325ic Calypso Euro Conversion - Houndstooth & dbilas now, MT1 & MM 3.2 stroker coming

[bradnic]

one of the PO's 02s - S14 equipped of course ala Blunt's old orange one

[chicagolande30]

The car is looking great . We should gtg on the weekend since I don't live to far from you . I would love to see your beautiful Euro version of my Vert . I can bring the windscreen travel bag 👌 Pm me .

[bradnic]

you have pm.

check out the German KBA doc for the 16x7 Alpina (attached)
full Alpina info on e30.de (via google translate)

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Jealous of your wheels. I want 16 inch alpinas

[e30m3s54turbo]

Nice 2002!! The Alpina wheels looke great....

[e30m3s54turbo]

I did see the s14 motor pic!!!!!

[robrez]

Congrats on the wheels. You deserve a score like that. I'm into mine about $3.5K (without tires) after restoration. All those little accessories add up quick. Great to see you got a complete set. You did good.

[Julien]

very nice thread & parts list. just an opinion I wanted to share with you though; I installed a vortech blower on my 325xi and hated it. Car went through several tunes, went up to 9 PSI of boost but the car still felt anemic. I'd personally steer clear from a centrifugal blower, but that' just my 2 cents. I'd pair what you have there with a nice 2.8-2.9L bottom end and an aggressive cam.

[bradnic]

Congrats on the wheels. You deserve a score like that. I'm into mine about $3.5K (without tires) after restoration. All those little accessories add up quick. Great to see you got a complete set. You did good.

That's very kind Rob thank you! I'll have some resto work to do for sure so I'm heading to that figure as well. We're focusing on the vert now, and the IX will get some attention later. Definitely enjoying the process.. I'm not missing my old 771 mtech too much. I dig the interior, euro conversion and the upcoming mtech 1 work. Also need to finish restoring the hardtop (I have new seals and need to get the headliner re-attached). I'm also going to retrofit the electric top and zip out rear window, because the car is a 7/90 build with all the sheet metal changes in place to support the electric system.

very nice thread & parts list. just an opinion I wanted to share with you though; I installed a vortech blower on my 325xi and hated it. Car went through several tunes, went up to 9 PSI of boost but the car still felt anemic. I'd personally steer clear from a centrifugal blower, but that' just my 2 cents. I'd pair what you have there with a nice 2.8-2.9L bottom end and an aggressive cam.

Thanks Julien. Really appreciate the post. I spent alot of time researching and thinking things through 2-3 years ago, especially digger's stuff. I do hear exactly what you're saying, and it's why the supercharger is the last phase of the project. The truth is that I backed into it because of the dbilas actually, as all indications are that it will actually drop midrange torque over stock. So why install it? good question. I don't have a rational answer.

Stroking and camming the motor will get some/all of the lost midrange torque back and more, but what a waste! It seems that if you want NA drop the dbilas enjoy the power and torque gains!. The rational person would either keep the stock manifold or get "real M20 ITBs". 3 options other than full custom ITBs:

1) stick with the dbilas and source the M20 CF airbox for it. Not a real option as the company's website is not functioning. I assume they're out of business.

2) sell the dbilas and go RHD ITBs.

Digger would certainly agree :-)

SUB'D.. still haven't installed my dbilas yet.

please sell it and use something better in that case.

That Hartge vert video I posted earlier in the thread screams... There's no plenum though, but I hear RHD was planning to release one. At least for now it's still not available.

3) The only other ITB option I know of is the H27SP but Raul/e30m3s54turbo tells me they were made by Schrick for Hartge and cost $6k new! They're basically impossible to find.

What do I really want? A flat torque curve and about 40-50 more hp than stock. So... if I'm weird and OCD and want my damn dbilas even though it eats midrange torque, I end up having to consider FI.

As to turbo vs SC, I think I wrote a while back that I'd consider a log / TCD style turbo manifold. But I've done intercooled turbo setups and I just don't think they're right for this car. That leaves me with a compact supercharger as the remaining option. There's no room for a roots system with that dbilas plenum - or is there? there's actually alot of room under the plenum...

Between that and the need for serpentine drive, there's alot of thinking to do. In the meantime I'll do a 'stage 1' dbilas+M30 AFM+19# injectors+tune. Then I'll stroke and cam the motor and headers and MS2. We'll see where we end up at that point, probably next year.

[bradnic]

Jealous of your wheels. I want 16 inch alpinas

they're out there man. one step at a time. get that zobelbraun beast sorted. so much rare goodness in your car!! and all that time you've put into it. I'm really looking forward to seeing it at some point.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

they're out there man. one step at a time. get that zobelbraun beast sorted. so much rare goodness in your car!! and all that time you've put into it. I'm really looking forward to seeing it at some point.

Hopefully soon... I sold all my race car motor parts:( gotta fund the rebuild.

[bradnic]

Not sure how well that cruise control cable mod will work, when you apply the throttle the cc cable will not be pulled at the same time.

You might be able to to fit a spring loaded pulley/tensioner to take up the slack so it won't derail

actually they're both on the same shaft so they'll rotate together - at least I hope they will lol. it's a ways off so I'll have the chance to try things out.

Thinking about this further, it's still going to be a problem. Whichever cable is pulling will introduce slack in the other. the stock linkage allows this other cable to slip. Will need to incorporate something like that on both throttle wheels

parking this here - detailed S14 linkage.. my buddy Gary has some S14s I can study.




this last one is key - the cables mount to a bracket that rotates with the shaft.. good to know

[bradnic]

Well that was fast. Every single part is NLA despite being orderable through the catalog.

Thank you for ordering from BMW Parts and Accessories .

We regret to inform you that the following 21 items are currently unavailable:

51711942967 AIR CHANNEL
51711942968 AIR CHANNEL
51111959739 COVER EURO
51111959740 COVER EURO
51111919154 LABEL
51711953903 TOWING HINGE
51121942083 RIVET
51121919155 BRACKET
51711919169 BRACKET
51711926202 BOLT
51711926201 8-STRIP EURO
51121953905 6 LABEL
51121953890 8-BRACKET EURO
51111953715 8-FOIL EURO
51161881149 8-FOIL EURO
51111942081 BRACKET
51111942082 8-RIVET EURO
51111919151 8-BOLT EURO
51711937627 BUFFER STRIP
51121932230 BUMPER STRIP EURO
51111953713 BUMPER STRIP EURO
Reason: Discontinued

still ticked about the MT1 parts order going south. Looking into ordering with a euro vin

Its not that they're not avail but they are all blocked. It is way past the safety dot issue now. If it was not available on a us car you can not get it anymore no matter what it is.

@Sirotto is right. Turns out the parts do indeed appear to be available. Not easy to get in the US though. This new BMW policy is a disaster - pure horsecr@p for E30 enthusiasts.

[doorman]

What's the reasoning behind not allowing euro parts in the US?
Emissions, safety?

None of those parts would appear to change either of those.

I like this one......51111942082 8-RIVET EURO......must work differently then our US rivets!!!

[bradnic]

What's the reasoning behind not allowing euro parts in the US?
Emissions, safety?

That's what triggers everything, but I think it's easier for the OEM to just ban all non-market parts that try to filter our regulatory and safety impacting items. What's new is the aggressive enforcement of this stuff by BMW. You must show a title to a euro-spec car now.

I like this one......51111942082 8-RIVET EURO......must work differently then our US rivets!!!

haha that's just the plastic rivets that attach the lower panel to the mtech1 front spoiler and eurovalance. they go in the holes in this part (which is a unicorn, but pretty easy to reproduce if you have a sample)