Das Beast: My E30 track / street build

[dvallis]

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Updated 1/30/20

Installing this google Chrome plugin makes all photos in the build visible.

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This project started by accident. Out of the blue my wife said "You're a lot happier when you've got a race car. Why don't you go look for one". Knew I married the right girl ;-)

I've always been partial to E30s. To me they are more of a "driving machine" than post Bangle BMWs. A street / track E30 sounded like a lot of fun, so why not build one? Yeah, yeah, I know. Building race cars is expensive. Why not just stand in your garage and tear up $100 bills? Alright, goal for this project is a cost effective E30 track rat that is also street legal. It will eventually an M20 turbo.

After a ton of looking I found a clean, straight, rust free 325is with a good motor and so-so interior. Not bad for 1000ish dollars.



Ultimate goal is turn it into something resembling an E30 DTM. Yeah, yeah, I know you can spend $20K on a built race engine. That's not the point. This is a hobby. I'll have fun slowly turning it into a track car as budget permits.

3/2022 New Aero




3/2020








FINAL BUILD SPECS

1987 BMW 325i "E30"
2.8L turbo stroker
Built to NASA Super Touring and German Touring Sedan class specs

M20 Bottom End
M20B25 inline 6 base block
Stroked to 2.8L with M52B28 crank
Forged JE pistons 10:1 CR, custom valve pockets
Forged 4340 135mm Molnar rods + ARP2000 bolts
ARP crank studs and head studs
MLS head gasket 0.70"
Piston/rods/wrist pin sets balanced to 0.5 gram
Gapless top rings
New main & rod bearings
Custom 10QT baffled oil pan
Compression ratio ~10:1

M20 Top End
Stock BMW 885 head
Ported and polished
Schrick 190 lb valve springs
Schrick turbo cam 284/272
---lift 11.4 mm intake / 11.0 mm exhaust
---EO -246, IO -32, EC 26, IC 252 deg
---Intake / Exhaust overlap 58 deg
Ireland Engineering HD rockers
Stainless valves
Nuke adjustable cam gear
Kevlar timing belt

Turbo
Garrett GT3076R
Turbine: 0.63 A/R, T4 inlet, 3" v-band outlet
Compressor: 0.60 A/R 2" outlet
Ball bearing
Oil / Water cooled
Precision 46mm waste gate

Intake
K&N 4" x 6" tapered intake filter
Custom intake air box
3" charge piping
2.5" x 27" intercooler
Custom aluminum intake manifold and throttle body

Exhaust
Ceramic coated Rapid Spool Industries T4 turbo manifold
3" 16 gauge 409 stainless mandrel bent down tube and exhaust
Borla 40085 XR-1 resonator, round, 3" I/O, 304SS
Borla 40943 XR-1 muffler, oval, 3" I/O, 304SS

ECU / Ignition / Electronics
Megasquirt MSPNP Gen2 using "known good" turbo base tune
Using Tunerstudio and Megalog viewer
Wasted spark ignition
Delphi GN1023 ignition coils x 3
---Max Dwell 3.4ms
NGK BPR7ES 5534 plugs, 5K ohm, gap 0.031"
LC-2 wideband O2 controller
Bosch 17323 wideband O2 sensor
4 bar MAP sensor
IAT sensor
Throttle position sensor
AIM data acquisition system
Custom wiring harness
Custom lightweight dash

Fueling
Return fuel system
Fuel safe 15 gal cell
1 gallon swirl tank
Carter 100 gph lift pump
Bosch 044 275 gph high pressure pump
8AN braided SS fuel lines
Aluminum hard lines, cell to engine bay
Nuke billet fuel rail, 3/4" UNF
Aeromotive boost referenced fuel pressure regulator
Siemens Deka 60 lb PNP injectors
---static Flow Rate (GAS): 62.7 lb/hr = 646 cc/min = 474 g/min
---Dynamic Flow Rate 2.5ms PW @ 100Hz (GAS): 20.2mg/pulse
---Coil Resistance: 12 Ohms
---Gain: 0.11ms/mg
---Offset: 0.055ms
---Turn on time @ 14VDC: 1.14ms
---Turn off time: 0.85ms @ 600KPa
---Factory Tollerance: +/-6 %

Aux Mechanical and Electrical
JEGS double pass racing radiator
Aluminum coolant expansion tank
Valve cover breather and oil catch can
5-3/4" LED headlights
LED side markers, turn & tail lights

Chassis and Running Gear
Cage : 1.75" x 0.120 DOM 8 point pickup
Transmission : G260
Diff : 3.73 LSD
Clutch : Clutch Masters FX400
Pedal Box: Tilton 72-608
Brake Master Cylinders (F/R): Tilton 74-625U, 5/8"
Clutch Master Cylinder: Tilton 74-750U, 3/4"
Remote bias adjuster: Tilton 72-509
Front Brakes: Massive Lee 300 x 32 kit, Rotor 11.75" x 1.25" Hawk DTC HR8000L/HR8000R, Caliper Wilwood 120-11133, 4 piston 1.625"
Rear Brakes: Massive Lee 300 x 32 kit, Rotor 11.75" x 1.25" Hawk DTC HR8000L/HR8000R, Caliper Wilwood 120-11127, 4 piston 1.25"
Wheels: STR 518 17x9 4x100/114.3 73.1 hub ET22
Tires: 245/40/17
Z3 steering rack 32131092031 2.7 turns to lock
Machined aluminum steering knuckle
Ground Control adjustable camber/caster plates
Ground Control coil over adjusters on reinforced stock struts
Front springs Eibach 0600.250.0400 ( 6" length, 2.5" ID, 400 lb/in)
Rear springs Eibach 0500.225.0650 (5" length, 2.25" ID, 650 lb/in)
Ireland Engineering adjustable 25mm front / 22 mm rear sway bar

Body
Sunroof delete
BMW OEM 325is air dam
DTMFiberWerkz E30 rivet-on front and rear flares
DTMFiberWerkz E30 BRYTN Style Side Skirts
9Lives Racing 65" Wing
Ireland Engineering fiberglass hood
E30 late model plastic bumpers
Custom lexan side and rear windows
Custom aluminum diffuser
Hood vents

[dvallis]

First things first. The car had UGLY cracked tint on the rear side windows. A bit of research on R3V said it supposedly comes off with a heat gun and paint scraper.



