New to me Euro E30 M3 and the crazy story behind it...

[evil-diesel]

Fantastic cars you got!

thanks, but the collection in your sig is on a whole other level...:mrgreen:

[evil-diesel]

yesterday was the perfect day to feed my addiction, decided to take her out for some one on one bonding time....:p

[evil-diesel]

It seems like the forum has been slow lately, I almost feel like I'm updating this thread for myself... Regardless, a lot has been going on in the last couple of weeks and I wanted to share every step of this car being returned to it's former glory.

To start things off, I promised myself that the car would pass the German TÜV inspection before the end of 2014. I had completed my business goals for the year about two weeks before Christmas. With work out of the way for the year, I had a limited amount of time to focus on what's really important (the M3) :)

First order of business was the general wheel / tire set up. I was running the style 5's without anti rattle clips up front and the rear was tucked in way too much for my taste. I contacted Eibach directly to work out a solution. What I ended up with are custom spacers front and rear that also do away with the hubcentric rings normally needed to compensate for the e39 vs. e30 hub diameter.
It's sitting exactly how I want it now. I also ditched the red BBS emblems for some regular roundels, the look is much cleaner IMO...

[evil-diesel]

Next up I finally got what I had been trying to get my hands on for years... My own workshop!!! I managed to get my hands on a warehouse big enough to store seven cars, along with a lift, a welder, an air compressor and a bunch of other things I had always been wanting to have at my disposal whenever I wanted...

Please excuse the mess in the shop, the people that had it before me left it this way, I plan on cleaning it up before spring.

The first project in the new workshop was my exhaust.
Ever noticed how I bought the car with those hideous DTM style tips that stuck out way past the rear bumper? I scrapped those shortly after I got the car and had been running an exhaust without any tips since then.

I put my newly acquired tools to good use and welded on some new tips exactly the way I wanted them...





Much better…

[evil-diesel]

With that out of the way I had to overhaul some stuff to pass the German TÜV inspection to ensure complete road worthiness.


First order of business was to finally get to the bottom of my surging idle. After replacing the CPS, the barometric sensor and pretty much every hose on the intake side of the engine it finally came down to the ICV!



I got a good deal on a refurbished one directly from Bosch...



Trying to find the source of the surging idle lead to me becoming an expert at removing and installing the plenum in record time :)

With that out of the way I turned my attention to the front suspension. I pretty much replaced everything while I was in there...






Having a lift at my disposal at all times is still something I have to get used to...

Here she is sitting pretty among some of the other toys.





I forgot to take pictures of some other maintainance things I did recently. These include new rear rotors, new pads front and rear, a new shift linkage, new fluids for everything etc.
In the background you can see a green e34. It's a no rust 540i with 90k miles that had been sitting in the underground garage at my work for the last 10 years. I bought it for next to nothing. Yet another "once" in a lifetime deal on a BMW! I'm not sure what to do with it, I'll probably just clean it up and flip it to fund something else.

[CorvallisBMW]

Nice work, and sweet score on the e34!

[getouth]

I follow this thread every time I get on here bro.....pure win !!!

[Matt341]

this thread delivers! Nice job

[G FORCE]

Looks great and grats on a nice shop setup. I really wish I had a lift. I too want to get rid of these DTM tips on this exhaust.

[thatphysicsguy]

damn, some of those pics are pure sex

[diegom6]

That lift looks like a NuBbaum (german) to me? :)

[evil-diesel]

That lift looks like a NuBbaum (german) to me? :)

you're 100% correct. It's an old Nußbaum. Very solid, but unfortunately it's also very slow. It takes what feels like an eternity to get the car up in the air. Still, I'm not complaining... never having to crawl around under one of my cars again is priceless!

[diegom6]

you're 100% correct. It's an old Nußbaum. Very solid, but unfortunately it's also very slow. It takes what feels like an eternity to get the car up in the air. Still, I'm not complaining... never having to crawl around under one of my cars again is priceless!

I had 4 of those (actually I still have them but in the corner of the shop w/o use) 94 manufacture year. Lasted many years and only one recently broke. Yes, they were a bit slow now we have the electro hydraulic ones much faster.

If you don't mind....

[DER E30]

Nice shop! Love the e34 and those style 5s!:up:

DiegoM6- Love the Ms! Especially the white:up:

[markseven]

Wow, what a story. What a find. She looks great.