14 years - 1991 325ix, Stroker/5-Speed (N52 swap?)

[nando]

Use them :p

I need a specific transmission and a few more odds and ends.. and of course, time!

[nando]

nothing crazy here, just some long overdue maintenance!

water pump, timing belt, valve adjustment, radiator flush, front crank seal, cam seal, and intermediate shaft seal (all just laying around in my garage).


valve adjustment in progress:

this is how simple a cam sensor "wheel" can be:

cam sensor cover plate (sensor from an M45B30):



Have to tweak the cam timing some - must have been 1 tooth retarded last time I put the belt on. tweaked it on the dyno and got it nailed down, but now with the marks lined up, it was too advanced and my top end went flat. I put it back to zero and it feels more like it usually does, but I think I could go 1-2 degrees more retarded. (note - the advance/retard marks on this cam gear are backwards - in the pic it's advanced several degrees).

[downforce22]

Which strut bar do you have?

[nando]

weichers sport - the only one they make for an ix. bavauto sells a rebadged version of the same bar.

[E30 Wagen]

Do you have HP and torque numbers? I envy your m20 soooo much.

[potshot]

Trying to remember the last time I spent so much time on one post at one sitting. I just picked up a super clean 88ix, so it'll be nice to refer to this thread from time to time. Nice writeup.

[nando]

it's about 210bhp - drivetrain losses are about 20%. :(

I wanted at least 200whp, which with an M20 is possible, but I can get 300whp going another route with a different motor for basically the same cost..

[potshot]

it's about 210bhp - drivetrain losses are about 20%. :(

I wanted at least 200whp, which with an M20 is possible, but I can get 300whp going another route with a different motor for basically the same cost..

What motor are you considering? ...and why not turbo?

[Nisse Järnet]

Really awsome thread! The car looks great, and the pics make me miss my old M20 :S
What color is the car btw?

[AWDBOB]

nando-

Beautiful car! Finally had the chance to sit down and go through your thread. Also worthy of noting, those 6ULs are by far the best looking wheel I've seen on an E30 yet, with a nice sized tire to boot. How do they stack up next to the 15" weaves in weight?

Also, a few pages back there was a discussion about lowering the IX and CV joint wear, but I couldn't seem to fall on a direct answer here. How have you not been eating CV joints sitting that low? Did the new hub bearings do the trick, or the added stiffness of the coilovers?

Again, beautiful car and good luck with it in the future!

[nando]

Really awsome thread! The car looks great, and the pics make me miss my old M20 :S
What color is the car btw?

thanks! it's sterling silver.

nando-

Beautiful car! Finally had the chance to sit down and go through your thread. Also worthy of noting, those 6ULs are by far the best looking wheel I've seen on an E30 yet, with a nice sized tire to boot. How do they stack up next to the 15" weaves in weight?

Also, a few pages back there was a discussion about lowering the IX and CV joint wear, but I couldn't seem to fall on a direct answer here. How have you not been eating CV joints sitting that low? Did the new hub bearings do the trick, or the added stiffness of the coilovers?

Again, beautiful car and good luck with it in the future!

the 6ULs are about 4lbs lighter per wheel than euroweaves. the R888s are pretty heavy though - I'd love to use these with lightweight Hoosiers sometime in the future!

I don't think CV joints are an issue. I've only had two sets of CV shafts - the originals from my car (200,000 some odd miles), and the set from my parts car, which are on the car now and are way past 250,000 miles.

CV boots can sometimes be an issue but on my car it was always the one by the headers (passenger inner boot) that I assume just got hot and melted. that said boots are cheap, I just keep a bunch at hand if I ever need to replace one, and I've never had to rebuild an axle. this set of headers I made sure they got ceramic coated and I don't think I've had an issue since then.

[nando]

What motor are you considering? ...and why not turbo?

turbo - I thought about it a lot, but it's just not what I want to do with the car. For turbo, I'd want to build another M20, and I'd want to do it right.. that would cost a small fortune, for the same results as a smooth stock N/A engine can do. Besides, I have almost all of the parts I need except the engine. :)

Also, having a lot of modified parts on a car is sort of a pain in the long term. It's just harder to work on it, and it sucks when custom made parts break or become obsolete. Although at least I don't have to do any maintenance other than a valve adjustment once in a while and the TB/Water pump every 5 years.

[E30 Wagen]

Besides, I have almost all of the parts I need except the engine. :)
.

ugh, stop teasing us.

[nando]

haha, when I actually have an engine, then I'll post it. :p

[Mlarsen]

If you're doing what I think you're doing, it'll be a game changer.