1985 325e White M3 Rep

[OttoB]

So... the car has been laying dormant for weeks, as I somehow drove over some nails the last time it was used... unsure where, but when I came back to the warehouse/shop after making a few changes to the car and then unloaded the parts, I took it for a ride down the street to capture some images. A week later, I get pics news from the owner of the warehouse/shop that both rear tires are flat, and one of them has more than 1 nail :(

Anyhow, a shop that specializes in e30's has had my Subie powered 914 for about 3 weeks and counting, as they are helping me make the car turn from a toy to an actual drivable, reliable car. I like them and impressed with the feedback/communications/organization so, there is a chance they will receive my M3 Rep. But, we are still waiting for the new replacement dash from Russia by Milan... once I see the final outcome of the 914 soon, I can be in a position to get some more attention onto the car with everything that remains pending.

I will tend to both rear tires this weekend and in the meantime, some pics of the banners I ordered (buy 2, get 1 free) although I will only install one (likely just the black one and remain understated), a lighted shifter for a 5spd vs. the one I got from Etsy for a 6spd, as well as the back ordered rear trunk carpet from Phase2Motortrend (P2M). Wish me luck!

[OttoB]

Continuing...






The newly refurbished dash from Russia arrived at the US this past week, so I anticipate getting it delivered in the next few days and that will be the last missing piece of the anticipated mods for this car. At the moment, I have several cars in various shops (these are for personal use, not investment/commercial anything) and once 1-2 of them come out, then it will be this e30 M3 Rep's turn to get its fair share of loving!

[OttoB]

Below is a comprehensive list that I was fortunate enough to acquire through the not insignificant amount of patience, knowledge, time, and help of AWDBOB... Since we are limited to 5 pics per post and there are many parts, then it will roll over onto the subsequent post(s). In essence, the approach was to encompass the full a/c install, some additional miscellaneous parts I wanted, and also cover any anticipated, possible scenarios where other parts could be needed. Below is the list of stuff followed by pics:

9/85 build date compatible heater box w/ A/C HVAC harness

Upper HVAC box frame/blower motor shackle

Heater Valve/Heater Pipes

Straps for upper HVAC frame

M20 Engine A/C Bracket w/ Mounting Bolts

A/C Drier Hard Line

Tested Curved blade Auxiliary Fan

Tested A/C Switch w/ nice lettering

Tested Early Fog Switch

Spare tire trunk hold down kit

x8 Crack Free Seat Bolt Caps

Tested Map Light Rear View Mirror

1986 E30 2dr Coupe Chassis Harness from A/C Vehicle

Partial Stereo Harness for Deck Power from Pwr Distro Block

Aux Fan Hardware Kit for Condenser Mounting

Recirculation Flaps for HVAC Box Upper Frame

So all of these parts were cautiously packed by Bobbie into 4 separate boxes which arrived recently, but I am not opening any as they occupy less space like that and - he did a phenomenal, time consuming job of testing everything while documenting the parts via these very same pictures.

A/C Drier Hard Line Box

HVAC Box/Auxiliary Fan Box

Chassis Harness Box

Map Light/Switches/Trunk Hdw/Small Parts Box

[OttoB]

This e30 M3 from Tampa Garage (with warnings everywhere to NOT TOUCH) sold for $99K prior to buyer fees/taxes/transport at the Mecum auction last week, as an FYI.

[OttoB]

With the new year and a too uncomfortably close to near death experience, I have found myself inundated with work coupled with an already very demanding personal schedule... So, how do I change this?

Well, I do not do drugs but this is now the 3rd weekend in a row having gone out of town, I attended 2 car events last weekend, another one yesterday, meant to attend next week the 24 Hours of Daytona, oh - and while I am at it - why not buy yet another project car this week (due to the recent death scare)!?!?!


