Project Frankenstein. . My journey with my E30's

[rav320uk]

Na, never met...

[F34R]

Thanks man! :D

Yea they have a bit of stretch but not excessive like I have seen in the past! :-o

Your car will settle AT MOST maybe .5" Your tires are way too small and really ruined the look/ride.
I approved till I saw those, you can get the proper tires or switch to coilovers and lower till they are nicely fitted. That's my

Everything else is spot on ;D

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Yea I say go to coilovers will give you a much cleaner look.

[cypriotgeeza]

Thanks for the input guys :up:

I'll be honest I bought these wheels at a time where all I wanted to do was slam my car on coilovers for that "look"

I feel like I've grown up a bit now and as much as I still love the look of these wheels I know to pull them off the car has to be very low and I'm not going much lower then this for now.. coilovers are a definite thought for the future but not yet..

I've already got some wheels in mind for everyday use.. All in good time! 8)

[CorvallisBMW]

Nice work on the suspension! I would agree that the tires on the Borbet wheels are too small in circumference, but I honestly loved the weaves you had on before as well. Keep up the good work!

[cypriotgeeza]

Nice work on the suspension! I would agree that the tires on the Borbet wheels are too small in circumference, but I honestly loved the weaves you had on before as well. Keep up the good work!

Thanx man :up:

Maybe if they were 15's I would consider keeping them but 14's are too small if you ask me..

Only thing I love is with the 14's the car looks like a standard 320i convertible..

Untill we both pull away at the lights ;D 8) lol

[cypriotgeeza]

So I've been busy buying more stuff lol (does it ever end :crazy:)

I finally bought a Wind deflector! What a difference this made to driving with the hood down! If you have a convertible get one of these ASAP! It doesn't feel like I'm driving in a wind tunnel anymore lol




I also bought a strut brace and a wiring cover 8) Much cleaner engine bay now!






I fitted my borbets and went for a drive ;D :




and I can confirm it has tightened the steering up BIGTIME! It feels so much more responsive, I'm pretty certain the low profile +16's helped also as I have been driving around with the 14inch BBS with the balloon tyres since I did the conversion.

I can't wait to get the Clubsport rack on their now :D

[cypriotgeeza]

Here's a couple more pics from last weeks drive! 8)







Oh yea..i went out today and picked up this bad boy 8) ;D







It is out of an auto 2.4td E34 so it definitely hasn't had a hard drifting life lol

It's the wrong ratio for an M30 B35 though so it will be gutted and mated up to my 3.64 Diff probably next weekend! I cant wait! :D

[cypriotgeeza]

Update time people!

Started off the day by fitting the Z3 1.9 shifter I bought which is DEFINITELY one of the best mods you can do to an E30!

It has made the gear changes so much more tighter and precise! Feels like a well oiled rifle locking another bullet for action :D

Also changed my gear stick boot as the pictures show clearly enough its seen better days :chuckle:









Very small vid of it in action 8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_DCP6H1ffk

So then I moved onto the other part I was itching to fit 8)







It came from a 2.4td Auto so it hasn't had a hard life at all! :D

I'm still not sure on the Ratio but I thought id try it out as they had these fitted on the E30 M3 so I will see how it is for a bit and if I don't like it I will drop the LSD into the 3.64 gears!

Gave my friend a visit and helped him fit his LSD..



We then gave the cars a good polish and went for a drive ;D




I don't think many people would "appreciate" the videos of us testing out our LSD's so I wont upload them. .But what a lot of fun it was! (and all OFF road of course)

What an animal it is now! :twisted:
I now know why people rave on about lsd's on E30s! It totally changes the characteristics of the car! I just wish I did it sooner! 8)

[CorvallisBMW]

Nice work! Do you have an x-brace? If not, I would highly recommend one. Between that and you're new strut bar, you'll think it was a new car.

[TimeMachinE30]

Wow. Your car just keeps getting better. Nice work.

[2mAn]

Very cool. I think Im in love with a Mtech1 Vert. So sexy...

[lukeADE335i]

Great work - your engine bay is very neat!

Next set of tyres just throw some 205/50 16s on there and the springs will work well! (I've got Alpina reps with said tyres under Eibach springs and they look great).

Diff wise I also went the same way - I started with a 3.73 then a 3.46 and now a 3.25 LSD - the 3.25 turns the car into much more of a cruiser, but it still has plenty of oomph. Basically it'll go from being a bit mental to being like you'd think BMW would have built an M30 powered e30 from the factory.

Sometimes I still hanker for my 3.73 though :devil:

[cypriotgeeza]

Thanks for the love guys :oops:

CorvallisBMW : By an X brace I'm assuming you mean the one under the car? I had a little debate on the E30zone about wether that even works or not on a vert and left it as - Maybe ill get one in the future and see.. lol
Im Guessing you have one? If so do you have any pics of it fitted? Whats your experience with it?

TimeMachinE30 : Thanks man! Still plenty more to come! 8)

2mAn : Thanks man! You cant beat a tech I for me...I've always loved the really old schoolness of it - wether it has the kit or the chrome..Saloon or Convertible - there's just something special about it 8)

lukeADE335i : Thanks for your input man! With the amount of fun im having with the lsd i dont think these tyres will last long so i may go for a different size in the future :P

I'll be honest my initial plan was to put the lsd into the 3.64 gearing as my main aim is acceleration with this machine. But my friends persuaded me to give it a try and go from there...I still havent had a real chance to see how it feels with the 3.25 as the weather has been so bad here in the UK the cars been covered up most of the time :(

Time will tell as I really enjoyed the mental acceleration the 3.64 gave me lol

[CorvallisBMW]

Yes, the x-brace goes from your front subframe to the control arm mounts, and significantly reduces chassis flex, especially in convertibles. It's honestly a must-have, makes a huge difference in driving feel and confidence. Especially since you've already stiffened the "top" of the shock towers with your strut brace. Get one, you'll be glad you did :up: