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

[Javier h]

Less is more

There is something to say about sometimes keeping things simple.

I am really surprise how well the car looks even without the MT1 kit; I would have never guess.

As it sits, it personifies a very classic "high end" appearance not distracting from the traditional lines.

The kit might give it a more sporty updated appearance but may detract from that vibe.

Your idea being able to toggle between both appearances addresses that issue.

Don't be surprise if at the end, you are partial to non-mtech1 appearance. Seriously, the car looks that great. I don't think such a dilemma exist with hardtops. I have yet to see a euro hardtop that has NOT benefited from being kitted.

I am thinking now, there is just something about the lines on a vert that can pull the euro appearance off (without the mt1 kit) contingent on the color etc.

Javier

Ha ebay.de a couple of years ago. I think Barron pointed me to the auction. It mounted up perfectly with one very minor issue - on the 771 db valance, the ends of the narrow strip below the grilles have holes for body clips on both the top and bottom of each end. The repro euro valance only had the holes on the top. easy to drill them, but I didn't realize it before painting so I mounted without the lower body clips because I didn't want to expose bare metal or have to repair the paint job.



Thanks javier!! we're kinda obsessed with this car... our plans:

APPEARANCE
getting close to where we want it, and we'll get it painted in the next year or two. I thought about going body color on the bumpers.. but I dig the chrome alot so..

I'm also thrilled to find the repro MT1 vert side skirts and surprised at how much my wife and I like the way they look.. Our e30 bud Chad was wondering about leaving them black.. it does look good that way but I can't see leaving them a different color than the MT1 front spoiler, trunk spoiler and apron. Then again the rear trunk spoiler is gonna be calypso and black...

As much as we're digging the MT1 bits, we're very excited about being able to switch between them and the stock euro setup. here's how we're doing it:
- I will keep the original trunk unmodified for collector reasons (though man I hate that 3rd brake light / trunk wart).
- I scored a rust free used e30 coupe deck lid with the IS spoiler holes pre-drilled. will paint that and use it as my MT1 trunk lid
- Also have a new OEM trunk lid which I will paint and have available to install unmodified
- since I have the front euro valance I can just unmount the euro fogs, remove the front frames on them and attach them to the MT1 front spoiler.
- I remove both bumpers, pull the trim and reassemble them on the MT1 front spoiler and rear apron, then remount.
- Still need to figure out how to make the vert side skirts cleanly removable - drilling holes for mounting clips isn't too exciting. Truth is though these repro vert skirts are hard fiberglass anyway not urethane like the originals... so maybe I can skip some of the drilling - we'll see.

PERFORMANCE
Even with the ITBs this car is nothing like chicagolande30's or achtunge30's S52 verts.. I've driven chicagolande30's car - it's much faster than mine by quite a bit. But I'm just not feeling the S52. It's not like my old E46 M3 and it doesn't have the sound and vibe of the M20. I'll get there with the stroker and RD headers, and will retain the M20 sound + feel. Focus is on a fat and flat torque curve rather than raw HP. If I need to add the Vortech SC to get the right performance under those conditions I'll do that.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

PERFORMANCE
Even with the ITBs this car is nothing like chicagolande30's or achtunge30's S52 verts.. I've driven chicagolande30's car - it's much faster than mine by quite a bit. But I'm just not feeling the S52. It's not like my old E46 M3 and it doesn't have the sound and vibe of the M20. I'll get there with the stroker and RD headers, and will retain the M20 sound + feel. Focus is on a fat and flat torque curve rather than raw HP. If I need to add the Vortech SC to get the right performance under those conditions I'll do that.

Ahem m30...

[bradnic]

Thanks Andre! can't wait to meet you and the ride!

[e30rapidic]

giant thumbs up brother.

[bradnic]

Oh man the car is looking great! Definitely going to search for you at the Vintage to see it up close.

right on! come on by man. wife and i are totally excited about this trip.

........looking good;)..........
..........................................the thin long side cover (1x1 x70) is usually removed prior to installing skirts.....(could however be a useful for double stick tape)

are you talking about the strip of material along the bottom? I'll give you a call to discuss. just trial fitting right now - we'll get the MT1 work done in the next month or two.

now I know what to look for.

mysterious.. what do you mean? meetup at the Vintage? definitely gonna look for you this weekend!

[bradnic]

car is looking awesome man. Where did you get a repro valence?

Ha ebay.de a couple of years ago. I think Barron pointed me to the auction. It mounted up perfectly with one very minor issue - on the 771 db valance, the ends of the narrow strip below the grilles have holes for body clips on both the top and bottom of each end. The repro euro valance only had the holes on the top. easy to drill them, but I didn't realize it before painting so I mounted without the lower body clips because I didn't want to expose bare metal or have to repair the paint job.

Seriously?

The freaking car is stunning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unbelievable what a few hard to find but well sorted parts will do for a car.
Love the color contrast with the chrome accents etc.

