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

[AWDBOB]

8610-1436race!!

[nando]

that's it!

I have worked on the car a little bit recently. I finished the 1-touch sunroof module installation (it doesn't work perfectly, but it's better than the original switch that worked half the time).

I also decided to finally swap in my E46 M3 fuel pump. Well, I was looking at how the stock E30 sock fit on the pump and it wasn't great. Then, I pulled the pump out of my car (which I bought new a couple years ago). Well, they updated the carrier and sock - it's the same as the E46 pump.

Actually, visually the pumps look identical. The newer pump sock and carrier would be a direct fit. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's the same exact pump. So I said Eff it and I put the new pump back in and left the M3 pump on the shelf. I replaced a fuel line while I was in there - we'll see if this thing can handle 5 bars of pressure. I'm pretty sure it will be fine.

I've got a bunch of paint supplies that I want to use to fix some of the paint issues the car has. It's realistically never going to be show car perfect, but I just want it to look decent - the paint on the roof is failing and I want to redo the rear valance & front bumper.

lastly I'm looking at the brakes. Trying to find an MK60 ABS sensor that will work in the front struts. E46 fronts are too long and rears are too short. Supposedly they will work in the rear with a spacer but I haven't tried yet - I thought they were the same on the E30. I think they will be too short.

also as a nice bonus - while I had the fuel pump out I had a look inside the tank. it's pretty clean in there with little signs of sediment and zero rust. other than a little dent in the bottom, there's no reason for me to worry about replacing it.

[rturbo 930]

I finished the 1-touch sunroof module installation (it doesn't work perfectly, but it's better than the original switch that worked half the time).

Can you expand on this a bit? I've been eying those one-touch kits for a while, but I've never heard any complaints

[nando]

you have to push it twice to get it to move. for example, twice to pop up, twice to close, then twice again to open it all the way. And then, when you close it, it only closes about 80% of the way, then you have to push it again to finish the deed. It's OK, but it could be a lot better.

[2002jm]

painting

Hi: When you are doing the front valance/spoiler are you going to take it in to a shop, or use a can, or your own spray equipment?
jm

[slc325ix]

How much did it cost to modify the koni's? Including the struts them selves

[nando]

the konis aren't modified, they are off the shelf. the strut tubes have to be shortened about 2" for them though. I believe the struts were around $400 for the fronts, and a few hundred for WotTech to modify the housings (they also powdercoated them and replaced the bearings).

[slc325ix]

So are they normal ix Konis just cut two inches? Sorry for all the questions. I just installed h and r's and bilsteins, man what a disappointment body roll every where

[nando]

No, they are a shorter insert. You modify the housings so they fit properly.

8610-1436race!!

[slc325ix]

Whoops I got messed up. Found em on e30tech thread http://www.shox.com/appguide/shoxsho...ctsdisplay.php. Do rember what koni Sa's you used in the rear? Or where you can get them? Can you still raise the car up with the short Konis for snow?

[nando]

I got them from Blunt. I think they were from an E30 M3. I wanted top adjustable, but ended up with bottom adjustable again. oh well.

The ride is stiff, but faaaar better than the bilsteins. it needs an alignment, but I want to modify an E46 xi rack to fit, so I'm just going to wait for that (don't drive it often enough for it to matter yet).

on another note - I actually drove the E30 today, legitimately:


I hadn't even started it since like January. It fired right up (of course). I put new gas in it since it still had 1/4 tank from last June. I really haven't driven it much since I got the E90, mostly because I need to do a lot of work to it, but it still puts a smile on my face. :)

I ran over a bungie chord in the E90 and destroyed a rear tire. Since BMW is so kind these days that you don't even get a spare tire on your $50,000 car (and I'm not running run flats, which ride horribly and cost 3x as much as a normal tire), I can't drive it until my new tires come in. So the E30 is my backup car. Not so bad, really!

The 330i is definitely faster, but the E30 is just a different animal. The E90 is so large, quiet, and refined that you have to be going triple digit speeds in order to feel anything. In the E30, it's like you're driving the piss out of the car, having a good time, and you look down at the speedo and you're only going like 40mph. lol. much harder to get a ticket that way, than not even topping out 3rd gear and hitting 90+mph (I've never even tried 4th or 5th gear in the E90).

The E30 just feels so much more "urgent". They are both capable, but the E30 just begs to be pushed to the edge, where the E90 will cut power and slap you on the wrist for getting a little squirrely. No such thing as traction control on the E30! Also, real BMWs come with limited slip. :D

Also, the 4.10 gearing is pretty hilarious coming from a 6 speed. 5th gear is like 4th gear. lol. I also walked away from the car with the keys in the ignition, because I have comfort access in the 330i and I don't even take it out of my pocket. I got out to lock the car, and was like - oh yeah. it's got a real key!

Anyway, I really wanted to make this post to make a list of the things it desperately needs:

-New steering wheel. I want something smaller, and maybe closer to the driver. My ///M stitched, re-wraped E34 M5 Mtech 2 wheel will be for sale.

