Hi everyone, so we finally got around to giving Olga, my alpine white E34 touring, some lovin' after neglecting her for the past 6 months as my DD. While the car is far from finished, she's definitely improved a lot since I first bought her!
***WARNING: I love to use smilies!***
DISCLAIMER: The ///M badge was put on by the PO with a strong adhesive, and I can't take it off without destroying the paint on the hatch! :o
A bit of history on how I came to find Olga:
While driving various E30s as daily drivers for the past few years was fun and pretty economical, I wanted a change of pace. Last year I sold one of my E30s and bought Black Betty, a pretty clean black on black, 5speed, '86 E24 635csi. I always loved the lines of the shark-like e24 body, and I had big plans for mine. Unfortunately, the US spec E24, being the 3700lb tank that it is, was a terribley uneconomical daily driver. The M30 was terrible on gas in West LA traffic, and I really had to lay on the throttle to keep up with my driving style. IMO the US spec 6 series should've come with a V8; it would've been a much more exciting to drive, and probably would've been better on gas. Sadly, I couldn't afford to keep driving a car that got 13 mpg in traffic everyday, so I sold Ms. Betty.
After driving Chris Castro's nicely set-up 5 speed E34 touring a few times, I had fallen in love with it and wanted to find one for myself. :D
I had 2 requirements, which made finding my touring a bit more time consuming: it had to have black interior and it had to be fairly clean. After 3 months of looking, and reluctantly finding a buyer for the '89 325iS I was driving, I found Ms. Olga on Craigslist.
There were a few things that immediately caught my attention about the car:
1) It was a clean alpine white touring with black interior! This color combination is pretty hard to find on tourings and it happens to be my favorite color combo offered!
2) The car had 17x8.5 et 13 AC Schnitzer Type 3s, which I've always loved!
3) The owner had recently done a lot of maintenance to the car, so I knew it was taken care of and wouldn't need a lot of money to make it a reliable DD.
4) It had a super sweet ///M badge on the hatch, so I had to have it!
Originally the seller was asking too much for the touring, but he kept reposting it cheaper and cheaper every couple of weeks. Finally when the price came down to $2,500, I was ready to go check her out!
After inspecting the car, bargaining, and icing the guy for a few weeks, I went and picked up the car for $1,800!
I had big plans for the touring, but we were too busy at the shop with other projects to dedicate time to Ms. Olga for the first few months. To hold me over I wanted to find an affordable set of coil-overs, put in some s50 cams and a tune, 5 speed swap it, build an exhaust, fix the body damage, put in a decent sound system.
What was recently did:
KIDO coilovers - I know they're cheap, eBay coil-overs, but they're good enough to hold me over till I put air suspension on the car.
Staggered 18" AC Schnitzer Type 3s: 18 x 8.5 et-2 front with 235/40/18(originally et +13, but I'm running a 15mm spacer for more flush fitment) 18 x 9.5 et 22 rear with 265/35/18 (12mm spacers will be put on in a week or two)
Early narrow grille front end: This is a late '95 touring, so it originally came with the wider front grille, nose panel and hood. I bought the car with body damage on the front right corner, so I needed another hood, front bumper, and nose panel to get it looking better. Even though the wider grille front end can look good on the e34, I've always preferred the marrower grille front, because it looks more like an e30!
Euro bumper trim: A must for any E30 or E34 IMO!
E32 7 series front lip: Because this is my DD, and I've already gone over budget on my E30 M3 project, I didn't want to spend the extra money on real M5 bumpers. I've always liked the look of the normal E34 bumper, with the M-Sport lip, so I decided to go that route instead. On a trip to the parts yard, I found an E32 7 series M-sport lip (which is basically the same as the e34 one, but it's multi-piece instead of one piece), so I grabbed it for $8. :p
Bosch Euro Smiley Headlights with 55W HIDs: Self explanatory
S50 cams & tune: Since the car was an m50 vanos motor, I had a spare set of s50 cams from a motor I bought a while ago, and we have our own tune for the cams, so I figured why not. The car still needs a 5-speed swap to really feel the difference in each gear...
Ported Schrick intake manifold: First, I'm not here to argue about the efficiency of the M50/OBD1 intake vs. the Schrick.
