1985 325e | M60b40 | Fifty Shades of Bronzit

[ArtFoodBMW]

Maintenance time!

Controls and bushings were toast. Upgraded with OEM Lemforder and E30 M3 offset bushings.

My electric fan shredded itself before winter and I hadn't bothered to fix it until the weather warmed back up... It's drive-season so let's get it done!

Don't buy a straight blade fan. It is loud. I opted for a curved blade this time, and will be building a proper shroud for both better cooling and so this failure doesn't happen again.

[ArtFoodBMW]

Damn. You're a badass.

:)

[ArtFoodBMW]

More info on the wheels with BMW motorsport centers

They're my old wheels, bought them real cheap in the same condition that I sold them in over a year ago. They're reps. ESM 004 17x9, and I currently need two 17x8 for the perfect staggered setup. Also looking for 16x7.5 ACS's and 2 17x9 style 5's..

[oprahhwinfreyy]

More info on the wheels with BMW motorsport centers

[CubbyChowder]

Damn. You're a badass.

[ArtFoodBMW]

I love looking through this thread every once in a while. I put a lot of work into the car and barely think about how much effort it took nowadays. I'm nearing 11k miles on the swap and every second has been fantastic.

It does need a few upgrades and finishing touches that I plan to do once I get another project out of the garage. The electric fan shredded itself on a CCA drive so I've only been driving short distances lately. I also need to make a fan shroud for better cooling, and still need to make a box for the air filter.

I bought a house in march with my girlfriend and that's been a huge project ever since. It does have a shop in the back which I just finished insulating and hanging drywall in a few months ago. I've bought a few more parts and project cars, put some BC's on the wagon, bought some old wheels back.

I also graduated college a year ago (marketing and entrepreneurial management in 4 years with honors and an outstanding graduate recognition) and I'm seeing where life takes me at this point.

I also hollowed out the cats since one got clogged. It'll hold until emissions next year...

[ArtFoodBMW]

Girlfriend bought a 128i

Built some wheels (iron-e did the fill and drill)

Got a small MT2 wheel

Went to the e30 picnic

Got foglights

Bought a really dirty wagon

Helped St1g fix his s52

[Luke Girard]

Hell ya! Thanks man =)

[ArtFoodBMW]

I just tried to read this and all the pictures are dead =(

Thread rebuilt just for you, Luke!!

378 photos later... Going through the whole thread like I did over the past few days has reminded me how much I like this car.

Photobucket pissed me off ruining this build thread, that I did feel motivated to update anymore. I have a whole summer of updates and 7500miles of driving to talk about. I just finished my last college class so I'm ready to keep going with my cars.

[Luke Girard]

I just tried to read this and all the pictures are dead =(

[ArtFoodBMW]

Sounds mint

Thanks :)

My M60 swap did the same thing. Torque FTW.

Look forward to seeing another M60 at the Picnic this year! sounds like I'm not going to be the only one this time around!

We'll have to meet up before the picnic and cruise in together!

I was hoping to make it last year when you did, but time ran way too short... I'm counting down the days!!

[delamaize]

All 12 axle to diff bolts loosened themselves up even though they were torqued to spec before I did any driving. Made a shitty mess on the exhaust.

I installed o2 sensors and corrected the tip angle while I was at it!

I also got some Tesa wrap for my wire harness to give more of an oem look than electrical tape. Still trying to figure out my tachometer before I wrap the rest of the harness

My M60 swap did the same thing. Torque FTW.

Look forward to seeing another M60 at the Picnic this year! sounds like I'm not going to be the only one this time around!

[potatomash]

Sounds mint

[ArtFoodBMW]

All 12 axle to diff bolts loosened themselves up even though they were torqued to spec before I did any driving. Made a shitty mess on the exhaust.

I installed o2 sensors and corrected the tip angle while I was at it!

I also got some Tesa wrap for my wire harness to give more of an oem look than electrical tape. Still trying to figure out my tachometer before I wrap the rest of the harness

Tip angle before



And After







Much better

[ArtFoodBMW]

Found coolant leak #1, which led to coolant leak #2 and #3....

My new valley pan gasket was leaking, I replaced it with a custom seal made from Permatex "The Right Stuff" Grey. Working great now.

I now have a leak from the lower radiator hose so I ordered a new one of those. Also ordered a new rubber shift boot to I don't have a constant flow of hot air into the car.

I drove the car 1 1/2 hours and in the middle of the drive the coolant reservoir came unhooked from the coolant fill hose emptying the entire reservoir onto the exhaust manifold... improvements needed here.

I sent my wheel centers off to Iron-E to get filled and drilled. I'll hopefully have them all done and coated by next week.

After fixing my coolant leak I now have a massive vacuum leak that is untraceable. I also need to weld in my O2 sensors before driving much more.

It's seriously a blast to drive.