1991 BMW 325i Coupe - Build Thread - The end is in sight!

[TrentW]

i like how you said the car doesnt need any maintenance and then proceeded to do more maintenance on it than most people on r3v do to their e30s.

Indeed.

[MaksV]

i like how you said the car doesnt need any maintenance and then proceeded to do more maintenance on it than most people on r3v do to their e30s.

i didnt really need any maintenance for the street - drives fine and passes inspection but for HPDE and autocross (should be 20+ sessions next year) it needs a higher level of maintenance.

[Sean]

Is that the cork oil-pan gasket? I'd recommend getting the paper one. That cork one is shit. :)

Nice job. Should be a fun car!

[Gnarles]

i didnt really need any maintenance for the street - drives fine and passes inspection but for HPDE and autocross (should be 20+ sessions next year) it needs a higher level of maintenance.

That's great to hear! It will be nice to have another E30 at auto-x events in DFW. There is only one other besides me that shows up on a regular basis.

[MaksV]

Who are you? cause when I went there were several people running e30s at autocrosses at least with the CCA.

[MaksV]

I picked up a 3.73LSD today. as well as an extra aluminum cover for the best price ever.



$50. I love it. Can someone provide me some more information on the extra cover, the guy said it was off a M coupe - or that the bushing was from a M coupe - it is super light, and has more fins than the stock one.

and Pasha wanted more pictures - here are more pictures.






Now I need some help on my wheel delema. I want 15x8 and I want to run 225 width tires. I have more or less made up my mind on the TR motorsports C1 in either hyper silver or gunmetal. but I am having trouble finding sticky tires for that size that are not R comps. a little help here guys? please post a good vendor? and yes I have checked TireRack, and no they do not carry what I need. Also any other suggestions on wheels? I want to keep it as light as possible.

[MaksV]

So I have pretty much decided on the TRC1's in a 15x8 but it seems tires are easier and cheaper to find in a 205/50/15 size. I am down to three choices and need some hlep.

The first is the Federal SS535 - it has a 260UTQG rating making it the stickies and it is also the cheapest at $55 a piece


the next choice is the Nitto Neo Gen these have a 280UTQG but they are all seasons supposedly. Also I have never heard of these tires, but they are only a few dollars a piece more but I dont know much about them


the last choice is the Dunlop Direzza Dz101 N/A - at 300UTQG they are the longest lasting of the bunch. also they are the most well known fo the bunch. at 66 bucks they are a bit more expensive but they have a 100 dollar instant rebate promotion going on so after shipping it would be about 50 bucks a piece.



so i need a little help deciding - kinda leaning toward the Dunlops cause they come otu super cheap.

[MaksV]

Another small update:

19# injectors came in - seller was a POS d1ck, but for 20 bucks cant complain, they are all reading the same steady resistance so we seem to be good, I have a rebuild kit for them anyway.



Also bought a spy cam - gonna tape this to my bike or car, and experiment with some vids....

[MaksV]

cosmo race camber plates came in -

seriously guys I know you are canadian but I am not putting that plastic chrome on my car. if you had sent me a decent sticker I would have run it (I am trying to run stickers for all the contributing companies)



and the koni struts came in - interesting there is no lower perch - I need to have the GC D rings welded on and I need to assemble that stuff all together so it will be ready to go into the car.

[Philo]

and the koni struts came in - interesting there is no lower perch - I need to have the GC D rings welded on and I need to assemble that stuff all together so it will be ready to go into the car.

Either I'm confused on what you've said, or you're confused on the E30 suspension. Those are inserts which go inside of your old housings. Those are what have the perch.

Also, the tire size and selection sucks if you plan on it being a semi-track car. I'd suggest 225/50. Vulcantire.com has Falken 912s for $66 a piece,

[MaksV]

I was confused. Thanks.

[MaksV]

and more parts courtesy of the stealer - tow hook, and all the plugs/gaskets for my LSD



new seat belt clips and the delrin bushing for the shifter from turner.

[MaksV]

Now that I have a little time between finals I wanted to get started on the head. So I spent some time today trying to break it down to components to clean it. I also learned a few things on the way. If you think I am doing something wrong please point it out, since this is my first time doing this sort of thing.

The head and the work bench - sh*t is dirty. very dirty








I plan on using brake cleaner to clean up each component but is there some sort of pad you guys recommend to use to scrub - i was gonna use a nylon brush - I know there are specific pads used to clean surfaces that you do not want to scrape.....

and some measurements (needed for secret plans )







and with teh rockers and rocker shafts removed


This part is important for you DIY guys. The BMW specific valve spring tool is expensive and hard to find so I bought one off amazon for $28. The link is here. Now like with anything else in my life it didint just work. So here is what I learned.

First is positioning - on the exhaust side you wanna jam it in there as much as you can so the tool doesnt turn. Also you want to make sure the angle of the tool matches the angle of the spring.



Use a magnet to remove the clips, but basically your going to have to crank this thing down and then I had to put my body weight on top of it to move it down enough to pull them out. This is easier with two people, have a magnetic retriever and some pincers handy, as the clips tend to stick to the valve a bit.

Now the modifications to the tool to make it work include pullign out the little brace thing pictured:


and then taking out the silver thing in the middle that pushes the spring and putting it in a vice to narrow the profile of the tool. Then they come out slowly but surely.

now it very important to konw where what goes, and to keep the springs going back in there original locations, thats why sandwich bags, a sharpie, and some container from walmart are handy, especially later on when we are cleaning.


and without the stuff I took out




and put it away for the day



so to recap please answer me these questions:

What do I use to clean this stuff? as far as pads go?
How do I remove the camshaft without damaging it, or buying a tool to hold it?
anything I am missing?

[MaksV]

more goodies coming in today

Ellipsoidals:



and this is what my living room is turning into, cant wait for finals to be over.



should also be getting some goodies from Tischer,

[MaksV]

So my SPAL fan kit came in today from bimmerworld. I cant say enough about the quality of this kit. It only costs a litte more than the ebay version but the quality of the plastic to the motion of the fan is beyond question. At first I was like damn, no instructions, but after close inspection the bundle of wires (wiring kit) has typed letters on the wires. tells you what to connect the relay to. Speaking of which the relay is sold by bimmerworld is amazing, completely water proof and made from quality packaging. Lynn at Bimmerworld is definitly the man.

if anyone is curios.
Red = power wire to fan
Yellow= +12V
Grey = trigger
Orange = ignition

the box also included the metal mounts for the fan, and a fuse kit that includes a weld in bung for a thermostat if you want to go that route. Also there is a small connection for the fan and ground.