1 of 3 E30 Builds: ND Fab's 1991 325i M20 Turbo Build

[KnucklE30Buster]

Welcome to the build thread for this 1991 BMW 325i.



There will be three E30 builds total coming out of our shop. (I know - we're excited, too!)

1 of 3: This M20 Power Turbo Drag Car
2 of 3: 1990 325is "RustRocket" Restore - http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...80#post4113080
3 of 3: 1987 325is Spec-E30 Car (which will most likely be up for sale)



This vehicle was purchased in 2008 by my good friend, who is the owner/operator of New Development Fabrication in Lakewood, NJ. This is also happens to be where I am currently employed. So, friend/boss I suppose. The vehicle was almost completely rust free when purchased, with only 79,000 miles, an automatic transmission and a bent #1 cyl connecting rod. These issues were quickly addressed, including a 5-speed conversion - and so this bright red 325i was then driven for almost exactly 10,000 miles before being taken off the road for a refresh, beginning with a new respray of the factory "Brillantrot" color.

Since then, plans have changed… and changed… and changed again.

What had initially began as plans for a fun-little-M20-powered-NA-screamer road-car changed to plans for boost. Then plans for a road course prepped track car. Eventually what was decided was a high HP Turbo-M20 ¼ mile car with a full BMW drivetrain. And so, this little E30 was finally taken out of hibernation this month.



We will be documenting our progress, which will hopefully move forward at a fairly steady rate. Stay tuned...

[Leo1234]

That was up I hope ya post how to do the turbo that sounds fun


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[KnucklE30Buster]

The 325i received the usual track car treatment - stripping and gutting all parts that add unnecessary weight.

For this build, we will be rolling with a full factory dash and most likely the factory center console and no rear seats. Haven't yet decided on the front seats. We were almost positive that we would be replacing most of the glass with Lexan, but have recently decided on retaining the original glass.




Engine ... out...



Cut the sunroof cassette out. I can't remember the exact weight, but I think the whole thing was around 38 lbs, something like that. Anyway, a great place to lose some girth.



Some more weight removal in the trunk, including that oh-so-heavy sound deadening material and the spare tire well.



And here are a few more shots of the car, as it sits now.







And a final shot showing the beautiful, sunny Friday we've been blessed with here in central Jersey. E30s... East Coast... Gotta love it.

[KnucklE30Buster]

Today we dusted the cobwebs off and we were able to get a couple hours in preparing to build the cage. We're aiming for tomorrow or Thursday to get at least the main hoop bent and installed, and some more pictures to follow.

[KnucklE30Buster]

Ok, so we got tied up with a few different projects at the shop so we didn't have time to get as far along with the roll cage as we planned. However, we did get a little bit of work in on the e30 here and there so I figured a mini update was needed.


BMW security code - you just can't steal this car!



Hey... something doesn't look right here. Being a couple of smart guys, we were able to deduce that we had never completed the 5-lug conversion, so we decided to work on that.



We used the rear trailing arms from a 318ti and the front is a e36 m3 strut modified to accept an e30 insert. Nothing too special right now - no fancy paint or reinforcement brackets or anything like that yet - just cleaned them a little bit and just got everything fitted for now, but it will all be removed again.





For those of you who aren't familiar with the 5-Lug conversions, welcome to the e30 community

Trailing arms installed...



And then we lowered the car back onto the ground and called it a day.



These will most likely the wheels that we will be running - I think they look great on the ol girl. The offset is nice, and the contact patch has a much wider potential. Dare I say they look even better on the e30 than the e36... dare I???



That's basically all we had time to do as far as working on the little red bimmer this week. Don't worry, things will get more exciting. The process always seems to go slower than one might want.