This was true, but DAMN window tint is tenacious. The frigging stuff comes off in little flakes, sometimes big flakes and sticks to everything. In the end it all came off and the windows look great.

[dvallis]

Now, time to start getting the weight out. Curb weight of a stock 325i is 2,813 lbs. By my calculations you can remove 783 lbs, for a final weight of 2,030 lbs.



First, out comes the rear interior, rear interior tar, trunk liner, trunk tar, jack and spare tire. All that crap weighed 163 lbs! If anyone wants to buy this PM me. Will post a separate for sale thread with individual pictures.



The trunk tar came out fine. Used a hammer and pry bar, carefully. No dry ice or heat gun required. It was 53 lbs!



Then there was the rear interior tar. Holy frigging hell. What a pain in the ass this stuff was. It took a heat gun, scraper and two hours work to get it out. Was cursing the German engineer who decided "Let's use TAR for insulation!" Another 9 lbs eliminated.



But, still not done. All that leftover tar scum has to be removed before paining. Ugh. This required goggles, a respirator, hearing protection and powered metal grinding brush.





Aaaannnnd. Three freaking hours later it was done. Mostly. Maybe I'll take some liquid tar cleaner to it later. For now my arms are going to fall off.



Total weight removed 163 lbs. Going to tackle the headliner and front carpet next.

[HennaE30]

Good luck with your homemade DTM E30 M3?

I don't think you realize how much work your getting yourself into, if you are trying to make a replica, which by your other threads about the bumper and valence, it seems like you are.

Thing to thing about: cutting out the stock quarters and grafting on the new one. All the bodywork and paint. Plus trying to source all the little M3 bits. Plus in the end, it'll only be a 325i with a motor swap.

Now if your just going custom wide body, then have fun, but you still have a lot of work.

[dvallis]

I've read many, many threads on swaps, wide body kits and M3 panel replacements. Lots of good info here if you search. Yes, it's a lot of work. But like I said, it's a hobby. Before the "Just go buy an M3" chorus chimes in from their Mom's basement ... just don't. I'm not building an M3. I'm building a fun E30 because I enjoy it and documenting here for those that also like working on cars. Nuff said.

[HennaE30]

"Always imitated, never replicated" comes to mind, in response to your "just go buy an M3" comment. But I digress.

What're your plans suspension-wise? Going to keep the series geometry? Or try to go with M3 geometry? Coilovers?

[dvallis]

I'm going to stick with E30 geometry for now, instead of re-inventing the wheel. Found a nice Bilstein / Eibach coilover setup from a local guy on Craigslist. It was set up for an E30 before an S52 swap. They set the rates high enough for an S52, but not so much as the make the M20 a dump truck suspension.

And I may just turbo the M20, instead of going S52. I am reading about guys getting 400 HP reliably with just a low compression gasket and head studs. Seems like a lot more bang for the buck than an S52 swap and turbo kit. More research to do there.

By the way, with 1,439 posts I'll bet you know a thing or two about E30s. ;-) Could you check my thread on "Mystery Noise" in General Technical?

[HennaE30]

M30 turbo is where it's at. Torque for days, plus the motor is bulletproof. Ny_bimmers and kamotors M30 turbos were in the 600hp range I believe.

All the upsides of the M20, without a timing belt.

[dvallis]

Now that's an interesting twist. Never even considered the M30 turbo. What flavor is commonly used? M30B35 looks kind of rare (88–89 E24 635CSi, 88–92 E32 735i, 88–93 E34 535i)

[HennaE30]

Das Beast: My E30 track / street build

Now that's an interesting twist. Never even considered the M30 turbo. What flavor is commonly used? M30B35 looks kind of rare (88–89 E24 635CSi, 88–92 E32 735i, 88–93 E34 535i)

No, B34s and B35s fairly are common. You want a B35. E34s are probably the easiest. Check the wrench-a-part on South Congress (since you live in Austin and I'm pretty familiar with the area). M30B35 and a Good & Tight top mount manifold.

[dvallis]

Alright. Time to start looking for an 88-93 535i junker. Thanks for the advice. TCD and Neue look to have nice M30 turbo kits.

[dvallis]

HennaE30, I decided to go with the M30 swap. Ordered the FrankMs guide. That's enough of a first step with the car and has a good path to turbocharging eventually.

[2mAn]

If the engine is good, why not build up the cars suspension and do research about motors before committing to anything so soon.

[Mwishlist]

If the engine is good, why not build up the cars suspension and do research about motors before committing to anything so soon.

+1

That's what I did. I went back and forth forever trying to figure out what engine, na vs. turbo, etc. so in the meantime I sorted all the suspension, brakes etc. Yes the car is still slow, but it handles great, brakes great and feels solid as a rock. Now that I found a swap engine, all I have to do is drop it in and go.

[dvallis]

Actually, I'm doing the same thing as you guys. Bought a 2nd hand coilover suspension, been removing weight, sorting the electricals, brakes etc. Learning about swap options in the meantime.

This week has been pretty funny though. Every time I fix something I find the next thing broken. Fixed the alternator, battery bracket, 3rd tail light and eliminated all check engine idiot lights. Now my driver power window stopped working. ;-)