Bought another E30

[bmwstudent]

So my brother(another member here) and I just bought another E30. This time we purchased it together, with the thought of building something really nice. It's a 90 325i coupe. It has beautiful but filthy brilliantrot paint. Sadly it is an auto, and the motor is supposed to be toast. Both problems can be fixed. We don't really care, we were just after a nice body and we found one. We got it from a young college dude who had gotten it back from police after it was stolen(keys left in ignition) from his house. Anyway we got it for $700. Both of us already have e30's for daily drivers, both our cars are 325e with b25 swaps. Both cars are lowered with bilsteins all the way around, his H&R sports, mine is the bav auto kit, 3:73 lsd's, etc.
This time we are thinking something more fun, 24v, five lug, turbo, coil overs, maybe a bigger brake setup. Any suggestions on what way to go? We are both mechanics and we will be doing all the work, except and paint work. Trying to stay under 10K on the total build. I already have some exterior pieces for it, Racing dynamics rear apron, and what i believe to be a hartge knock off rear spoiler. Looking for ideas on what you would do, or might have done different on your guys' builds. Here's a crappy pic, its all i got last night.

[spike68]

I like where this is going.

But needs moar picsssss

[macinnis]

Looking forward to see the future of this car! Good luck!

[MonkeyMan]

how about a 302? if you're going turbo, you're looking to go fast, right? a roller 5.0 will get you 450hp without breaking a sweat and you can do it all for way less than your turbo build.. the t-5 trans will fit too (gotta do a little fab to go auto>manual anyway).. I think a look at e36v8.com should soup you up a little.. now that would be a sweet build for a couple mechanics..

[MoreMayhem]

More pics with less blurry!

[Xat1cZ]

Bought another E30

Sorry to hear that :/ , just try and stay strong and I am sure you will prevail from these troubled times.

[Blackout]

$700? Lucky SOB.
Good Job!

[MonkeyMan]

Sorry to hear that :/ , just try and stay strong and I am sure you will prevail from these troubled times.

sig worthy

[bmwstudent]

how about a 302? if you're going turbo, you're looking to go fast, right? a roller 5.0 will get you 450hp without breaking a sweat and you can do it all for way less than your turbo build.. the t-5 trans will fit too (gotta do a little fab to go auto>manual anyway).. I think a look at e36v8.com should soup you up a little.. now that would be a sweet build for a couple mechanics..

i already own a 67 mustang with 351 windsor and a b&m 177 blower. I want this to be all bmw.

[bmwstudent]

From what we can tell the car is pretty unmolested and bone stock. It's had new struts and strut bearings, and a few other things done to it recently. I hope to get it running so we can use it as a temporary driver while my brother finishes his interior and dash swap and I install my soon to be purchased head from Myster-e performance. After we finish our cars up and my home garage is built I hope to start on this.

[bmwstudent]

Tried to get the car started today with no luck, it gives a couple spits and sputters but will not run. Checked fuel pressure and checked for good spark, all is well there. Pulled the plugs and ran a compression test, all is not well there. #1has about 90psi, #2 30psi,#3&4 have 0 zero zilch nothing psi, #5 about 30, #6 is the winner with 130 psi. So i started the teardown to the short block. I got the intake and rad out before i left work, tomorrow i'll take off the head and check for the carnage. When the po got the car back from the police it had no water and no oil, so I don't have really high expectations for the short block. Hopefully it survived and I can get it running without laying out too much cash. If the motor is toast we might be looking for a b35 to pop in it until we get the cash up for something serious. Who can tell me why the engine catalyst shows it as a 2302 cc engine? The vacuum diagram is for a four cylinder and the model says m3. I know its not an m3, I know it wasn't a m3, I know it will never be an m3. Maybe someone stuck this engine info sticker on from another car? Any ideas. I ran the vin, its a 90 325i automatic.

[e30vert]

Yup. Someone added that sticker after the fact. Notice how it is not covered in Cosmoline like the clamp is right above the brake fluid reservoir.

[bmwstudent]

Thanks i've been wondering whats up with that. Maybe it was a m3 and someone replaced everything on the car except the sticker. Who wants a six cyl m3 auto with comfort interior and bottle caps. Rare model here fellas, probably the only one ever made. Nevermind i'm not selling, this thing is too unique.

[Lodsin]

If all BMW you want, then BMW V8 it is? M6X with some turbos sounds good.

[bmwstudent]

So I got the head off today and all is not well. The piston and the head are both destroyed. For some reason the pic of the head won't upload, but it shows cylinder two is pretty burnt. Between the exhaust valve and the spark plug, the aluminum is burnt away. You can actually grab the entire side of the exhaust valve seat where the aluminum is burnt around it. The cylinder wall has some heavy scoring, really a shame. Oh well, now in search of a swap motor. Undecided on b35 or m52 s52. I'll probably go after the rest of the car while we are searching for a motor.