Starting from scratch.... '89 325is Build.

[freeski27]

Well, I am in the process of making a build site for this car, but since I started this project about a month ago, I figure Ill do a little updating here in the mean time (considering this is where i found the car... shell). So here is a little taste so far.

The Story...
So, a few months ago I decided it was time for me to stop dreaming about cars, and start doing something. European cars have always been my thing so I finally decided on an E30. I’ve always had a love for BMW’s, and the E30 has that mean, clean, classy look. I’m really a boat guy and this is my first car build, so mistakes and a low budget are inevitable. Different E30 forum sites have been great reference for me, and I decided to start this build site to give reference to others (Hopefully you wont make the same mistakes I do!). I hope you can use this build as a more relatable build than some of the race car builds that many people do. I hope my learning process and hard work can help boost you along, the same way others have done for me. Please take the time to look through the build and let me know what you think, but do remember it’s my first build!
Thanks All,
Noble

[freeski27]

The Delivery...
So, I finally found the car to start from. I posted a Wanted add for a roller and a guy name Justin kindly replied with a shell for 50 bucks! 1989 Alpine II 325is. So it begins. Me and my buddy hooked up his dad’s trailer to my dad’s truck and we took a drive. Managed to drag an E30 shell onto an old trailer using a winch and a dolly, and drive it back to the shop…

So, now how to get this car off the trailer all by my lonesome… figured this would be interesting.
-First I got the dolly back under the front of the car.

-Next I lifted the back with an engine lift, and pulled the car back until the front was at the end of the trailer. Then put the rear on stands.

-Then I lifted the front with the engine lift and drove the trailer out.

-Threw the stands under the front and I was good to go! Yes, these are boat stands; but the nice thing is that it gets the car up nice and high.

Thanks for the time guys! I’ll keep you updated!
-Noble

[freeski27]

The Cleaning...
Well, I figured the next best thing was to start cleaning! I wasn’t going to get anywhere with a car full of parts or an engine-bay full of dirt. So first was the interior. When I got the car it was pilled full of a random assortment of parts. Anything from an e30 power steering rack; to tangles of speaker wire that the previous owner had tinkered with. So, once I had everything sorted into boxes, I took a few snapshots of the cleaned interior…


I figured a clean car would help increase motivation so a good exterior cleaning was next to come.
Before: (seller photo)

After:

Lastly, I figured those nasty old wheel wells could really use some spiffining up. So I got some soap and washed out any grease/grime and threw some fresh paint in there to give them a nice clean look.

Now, with the car all cleaned up and the parts all sorted… it was time to get going.

[freeski27]

The Front Suspension...
Since I got some awesome front end parts from my new “go to guy” Ben M. I decided to start there. The majority of the gear was coming out of a ‘94 325is he was parting, but some other stuff I got elsewhere.
-First was the front subframe. Since I don’t have a material blaster, I went to town with degreaser, some soap and water, and a wire brush. Once I have done some damage I hit it with the pressure washer to really finish knocking any grime off of it. To give the car a racy look I decided to paint the subframe red, here are some photos of it primed and painted.


-With the front subframe bolted up I went to town on the e36 power steering rack. A quick pressure wash (avoiding all seals and boots) cleaned that thing right up. I used spacers to mount the rack itself, and grabbed a knuckle spacer kit that Ben had laying around for the knuckle. Here is a photo of the rack bolted in.

To make any more progress I needed to make a few more purchases. What I had so far was the front subframe, e36 power-steering rack, oem strut mounts, e36 hub/kingpin assembly, and some e36 bilstein sports. I decided to go with Ireland Engineering Stage 3 springs, so I purchased some from Chris at Dungeon Motor Sport over on e30tech.com (for anyone interested, Chris is a great guy and was super helpful, I recommend any sort of purchases from him).
I also needed to get a few other front end components such as; spring perches, upper and lower spring pads, e30 control arms with ball joints, and e30 M3 control arm bushings. For this gear, I ordered from a familiar company: FCP Groton (Foreign Car Parts Groton). They are a local, but international company, and I know a few of the employees. I must say, these guys a phenomenal. I had ordered many, many parts from FCP for my Daily Driver (’98 Volvo s70); they had all the stuff that I needed for my e30, and I had it that afternoon. Highly recommend these guys for any european car parts.
Here are a few photos of the stuff I got:


From here I went to work on getting the strut assemblies together. I still need dust boots, but they will do for now.


