver stands out much nicer than the black.