1984 325e Turbo Resurrection

[atmh]

It took me an absurdly long time to "complete" my parts washer upgrade, but it's finally "done" and ready to be shared with the world. You can check it out here!

As for the rest of this project, it will remain slow going for the time being. I have my hands full with some other priorities, and I always knew I was jumping the gun a little bit on being ready to take this project on. I am still slowly amassing parts, and once I start doing some of the subsystems I plan on posting them to video and keeping this thread updated.

[atmh]

I'll post an update on the parts cleaner when it's up and running. My current project is planting a few trees in my yard to ameliorate the intense afternoon sun we get (especially in the summer). There's always another project, and it's just a matter of which one is top priority. Once the trees are in the ground I'll wrap up the parts cleaner. :)

It's not a race. I'm on year 8 of my E30 project, and am still not "done".
You have to enjoy the process. I've found it helps to have another fun car to drive while I work on the E30.

I'm ready to accept the fact that it won't be "done" - perhaps ever. I'm just working towards having it roadworthy, currently. The e30 project is a slow burn for me. I agree that having another fun car is pretty key. I'm under no pressure to get the e30 done quickly. I'm fortunate enough to have another sports car to keep spirits up when the going gets tough on the e30.

[Panici]

Yes, exactly. I just don't have the time to do this project quickly - some people seem setup to completely rebuild a car in a year, but I expect this project to take me ~3 years before it's road worthy, which probably means it's going to be more like 5 years. Turns out going through an *ENTIRE* vehicle is no small undertaking, and doing it in stages is not the most efficient way, but has other benefits (reduced inventory, car is that much closer to being a rolling chassis in the event I need to move it, easier to remember where all the parts go, etc).

It's not a race. I'm on year 8 of my E30 project, and am still not "done".
You have to enjoy the process. I've found it helps to have another fun car to drive while I work on the E30.

[McGyver]

I realized that I was amassing lots and lots of parts, many of which weren't being labeled and put into storage because they're super dirty/greasy, and they were just piling up in a queue to be cleaned. So I've been spending the last month or so putting together a parts washing station. Never one to take the easy way out, I decided to modify the hell out of a Harbor Freight unit. Still a work in progress.

Well show us some pictures of this!

It's amazing how long car projects get dragged out when life gets in the way. I started building a MegaSquirt for a turbo project back in 2020. It seems like it should work, and now it's sitting in a box in a storage unit and I don't have a garage. I guess I'll shoot for 2023!

[atmh]

Lots of progress!... sort of haha

Yes, exactly. I just don't have the time to do this project quickly - some people seem setup to completely rebuild a car in a year, but I expect this project to take me ~3 years before it's road worthy, which probably means it's going to be more like 5 years. Turns out going through an *ENTIRE* vehicle is no small undertaking, and doing it in stages is not the most efficient way, but has other benefits (reduced inventory, car is that much closer to being a rolling chassis in the event I need to move it, easier to remember where all the parts go, etc).

I'm actually a year in at this point, and have hardly done any actual work to the car itself. It's almost all been prep work. Either way, if you just keep chipping away at it one piece at a time, progress is made. I thought I was working pretty slowly, but typing that all out I'm actually pretty happy with the progress over the last 5 months. If I can get my other projects cleared out of the way, I should be able to strip the car down to the chassis this winter and start doing rust repair in full force. I honestly didn't even realize how much work I needed to do to just get my shop setup. Doing a full rebuild requires a lot more tools than occasionally changing the oil or brakes on a car. I still don't actually have a bench vice, because I don't have a bench to mount it to: Another one of the many projects I'm trying to wrap up before digging deep on the e30.

[2mAn]

Lots of progress!... sort of haha

[atmh]

How's this going? No updates in a while.

