1984 325e S52 swap...

[gnzRR]

Love the whole sleeper concept !

[vwtech]

Thanks man! People have no clue, just "sounds so damn loud!"

I really need to change the diff out for taller ratio. 3.73 is too short. I plan on using a 3.25 LSD.

[vwtech]

Update: So coming home from work today, i decide to take the nice sweeping/country back road. It was sunny outside, not too hot, and not a cloud in the sky. I come to a 4 way stop and begin my normal ripping in the BMW, an over-the-top hard pull from 1st to 2nd gear......then clunk/bang/crunch/etc. I completely blew apart 2nd gear! I literally limped it home using 3rd and 4th through town with the 4 ways on the entire way.

I guess I can't be too mad or upset because the old getrag 250 had over 250,000 miles on it! It also would grind into 1st if I wasn't all the way stopped before engaging 1st. So the bottem line is that I need a transmission. I want to try and find a taller geared trans and I honestly don't know the specs on like getrag 260/ZF 330/etc...so anybody that knows more than me, please chime in!

I'll try and get some pictures posted up of the carnage asap.

[evandael]

did you have a g250 from the e36 or a g260 from an e30? g250's have 1:1 5th gears like the ZF310's and ZF320's. G260's have an overdriven 5th (.81:1) that would work perfectly with your 3.73 rear end.


i have a g260 sitting in my garage by the way.. ;)

[vwtech]

Pretty sure it was a 250 and I got another one back in now, but now I really need a 3.25 diff. Anybody have one???

Also got around to ripping the back seat out, then removed the driver side seat. I installed a custom seat bracket and bolted up my old omp Kevlar seat with a sparco cam lock harness. Wow what a difference in the feel and control of the car!!!

[vwtech]

Next on the list will be solid front and rear strut and shock mounts. I m undecided on the brand for the camber plates. Then I want to install my revshift solid motor mounts.

I am also in the middle of getting some other 15x7 track wheels and tires. the wheels look like rota slips and the tires are toyo ra-1's. will try and get some more pics up as always.

[vwtech]

UPDATES....................

The car has been sitting a lot lately. The whole short ratio diff is annoying to drive, so I found a 3.15 from a z3 and the best thing is that it's a torsen LSD unit!!! The other night I ripped her all apart again for like the 3rd time, cleaned the diff, sealed the cover with my poly mount and re-installed everything.

The car is finally driveable again! No more 4200 rpms at 75 mph! The power band is perfect now and it pulls nice in 2nd/3rd/4th!!!!!!!

heres some pics:

[Kershaw]

i take it you've sorted out the transmission then? i have a friend who has several ZFs for sale. i cant believe you're running around on 215s with a 3.3l s52. that's nuts man. you need 245s at least!

great sleeper build though. you've definitely put in some man hours and it shows.

[vwtech]

Thanks man, I have put some crazy hours in the car. I would love to put 245s in the rear! That would be sweet. Got any leads on a wheel and tire setup that size that would fit an E30?

Btw, how much shipped for a ZF unit? And are they zf320? Or 330?

[vwtech]

So big plans for the E30 !!!

I completed another HPDE this time with NASA and it was again at Summit Point, the main nov finale. It was awesome and I have the addiction so, my plans for the 325e are going to shift towards full HPDE 2/3/4 then TT. Since the last post, I had a friend fab up a harness bar for the two race seats/belts. I purchased a helmet and sparco race gloves. Man this time due to the improvements and the perfect driving instructor, it went amazing!!!!!! I hit the 2900 straight at 135 mph!!

here are some pics of the car before the event:

[vwtech]

Here's some pictures from the nov finale

[kingston]

Car looks great, well done! Would look even better w/ Euro bumpers :)

And yeah, this track stuff is seriously addicting! I did my 1st HPDE earlier this year, then did 2 endurance races in another $30 in Chump Car, racing at Gateway and Road America. It is the most fun you can have with your clothes on!1

[vwtech]

thanks kingston the car is alot of fun to drive on the track. I want to wide body the car, cut out the fenders and make more room for bigger tires and maybe add a wing. I have to move the o2 sensor closer to the manifold, its way too far back and sets a fault in the DME. So I'll have to cut out a spot for it and well in a bung way up as close as I can to the heat.

The next big thing on the ole to do list is the fuel system. Now the setup I have now works great for driving around town, but on the track its a different story as the lambda meter going all the way lean! So my plans are to fab up a fuel cell and mount it either in the spare tire well or just in the trunk. I will have to use 2 pumps so I will probably just get another walboro 255 and wire them up on the same feed but seperate relays.

If anybody has done the fuel cell install, I would love some info or help if possible, thanks in advance!

[vwtech]

the car is now for sale*******************NOT ANYMORE AS OF NOW

[robgoesvroom]

Sad to see it for sale. Are you buying a more competitive chassis/platform? In the end, was it worth it?