3SGE BEAMS converted 89 E30///Stock as a rock 88 E30 325i Touring///

[Cal]

Cheers mate.

Yeah even down to both choosing black wheels! Great minds and all that.

[kameleon]

Headlights are back in with the powdercoated black rings and the HID kit (work great but are very bright, so no point of pictures) the light pattern looks great.




The front is a little rough around the edges still. I will be painting the grilles black too.

Also have been randomly trying round things in the wheels to see if i can use anything as a cap (i HATE the XXR caps, they ruin the wheels imho) and i had these E92 floor mat clips in my hand and they fit perfectly hahaha. I will get some proper caps made but these work well as a template.

[Cal]

Sorry for the thread hijack again. I found these on ebay real cheap and trimmed them down a little to fit inside the XXR caps.

[kameleon]

Thats not a hijack all good.

They suit your wheels. i just dont like them on my wheels being "non flush" with the centre of the wheel, to me it detracks from the look of the wheel rim.

[Cal]

Yeah I can see that. I guess like you are figuring out, it's not going to be easy to hold something in there. What do they look like with nothing? I generally don't run centre caps on most of my other cars as I usually think they look crap.

[kameleon]

There are some pics some pages back, look quite crap. atm looking at a two piece setup that holds from behind or a plug with o-ring groove. Last resort is cutting and sanding the plastic seat map clips then finishing the face the same colour as the wheel etc.

[kameleon]

Got the shifter done today. Welded the orginal BMW shifter internal metal (inside the insulated aluminium sleeve) to the Toyota gear lever which i bent straight in a vice. I now have a gearstick that is aligned properly (forgot to take a picture?)

Fitted the insulating boot and the interior is alot quieter now. The gearknob will have to wait for the time being as i cannot fit the aluminium sleeve back onto it to fit the original gearknob i wanted to.

How i had to drive it to the shop this morning.


Some pics outside the shop waiting for my mate to open. Which brings me to the next issue....

The car is way way too low at this ride height for Melbourne roads and speed humps. It rides great on the spring rates and at this height however it is just not practical and i scraped everywhere today (i have had many lowered cars so i know how to manovere) so it will have to be raised.




Did not have time to fit the castor rod bushes nor adjust the sway bar (custom item will have to be made to get it back to a horizontal setup height, as it hits the bellhousing otherwise)

Had a good time driving it out and about today though!

[Cal]

That is one of the reasons I ran 215/45/16 tyres. I have raised mine slightly from that photo above. I smashed the sump last year and decided then it was a bit low. I left the rear though.

I also run 6kg front 8kg rear springs. I'm happy with the choice. I also put adjustable front castor arms on it.

[kameleon]

Doh!

The Beams is a front sump, but it is nowhere near as low as the stock BMW sits.

Choosing 6kg/8kg for the suspension was risky as i had not seen many people using it but it works well with the weight of the Beams. What castor arms are you using? M3 bushes is all i will fit on mine.

[Ant_e30]

Looks nice mate, disappointing you have to raise it for your commute though :( it honestly doesn't look that low really. The back does a little but it always will with the lower late model arch, but as a whole it doesn't look bad. What is scraping? Can you tuck some things to make it a bit more livable?

Also perhaps with harder springs it may lift a bit better over bumps etc? 6/8 may allow it to compress a bit so it scrapes. My plan is to go for 9/11 rates =]

[Leo_328i]

Mate, this is awesome stuff.

Great conversion, very suitable engine for an E30, completely agree! I'm a 4AGE, M42 and M52 driver here so feeling the Toyota/BMW love right here.

[kameleon]

Thanks Leo.


Ant:- The Beams uses a long set of 4-2-1 pipes (a secret to the power it makes) that is very hard to tuck up out of the way. That is why the car looks like a normal lowish E30 (aka can go lower) In the future i will look at getting some oval Nascar style tubing for that area and make a new gearbox crossmember and then we can run at this ride height again.

For RWC/Engineers it will need to be raised though.

All the cars i own run coilovers of some type and bearing in mind this car is a daily driver the girlfriend will also drive the car cannot be too harsh, nor too low as she will rip it apart hahahaha

[kameleon]

BTW Leo 4AGE in??

[Leo_328i]

4AGE in AE82 Twin Cam Corolla.

Where abouts in Melbourne are you? I'm on the SE side, come down and have a bite with me and the E30 guys if you're not far! Would love to see your car, its pretty awesome stuff.

[kameleon]

Im in inner eastern suburbs. The car is not engineered yet, but once all that is done will meet up if you like.