Yeah, summer is probably my slowest season for getting projects done, and this spring was particularly busy, too. Also, I was trying to post updates with photos and want to switch to a different photo host than r3v (I want to be able to post higher resolution, and more photos per post) and just haven't taken the time to do that. But here's a quick overview of some of the things that are in the works:

• I ended up pulling the whole block from the convertible 325i back in March. It was kinda rusty on the outside, but I figured getting the internals was worth it to me. Unfortunately I discovered after the fact that despite all the effort to pull a block, they're actually not cheap and probably one of the worst "value" items from the junkyard. I think you can buy them from people doing M50 swaps for cheaper and less elbow grease. I did this because I wanted a new casting (due to the head threads being stripped on my casting) and because I wanted the i internals. Some people have claimed that the i motor has such better combustion chamber geometry that it can actually take more boost than an e/i hybrid, despite having higher compression. It will be years before I test this theory, if ever.
• A 325i coupe showed up at the junkyard a few months back, as well. I went there to pull the entire rear suspension and front subframe, since mine are all super rusty and I needed the "big bearing" trailing arms for my planned 5-lug swap (using a Z4 rear hub).
• While I was there, I realized the whole chassis was rust free. Kinda made me wonder why I'm futzing around with a rust-bucket from New England, but none-the-less I decided to keep futzing: I chopped the whole roof off so I have a donor for the sunroof repair that I'll eventually need to do. I also pulled a piece of frame rail (underneath the driver's feet) that is rusty on my car. There was lots of other good sheet metal, but I didn't have time to pull other sections.
• As it happens, around this time a guy on this board (rudy) was liquidating some of his inventory, so I stopped by his place and picked up a full 325i motor (less valves, since they were all bent) complete with engine stand, harness, multiple intake manifolds, a 325i valve cover (which I somehow still didn't have, but needed) and just a whole bunch of misc items, some of which I need, some of which I plan on reselling.
• I realized that I was amassing lots and lots of parts, many of which weren't being labeled and put into storage because they're super dirty/greasy, and they were just piling up in a queue to be cleaned. So I've been spending the last month or so putting together a parts washing station. Never one to take the easy way out, I decided to modify the hell out of a Harbor Freight unit. Still a work in progress.
• I'm trying to finish up some other projects, which has taken more time and energy than I anticipated (although that's not surprising). Trying to get some woodworking finished and listed for sale online or in a consignment shop, as I want to get this stuff done before I start doing a lot of metal work, since the metal work can damage the wood (either through welding/grinding burns or just being in a greasy/metal dust environment)
• With all that said, I'm *very* close to having everything I need to complete the 5-lug swap, and a reasonable next step would be to get the car sitting on the full 5-lug suspension since I want to test fit this before stripping the chassis down and fixing all the rust. These things aren't necessarily straightforward though, since it might make sense to weld in the subframe and TA reinforcements *before* I do the swap, but that means I need to practice welding and get the stuff powder coated, which are both projects in and of themselves.

So that's the current state of things! I'll get some photos up at some point for those that would rather see than read about the progress. :)

[McGyver]

How's this going? No updates in a while.

[OBD2]

Fun looking project.

I took a slightly different approach to my rusty early model project since my motor was in decent condition. As to not have my garage completely filled with parts and to avoid getting overwhelmed, I started from the rear and will work my way towards the front. Rust repair is a PITA. You seem detail oriented, so it will be an even bigger PITA. Buy a welder and get to it.

[Panici]

Love the thread and the backstory.
Very exciting for you to get a 2nd chance on a project long abandoned!

Subscribed and looking forward to updates.

[atmh]

What a parts collection! I'm excited to see it all come together.

I've gone down to the Chula Vista yards for parts twice, came back empty handed both times. Stuff is always so picked out there from my experience. I've had some better luck at the yard up here in Oceanside, just got a z3 rack yesterday and I've gotten some other stuff in the past. Still hard to get good stuff though. Can definitely agree about spending a bunch at the yard, just spent almost 400 in one run on prelude parts since I figured I'd never see a second gen again lol.

Yeah, it was picked of the good stuff really quickly. It possibly had a crack free dash, projector headlights, and of course the 885 head, all of which was gone within 24hrs. The part that was really frustrating for me was that some stuff was just busted for no apparent reason. The three spoke steering wheel was broken and the hood linkage. I need the hood linkage and the steering wheel is actually worth kinda something, but they were broken for no apparent reason. :(

Oceanside is an hour away and with a full time job and a toddler it's just hard to get up there during business hours. The yards in Chula Vista are only about 15 mins from my house.

