My 91 325i track car

[coop]

curious how you like the ride with the race springs/shock setup. I know your car is more of a track car, but are they too harsh for a DD?

[kts]

curious how you like the ride with the race springs/shock setup. I know your car is more of a track car, but are they too harsh for a DD?

The Bilstein sports/H&R races have been on the car since I bought it so I can't compare it to the stock suspension, but I have been pleasantly surprised with how well the Bilstein/H&R setup rides especially with all of the crappy roads I drive in the Baltimore/DC area.

I've driven on a number of different suspensions on my Subarus over the years and the Bilstein/H&R setup is one of the better ones. I'd rank it pretty close to the AST setup I had on my 08 STi.

I guess my sense of harshness may be a bit out of whack compared to others, but my this Bilstein/H&R setup passed the girlfriend test which I think is pretty huge, since my girlfriend is SO picky about riding around in cars with stiff suspensions.

[kts]

Pulled out of a 90 525i this morning from the junkyard. Hopefully it works. I'll try it tonight and then if it does look into ordering a Mark D chip.



Didn't turn up anything else I wanted but found a few E36 red label DMEs to sell which once sold will net me this 173 DME as being free. Yay!

Haven't gotten under the car to tighten up the loose exhaust flange yet, hopefully I'll get it it tonight and then I can drive the E30 into work tomrrow and enjoy the sweet, sweet exhaust sounds.

[kts]

Tightened up the exhaust this weekend and took it for a spin around the block. Over the rattling of random stuff sitting in the car and all the noise thanks to stiff bushings I couldn't really hear the exhaust. :( Radio antenna reception was also a little crappy. (Which is weird since it was pretty good in my garage.) We'll see how it is once I get out of my neighborhood.

Spend the rest of Saturday working on my STi doing some overdue maintenance and removing a lot of aftermarket parts I had installed and putting the stock stuff back on. Some of it was a real PITA and I also cut my finger up pretty bad. Awesome.

Tonight I removed the intake the previous owner crafted and reinstalled the stock intake with new filter and some other bits from the dealer. Ooooooh exciting!

Removed


How boring! And better for the car since it should have less hot air coming in now.


Girlfriend is sleeping so I figured I shouldn't piss her off and fire up the car to try out the 173 DME. I'll do that tomorrow morning before work. I read a rumor that there may be a Mark D chip sale soon so hopefully my DME works and I can get a chip.

Nice weather this week so I'll probably take the E30 into work once or twice this week. Woooooo.

Other than that not a lot of work will be happening until this finger heals up.

[kts]

The 173 DME I picked up works great. I feel like the idle is better with it than the no name chip in the 524 DME that was in the car. The car does seem to rev faster with the chip though. I'll keep it stock for now and wait for Mark D's next sale.

Stock intake is working fine too.

[kts]

Took the car to the junkyard and then into work yesterday since it was mid-60s and sunny. Between the new DME coolant sensor, the stock intake reinstall, and the 173 DME the car feels AWESOME! Everything is just so much smoother. It idles better, and just feels more solid. It doesn't have the "punch" the previous set up does but for the better driveability I'll live with it for now. We'll see what a Mark D chip down the line does.

The only downside I found out was that the Sparco quickly put my legs to sleep after about 30 minutes of drivine. That's no good. On the drive home I sat a little differently and didn't have that problem so for now I'll have to watch how it sit in the seat. I also need to continue my "become less of a fat ass" program which should help too. The seat is pinching my hips which is what puts your legs to sleep, or so it seems from doing some research.

I fixed the crappy radio reception issue as well. Stock E30 is a 2 wire plug and the Z3/318ti connector is 1 wire. I had the wire connected to the wrong one on the E30 side. Switched it around and it works much better now. Yay!

The car felt great. The exhaust isn't too loud, I really can only hear it with the windows down and then only when I get on it. It sounds nice. Just what I was looking for. I bit of a smell from it but I think that's just the smell of a new exhaust/antiseize/PB Blaster heating up and burning off. When I've done exhausts on my Subarus they smelled kind of similar for a day or so after install.

Can't wait for track season!

I also met up with TexasTerp yesterday too to pick up a spare oil pan and some basketweave center caps. I need a new roundel for one and then I should have a full set for my basketweaves. Now I just need to clean everything up and get some new tires for them. I'm thinking Star Specs.

Because I'm a picture whore:





Plan for the oil pan is to clean it up and weld in an oil baffle for it and then I can just swap this one out for the one currently on my car.

The 3 other center caps I have (not pictured) are in really good shape so I just need 1 more to compete the set. Yay basketweaves!

[dnick]

woohoo! seems like stuff is coming along!
i was itcching to drive mine yesterday... but no exhaust and no tags :(

[VANOS714]

Nice build

[kts]

I've been busy enjoying the car and all of the awesome weather we've had recently.

Work and life keep getting in the way of track days. I missed the first track day I wanted to do this past weekend. I was set to do one on 4/28 and 4/29 but I'll be out of the country. So it looks like I might not get my first track event in until May. :(

What I've been up to recently:

- Ordered a Mark D chip for the car thanks to the just announced summer sale. Can't wait to get the chip and install it.

