Gabriel's 1991 318i sedan

[JT325is]

damn good work

[rightcoastbias]

damn good work

Thank you. I have some good friends and learned quite a bit this time around. We are getting much faster.

Things to keep in mind:
-Apply penetrating spray to every bolt hours before you start ANYTHING. Use liberally throughout project.

Tie Rods:
-Try turning the hub/strut assembly side to side to see if your tie rod ends come out easier at different positions. (Tie rod puller tool OTC #6296 worked for me.)

Inner/outer Front Ball joints:
-Inner ball joints are a PITA to unbolt/bolt.
-I hate using a pickle fork to pop the ball joint shaft out of the car, but I had to.
-Inner/Outer Ball joints can be pressed out/in of an e30 control arm with a <10 ton press. (If you don't want to think about it, buy new control arms. Its up to you. I'm not arguing on the internet.)

Girling Front Caliper Rebuild:
-Its cake to rebuild. Cake is (not) a lie. Brake cleaner and some rags. Make sure the new seals don't come in direct contact with brake cleaner. Don't use anything water based to clean them.

ATE Rear Caliper Rebuild:
-Ditto

Subframe removal:
-Its 100% worth it to buy new Knurled subframe bolts. From underneath the car, hammer the old bolts up into the cabin. This means you don't have to walk to the subframe out while fighting the 2 subframe bolts, driveshaft, diff mount , etc.
-To remove the e-brake cables, remove rear disc, remove the e-brake shoes, at the bottom of the hub remove the ~4mm tall pin attaching the e-brake cable to the levers. DONT CUT YOUR DAMN E-BRAKE. I've worked on cars that they did!

RTAB Bushings:
-We left the half-shafts attached and were careful not to let them come out to far.
-Tap the bushings sans metal insert in with alcohol based hand sanitizer. Then tap the metal insert in.

This is all basic stuff but may not always be obvious until you do it.

[rightcoastbias]

Well, I finally got the H&R races and wheels on. The car drives very differently from blown out stock suspension. (Now has urethane: control arm bushings, Rear trailing arm bushings, diff bushing, sub-frame bushings, transmission mounts.) Imperfections and transitions on the road surface are quite noticeable. Cruising is not bad at all. Most of my NVH seems to come from Shore 75D Transmission mounts attached to the buzzy M42, especially at idle. Also, H&R races are a lot softer than I thought they would be.

iX weaves 205/55R15
20mm spacers
80mm stud conversion
H&R Races
Bogg shocks (Still not blown after two tanks of gas! )
no spring pads
M42 weighing the front down.





H&R races give late models the appearance of reverse rake. Considering drop hats.

[blalor]

Reading sensors with an Arduino. Not worth explaining.

It is to me! :D PM with details if you don't want to go public, but I'd love to hear more. Thinking of doing something similar…

[Heysüß]

at least someone's e30 is riding purty :)

Looks awesome!!

[rightcoastbias]

M42 is running extremely strong, but I got the itch for more torque.
Lets see how this works with my 4.10 diff.

[!AjHoWzA!]

Nice find for $400. Good deal

[freeride53]

Very nice! I quietly accumulating funds while at school so that I can do the exact same.
Vanos? Nv? BTW, you have good taste in cars. :up: Any newer pics with the ix weaves?

[rightcoastbias]

Very nice! I quietly accumulating funds while at school so that I can do the exact same.
Vanos? Nv? BTW, you have good taste in cars. :up: Any newer pics with the ix weaves?

No new pictures with the iX weaves. I painted the centers a metallic grey and affixed new roundel emblems then grinded the studs down to fit the centercaps. Cellphone pics of a filthy car aren't worth posting.

The motor is a M50TU head on an M52B28 block.
-Red label 413 DME
-Replaced headgasket
-Waterpump
-Metal Thermostat Housing
-Thermostat
-Valve cover gasket
-Oil pan gasket
-Serpentine Belt (Mini Cooper S Supercharger belt for PS delete)

Swap stuff:
-E34 oil pan and pickup tube
-E34 dipstick tube with welded bracket for intake manifold.
-eBay SuperSprint knock offs with Flowmaster Y200250
-Motor mounts made from scrap 4" Delrin rod.
-Slotted brake booster.

Stripped the valve cover and used VHT wrinkle.

Then decided to keep myself from ever selling this; Wire brush, aircraft stripper, and some 'Clemson (Hemi) Orange'.



I've gathered that a 2.5" single exhaust is fine for a M50B25TU; the factory exhaust on my 318i is 2.25" which is only 13% smaller. I plan to use ebay headers into my existing 318i (M42) exhaust.

[rightcoastbias]

Haven't updated this for months.

M52B28 OBDI sedan.

[rightcoastbias]

First start. Feels good, man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yigxdl_-jyc

It was 1 am. The valve cover to intake boot hose was loose. Idles fine.

[rightcoastbias]

The 24V has been incredible, but the paint on this car has been complete shit.

So, I decided to get rid of it.

I love hood-less 24V e30's.

A few hundred grams of bondo and sheets of sandpaper later.

And "Oh the huge-manatee" the car is now encased in Rustoleum Smoke Grey per Hot Rod Magazine: The $98 Paint Job

I'm still taking my time in the wet sanding and recoating process. So far, it has been a blast to strip it down and roll paint with friends. Considering I saved this car from a pick-n-pull and I still have under $1k into this car, I'm not sweating the results. The car has been a battle wagon and I've been playing with the idea of "Battleship Grey" for a while.

Remember to have fun, r3v. :finger:

[rightcoastbias]

Third coat. As it came off the roller.

[freeride53]

Sell out! :(

[rightcoastbias]

Sell out! :(

Haha. Ive been wanting a 24v e30 for too long. The m42 went into a local's 2002.