This is the second one I've purchased for under $500, and it's well worth the money IMO. The added bottom end torque that the runner design provides is awesome, while not really losing any of the top end flow that the M50/OBD1 manifold offers! We had an OBD1 M52, with a Schrick intake manifold, S52 cams and headers, exhaust and a tune in Chris Castro's 5 speed E34 touring, and the car basically kept up with our friend's bone stock '95 m3! :crazy:
If I hadn't found this I would've simply put on an OBD2 intake manifold, as the touring is a heavy pig and I would rather have the bottom end torque, then the top-end performance.
Before: (cell phone pics)
Front passenger body damage not visible, but it wasn't terrible. Also, I added the OEM roof racks immediately after buying it.
After:
Last week, before the euro bumper trim (pics taken with my Droid)
This weekend: Sorry for the randomness, took a bunch of shots this weekend and these were the only ones I thought were decent enough to post. I'm still a rookie, and have a lot to learn, but the pics are decent IMO. Shots were taken with my recently acquired Canon 7D, and a Sigma 10-22mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens I borrowed from my friend. This lens is so much fun to use, I love the distortion!
A little dirty:
Freshly bathed:
Things to do in the weeks to come:
1) Install Powerflex polyurethane upper and lower control arm bushings - the wheels shimmy with the 18s between 45-65 is pretty bad!
2) Get 12mm spacers for the rear, with some more rolling and slight pulling, for flush fitment.
3) Install 90mm bullet nose wheel studs.
4) Have my buddy Alex (Castro) refinish my tail lights in candy red.
5) Install HIDs in the fog lights.
6) 5 speed swap!!!!
7) Shadow line the chrome window trim
8.) Do a satin black vinyl wrap on the roof
9) Get older, E30 style side view mirrors
Bigger plans for the future:
Late this year or early next year I plan to swap in a 5.3L/6.0L Chevy Silverado motor, with a 4L80e automatic trans so I can tow with my touring.
I want a car that I can drive everyday with decent power and gas mileage, which can reliably tow the shop track car, and eventually a jet ski and dirt bike when I purchase them. Therefore, Chris Castro will first start by swapping in the 540 rear subframe, axles, arms, and differential, reinforce the hell out of everything, and build a custom tow hitch.
Also, since I want to stay low, while still being able to tow, I will be selling off my coil-overs later this year and going with air suspension!
***WARNING: I love to use smilies!***
DISCLAIMER: The ///M badge was put on by the PO with a strong adhesive, and I can't take it off without destroying the paint on the hatch! :o
A bit of history on how I came to find Olga:
While driving various E30s as daily drivers for the past few years was fun and pretty economical, I wanted a change of pace. Last year I sold one of my E30s and bought Black Betty, a pretty clean black on black, 5speed, '86 E24 635csi. I always loved the lines of the shark-like e24 body, and I had big plans for mine. Unfortunately, the US spec E24, being the 3700lb tank that it is, was a terribley uneconomical daily driver. The M30 was terrible on gas in West LA traffic, and I really had to lay on the throttle to keep up with my driving style. IMO the US spec 6 series should've come with a V8; it would've been a much more exciting to drive, and probably would've been better on gas. Sadly, I couldn't afford to keep driving a car that got 13 mpg in traffic everyday, so I sold Ms. Betty.
After driving Chris Castro's nicely set-up 5 speed E34 touring a few times, I had fallen in love with it and wanted to find one for myself. :D
I had 2 requirements, which made finding my touring a bit more time consuming: it had to have black interior and it had to be fairly clean. After 3 months of looking, and reluctantly finding a buyer for the '89 325iS I was driving, I found Ms. Olga on Craigslist.
There were a few things that immediately caught my attention about the car:
1) It was a clean alpine white touring with black interior! This color combination is pretty hard to find on tourings and it happens to be my favorite color combo offered!
2) The car had 17x8.5 et 13 AC Schnitzer Type 3s, which I've always loved!
3) The owner had recently done a lot of maintenance to the car, so I knew it was taken care of and wouldn't need a lot of money to make it a reliable DD.
4) It had a super sweet ///M badge on the hatch, so I had to have it!
Originally the seller was asking too much for the touring, but he kept reposting it cheaper and cheaper every couple of weeks. Finally when the price came down to $2,500, I was ready to go check her out!
After inspecting the car, bargaining, and icing the guy for a few weeks, I went and picked up the car for $1,800!
