89 325i LS Swap (Rust Repair & Respray Underway)

[KIRIEIW]

Never seen this build thread before, but then again your first post was a while before I became a frequent user :D. Looking forward to more updates, pretty cool to see someone owning the same car basically 10years later.

[Pootis]

but still no lip?



yes! how dare you show a LS-E30 on the dyno and not tell us how much power its making!

Nice build! How much power is it making?

So does the LS completely roast those rear tires? Hard to tell if your TRMs are 15x8's or 15x7's.

This thing would be a hoot in the rain :rofl:

It made 310 HP which is lower than I was wanting. I was hoping for 340 at least but it's hard to get traction as is. The wheels are 15x8 but I only have a 205 tire on it. And yes I really want an i lip for the car just never think to order one lol

[Pootis]

Never seen this build thread before, but then again your first post was a while before I became a frequent user :D. Looking forward to more updates, pretty cool to see someone owning the same car basically 10years later.

It's the longest I have ever owned a car. I don't foresee myself ever getting rid of it either. Believe it or not I have probably put less than 10k miles on it in all of the time I have owned it.

[thexfactord22]

what hydro boost set up did you go with?

[Pootis]

I used a chevy astro hydrobooster and rethreaded the push rod to take a bmw brake clevis. I then picked up a chevy trailblazer 1" master cylinder and adapted the lines to work with the bmw abs pump. It was a bit of a nightmare to figure out but it is ultimately the Sikky hydroboost setup without the fancy (expensive) billet parts. The booster bolts to the firewall using the astro firewall plate just drilled to the bmw booster pattern.

[superj]

badass

[Pootis]

Planning on getting these installed this weekend

[Pootis]

Ok I am terrible about updates but I'm also pretty slow at working on this car. I peeled the carpet up and found a couple spots of rust that needed addressed. One spot I was about to cut it all out but the other I had to fiberglass in and leave to a professional (no pics but it isn't pretty).





I have been chasing vibrations in the car and came to find that even though I beat the hell out of the transmission tunnel it was still touching in a couple of spots. So I dropped the exhaust and angled the transmission down far enough to make for space and I am happy to report that the vibrations are virtually gone. The original exhaust was a one piece hack job so I decided to redo it while it was down. I am pretty happy with the results. I uploaded a video of how it sounds now.

(original)


(new)




(How it sounds)

https://youtu.be/UMIKTshJ9HM

I also picked up a Mtech 1 Wheel that I plan on having recovered


Street Car Takeover was two weekends ago so I figured I would give the ol girl a fine cut polish, an additional polish and a high gloss wax. The results were amazing.

(Masked off)


(Before)


(After)


(With the OZ Vegas on and ready for the show)



Only pic I have from the show


Back into the garage after the show


Overall the car is running well. It is a ton of fun to drive and you can slide the ass end out way too easily. And as you can see in the pics I finally put an i lip on for all of the haters lol. I will try to update this more as things progress. Next on the list is brakes. I plan to either rebuild the stock brakes or pony up for a bbk time will tell.

[zwill23]

Looking good, I recently did the exact same rust repair. Those damn wire clip studs seem like a common rust point.

[wworm]

holy moly you can see the whole car move/twist when you rev the engine. Must be a riot

[325isman]

Great looking car...keep up the good work

[AWDBOB]

Incredible- this is my dream build (and favorite color/interior combo, but I'm biased).

1) How does the hydroboost feel?
2) Did you retain heat?
3) Sikky headers?
4) Front end feel heavy with the iron block?

[Pootis]

Incredible- this is my dream build (and favorite color/interior combo, but I'm biased).

1) How does the hydroboost feel?
2) Did you retain heat?
3) Sikky headers?
4) Front end feel heavy with the iron block?

1) the hydro boost took some getting used to but I like it now. It is a bit laggier than vacuum assisted brakes.
2) I did retain heat. That is the simple one the car does not have ac though.
3) Nope I modified c5 corvette headers to work.
4) Honestly I don’t feel a difference at all. The difference between the m20 and the iron block is 80 lbs so it feels fine to me. Stiffer front springs help as well.

Glad you like the car. I initially was going to switch the car to black interior but I’m glad I didn’t

[mr.]

Amazing, love that the exterior is kept so simple, a sleeper look if you will

[Pootis]

Amazing, love that the exterior is kept so simple, a sleeper look if you will

Thanks! That was the goal. No one knows what's under the hood until it starts up