I'm any case I got most of what I need. I did a Carfax on that vert and it was a NY car for most of its life, which explains why all the subframes and some underbody stuff I might have wanted was fairly rusty.

[rudy]

What a parts collection! I'm excited to see it all come together.

I've gone down to the Chula Vista yards for parts twice, came back empty handed both times. Stuff is always so picked out there from my experience. I've had some better luck at the yard up here in Oceanside, just got a z3 rack yesterday and I've gotten some other stuff in the past. Still hard to get good stuff though. Can definitely agree about spending a bunch at the yard, just spent almost 400 in one run on prelude parts since I figured I'd never see a second gen again lol.

[atmh]

I've been spending a lot of time gathering parts. I realized I have way too many parallel projects on this car already, and I'm kinda burning through my budget without being able to do much actual work. With that said an '88 'vert showed up at the local junkyard and I've been going to town pulling any useful part. In the short run it does get extremely expensive just grab-bagging stuff, but when I look at the per-part price it's all mostly reasonable. Save for one or two items that I realized after the fact weren't a great deal, but I'm not losing sleep over that. Here's a list of what I've picked up recently:

List of "fun" goodies:

• Swapped out my previously posted radiator for an "e28" one - on CATuned website it says nothing about this being the correct radiator for early cars with late model cooling systems, but for the record: they make one, and they say it's for an e28/e24. Perfect fit for converting an early car to late-model cooling system
• MK60 ABS unit from an e46 M3. I bought this thinking it would be nice to mock it up. Also got kinda scared about how much these might appreciate in value over the next year or two since lots of people want them, not just BMW guys. These get fitted to all kinds of cars since it's "one of the best" standalone ABS units with DSC and TCS. I'll use Megasquirt for TCS, but the ABS and DSC will be a nice safety net for running all the boost. My e30 is a rare example of a non-ABS car, but not for much longer.
• custom made rear mini subs from this guy on Instagram "e30dreamin" - they seem very well made. Perfect thing for what I'm looking for. Too bad I won't actually hear them for years. I love picking up this kinda stuff when I find it, but for now it will be living on the shelf.
• Seattle Circuits fuel economy gauge correction board. This will take the signal from Megasquirt for the bigger injectors and convert it into the right pulsewidth for the stock electronics to read the correct fuel economy. Another piece of kit I won't really do much with for a while, but when you find this kinda cool stuff, don't wait. At least that's what I think. Never know how long this kind of thing will be available for.
• AC bracket for a sanden R134a compressor

5-lug swap stuff:

• Set of 4 Z3M brake calipers. Might not use the rear because...
• I got the caliper relocation bracket from "ETA Industries" to use the e46 rear calipers on Z4 hubs.
• e46 325i rear brakes: I picked up the calipers from a junkyard along with the rear rotors and parking brake parts. All of it was 100% brand new (looks like it was only on the car for maybe a month before the car had an unfortunate run-in with something.) The rotors might be too small for the caliper relocation bracket: The ETA Industries guy says the bracket is designed for 328i or 330i rotors. If I end up having to get different rotors it's no big deal. 330i's are hitting the junkyard every week. But also I'm not 100% convinced I want bigger rear rotors. I need to do a brake bias calculation once I get things further along and I would also like to keep the Z3M rear calipers, so I might end up making my own rear brake relocation bracket at some point. And yeah this plan is in lieu of Z3M rear trailing arms, since those are looking like $7,000 for a pair these days (for seven grand I'll design and build my own). The e46 325i rear brake rotors are huge and vented, so I really don't know why I would need bigger ones. They're 11.5" diameter / 292mm or thereabouts? I simply don't see much need for bigger rear rotors, when the front Z3M rotors are only slightly larger. Seems like it's already going to be pretty biased to the rear.
• Z3M front control arms (still pending the knuckles, just because it's low priority and I'm spending my cash elsewhere at the moment)
• e38 style-5 wheels. Just scored these today. I was at the junkard when a 7-series on a clean set of wheels rolled in. Scored these for like $200 for the set. These cars are hitting the junkyard regularly right now, and the wheels always seem to be in relatively decent condition.