My 1981 S123 wagon, 86 Quattroporte, and 86 GTV-6 (got it out of upholsterer after 6 months, but headed to bodyshop soon to install bodykit) were being detailed Saturday last week while a buddy of mine and I went to the Mecum Kissimmee auctions to check the cars out. This was my 10th straight year going and hard to describe how cool it is to be surrounded by 1,000's and 1,000's of amazing machinery, with no one pressuring you to buy any/not touch/photograph it, etc. On Sunday morning, I drove 5 minutes away towards downtown WPB and parked each of these 3 one by one, with a cool but ever frustrated wifey.

I'm the guy with the hat and my 12 year old son is wearing the shorts. I intend on showing the e30 once all the work is completed later this year, and why it's still at the warehouse/shop.

[varg]

Is that the same S123 that was at the car show in WPB on Flagler this past weekend, near the Renntech lineup?

[OttoB]

This past week, I picked up the Evo III lower splitter directly at Condor Racing in Oakland Park (about an hour away) although had bought it from Uro Tuning. The guys at Condor were really cool and genuine car guys, with an amazing showroom as well as their sweet demonstrator!










Just now realizing that I dropped off the new lower lip spoiler at the warehouse/storage to have it next to my e30 but without having taken any pictures. Oh well - it is made out of aluminum and another composite as a 2 part piece which will compliment the car (and, this car actually had one before back in 2022?!?!). The very last remaining items that are on their way before I can take the car to a shop to get the anticipated checklist taken care of consists of this Cecotto style mini rear spoiler out of Pesch Motorsports in Czech Republic that arrived today:






Also, the replacement/refurbished dashboard is on its way which will make the car look new inside; getting AWDBOB to complete the a/c system parts + some other miscellaneous stuff from him; and a M Motorsport emblem to reinstall on the Evo rear spoiler lip as there was one there before and just want to reinstall one vs. trying to remove the residue and then the paint underneath it (as luck would have it). In the meantime, the car is chilling out but looking great! I got a stereo for it although it's been somewhat of a challenge to get someone to install a stereo if you didn't buy the equipment from them. But, that too will eventually be taken care of and the car will be complete, God willing!

[2mAn]

I dont see anything that strikes me that its anything beyond an eta. However a chipped ETA with a 3.25 diff should be fairly fun to drive ... so I second cracking that ECU open and seeing if theres a label on the chip.

Also its a little harder to do and might be for naught, but get under that diff and look for a metal tag. Stock would be 2.93, LSD version would be S2.93... a S3.25 would be a great surprise.

[OttoB]

The seller of this e30 in Cars & Bids back in 2022 who imported the car from Poland in 2021 had actually commented during the BAT auction of this car. The very last post on that listing was me asking him to get a hold of me since he had tons/all the info.

I don’t know how else to contact him but it would sure eventually fill in a lot of blanks. No regrets having bought the car but I also never thought a ‘great car’ would take may months to be ‘turnkey’ for me hop in and cruise in style with a/c and tunes (and and and)… But with plenty of other cars to keep me occupied (dealt with 4 today on an off day from work), no rush - it’ll get done properly, eventually.

[reelizmpro]

You should figure out if the engine was modified at all before installing a chip meant for a stockish ETA engine. Might already have a better chip than the one you are installing.

[2mAn]

That front end looks fantastic! Love it when a plan comes together…

Regarding the engine I wonder what cylinder head is on it, might be a 2.7i or something else. A well-built M20 is great

[OttoB]

And this is the final result, folks...




Overall, the car will not be looking much more different than how it now sits... I have a front Evo III front splitter from Condor Racing that will be going in along with foglights. On the rear, there is a replica Cecotto Evo III small spoiler coming in from Czech Republic in February, and methinks the exhaust has to be tucked into the body some, maybe 1-2 inches. The black rear spoiler Evo lip used to have a BMW Motorsports emblem running across it and although removed, you can very much (in person) still see the outline of it. I ordered a black one so it can 'appear ghost' which would improve how it looks now, as well as a red one in case I prefer that one to compliment the red off the rear license plate frame as well as the red center lock safety pins.

