1985 325e | M60b40 | Fifty Shades of Bronzit

[gome123]

That muffler sounds kinda good actually. And thank you for the sport steering wheel. Need to figure out the rewrap.

[ST1G]

DDM Tuning! It was something like $35+shipping I think and I'm very happy with them.

I'll have to pick up a pair.

[ArtFoodBMW]

Looking good! I see you got the adjusters put in. Those HIDs look great. Where did you get them?

DDM Tuning! It was something like $35+shipping I think and I'm very happy with them.

[ST1G]

Looking good! I see you got the adjusters put in. Those HIDs look great. Where did you get them?

[ArtFoodBMW]

Forgot to post about my HID's as well!
I think they're 5000 at 35w




And i can finally see at night!

[ArtFoodBMW]

YES

Before



After




I've decided not to put in the dead pedal yet. Reason behind that is the cover is flat, but the foot rest is curved in the back, and I don't really want there to be a gap. Also I want black carpets.

Took a trip to see my buddy gome123 and he hooked me up! I was telling him about my exhaust being rusted everywhere and he had this guy sitting in his garbage can about to go away forever, so I figured what the hell!



Took the old guy out. A lot worse than i thought it was. Also explains the rattle every time i shut off the car.



Here's a video of the muffler's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsR1oun8wzs

LSD! the old one was quite and this is the only picture i have. But the new one works great.

[ArtFoodBMW]

Great find on that LDS ;) I recall someone telling you there was an ES out at the yard ;D


The smilies look good! If I find any adjusters I'll snag them for you.

Thanks man!

That looks great!!! what did you use?

Also, kind of long shot, but what happened to that pass side fender? I could use one with good paint. Im really far so its probably not a smart $$$ decision

I think it was a Meg's headlight restoration kit, but i only used the compound and sealant from it, none of the sanding tools.

The fender got scrapped, it was rusty on the bottom and inner wheel side so you wouldn't really want it

[2mAn]

New i.c. plastic cover got restored, look at those reflections!

And put back together, hopefully everything works!

That looks great!!! what did you use?

Also, kind of long shot, but what happened to that pass side fender? I could use one with good paint. Im really far so its probably not a smart $$$ decision

[ST1G]

Great find on that LSD ;) I recall someone telling you there was an ES out at the yard ;D


The smilies look good! If I find any adjusters I'll snag them for you.

[ArtFoodBMW]

The junkyards have served me well once again!

A limited slip diff, 2.93, not great, but better than an open 2.79. It needs some paint and a new bushing before it goes in, so stand by for a week or two and get the update on that posted.

And the yard also provided me with a new headlight grill, one not broken. Just needed a clean up



Since I had the grill out I figured i might as well upgrade the lights a bit!
Before: Yes I know its covered in bugs



Broken headlight



Broken grill



Out with the old


In with the new
And a big thanks to ST1G for some clean Smilies!

They do need some adjustment, and maybe some HID's. Stay tuned

[ArtFoodBMW]

Great build so far man, I love seeing people give the old 325e's some loving. Did you paint the intake and valve cover yourself or did you send it out?

Painted them myself, and almost killed everyone in my house in the process... The parts were baked in the oven after every coat of paint to cure it.

[IzzY_325is]

Looking great, keep up the good work on it and keep us informed on the build.

[6A LDY]

Great build so far man, I love seeing people give the old 325e's some loving. Did you paint the intake and valve cover yourself or did you send it out?

[ArtFoodBMW]

Well, I grew tired of the chrome accents on my e30. So pictures! I used plasti-dip on the door trim, and vinyl wrap from BavAuto on the window trim.

And the final result

And I finally got a few days off work to get my z3 rack in the e30! The rack came from a 2000 z3, with around 40k miles. $150 later it arrived at my door. The rack is almost a direct fit, it did require a bit of persuasion to get there though. In the process of putting it back together, part of my steering knuckle got unconnected from itself which led to some manditory modification to the knuckle. We used 14 washers and bolt/nut to hold the knuckle together like the swap guide said to do.
My thoughts on the rack: BMW should've put this tight of a rack into our cars in the first place. It handles like a dream, and I am very content with the swap. My turning radius has improved by about 2 feet. People were saying it would be twitchy at high speeds, but it doesn't feel unnatural, and I like it.
That being said, I highly recommend this swap to anybody who is considering it.

z3 ready to go in
The old one was quite dirty.

And it's in

The persuasion I mentioned? I created a tourniquet to pull the rack closer to the bolt holes. No subframes were harmed in the making

[ArtFoodBMW]

What's it tuned with?

Not tuned with anything yet

You have the square C101 connector (for the body harness), and Motronic 1.3 uses a circle C101. You need to make an adapter, usually using spare plug parts. Use the diagram you already posted to match each pin from one plug to the matching pin on the other.

Haha That's exactly what we did

The idle is still pretty rough, but I ve been daily driving it for about a month now. And within the last couple of days, some new problems have risen... Odo Gears went out, and the steering rack went as well. Z3 rack here I come!

Also when I rev out the car as much as it can (I was testing 0-60 times) The engine will just stop at 5K rpm's in second gear. Any ideas why it still thinks it's an eta? And just so you know, I can get it above 5k rpms, just when I'm going "cautiously"