E30 Rally Build Thread

[irish44j]

great thread here, and definitely keeping my eyes on it as I start up a 318i ('85 M10!) rallycross build "on the cheap." Already you've given me some good ideas that I otherwise wouldn't have thought of. Keep up the great work.

[iamsam]

great thread here, and definitely keeping my eyes on it as I start up a 318i ('85 M10!) rallycross build "on the cheap." Already you've given me some good ideas that I otherwise wouldn't have thought of. Keep up the great work.

early 318s are great rally starters. Lightest E30 chassis produced!

[irish44j]

early 318s are great rally starters. Lightest E30 chassis produced!

lol, but alot of the lightness is due to the little suspension, little brakes, and little engine :)

OP, if you have any suggestions or thoughts on rally setup, feel free to toss some knowledge my way in my build thread http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=224191 and keep up the good work.

btw, what kind of skid are you using? Any diff protection (is it needed?)

[iamsam]

lol, but alot of the lightness is due to the little suspension, little brakes, and little engine :)

true, but also manual windows, manual locks, which means less wiring, etc. You will gain weight as soon as you swap motors, and whatnot. Nothing wrong w/ running smaller suspension, unless it is more prone to breaking...

[irish44j]

true, but also manual windows, manual locks, which means less wiring, etc. You will gain weight as soon as you swap motors, and whatnot. Nothing wrong w/ running smaller suspension, unless it is more prone to breaking...

mine has power windows and locks.....

smaller suspension only sucks because of smaller brakes and difficult to find 45mm bilsteins that are NLA.....

[jasonsnoddy]

mine has power windows and locks.....

smaller suspension only sucks because of smaller brakes and difficult to find 45mm bilsteins that are NLA.....

just swap to the bigger strut housings. boom done.

[iamsam]

Weird. I am looking at an '85 318i coupe that is manual everything.

[MasterOfPuppets]

Weird. I am looking at an '85 318i coupe that is manual everything.

Methinks you commit the logical fallacy of hasty generalization!

[MasterOfPuppets]

OP, if you have any suggestions or thoughts on rally setup, feel free to toss some knowledge my way in my build thread http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=224191 and keep up the good work.

btw, what kind of skid are you using? Any diff protection (is it needed?)

I will surely do so the minute I have any practical knowledge of rally suspension! Right now I'm winging it in the hopes that this car will get me through a few rallies so I can figure out what I want for the next one.

My current (mental) design for the skid involves several overlapping sections from front to rear, with the frontward ones overlapping the rearward. From the front bumper to the back of the engine compartment will be one metal plate, reinforced with steel tubing (leftover cage material) in several places. I have yet to decide on a specific material, probably something like 1/4" aluminum or 3/16" steel. Then, from there back to the exhaust exit, I'll do HDPE sheets on each side of the exhaust. Rear of the exhaust exit there will be one final big piece the whole width of the car.

I don't plan to do any additional shielding for the diff, seeing as it's probably tied with the engine block for the strongest single part of the car (probably and hopefully). I may put some little flaps in the skid plates in front of the rear suspension to try to keep rocks from hitting the CV boots and shocks when the wheel is in full rebound.

[monkeytaco]

I may put some little flaps in the skid plates in front of the rear suspension to try to keep rocks from hitting the CV boots and shocks when the wheel is in full rebound.

If I were you I'd figure out a way to attach some skid plating to the rear trailing arms, even if its just the high density plastic, which would provide the same function as a flap, but possibly be more effective.

Also, this thread makes me happy. Carry on.

[irish44j]

Weird. I am looking at an '85 318i coupe that is manual everything.

ship the manual stuff to me, and I'll ship my working power stuff to you ;)

[iamsam]

ship the manual stuff to me, and I'll ship my working power stuff to you ;)

the guy wouldn't take my offer of $300 for the car, so its a no-go.

[irish44j]

regarding the skid - I would try to do a setup like the e30motorwerks skid, with the extra tubular U-brace mounted to the frame rails. I personally do not trust a simple angle-sheet skid to protect my oilpan - the additional bracing seems like a good idea, and also will be a convenient center jack-point :)

[Nsquared97]

So I went and drove the E30, among other places, on an actual LSPR rally stage yesterday:

Dang, how have I not bumped into you at all?!?!? Going to school at Tech, been to LSPR every year I have been up here, crewed this past year. Also been down that very stage myself ;) ANother really fun one to run is Menge creek, although that is most likely snow covered by now, but it is a much slower paced stage.

If your cool with it, I would love to check out your build sometime. It would definitely be nice to see another E30 up here haha. Not to mention I have a boatload of spare parts if you need anything.

[iamsam]

There you go, Mike!!!