Hey guys, I'm new around here. Not new to cars, and not new to forums. I come from the offroad world with lifted Land Rovers, which I've owned two. So owning a small car is new to me, bimmers are new to me, and lowered cars are new..
Figured I'd start somewhat of a build thread for my newly acquired project.
A buddy of mine got a 4 door 325e and I drove it and loved it so I started my search. After talking about engine builds and swaps and the whole 9, he mentioned something about a "Super Eta." I thought the whole "stroker" idea was great, and cost efficient to get some bolt on power. I've rebuilt the top end of my Rover, and am currently building a SBC 383 stroker, so I'm not new to building motors or cars, so building a super eta sounded like a plan.
So I started surfing craigslist, for months, looking for the right car for the right price, built, project, whatever fit my eye.
So I found a guy about 45 miles from where I live with an 88 325. He didn't know much about it, country boy on a farm had no idea what he had. So I went to check it out, and come to find it is indeed a supet eta, based on the year and 6K tach.
Story on the car is 1st owner old lady car T-boned-ish in the front fender/driver door. Somehow totaled the car with body work, from what I understand she had it in with the insurance agency and collected a lump some of cash and had the car fixed, and sold it to the guy I bought it from.
So it has a "Total Loss Claim" Title, no biggie, doesn't bother me one bit.
He also tells me the auto tranny "just stopped pulling one day, but it had reverse."
So then and there I negotiated his asking price of $850 to $600. Threw it on a trailer, and brought it home. He also gave me a spare auto, 4hp22.
So the big picture, main plan, is to do a manual swap (of course), throw on the 2.5i head, intake, throttle body, etc. Add a chip, maybe a 272 cam, maybe turbo one day since low compression, idk lots of ideas going around.
It already has eBay headers, no cats, and a magnaflow slip on muffler (which Im not big on, but its all brand new). And has some off brand "cone" filter, which I'm also not a big fan of.
But for now, I'll just do all the regular maintenance, Timing belt, water pump, hoses, fan clutch, valve cover gasket, ignition overhaul, all filters, all fluids, the normal stuff.
Sorry for the long post, I like to throw my name out there and let you guys know I'll be lurking in the shadows and asking dumb questions. Now for the good stuff, pictures...




Figured I'd start somewhat of a build thread for my newly acquired project.
A buddy of mine got a 4 door 325e and I drove it and loved it so I started my search. After talking about engine builds and swaps and the whole 9, he mentioned something about a "Super Eta." I thought the whole "stroker" idea was great, and cost efficient to get some bolt on power. I've rebuilt the top end of my Rover, and am currently building a SBC 383 stroker, so I'm not new to building motors or cars, so building a super eta sounded like a plan.
So I started surfing craigslist, for months, looking for the right car for the right price, built, project, whatever fit my eye.
So I found a guy about 45 miles from where I live with an 88 325. He didn't know much about it, country boy on a farm had no idea what he had. So I went to check it out, and come to find it is indeed a supet eta, based on the year and 6K tach.
Story on the car is 1st owner old lady car T-boned-ish in the front fender/driver door. Somehow totaled the car with body work, from what I understand she had it in with the insurance agency and collected a lump some of cash and had the car fixed, and sold it to the guy I bought it from.
So it has a "Total Loss Claim" Title, no biggie, doesn't bother me one bit.
He also tells me the auto tranny "just stopped pulling one day, but it had reverse."
So then and there I negotiated his asking price of $850 to $600. Threw it on a trailer, and brought it home. He also gave me a spare auto, 4hp22.
So the big picture, main plan, is to do a manual swap (of course), throw on the 2.5i head, intake, throttle body, etc. Add a chip, maybe a 272 cam, maybe turbo one day since low compression, idk lots of ideas going around.
It already has eBay headers, no cats, and a magnaflow slip on muffler (which Im not big on, but its all brand new). And has some off brand "cone" filter, which I'm also not a big fan of.
But for now, I'll just do all the regular maintenance, Timing belt, water pump, hoses, fan clutch, valve cover gasket, ignition overhaul, all filters, all fluids, the normal stuff.
Sorry for the long post, I like to throw my name out there and let you guys know I'll be lurking in the shadows and asking dumb questions. Now for the good stuff, pictures...





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