With the strut assemblies together and bolted up to the hub/kingpin assembly, it was time to bolt up the control arms. I didn’t have any Control Arm Bushing (CAB) brackets, so I got some from my buddy Ben. They still had standard e30 center mounted CAB’s in them, so I used the press and a large socket to push them out. With that done, I used the press to put the new CAB’s into the brackets, making sure to line up the arrows on the bushings, with the notch on the brackets (offset hole towards the mounting holes). For those of you who don’t know already, the offset CAB’s increase something called caster; this increases forward angle of the strut to help with directional stability and handling while using lowering springs. With that done, I decided to use the press to mount the CAB’s onto the control arms because it was just too difficult to push them on by hand (I’m not a very big dude). With the control arms all together I bolted them in and hooked the tie rod ends up (will be replacing eventually) that just about took care of the front end.
Here are a few shots of the assembly together:

Here is a shot of the M3 offset CAB:

That about wraps it up for front suspension, thanks for reading guys!
-Noble

[namsayin]

great start, what kind of paint did you use in the wheel wells?

[onaquest]

wow, u werent kidding with the thread name.

[freeski27]

i used POR-15 in the wheel wells. Its a good product and not very expensive.

[1mz]

nice build you've got goin - good luck!

[freeski27]

Thanks guys. i am quite a bit further in the build, I am just a bit behind on post. Ill get a few more together tonight. They car it actually currently on the ground! :D

[MR 325]

Great thread already! Looking forward to the progress!!

What engine is going in the car?

[z31maniac]

Wow! I don't know if I have the gumption to tackle something that bare from the beginning. Good work!

Anxious to see more progress.

[freeski27]

The car is going to be either an M50 or S50 swap depending on how budgeting comes out when it is time to buy power. I plan to go turbo as well... but i figure I should get the car driving around first... :)

[Iain]

As the youth of today would say, "I be diggin' what you be puttin' down."

[freeski27]

The Front Brakes...
Yet another wonderful delivery came in this past friday ! Since the front end is now pretty much together, I decided to move on to the front brakes. Since I went with an e36 5 lug swap, I felt pretty confident that the stock size brakes would be sufficient. However, the equipment that I had was not exactly up to par. I decided on drilled and slotted rotors for R1 Concepts. They are a company from CA who specializes in only brakes. Of course they are not Brembos, but since I am on a mediocre budget they seemed like a happy medium over some of the extremely cheap brands. I got the Premium set, and the front pair for the 1994 325is setup was about $150. Also, I got free shipping since I ordered; rear rotors, front and rear pads, and E-brake shoes all at once (free shipping was for over $150). The rotors seem to be pretty true and the paint is a good finish, I will obviously not be able to speak on the behalf of stopping power for a while .
Here are a few shots of the delivery from R1 concepts:


Here is a rotor comparison shot:

-Ok, so a while back I had striped and refinished the calipers, here is the process.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the e36 calipers before I began to refinish them; however, here is a shot of the random e30 caliper that was still attached to the car (they looked equally as bad):

I pulled the calipers off of the 1994 325is 5 lug swap that I had gotten and used strong marine soap and a wire brush to clean them up. I decided to wait and see how they perform before I purchase any rebuild kits for them. If either or both of them have to be rebuilt, I will do it when I remove them to instal the stainless steel brake lines. Once again, since I don’t have a material blaster, i used the pressure washer to knock off any left over soap, grease, or debris. I taped up any necessary holes and the pistons, and then laid a few coats of zinc chromate primer on them.

From here I coated the calipers with 3 coats of high temperature engine enamel (red).

Here is a shot of the calipers when I pulled them out a couple weeks later (when I got the rotors delivered):

-Lastly are the pads. The pads I decided on are Axxis Ultimates. I had previously used Hawks on my volvo so i decided to try something a little different. The Axxis were about $5 less an axel, but don’t get me wrong, the 5 bucks isn’t why I decided on these pads. The reviews for these pads were really good, and some people were claiming they were even better than hawks. These pads are a “Kevlar Ceramic Formula” as opposed to the “ferro carbon ceramic formula” of the Hawks.
Here is a shot of the braking surface:

-Now it’s time for assembly. The brake assembly for these cars is pretty self explanatory so here it goes. I started by removing the original rotor by removing the retaining bolt with a 6 mm allen wrench. With the calipers already off, this is the only thing holding the rotors on and the old rotors come right off. So, with the original rotors off I cleaned up the hub and painted the shields.
Here is a picture of the assembly ready to accept the new rotor:

Next I installed the new rotor by lining it up and reinstalling the rotor retaining bolt (after it had been wire-wheeled and painted black to blend into the rotor finish).
Here is a shot of the rotor installed:

Next step is to install the caliper hangers. The hangers are installed with two bolts that thread into the kingpin assembly.
This is how they should be installed:


Next you want to install the caliper housing. Normally, before bolting on the caliper you want to spin it onto your brake line; however, since I will be getting stainless lines I will install the lines at a later time. To install your caliper, place the pads in the housing and slide them over the rotor. You can then line up the housing and the hanger, and install the bolts that hold them together. After that, don’t forget to install the “anti-rattle clip”.
Here are a couple pictures of the caliper installed:


Thats about it for the front brakes! Let me know if you have any questions guys! Thanks for reading,
-Noble

[IRON-E]

Subscribed, good work man.