We did not get around to installing the chip nor the air horns that day - but, I am so very happy with what a few hours of attention plus good friends along with the right set of tools, can accomplish together. Nothing else in the horizon until I receive the replacement dash from Moscow shipped earlier this week, and the pending a/c system parts (and some other miscellaneous cool sh*t coming from AWDBOB) after the holidays. I do want to get a stereo system installed but most shops do not touch a car if you didn't buy the equipment from them, and Crutchfield is just too competitively priced not to get all you want, the way you want it - directly from Crutchfield. So, the car looks good, drives well, but no a/c and no radio is not something I will get used to. As always, though - the show must go on!

[OttoB]

This next set of pics show the headlights being swapped out after the grill being removed. I had no idea that installing the headlight wipers would be so involved!!! And, couldn't have come at a more opportune occasion since all had to come out already anyway. In essence, Cristian started with a battery-powered drill to place 2 holes in each headlight chrome ring. Only 2 are needed for each wiper as they are not more than 4-5 inches in length. So, no reason to create more work by drilling out a 3rd hole for an unnecessary 3rd pin which would only 'hang there' as it would never serve any use or purpose. After the battery drill wasn't doing a convincing job to create a hole for the first pin, a plug-in drill with more bite was used but it was all futile, folks. Noah actually had a drill press the size of a college dorm fridge - and, that finally did the trick in piercing the metal chrome trim but, only after each puncture hole had been tapped back to 'square' with a rubber mallet, as the metal drilled out protruded too much to allow each pin to be screwed in. Again - not the most complicated thing in the world - but, definitely time consuming! Of course, this car having been 'built up' then there were also some additional wiring liberties that had to be taken care of in order to have everything look and work as expected (minus the headlight wipers).

[OttoB]

I had posted before on this thread about having been reading a magazine when I saw an advertisement showing a yellow DTM e36 on white center locks and red safety pins sticking out... For me, a light bulb lit up in my head as a way to accessorize the wheels on this car vs. simply placing a decal over the center caps. Whereas this car is not a DTM car per se (not changing mirrors, adding a cage, etc.), the wheels do resemble period/era DTM racers somewhat. So, having been at Harbor Freight a couple of days earlier looking for a compact scissor jack for the 914 - I stumbled upon the drill bits needed to open up the plastic center caps and got an 8 piece/size set for $12 bucks!

This is what they looked liked before, and then having taken off the center portion where a test run was done. In all sincerity, I really, really like the look of the wheels without the center cap as it gave off the appearance of a genuine center lock, so that made my decision easier to take off as much of the center cap black plastic off as possible. The safety pins are ridiculously strong and were not very flexible what-so-ever. I think it came down to pure dumb luck having ordered these as the circumference was damn perfect for them to be squeezed into the modified cap, once we drilled holes on either side of the caps for the pins to go through. I am super, super ecstatic and happy about how the wheels came out!!! Wasn't too sure but, you won't know until and unless you try and for anyone outside of seeing this thread, you'd have a hard time knowing these wheels were not the genuine center locks (or that the car isn't a genuine one either)!!!





There was a bit of sanding the inner edges off each cap, but whereas it was not straightforward since no one has ever done this before on these wheels - then, the result was very satisfying indeed :) This other pic shows that the previous antenna - who had always had the mast missing even from 2022 when this car was listed on Cars & Bids, had been secured via double sided tape. It was removed, the area properly cleaned up, and we siliconed the new, replacement one which is purely for aesthetic purposes, but I no longer have to drive a car with a missing dang antenna!

[OttoB]

I am on the left, Cristian in the middle, and my buddy Noah whose house/really unbelievably well-appointed garage was used throughout the day - he's owned 8 e30's including a couple of M3's and confided in me after us going for a spin on the rep, that this 2.7 eta's engine has been worked up because it is not 120hp and scoots rather nicely. Maybe it was flattery, maybe blowing smoke up my tail - but, I have always commented on how much pep this car has and how well it drives, so... off to work we go!

Second pic is of the car without the Ronals and before we began to get change things up, a little anyway... First up, raise the Evo II rear lip spoiler as I prefer it sticking out more than how it was previously. Simple enough! Next up, the fully completed tool kit and the Little CNC Shop's marvelous license plate bracket finally installed!