MPLFoster - 1990 325i - Exporting back to Germany

[MPLFoster]

Phone pic of the headers after a dozen heat cycles or so. Most of the black coating has come off. Going to hit them with some high temp paint soon.

[MPLFoster]

Got the Ireland Engineering race headers installed.
Click for exhaust clip. The mic on the iphone makes it seems raspy. there's still no rasp even with the IE race headers.

They sound amazing. Can hear the individual exhaust pulses now. Really sounds great. This clip does it no justice but gives you an idea. Feels like i lost a bit of low end but the mid range and top end are much more robust. Been having a blast cruising around lately.

Sorry for the phone dump. Left my camera in Seattle with a buddy. Hopefully i can get you guys a good video of chukanut drive soon. I have a great dash cam that has good video and sound quality and i've been trying to get a clean run up and down chukanut but the traffic lately has increased now that the weather is so nice. Also makes the really nice cars come out. Got to cruise with an AC Shelby Cobra (could have been a kit) and some porches and audis the other day but was held up by a mini-van. :hitler:

[MPLFoster]

New seats and interior. Corbeau GTS II in full suede. E30 specific brackets by Corbeau with double locking sliders. Got them for a crazy good price from my buddy in AZ who is a distributor. Paid less for my seats, shipped to my door, in suede, with double locking sliders AND brackets, than what a pair of just the base seats in cloth go for on amazon. Also installed all the black door cards i've been holding onto as well as the rear ski-pass...just need a clean black seat bottom and maybe some rear headrests.














Got my gearswitch E30 ultimate cupholder. it's pretty neat. now i have 3, count em', THREE cupholders. yeah. 8-)

[MPLFoster]

Exhaust clip:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/108410544@N07/w621F1

Last clip is with the Miller MAF+tune and 19# injectors installed. Exhaust is comprised of the stock cast-iron manifolds w/down-pipes cut after the o2 bung merged into a single 2.5in collector then piped into two 1141 vibrant resonators (stacked one right after the other) then run back to an 1148 vibrant muffler (single 2.5"inlet w/dual tips).

Can't wait to hear what it sounds like after the IE long-tubes i just ordered get here...in like 3-4weeks. :hitler:

Got some new seats on the way as well. Should make long drives way more comfortable.

[MPLFoster]

Installed the Miller MAF+chip and 19# injectors. Used a K&N cone filter. Need to figure out an air-box/ram-air set up for this. Until then i've just used the lower half of the stock air-box/AFM underneath so hopefully it'll still scoop up some cool air from the headlight surrounds and keep it from getting splashed.
















Also got the exhaust system welded up...mostly. The long tube headers from topspeedauto on eBay don't fit, so i returned them. We chopped the stock down-pipes right after the o2 bung and merged everything into 2.5" all the way out the back. Not ideal but it'll do until i source a proper set of headers.

SUPER MELLOW tone. NO rasp at all. Even flat out at 7k..no rasp. A little drone on the freeway but really not bad. I'm actually very pleased with the sound, just wish i could have used the headers.

I'll get an exhaust clip up soon. Here's some pics for now.














Detailed the dash and center console. Also got my houndstooth shift-boot from stitched.











The throttle response from the MAF and the noise from the exhaust have made this car a lot more fun recently. Can't wait to install the cam and get it tuned.

Next up is suspension and diff. Then i get to tinker with the headlights.

[MPLFoster]

Unfortunately it wasn't shot in RAW. My 18-55 kit lens has been having problems lately and won't communicate with the body if i'm shooting RAW. The sun was going away pretty fast so I used my 24mm lens and forgot to change my settings. If you still want the full res jpeg file, PM me your email.

[lambo]

Have the RAW file of this pic? If not, what's your Flickr page? I kinda want to play with some edits.

[shameson]

No problem dude!

[MPLFoster]

Yup. Thanks again for the heads up. :up:

[shameson]

I like the Luke box setup. Is this what the ski pass seat is for?

[MPLFoster]

Excited to see this in the future! The GC coils were a good choice, I have them on mine and love them. And the epsilons will look perfect with a nice drop!

Hats off to you, Sir.

Thanks fellers. Exhaust goes in on Monday. Pretty excited. I'll get a video of it soon after.

Here's a few more pics...



Got the Luke-Box wired up and mounted. Tuned the amp and holy shit, it sounds amazing. The luke-box IS magic. I totally get why people say that now...i've had big 12's in ported boxes that made a lot of bass but clarity was poor to say the least. Very sloppy bass. That is NOT the case with the luke-box, it's tight and heavy. Plenty of boom when you want it. With premium speakers amp'd up and the luke-box dialed in it makes really great sound. Can't say enough good things about it. I love it. If you don't have one, get one.





Still working on a solution to clean up the wiring. Probably going to mount the amp differently and route them more discretely.

Moving on..here are some better shots of the Nardi Gara Type 3 and the new Condor "shorty" weighted shift-knob. Plus the custom aluminum cup/phone holder (http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=292015) i got from a local-ish member. It's pretty sweet...i really enjoy being able to place a drink down, go thru a corner at speed and not have to worry about orange soda all over my interior. And the phone holder is just plain convenient.

The Nardi is most excellent. Very supple leather, definitely 9.5/10 condition and the design is something i can't get over. I love the way it looks. Strongly considered a Nardi Classic with a lighter wood grain but im so glad i went with leather. Such good feel from this wheel. Love it.











Kinda diggin' the somewhat spartan interior. I'm putting together a black interior though so it won't be sparse for long. Just need a set of adjustable sport seats (OEM or aftermarket) and maybe black carpet or dye my old grey carpet...although i may just leave it out. It was surprisingly heavy.

Hey there..


My boy...caught him basking in the sun 8-)


Needs a wash and some TLC. Been considering a CF hood to be paint matched once i start the body-work. Wouldn't mind the weight savings but from what i hear the fit of most CF hoods is crap. Anyone know of any decent offerings?


Weird sky tonight...



That's the Sun. Was really cool looking. If i was gooder at taking pictures it would look way better, cuz these pics do it no justice.

[ButtJuice]

Hats off to you, Sir.

[shameson]

Excited to see this in the future! The GC coils were a good choice, I have them on mine and love them. And the epsilons will look perfect with a nice drop!

[MPLFoster]

yeah man. as soon as everything has heat cycled a few times i'll get a vid up. i'm hoping the two resonators and muffler create a nice tone that isn't too droney on the highway. i suppose i could always turn up the luke-box.. :)

[animal]

man those long tubes look sexy. def want to see a vid of how they sound!