Junkyard e30 stuff:

• convertible shock tower braces. These were a pain in the ass to pull, and questionable if it's worth it, but it's done.
• 88 325i block. Someone took the head before I could get to it, but after hedging on it for a while I decided to grab the block. I have an eta block now with the 885 head, but for reasons I want the option of running the full i motor package. At the very least I have options now for what to do with the bottom end, and having a second block allows me to work one outside of the car while the car is operable. Get it cleaned up and reworked so everything is hunky dory. Plus I heard some rumors that people think the i motor is less prone to detonation than the e/i hybrid, so getting my hands on the full short block seemed like a good idea.
• OEM oil cooler. I already bought one for $100, but it's hard to say no when it's right there and only $15 bucks. So I'll be posting some stuff for sale soon to move this (and other items) out of my garage.
• late model temp switch and pigtail for the aux fan - this will fit in my new swanky radiator and allow me to keep the OEM aux fan circuit (rather than having Megasquirt control the aux fan).
• Thermostat housing (late model)
• alternator with solid mounting holes (mine has rubber ones that have worn out and the alternator is not sitting straight anymore - I didn't know other ones had solid mounts, but clearly this is an improvement)
• metal coolant pipe across the front of the engine (unfortunately the timing belt cover this bolts to was busted, so I couldn't get that)
• Radiator shroud
• late model fuel rail with relatively new looking fuel pressure regulator
• late model injector wiring harness rail thingy.
• late model coolant reservoir mounting tabs.
• bunch of random miscellaneous heat shielding and ducts and stuff that were all in good condition but I don't have on my car, or they're falling apart on my car.

All in all I've done four junkyard runs now over the past 2-3 weeks. I've spent over $1,000 on used pick-and-pull junkyard stuff now, but when I check prices I know it would easily be double that if I was buying them individually online, so it's kinda painful in the short term, but I know I'm getting mostly great prices. It's really nice to just be able to pull almost everything I need, as well. Lots of little things you don't necessarily think about until you're right there and it's right in front of you.

Since people love pics, here are some pics!

Mostly misc late model e30 bits that I need to complete the coolant system conversion, plus some other odds and ends:


5-lug swap stuff, plus some other good items that seemed worthwhile to grab, or are in better condition than what's on my car.


e30 convertible shock tower brace. This is an OEM part that only is found on the converitbles as far as I know. Pain in the ass to cut this off.


Something old and something new. Something four lug and something more:


Love the fact that these look very much like the same wheels. Hard to tell from the pic but the 7-series rim is 16" vs 14" and 8" wide vs, what's the e30? 6.5 I think?
Didn't realize this but my e30 wheels are et30. Looks like the 7-series wheels are et23. I thought they were the same offset, but apparently not.

When I get the 5-lug swap completed I will clean up and sell the 4-lug wheels. It's going to be nice to start cleaning out some of the old parts.


In other related news, I have a welder 90% setup now, so now that I have some of the weld-on stuff I'll get some welding practice in, and then start by installing the late model coolant reservoir brackets (pictured with the e46 brakes). At the moment I'm planning to put the engine bay back together somewhat with the new cooling system and probably a new intercooler, and then 5-lug swap. After the 5-lug swap has been test fit and approved, I'll then tear the car down for the rust repair. Need to make sure these things fit, first, since the 5-lug swap and engine externals might dictate chassis changes, and I want to know that before the car is stripped bare and modified as needed.

