My Imola Ti...Sport Limited =-)

[Mystikal]

I fucking love this car. Besides my E30 I've owned 2 Ti's, the first was a '96 M-Tech that I installed an M52B28 and 3.73LSD into. May have been the most fun car I've driven. Ran 14.2 in the 1/4 and still got great fuel economy. And now my fun car is an Imola S54 M Roadster, so man this Imola Ti has my heart in a lock.

I pine for a Dakar 323Ti (had a Dakar M3 way back). One day if I come across a nice one I just might ship it across the pond. So perfect.

[328ijunkie]

Looks awesome!

[MikeDE]

Got the H&R Cup Kit, front brakes w/ ATE Discs & Zimmerman pads & the F&R sway bar links in on Sunday. Only managed to take a few pics:

#1 almost ready to go in.


Chased the threads in the knuckle. The only thing that made me nervous about the whole job was where the struts were bolted to the knuckles. When I did the Billy's in my '97 M3 ages ago, I had one of them break off as I was loosening it(and that was with air). Had to drill it out to get a remover in there, hold it with vice-grips, then heat the knuckle till she started to turn.
I was glad when the Rt side came out almost by hand. The left I had to be careful as they gave a bit of resistance...and this is why:





Front all together:


After a nice test-drive, about 10mi:


Don't forget that it has 10mm pads in the rear(instaed of 5mm), and 9mm pads on the front(instead of 3mm).
It behaves much better than before. The ride is more supple, sharp bumps no longer bang, it goes over/absorbs them with ease. There's much more confidence now as it stays planted instead of getting light over rises/large 'bumps'/uneven pavement. I would recommend the CupKit to anyone looking for a DD-suspension. Mind you, it's on 16" winter tires atm, I have a set of 17's(above) with an XL rating. With stiffer sidewalls, we'll see how it feels...

I wanted to do the M20 Clutch swap/DS work this week, but my wife's car developed a leaky radiator. Couldn't have both cars sidelined so it'll have to wait till the weekend after next. The wife & kids will be away so barring any issues, i'll have time & no distractions.

Edit-TOB just arrived...

[328ijunkie]

Love me some Ti's

[MikeDE]

Nice looking car. I always wondered why they didn't use the standard E36 dash.

They realized people were getting sick of looking at their saggy glovebox's.

Sent from my HTC Desire X using Tapatalk

[reelizmpro]

Nice looking car. I always wondered why they didn't use the standard E36 dash.

[Coyote_ar]

Really nice car u got there.

E36/5 323ti are the last cars BMW made that feel like an E30. 1 series just dont, size is similar but weight is way off. On the other hand 323ti is barely heavier than a 325i E30, but it still feels raw.
Yet its extremely more civilized than an E30 when you are not fooling around.

[MikeDE]

Been busy(spending money) the past week or two:


H&R Cup Kit 60/40(or 60/30 according to the TÜV Paperwork...)
HD RSM's with Z3 reinforcement plates
New bumpstops/dust shields
Front sway endlinks
Rear sway links(1yr old from my E34)
9mm Spring Pads


One of these are factory tweeter pods, with Blaupunkt tweeters....I have some original A-Pillar covers on the way. I 'll take pics of the POS's that are currently on the car before I set them on fire.


Druvetrain stuff: New M20 Clutch(disc is elsewhere), M20 FW, New FW & PP bolts, Elring rear main, Febi CSB, Flex disc(1yr old from E34, 520i has the G250/small disc), new pilot bearing/spring clip/pivot and the TOB is on the way. Also have some lightly used exhaust gaskets in there just incase I can'r get the DS out without removing the cat section. Got new shift rail bushings F&R, I already installed the Z3 2,8 shift lever. Had to tweak it a bit so it sits straight up(doesn't help that my POS trans has a '5th gear lean'-like condition. Sits MAYBE 1/4" lower than stock, but the bottom is quite a bit longer. I have to add some weight so it smooths out.

There's a 50k mi G250 sitting in my basement that'll go in as well. And have to get new M6 bolts for the oilpan after it's shaved for the M20 FW.

Front rotors are shot, looks like someone pad-slapped them for the 2nd time. The ATE's were a steal @ €55/pr. Got some Zimmerman pads off of Ebay for €25.


Decided to try some new tires after reading a couple(hundred) reviews: Falken Ziex Ze914. I need a 91W minimum, according to the reg papers SO I didn't have many choice's in my price range. These have a 94W XL, so they have stiffer sidewalls and a higher rating....yay...b/c I can cram so much stuff into the Ti's massive cargo area.



And this pos M52 manifold will be donating it's oil separator/icv/vacuum plate to be grafted onto an M50 manifold currently collecting dust in the basement. I wanna keep everything as factory looking as possible. I'll be installing that after I make an appt at SGS Tuning just up the road from me in Mainz. I had talked with Dave @ Markert Motorwerks quite a bit about tuning it, but Sven/SGS is here if I have any issues, and he has a heck of a rep. Dave was very helpful though, I would recommend hitting him up if you're thinking about a tune.