Thanks javier!! we're kinda obsessed with this car... our plans:

APPEARANCE
getting close to where we want it, and we'll get it painted in the next year or two. I thought about going body color on the bumpers.. but I dig the chrome alot so..

I'm also thrilled to find the repro MT1 vert side skirts and surprised at how much my wife and I like the way they look.. Our e30 bud Chad was wondering about leaving them black.. it does look good that way but I can't see leaving them a different color than the MT1 front spoiler, trunk spoiler and apron. Then again the rear trunk spoiler is gonna be calypso and black...

As much as we're digging the MT1 bits, we're very excited about being able to switch between them and the stock euro setup. here's how we're doing it:
- I will keep the original trunk unmodified for collector reasons (though man I hate that 3rd brake light / trunk wart).
- I scored a rust free used e30 coupe deck lid with the IS spoiler holes pre-drilled. will paint that and use it as my MT1 trunk lid
- Also have a new OEM trunk lid which I will paint and have available to install unmodified
- since I have the front euro valance I can just unmount the euro fogs, remove the front frames on them and attach them to the MT1 front spoiler.
- I remove both bumpers, pull the trim and reassemble them on the MT1 front spoiler and rear apron, then remount.
- Still need to figure out how to make the vert side skirts cleanly removable - drilling holes for mounting clips isn't too exciting. Truth is though these repro vert skirts are hard fiberglass anyway not urethane like the originals... so maybe I can skip some of the drilling - we'll see.

PERFORMANCE
Even with the ITBs this car is nothing like chicagolande30's or achtunge30's S52 verts.. I've driven chicagolande30's car - it's much faster than mine by quite a bit. But I'm just not feeling the S52. It's not like my old E46 M3 and it doesn't have the sound and vibe of the M20. I'll get there with the stroker and RD headers, and will retain the M20 sound + feel. Focus is on a fat and flat torque curve rather than raw HP. If I need to add the Vortech SC to get the right performance under those conditions I'll do that.

[318aye]

now I know what to look for.

[411]

Vert side skirts and mtech1 air ducts arrived finally! MT1 setup is now complete except for a pending hardware shipment from BMW.

quick trial fit last night - replica just about perfect, down to the part number detail!

........looking good;)..........
..........................................the thin long side cover (1x1 x70) is usually removed
prior to installing skirts.....(could however be a usefull for double stick tape)

[Reichart12]

Oh man the car is looking great! Definitely going to search for you at the Vintage to see it up close.

[Javier h]

Seriously?

The freaking car is stunning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unbelievable what a few hard to find but well sorted parts will do for a car.

Love the color contrast with the chrome accents etc.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

car is looking awesome man. Where did you get a repro valence?

[bradnic]

Vert MtechI skirts are vary rare.......

indeed.. i'm hoping a certain canuck has pity on me. we'll see.

The Canuck delivered! Vert side skirts and mtech1 air ducts arrived finally! MT1 setup is now complete except for a pending hardware shipment from BMW.

quick trial fit last night - replica just about perfect, down to the part number detail!


also completed the hardtop headliner reglue - neighbor suggested I try a fabric store for foam material and bingo! they actually had 1/4" foam backed headliner material! that was key to getting the OEM fabric to stay up. Glued the foam side to the fiberglass top, and then the original cloth to the new headliner cloth. feels and looks pretty darn good now!

[bradnic]

Also swapped out the chrome bumpers and finally painted and installed the euro valance and fogs. What a transformation!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Xqjf9g]


Oh and that hardtop headliner repair failed miserably. You can push the cloth into the hardtop and if sticks.. But a minute later it falls. Will try attaching it again wth more adhesive ahead of the Vintage trip later this week. Worst case I'll pull the headliner on the road and use the hardtop without it!

[bradnic]

She's TUNED!!! Finally

My ITBs are finally dialed in!!! Power is back and definitely stronger than stock. Multiple issues including a flaky ICV, extreme difficulty getting the carbs to sync and a semi loose connection on one of the 2 sensor cables that connect near the round service port. I know one is the pickup for the spark plug wire and I think the other is for the CPS. I assume CPS was connected ok since car started, drove etc.

I also had a pinched seal on one end of the breather/bitch tube that slowly leaked so that and the crappy tune motivated me to tear everything down again.



With the ITBs out I took the time to back each of the 3 adjuster screws out so that the throttle plates were all fully closed on each pair. Once back installed i went ahead and tried tuning at idle without the plenum installed so that I could access the third adjuster screw. I picked the ITB pair with the highest vacuum and started matching the others to it as far as I could, then tuned the higher vacuum ITB pair close to the others (I.e. Lowered vacuum reading to get closer to the others). Adjusting one pair affected the others so I had to keep switching between them. This time it acted very differently though, no backfiring and much smoother idle. My wife immediately noticed the difference as well.

Hope this helps some end else with ITB tuning.

[bradnic]

drove the car today. below 3k absolutely blows. definitely need to work on the tune.
these will help too I'm sure - E30 RD long tube headers going in after the Vintage.



Still hoping the new RD group buy happens.. if so I'll move these to the IX.