[atmh]

Now that my garage is setup - mostly - I've been starting to dig into the e30 deeper, and I've been in part-collecting mode. I'm a little worried that I'm putting the cart before the horse by not focusing exclusively on rust-repair, but I have so much more garage setup to do before I tear the whole car down and fix all the rust. In practice it seems like I'll be chipping away at the garage, chipping away at finishing other projects, and chipping away at the "bolt-on" upgrades for the next few months. Or put another way: Unfucking the engine bay. Perhaps by the time I'm done with that, I might also have my work area fully setup (I currently have zero welding equipment - that's a big thing that needs to change). I won't cover all the details of garage setup, but I'll comment on the things that I think are clever or fun.

Anyways, without further ado here's the latest and greatest!

Got the euro bumper installed. What a huge difference! Even better in person. I'm excited to do this build with a Type 1 valance (the smallest e30 valance) because I think the front end of the car is very well designed with the type 1 valance. More classic forward-leaning BMW with the shortest overhang of any e30 front end. Just something different from what people normally do by fitting the "sportier" airdams.

PS: Notice the hood on the wall? That was another recent garage project. Fun and easy to hang up an e30 hood. Gets it out of the way. Looks cool. New emblem just shipped today. Maybe I'll polish it to make it look more decorative.

And here's a reference pic of the diving board with the trim removed. Such a huge bumper with a huge gap behind it. I never realized how much the diving boards ruined the lines of the front end until I got the euro bumper on and could see it in person. So, so, so much better. I think my early Type 1 valance has a bigger effect than other valances and air dams that protrude more. The smaller bumper definitely compliments the small valance.


I did a lot of internet research about radiators, and despite all the marketing it seems like most (all?) of the e30/e36 radiators are basically the same size. The biggest difference is that they're thicker (and better designed) than my stock eta radiator. I looked into Mishimoto MMRAD-e36-92, CSF #3054, and CA Tuned e30 radiator. As near as I can tell they're all marketed for e30&e36, and pretty much all the same design/size with maybe some minor variation. Mishimoto has an X line radiator which is I believe is bigger (maybe only thicker?) but is also almost 2x the cost. I did find another one somewhere that I'm currently forgetting the name of that was $700... so no. Everyone seems to think that the stock cooling system actually performs really well, and any of these upgraded radiators should be plenty. It will be years before I get this fully build turbo setup to a track day, so for now no comment, and I'll just trust that this upgrade will be enough. To be clear about that: The radiator cross section is pretty much exactly the same as stock for any of the three I mentioned at the top. It is a better design (oval bar coolant channels rather than round tube) and has an all aluminum design, so presumably less prone to failure. So bigger capacity (thicker) and better design, but same cross section. Will it be enough? TBD... Here's a pic:


Here's a pic of the engine bay, checking fan clearance. The good news here is that I'm fairly certain I will actually get to keep the mechanical fan (yay! I prefer that, despite my earlier comments). You may also notice that this (and all of the options?) is a late-model radiator. Pretty sure the flow direction is opposite of the early cooling system. So yeah, I don't know why anyone would really want to convert to the late model cooling system (please, tell me if you know) except for the fact that it seems like it has more aftermarket support? But why? The only reason(s) I'm doing it are all engine-bay packaging, not performance, specifically: I want the coolant reservoir on the drivers side. The turbo is obviously taking up the space where the stock reservoir normally would be, so it had to move. I got a slick coolant reservoir from a guy maybe 15 years ago that relocated it without rebuilding the whole entire cooling system, and that worked great, but for engine bay packaging reasons I want to switch over to the late-model system. This should hopefully free up the space needed to get the A/C installed and the stock windshield washer fluid reservoir.



For the garage, I made this little battery tender station for the Elise. It's pretty slick and folds against the wall and keeps the cord off the body. The only real downside is that this setup really won't work well with a car cover. Oh well. I'll manage.


I have a few other bits on hand already, but my intention moving forward is mostly to only post when I'm installing or test-fitting on the car (or complete a garage upgrade). Speaking of which: Why did I install the euro bumper? It's probably coming right off in a few days or weeks. Because I was excited. That's why. :)

[atmh]

Final shot: my US type 1 valance. I'll get everything fitted with this valance before moving to the Type 1 euro valance, reason being: If I can't get it to fit, I'll switch to the type 2 valance, which has a little more room for the oil cooler and such.