Kevin's Bronzit 325i

[ApexScalpel]

Good news! I have a garage! It's nicely sized with plenty of storage space and power.



Because I'm a little crazy I keep the car cover on while it's parked in the garage.



I dropped her off at Bechtel Bavarian for a retro active PPI so that I could have a targeted list of future projects.
They identified a few items that needed attention including:
Old corroded fuel lines
Rear output seal leak
Oil pan gasket leak
Bad front control arm bushings
"Green" coolant
Leaky AC compressor

I immediately had them take care of replacing the fuel lines and AC compressor, and while they were at it they recommended replacing the clutch slave cylinder and line as well. The rest of the work I felt confident completing myself.

There are always really cool E30's and other radwood era bimmers at their shop.




Casey at Bechtel Bavarian sent me photos of the work he was performing the entire time. This cracked fuel hose was particularly scary!








All new fuel lines and filter for good measure!

I had all the best intensions of tackling the rear output shaft seal, but my 30mm deep socket wasn't narrow enough, and both the ST Tools BMW3025 and Powerbuilt Tools Oil sender 1-3/16" 648445 sockets are currently on back order. Until they are back in stock I'll be monitoring the transmission fluid level and topping up as needed.

After having her in the shop for a few days I was itching to go for a nice drive so I found this interesting loop around the Chester/Kennet Square area:



Lot's great, empty, twisty country roads with elevation changes and lovely scenery.

Running through the gears is real treat with the windows and sunroof open, with the glorious inline 6 howl coming from the Stromung exhaust.

This weekend and next I plan on tackling the replacing the thermostat and housing, the oil pan gasket, and bleeding the brakes. I have the control arms and will get to those in the near future.

[L1MITEDE30]

My plans with the car are to keep improving it in small ways in an OEM+ mindset. The tires are definitely a week spot right now, I really wish there were better tires available in 195/65R14 because I love the 14" basketweaves. Unless a set of 15" euroweaves fall into my lap, I think the Ronal LS's will work for me wrapped in a decent summer tire. Coming from a Miata I would like to tighten up the shifter with Garagistic's OEM Supreme short shifter to get rid of some of the slop. Once I get it up on jackstands and really look around there might be some maintenance items I can attend to.

Did you ever install the Garagistic's OEM Supreme short shifter? If so how does it feel and look?

[lukeADE335i]

What a beauty! The car is looking great.

Interested to know why the mechanic was concerned about the "green" coolant? e30s ran green coolant (aka Castrol Anti-freeze / Anti-boil) from the factory. If you're going to change to the modern BMW blue coolant, you'll need be sure you really thoroughly flush the whole system & get all the coolant out so that you don't mix coolants because that's when problems arise.

[DEV0 E30]

Gorgeous. Man, remember when we bashed on the color?

I'd love something like this now.

[arcpolo]

I love everything about this car except those cheap clear side markers......

[ApexScalpel]

It's been an eventful couple of months with my little bronzit!

Went on the first "road trip" in May... A staggering 90 miles all the way to Cape May!



Early in the summer I had Bechtel Bavarian go to town on the E30, completing all the small projects I had planned, but did not have the time to complete myself. Including, but not limited to:

• Replacing the soft and sloppy Eibach lowering springs with firmer and not as low H&R Sport springs
• Replacing almost all the front suspension parts with the 9 piece Lemforder kit
• New brake master cylinder
• New oil pan gasket
• New oil level sender
• New output shaft seal, shift rod seal, selector rod washer, driveshaft bushing center support, and output shaft lock plate
• New tstat housing
• New brake lines and pads
• And hooking up the cruise control properly, using this very helpful guide.

Feeling like a brand new car I went cruising around whenever possible to appreciate the firmer suspension and vastly improved brake pedal feel!

Busted out my 1960's Canon 7 and did some light painting in the forest:



With everything feeling very good and tight I decided it was time to see how she handled at the limit so I registered for my first Autocross in over 10 years.

My lowering springs put me into STX where I was completely destroyed by some very well prepared FR-S's and BRX's. The no name brand "Doral" tires squealed like a stuck pig, and while the understeer was manageable, the one tire fire around the hairpins was real. I had an absolute blast and was very impressed with the handling.





The experience jump started my search for sticker tires, and after being underwhelmed with the tire selections in 14" I decided that it was time for 15's. I bounced back and forth between a few options (TE37's, BBS RZ's, 6UL's, RPF1's) I decided that there was nothing better than good old fashioned Euroweaves. I also decided to wrap them in some super sticky RT660's. I had no idea how much more "flush" the Euroweaves looked compared to the Basketweaves, and with the beefier tires I was instantly in love!

First order of business was to head to my trusty "Kennett Square Loop" (see previous post) to get feel for the extra grip these bad larry's provided.







Next up was my front lip. The previous owner had an Ebay IS lip installed and painted with a close approximation of Bronzit Beige. The rubbery lip was already starting to cause the paint to chip and crack. So I ordered an OEM lip and clips and some factory black trim paint. I decided not to go for Bronzit again because my car isn't an IS, and I like the idea of the bottom portion of the car being all black.





I drove her up to Northeastern PA this weekend for a friends wedding and absolutely loving all the twisty mountain roads going up and down the valley.

I've registered for another autocross later this month, and hoping that the 200 treadwear tires will help me finish the course faster than the Kia Niro Hybrid I lost to last time...

[2mAn]

Cars coming along nicely

[laidback93]

Nice progress. I love that Bronzit finally get some respect.

I currently have a eBay iS lip unpainted black and it's starting to show it's age. Eventually, I want to have the front valence corrected and repainted. I'll bite the bullet and buy an OEM lip and have it painted in Bronzit.