The fuel rail has some low-mi OBD2 2.5l injectors with fresh o-rings, they'll be going into an OBD1 rail so I can use the proper cover.


Suspension/brakes install commences tomorrow....i'll start the Trans/clutch/DS work if all goes well.

[MikeDE]

I swapped the axle-back Rueter 'S' for an full SS AC Schnitzer catback on Tuesday...

As it sat Tuesday night with new hangers:


BUT the flange to the cat was cracked, on the inboard edge. I decided to 'band-aid' it for the time being:



Did the same to the other side as well, just incase. Then Zinc-sprayed the entire thing:


Then painted the can black:


Then decided the tip would look better with the innards also in black:

(paint's still wet)

Also, ordered an H&R Cup Kit 60/40mm. It's a hair low for daily duty, for me anyway, but I already have the 10mm spring pads in the rear, and I ordered the 9mm pads for the front. My HD E46 RSM's with reinforcement plates also came in today. New bumpstops and dust boots are on the way.

Went to BMW and ordered a Z3 2.8/3.0 shift lever & cup, bushings F&R. F or the M20 FW/clutch swap, had to order the FW bolts, spring clip, TOB and pilot bearing. I think I have a M20 starter lying around somewhere...

She needs wheels, since i'm rather partial the the Style 32's, I bought a set in E90 fitment: 17x8, et34:

They're curbed a bit, but for the price, couldn't say no. They MIGHT go into service as winter wheels(need 17's for E46 330d brakes) when/if I find a set of BBS RK's.

[e30onBBSs]

cool car

[MikeDE]

Pulled the old sub box/platform out...


...and cut a new floor/platform from some plywood like stuff I had in lying around. Quick and dirty but it came out alright. Squeezed the Amp and stuff over so the spare would fit inside, takes up the same amount of space as the Sub did.

I have to get a good size carriage bolt to mount the spare though...


Also did this:

Now it has clutch feel....the wife helped me bleed it, she has no patience.

[Petebee]

Early years got the M42 here in the US...

Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk

[MikeDE]

Ok, a bit more progress on this piece:

Threw on an M3 lip, sorry no pics. Swapped the plugs to the Bosch 4-prong thingy's I had leftover from the other M52, and the coils to known-good low-mi units. I thought maybe I was getting a slight miss at tip-in(maybe the TPS also), but we'll see what happens.

Thursday AM/PM I was driving around and it took WAY long to come to temperature, didn't want to think anything of it really;). Same night on the way home from work, it started losing temp on the hwy. I suppose a stuck open t-stat is better than the alternative. Luckily still had a 1yr old T-stat and housing from the E34. Picked up a new profile gasket/)-ring, threw those in Friday morning, and A-OK.

Decided to tackle the rotted out front Swaybar brackets. The left was obviously shot, the bushing shot up to the chassis. As I started hammering on that one to loosen it/rid it of the rust, and the Right side fell apart at the same time. But anyway, the left one which appeared to be falling off took twice as much time to cut off as the right side, which looked way more solid.

Anyway, a day and a half later(did it on my back, on stands in my parking spot) of grinding/cutting/drilling/welding, the Ti was back on the ground. Threw on new bushings & u-brackets at the same time. Having a FSB actually attached to the chassis makes a big difference....btw, I ordered a 19mm(16mm on there atm) rear sway bar from a Z3M Roadster/Coupe. Curious to see how it changes handling characteristics.

BTW, if anyone has to do this, and want even a prayer of having enough room to get in there you'll have to remove the all splash guards(fender wells can be bent out of the way), the alternator has to go, along with the AC comp & bracket.

Here's some quick pics of the carnage:














And one pic from a couple days ago:


^See the spare sticking out...

More to come soon, like wheels & (proper) suspension. Clutch isn't healthy, i'll be going M20-setup. Shifter rebuild also on the way, and still have to remove that goddamn CDV:hitler:

I'm swapping the loud-ass Reuter axle-back out on Tuesday for a full SS AC Schnitzer catback...

I suspect there may be another amp somewhere for just the sub. You can just disconnect the sub, and take the box out. Do you have a spare tire, or is the ICE filling it all up, and PO removed the spare?

Actually, I just yanked the wires from the sub -> amp. I'm going to chop the sub side of the box off. The spares on the Ti's hang underneath, unfortunately they're painfully visible from behind SO i'm going to relocate the spare where the sub now sits, and remove the 'cage' from underneath.

That looks great, Ive always had a weird attraction to them, but here we only got them with the M44 so Ive avoided them

I here ya...

[2mAn]

That looks great, Ive always had a weird attraction to them, but here we only got them with the M44 so Ive avoided them

[rcsoundn1]

I suspect there may be another amp somewhere for just the sub. You can just disconnect the sub, and take the box out. Do you have a spare tire, or is the ICE filling it all up, and PO removed the spare?