I had big plans for the touring, but we were too busy at the shop with other projects to dedicate time to Ms. Olga for the first few months. To hold me over I wanted to find an affordable set of coil-overs, put in some s50 cams and a tune, 5 speed swap it, build an exhaust, fix the body damage, put in a decent sound system.
What was recently did:
KIDO coilovers - I know they're cheap, eBay coil-overs, but they're good enough to hold me over till I put air suspension on the car.
Staggered 18" AC Schnitzer Type 3s: 18 x 8.5 et-2 front with 235/40/18(originally et +13, but I'm running a 15mm spacer for more flush fitment) 18 x 9.5 et 22 rear with 265/35/18 (12mm spacers will be put on in a week or two)
Early narrow grille front end: This is a late '95 touring, so it originally came with the wider front grille, nose panel and hood. I bought the car with body damage on the front right corner, so I needed another hood, front bumper, and nose panel to get it looking better. Even though the wider grille front end can look good on the e34, I've always preferred the marrower grille front, because it looks more like an e30!
Euro bumper trim: A must for any E30 or E34 IMO!
E32 7 series front lip: Because this is my DD, and I've already gone over budget on my E30 M3 project, I didn't want to spend the extra money on real M5 bumpers. I've always liked the look of the normal E34 bumper, with the M-Sport lip, so I decided to go that route instead. On a trip to the parts yard, I found an E32 7 series M-sport lip (which is basically the same as the e34 one, but it's multi-piece instead of one piece), so I grabbed it for $8. :p
Bosch Euro Smiley Headlights with 55W HIDs: Self explanatory
S50 cams & tune: Since the car was an m50 vanos motor, I had a spare set of s50 cams from a motor I bought a while ago, and we have our own tune for the cams, so I figured why not. The car still needs a 5-speed swap to really feel the difference in each gear...
Ported Schrick intake manifold: First, I'm not here to argue about the efficiency of the M50/OBD1 intake vs. the Schrick.
This is the second one I've purchased for under $500, and it's well worth the money IMO. The added bottom end torque that the runner design provides is awesome, while not really losing any of the top end flow that the M50/OBD1 manifold offers! We had an OBD1 M52, with a Schrick intake manifold, S52 cams and headers, exhaust and a tune in Chris Castro's 5 speed E34 touring, and the car basically kept up with our friend's bone stock '95 m3! :crazy:
If I hadn't found this I would've simply put on an OBD2 intake manifold, as the touring is a heavy pig and I would rather have the bottom end torque, then the top-end performance.
Before: (cell phone pics)
Front passenger body damage not visible, but it wasn't terrible. Also, I added the OEM roof racks immediately after buying it.
After:
Last week, before the euro bumper trim (pics taken with my Droid)
This weekend: Sorry for the randomness, took a bunch of shots this weekend and these were the only ones I thought were decent enough to post. I'm still a rookie, and have a lot to learn, but the pics are decent IMO. Shots were taken with my recently acquired Canon 7D, and a Sigma 10-22mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens I borrowed from my friend. This lens is so much fun to use, I love the distortion!
A little dirty:
Freshly bathed:
Things to do in the weeks to come:
1) Install Powerflex polyurethane upper and lower control arm bushings - the wheels shimmy with the 18s between 45-65 is pretty bad!
2) Get 12mm spacers for the rear, with some more rolling and slight pulling, for flush fitment.
3) Install 90mm bullet nose wheel studs.
4) Have my buddy Alex (Castro) refinish my tail lights in candy red.
5) Install HIDs in the fog lights.
6) 5 speed swap!!!!
7) Shadow line the chrome window trim
8.) Do a satin black vinyl wrap on the roof
9) Get older, E30 style side view mirrors
Bigger plans for the future:
Late this year or early next year I plan to swap in a 5.3L/6.0L Chevy Silverado motor, with a 4L80e automatic trans so I can tow with my touring.
I want a car that I can drive everyday with decent power and gas mileage, which can reliably tow the shop track car, and eventually a jet ski and dirt bike when I purchase them. Therefore, Chris Castro will first start by swapping in the 540 rear subframe, axles, arms, and differential, reinforce the hell out of everything, and build a custom tow hitch.
Also, since I want to stay low, while still being able to tow, I will be selling off my coil-overs later this year and going with air suspension!
DREWLIENTE
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