- Found some new toys at the junkyard, $5 total for both. Nice!





Unfortunately I think the homelink garage door opener may be an older one that doesn't support rolling codes. I'll wire it up and give it a go.

The only question now is do I install these in the E30 or the E36? Since the E36 will soon be a daily driver I think that's where they will end up.

- I'm working on a DIY oil pan baffle. I have some free aluminum stock that I think will work nicely. I have most of a paper template made, I just need to finish it up and then start working on the aluminum. I plan to drill and tap some holes on the oil pan mini-baffle that is already there to mount the baffle since I'm not welding aluminum. Some Loctite on the bolts should help keep it in place as well.

[kts]

Came home to find this waiting for me last night



Yay!

And found this at the junkyard yesterday in a 740iL.




This one supports rolling codes so it should work with my garage door opener.

Now to find time to install both of these.

[kts]

So I haven't forgotten about this thing. I've just been... a little busy.

Since I last posted I have been driving the E30 off and on. The Mark D chip feels so much better than the eBay chip the car had before. But otherwise the car has sat a lot. All the track events I wanted to do this spring/summer things came up.

Since the last post I have been to the following places:

- Hong Kong
- Macau
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- San Diego
- LA
- San Francisco
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
- France
- Switzerland
- Italy
- Canada

Some shots from the trips:

Singapore


Hong Kong


An amazing abandoned castle I saw in Italy


I also have spent time not-traveling fixing an E36 that was supposed to be my track car but instead will be my new daily driver. It needed a new crankshaft position sensor so I went a little overboard.



One of the $600 worth of new sensors


New tranny mounts


100k miles so time for a cooling system overhaul


I foolishly stripped the nut that holds the CPS down. So I ended up having to weld a cheap socket onto it to remove it.


Then the sensor was stuck and came out like this.






The O2 sensor in the midpipe didn't want to come off. I broke 3 tools trying to remove it. So I'll just drop it, impact it off and go on my way. Well no I broke more bolts trying to remove the midpipe. So I went full retard and bought $OMG Turner shorty headers, an Active Autowerkes track pipe, and more. I later ended up selling the track pipe and decided to reweld the cut/plasma'd midpipe I had back together. Makes total sense!



Installed the UUC Evo 3 and DSSR. Overall I still like the Understeer Z3 setup in my E30 better than this UUC in the E36.


Had fun replacing the E36 motor mounts


Had fun installing 21 new exhaust manifold studs. Thank god the E90 had nice studs with E-torx in the head for easier install.


With a lot of luck I got the TMS headers installed too.


With my shitty welding skills I got my midpipe back on and together too.


And for good measure I put a new exhaust on the car




Which in the end resulted me with a running car. YAY!


I need some more camber in the front since on big bumps the front wheels rub the fender. That will be fixed shortly along with rolling the front fenders. I also need keyless entry stat!

Since I've been driving the E36 I have been loving it. I'm also starting to think about the day when I will remove the M50 from it and put it in the E30. An S5x or M52 would make more power but I know this M50. It only has 100k miles on it, compression is excellent, and I have replaced every sensor and gasket on it pretty much.

But that's down the road a ways. I need to get at least a year or two out of the E36 before I can remove it's heart.

So now that the E36 is back on the road I can polish up my STi and sell it, and more importantly I can get back to the E30.

Short term projects for the E30 now.

- Nov 3-4 NASA event on Summit Main. YAY TRACK WEEKENDS!
- Z3M diff cover install. I still need to remove the pre-installed bushing in it and swap out for my AKG bushing.
- paint strip the spare front bumper and valance I have and paint. Then swap out the rusty/broken ones I have. This will be starting this weekend.
- paint strip the basketweaves I have and paint them awful colors. And then get new tires for them. I think Star Specs.
- E36 steering rack swap. I will hopefully get to this next week. The E36 rack I have is ready to go. I will see how it feels, down the road I might swap out of a rebuilt Z3 rack.
- Euro motor mount install
- Welding in all the support reinforcements the previous owner installed, but didn't weld. (So they are acting like big washers currently. I'll properly weld them in.
- E36 window switches. Because a track car needs to look good!


Oh yea and in addition to everything else in the past few months I got engaged. Woooooo!

[Dj Buttchug]

i had that cat back system on my old 328is. holy shit its the best exhaust ever. it sounds amazing

[kts]

i had that cat back system on my old 328is. holy shit its the best exhaust ever. it sounds amazing

Yea so far I'm a very big fan of how it sounds. Definitely a lot more aggressive than the Stromung on my E30.

(for those who may not know, it's a UUC System U catback. and it does sound awesome.)

[leegf]

System U or RSC36? Anybody?

[kts]

System U or RSC36? Anybody?

From what I've heard from clips on YouTube/etc the RSC36 sounds great. But I love the sound of my System U and it was half the price.

I think UUC has changed their pricing recently but I still think the System U is a lot less and it does sound great!