Hello All,
I’m new to the forum and just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I am Ryan McDonald and currently live in Navarre, FL. I have owned one BMW or another since I was 19 yrs old. When I was stationed at Spangdahlem, Germany, I had an 85’ E30 323i and 82’ E21 323i they were both German Spec so I was unable to bring them back to the US so I sold both of them and bought a US Spec 98’ E36 318ti and it came back to the States with me in 1989 when I was transferred to Sheppard AFB, TX. It was a great car and reminded me a lot of an E30, I modded it pretty heavily with a full suspension (featuring Bilstein Shocks/Struts, H&R Springs, Racing Dynamics Sways and Strut Braces), cross-drilled rotors w/EBC PBR brake pads, lightweight flywheel and SPEC clutch, UUC Short Shifter, Stebro Exhaust, Jim Conforti Software and the icing on the cake was a Downing Atlanta Supercharger. The M44 was putting 226 hp to the rear wheels so it was pretty quick to say the least.
In 2003, we found out we were having a kid and needed to make a few changes in our lives. We ended up trading the ti for an SUV. That’s when my current E30 came along. Since we had moved to Texas in 1999, a guy my wife worked with had a trashed 89’ 325i coupe that I had been trying to buy from him since I’d seen it. Time and time again, I tried to buy the car from him offering upwards of $1,800 although it had a blown engine (cracked head and cylinders) and a lot of body work from years of sun fade and hail damage. He had repeatedly turned me down until finally I stopped asking. In May 2003, I was having lunch with the wife at her work and the guy walked in, sat down and asked if I still wanted the Bimmer. I asked how much thinking he was going to hold me to previous offers, he blurted out $300… I couldn’t grab my wallet fast enough. I had the car in my driveway by week’s end and by early July I had installed a used engine, replaced the clutch and brakes, cleaned up the fuel system and flushed the cooling system and was using the car as a daily driver. It looked rough but was ran/drove great. I quickly started getting the suspension sorted out as the bushings were all worn and the shocks/struts had seen better days. I went with Eibach Springs and Koni adjustable shocks/struts, Ireland Engineering front/rear braces, and Strong Strut Butt-Strut. The car was nicely lowered and handled great but the wheels and tires weren’t cutting it so I replaced them with 17” BBS RK wheels and Yokohama tires. About a year later it was time to start work on the body, paint, and interior. I ended up getting a Reiger Tuning E46 M3 body kit and BMP Design Fiberglass spoiler. At this time the car was not a daily driver so I worked out a deal with a local paint/body shop to install the body kit, repair the hail damage and repaint the car in Carbon Black Metallic doing the work on the side and allowing me to help. I was able to get the entire job done for $1,800 but it took about a year to get it all done. While the car was in the shop, I worked with a local upholsterer to redo the interior in black leather and with grey perforated vinyl inserts. He and I traded labor, him doing the interior and I tuned up his sewing equipment, ended up only paying for materials. I got the car home in late 2005. In 2006, I took a job in Santa Maria, CA and took the car with me. It pretty much sat for almost three years where I only took it out for Sunday strolls to keep the gas from tarnishing the internals. In 2010, we came to Florida and I’ve been slowly collecting parts to finish building out the car. Currently, my sights are set on boosting the car, rebuilding the driveline and maybe getting into something like a MegaSquirt PNP which is what brought me to this forum. I’ve been watching some threads for a while but only registered for the forum this month as I feel like I can both contribute to and benefit from the forums. Also, over the years, I have collected parts and have since decided to go other ways so I’ll be putting them up for sale soon. I look forward to being part of your group. See below for some before/after pics. Feel free to hit me up anytime with any questions. Thanks.
Ryan
I’m new to the forum and just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I am Ryan McDonald and currently live in Navarre, FL. I have owned one BMW or another since I was 19 yrs old. When I was stationed at Spangdahlem, Germany, I had an 85’ E30 323i and 82’ E21 323i they were both German Spec so I was unable to bring them back to the US so I sold both of them and bought a US Spec 98’ E36 318ti and it came back to the States with me in 1989 when I was transferred to Sheppard AFB, TX. It was a great car and reminded me a lot of an E30, I modded it pretty heavily with a full suspension (featuring Bilstein Shocks/Struts, H&R Springs, Racing Dynamics Sways and Strut Braces), cross-drilled rotors w/EBC PBR brake pads, lightweight flywheel and SPEC clutch, UUC Short Shifter, Stebro Exhaust, Jim Conforti Software and the icing on the cake was a Downing Atlanta Supercharger. The M44 was putting 226 hp to the rear wheels so it was pretty quick to say the least.
In 2003, we found out we were having a kid and needed to make a few changes in our lives. We ended up trading the ti for an SUV. That’s when my current E30 came along. Since we had moved to Texas in 1999, a guy my wife worked with had a trashed 89’ 325i coupe that I had been trying to buy from him since I’d seen it. Time and time again, I tried to buy the car from him offering upwards of $1,800 although it had a blown engine (cracked head and cylinders) and a lot of body work from years of sun fade and hail damage. He had repeatedly turned me down until finally I stopped asking. In May 2003, I was having lunch with the wife at her work and the guy walked in, sat down and asked if I still wanted the Bimmer. I asked how much thinking he was going to hold me to previous offers, he blurted out $300… I couldn’t grab my wallet fast enough. I had the car in my driveway by week’s end and by early July I had installed a used engine, replaced the clutch and brakes, cleaned up the fuel system and flushed the cooling system and was using the car as a daily driver. It looked rough but was ran/drove great. I quickly started getting the suspension sorted out as the bushings were all worn and the shocks/struts had seen better days. I went with Eibach Springs and Koni adjustable shocks/struts, Ireland Engineering front/rear braces, and Strong Strut Butt-Strut. The car was nicely lowered and handled great but the wheels and tires weren’t cutting it so I replaced them with 17” BBS RK wheels and Yokohama tires. About a year later it was time to start work on the body, paint, and interior. I ended up getting a Reiger Tuning E46 M3 body kit and BMP Design Fiberglass spoiler. At this time the car was not a daily driver so I worked out a deal with a local paint/body shop to install the body kit, repair the hail damage and repaint the car in Carbon Black Metallic doing the work on the side and allowing me to help. I was able to get the entire job done for $1,800 but it took about a year to get it all done. While the car was in the shop, I worked with a local upholsterer to redo the interior in black leather and with grey perforated vinyl inserts. He and I traded labor, him doing the interior and I tuned up his sewing equipment, ended up only paying for materials. I got the car home in late 2005. In 2006, I took a job in Santa Maria, CA and took the car with me. It pretty much sat for almost three years where I only took it out for Sunday strolls to keep the gas from tarnishing the internals. In 2010, we came to Florida and I’ve been slowly collecting parts to finish building out the car. Currently, my sights are set on boosting the car, rebuilding the driveline and maybe getting into something like a MegaSquirt PNP which is what brought me to this forum. I’ve been watching some threads for a while but only registered for the forum this month as I feel like I can both contribute to and benefit from the forums. Also, over the years, I have collected parts and have since decided to go other ways so I’ll be putting them up for sale soon. I look forward to being part of your group. See below for some before/after pics. Feel free to hit me up anytime with any questions. Thanks.
Ryan
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