SweetLew's 1989 325is

[SweetLew]

Video Feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U72w4CGv_M

-Recent pictures-



















1989 325is - Owned since: October 19th, 2014

Motor

• Stock M20 bottom end
• Rebuilt and decked head
• Condor Speed Shop Motor Mounts
• ARP head studs
• Elring head gasket w/ copper sealant
• 42lb Ford Lightning Green Top Injectors
• LS2 ignition coils with custom mount to valve cover
• Integrated Engineering distributor delete plate
• e46 cam position sensor
• Walbro 255 kit from CA Tuned
• 3" custom turbo back exhaust

Turbo Setup

• HX35 - Ported to T3 flange
• Tial EWG w/ dump to downpipe
• eBay turbo manifold
• eBay oil cooler
• eBay intercooler
• Tial 50mm BOV

EM and Electrical

• Megasquirt V3
• Innovate MXL Wideband
• E36 modified wiring harness

Suspension/Brakes

• Wilwood 4 piston calipers
• Stoptech rotors
• SS braided brake lines
• CAtuned 36 way adjustable coilovers

Interior

• M-Tech I steering wheel
• ///M shift knob

Exterior

• 3M wrap in Gloss Anthracite
• 50% tint all around (including windshield)
• Black trim
• Custom "Duck Tail" spoiler

Wheels

• Manufacturer: CCW
• Model: LM16
• Offset: +22
• Spacers: 25mm front, 20mm rear
• Finish: Gloss black lips, satin black faces
• Front sizing: 16x9 || Final offset: -3
• Rear sizing: 16x9.5 || Final offset: +2
• Tires: 215/40r16 - Yokohama S-Drive

[SweetLew]

The Story

///Table of contents

Page One
-Day 1 - Finding and buying the car
-Tint and peeling plastidip
-Out with the old wheels and in with the...older wheels?
-Vinyl wrapping the E30
-Glamour shots of the wrap and Work Equips
-New CCW's!
-Test fit with 16x9.5 square setup

Page Two
-Fixing the fitment
-Antenna delete plug
-How to cover a rear valance dent
-Ducktail spoiler
-ISS Car Show
-Straight pipe to Magnaflow
-Turbo plans and execution

Page Three
-Turbo plans and execution/head swap

Page Four
-Diagnosing ignition issue
-Intro to Dyno
-2015 Mark Miller Season Opener
-Video Feature
-Beginning of Wuste pictures

Page Five
-Glamour shots

Day 1 - Finding and buying the car

I've got some big goals for this car, and this thread is mostly for myself to look back on and see the whole story. However, I'm a big reader of build threads, so I hope all of you enjoy the mods and pictures as much as I do!

This is day one. I had been looking for an E30 for quite some time, and found this one in the r3vlimited classifieds. Unfortunately for me, it was being sold on an eBay auction so I had to play the game if I wanted the car. Fortunately for me, my wife works at eBay and gave me some pointers since I am no online auction expert.



The body was clean and straight, paint had seen better days, but the interior was immaculate. It started as a California car, originally owned by an older lady who had it most of it's life. It was then acquired by CAtuned out of Sacramento who completely went through the car and added some tasteful suspension/brake modifications for it's next owner in Colorado from whom I purchased the car. So I flew out to Ft. Collins, CO and picked this guy up.












My buddy and I grabbed some lunch before our trip back to Salt Lake City, UT and got the car prepped for the drive. Although the paint was pretty rough, I taped it anyway, I'm pretty meticulous when it comes to taking care of what I have.





This is my first E30, and I was amazed at how comfortable and smooth a 25+ year old BMW was on the 8 hour road trip. Although I'm sure much of it was a good set of tires and the fresh CAtuned coilovers, I still have to give some credit to the fantastic E30 platform.



And so it began! First was tint, I did 50% all around (windshield included). Then there were a few loose ends I had to tie up (needing a few belts, oil change, peel the plastidip off the wheels, etc.), but overall the car really was in stellar condition. Besides leaving me stranded just one time…







It came with these 17x8 Fifteen52 Tarmac's which really are great looking wheels, just not on an E30. So they were the first to go. I was shooting for a different wheel setup, and with my background being in mostly JDM vehicles, I went with a set of 3 piece, 16x7 Work Equip's. I purchased them on eBay in pretty rough condition but at a killer price. A good friend of mine at Anarchy Coatings refinished them for me in Spanish Gold with flat black hardware and barrels. Wrapped them in a modest 205/45r16







Dat new rubber waffleswaffleswaffles.

[SweetLew]

The original plan was to have it painted, but with the cold winters in Utah (and this being my daily driver) I was afraid of what the temperature might do to the fresh paint. So I wrapped it. Picked up 40 feet of Gloss Anthracite from 3M and went to town. As a side note if any readers would like to do this, I messed up on one door and ended up having to redo it, in all reality I should have purchased more like 50 feet to account for mess ups.

I spent a long time prepping for the wrap. PDR, and clean cracks/crevices are key to a good looking and durable wrap.


All dry and ready.



Wrapping it up.


These before and after pictures really show how bad the paint was. The camera's I've been using have been able to hide it pretty well, but it was in desperate need of some help.



And of course, a couple glamour shots.

[SweetLew]

I've been really happy with the car so far, and it's really coming together how I wanted it to. But I was getting really sick of how skinny the 16x7's look from the back. I really wanted something meatier, especially since I plan on getting a turbo setup in the future. So I pulled the trigger on some of my dream wheels.

16x9.5 CCW LM16's with a +22 offset. I'm stoked to get these guys on, but I'm trying to be patient with the snow and salt on the roads. So these will hopefully be mounted in the next month or so.

[Thebrab]

Sweet car! Can't wait to see the wheels on, are you planning on running some serious poke with 9.5 in the front?

[SweetLew]

Sweet car! Can't wait to see the wheels on, are you planning on running some serious poke with 9.5 in the front?

Thank you sir!

Yes, I actually still need to test fit them. But I'm going to be running a 15mm spacer up front, so I'm hoping that will be enough to clear everything.

[kalib0y]

beautiful. Whats the finish on the CCW wheels?

[SweetLew]

beautiful. Whats the finish on the CCW wheels?

Thanks! Anodized Brushed Black is the finish.

[SweetLew]

beautiful. Whats the finish on the CCW wheels?

I forgot the lips. Lips are Brushed Titanium Anodized, faces are Brushed Black Anodized.

[SweetLew]

Finally got around to a test fit. These were a lot wider than I anticipated and I'm having some trouble clearing the coilovers. This is a test fit with 40mm's worth of spacers and camber plates maxed out haha.

[Stevoyayaya3]

This is nice

[sayed ali]

Nice car

[IzzY_325is]

Car looks great.

[SweetLew]

Thanks!

[SweetLew]

Same shot, but I just couldn't believe how well it came out.