-Needs the E46 xi rack. The turn ratio on the E30 is laughable coming from the 330i. I think it affects the steering feel as well, since you have to turn the wheel so far to get any response from it. I figured out the tie rod issue (going to use E46 xi tie rods, and modify the strut housings to take the larger ball joints). But it requires mods to the subframe, and a custom linkage that I haven't worked out yet.

-New floor mats. I had a brand new set from our E91 (she has rubber mats, these were like new), they actually fit fine but the drivers side slides around too much. It gets bunched under the brake pedal, not good..

-New seats. It desperately needs new seats. I've known this since 2002 when I bought it, but they're in much worse condition now. The frame is pretty loose and the leather is like cardboard. I have black duct tape holding the cracks in the leather together so it doesn't damage the foam/padding any further.

-Clutch is shot. It holds OK but I can't launch the car anymore, it just slips. The clutch engagement is crazy short, like maybe 1" of pedal travel. Probably less. it was always short, which is great for quick shifts, but since it slips a little on clutch engagement it makes it feel a little murky.

-The brakes are not great. The pads/rotors are fine, and the pedal feel is even OK, but I don't know if it's the booster or what - they just feel mushy. I've done the MC a couple times so that's not it. Fluid is pretty fresh. I'm just done with the stock brakes - the N52 will need a manual setup anyway, so I'm thinking of Massive's sport kit with the 3 external MC's. I'm going to replace the ABS system with an MK60 unit from a later M3, and re-pipe all the brake lines for a 4 channel setup. The only hurdle I have right now is the ABS sensors (they seem to be either too long or too short).

there are lots of other smaller things that need attention, but they are mostly things like the shift knob being faded and missing or broken clips. The glove box latch has been partially broken for at least 6 years, lol. I have about $200 in paint supplies to touch up the really bad spots on the car (roof, front bumper, rear valance), but the paint is presentable enough. I want to focus on the mechanical issues.

BTW, I think I owe this to George Graves. For whatever reason, when I tested the 1 touch sunroof module with the car turned off, it didn't seem to work all that well. I had to push the button multiple times to make it open all the way, and then a couple more times to make it close. It was still better than having to hold the switch, but it didn't seem to work as expected.

But now, for whatever reason since I finished the installation, it seems to work perfectly. I don't get it - but it's fantastic! I had a balky switch before that I had to push "just so" in order to open/close the roof. Now I can use the sunroof (which I always did, never understood wanting a "slick top" on a street car - like an extra 40lbs matters on your way to work or school).

Sorry for the ultra long post. I guess actually driving the E30 makes me remember what I liked about it - I might have to take it to work more often. :)

[tinkerputzer]

Man you summed up my E90 vs E30 sentiment perfectly. Each car makes you appreciate what it has to offer over the other one.

You're E30 always looks so clean :up:

You'll love the quicker steering rack in the E30. You'll definitely need a 370mm steering wheel though. I have a z3 1.9 rack in mine but with an air-bag wheel so it still feels like i'm driving a bus :(

Are you going to delete the booster to clear the N52 3 stage manifold? If you wanted to retain the booster couldn't you use the N52 vacuum pump for the vacuum source?

What tires did you end up getting for the rear of the e90? My car came with bridgestone RE050 RFT's and they seem to handle well enough. I'm sure having non RFT's would feel more comfortable though. I think it would be fun to try some TW200 tires in a squared set up. But a LSD would pretty much be required then :)

[nando]

I'm pretty sure there won't be room for a brake booster. the n52 head & intake is much larger than the M20's. Plus, it's not like my brake feel is very good anyway! I'd like to have the brakes sorted before I get to a swap.

I don't know, I go back and forth on it. My main goal throughout this is to always have an E30 that I can just jump into and drive - I don't want to tear it apart, lose interest, and then end up having to sell a half assembled car for peanuts.

The E90 had Continental DW on it when I got it - they're pretty nice for a street tire, and importantly for the PNW, good in the rain. The're also fairly cheap, so I stuck with them. They're just the stock size, 255/35R18.

if I want something racy, the E30 has R888s. :p

[tinkerputzer]

Yeah i figured the head and intake would present some problems, but wasn't sure if you were going to do a custom intake manifold. I'll be interested to hear you're impression on how the manual brakes feels.

I hear you on losing interest in a project. I think you've had a long enough bonding period with the E30 though to keep you inspired. You'll definitely want to have all you're ducks in a row before you start though. Speaking of which have you had any luck cracking the MSV70 CAS/EWS?

[nando]

no not yet. I was working on a disassembly, but the MPC563 CPU has programmable memory addresses, so I don't know how the flash/RAM is laid out relative to each other. The problem with that is the code references from the program space to the parameter space don't line up, so I can't tell what each line of code does. There's only one byte in the whole parameter space that has anything to do with EWS (C_TOUT_IMOB), so it's probably something I have to change in the program itself. if only I had a degree in computer science..

worst case scenario, I get a matching key/CAS and just wire it up. I think I can blank out the MSV70 ISN to re-synch with a CAS, so I might not even need a matching DME. It would be really cool to have a working start button with comfort access but that would significantly expand the scope of the project..