Panici's '87 325is E30 - Boosted In Bronze

[CubbyChowder]

Man, it's looking SO good! Definitely a bummer about the paint mismatch though. Such a cool E30.

[Panici]

Looking great!!! Enjoy 2023

Car is looking super sharp these days

Thanks guys! It's fun to see the body panels finally come together.
I bought that Kamei rear valance/apron from Albie325 in 2019 and this is the first time it's been bolted to the car!

The Mtech I wing and rear valance looks great.
i agree with you on dual tip. On mine I did 2 dual 2.5” tips in stainless.

It's actually an E28 535is Pfeba spoiler.
Very similar to the Mtech I E30 unit, but it's a little wider (extends off the trunk), and has "ridges" at the trailing edge.

I'm having trouble finding a dual tip that will accept a single 3" as input. Maybe I'm not looking in the right spot?


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One more pic of the rear end. The colour difference doesn't stick out as much if you get the lighting just right.

[e30m3s54turbo]

The Mtech I wing and rear valance looks great.
i agree with you on dual tip. On mine I did 2 dual 2.5” tips in stainless.

[Northern]

Car is looking super sharp these days

[Matt@EDC]

Looking great!!! Enjoy 2023

[Panici]

The E30 is ready for the 2023 season!
I still have a few small items to button up, but I can work on them as time allows.

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Finally got the back end together. Pleased with the fitment of the 3-piece Kamei rear valance.

Not in love with the exhaust tip, but it was quick and is functional. Would like to install a straight dual tip in the future.

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Big disappointment was the colourmatch on the rear trim. Obviously the shop sprayed the diving board trim and the rear valance separate from the rest of the car, because the colour is noticeably different.
The rear valance is low enough that you could get away with it, but the bumper trim is right next to the body paint and it's obviously lighter.

Not sure if they picked the wrong variation of Ipanema Brown, or made a mistake mixing.
I thought it was the different angles playing tricks on me, but up close with a single source of light and you can see the trim has more gold mixed in the paint. It's not the garage lights as you can see it in the daylight as well.

Front trim is also the wrong colour, but it's much harder to notice unless you look right at the fender-to-trim transition.

Thankfully I still have the old black diving board surrounds, so if this bothers me enough I will be switching back.
Will run it like this for 2023 and see if I can live with it.

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Some good news, I replaced the throttle cable with the E36 35411163228. It fits well except that I had to take up some slack with an aftermarket cable end. I routed the cable below the brake booster and it looks much cleaner now!

Also started installing the trim, but found that the new clips are different then the original style (that are discontinued). I could only get one style to work. I've ordered some more clips so I can finish up the driver's side and also install the passenger side trim.

Ordered two new washer squirters as well (one of mine is broken). $20 a piece from BMW for the regular (non heated) ones.

[Northern]

The only direct replacement ujoint I ever found for the E30/E36 driveshaft looked much weaker, and the only person I heard of that used one had the same issue as you.

[Panici]

These serviceable driveshafts have caught my eye. Do you feel like it's a worthy upgrade?

I replaced it as a maintenance item. Rear u-joint on my old shaft was quite notchy even though it was from a lower mileage vert 328i E36.
A new OEM shaft costs significantly more then this upgrade. It's just a bonus that this aftermarket one is stronger and serviceable.

Previously I paid a shop (that came recommended to me) to change a rear u-joint in the 325e shaft I used with the M20/G260 combo. Whatever they did, it wasn't correct as the u-joint snapped the first time I dumped the clutch on sticky tires.

[econti]

Nice shaft

These serviceable driveshafts have caught my eye. Do you feel like it's a worthy upgrade?

To replace staked in uni joints is very expensive, so for probably a similar price you get big bois that are circlipped in

[DEV0 E30]

These serviceable driveshafts have caught my eye. Do you feel like it's a worthy upgrade?

[Panici]

Two months of wrenching every weekend and the E30 is back on the ground!
Still more to do before spring but we are getting close! 🙂

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Installed an HDT Automotive (Corey Ellis) upgraded driveshaft w/1310 Spicer u-joints.

Swapped out the CSB to an E30 unit. Unfortunately the driveshaft will not fit a bearing cover on the front-facing half of the CSB, and I ordered the wrong cover for the rear half.
Since it sits above the exhaust heatshield I decided to run it without those cover plates.

Also had to grind down both of the u-joint edges for clearance to the rear subframe/chassis.


Second round of smashing on the exhaust for floor clearance and wrapped to match.

Bled the brakes with some fancy DOT4 synthetic while the wheels were off. Changed the oil with some fresh Rotella T5 15w40.

Installed an oldschool set of Morimoto 5000k HIDs in the lowbeams and wired up some halogen highbeam bulbs. Tucked the ballasts into the ends of the radiator support.

Installed the colourmatched front bumper trim and iS airdam. Front end is assembled for the first time since paint, and it looks fantasitc! 😄

[Panici]

Awesome progress! Also, congrats on the new track bike

Thank you! It's been a dream of mine to have a track-only R6.

Whenever I put the bike back to street-legal mode, I am itching to get to the track by the end of the season. It's quite a chore to switch from track to street and vice versa for every single trackday. Historically this meant I kept it in track mode, and got very rusty between the times I rode.

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Went hard on the E30 again this weekend. I put in ~15 hours over two days.


Installed the ST Suspensions front swaybar (22mm vs the original 20mm), and the Garagistic Dual Ear Differential Mount.
Exhaust fab took the majority of the time. I added in a flex pipe, moved the v-band flanges, added a cat, and an exhaust hanger.
Notched the chassis brace to add clearance (it wasn't even installed last summer, so this is better then nothing).

Tucked everything up to the chassis as best I could for ground clearance.
Think I will add one more hanger during final install (so the rear section is supported from both sides after the flex pipe/v-band.)


Here is a before shot for comparison:



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[CubbyChowder]

Awesome progress! Also, congrats on the new track bike

[Panici]

I like reading on your progress and pics. 👍

interior is gorgeous

Thanks guys! It's starting to come together for sure!

Why the bolts instead of the pin and clips? I had to shorten my DSSR too for the Wagon, hard to get it perfectly straight. I TIG welded mine, butt joint since I didn't have anything to sleeve it with, hope it doesn't break

Bolts helped to snug up the assembly, there was some slop in the pin and clips that came with the original DSSR.

In the past I've butt welded a stock selector rod to add a twist (for the G260+M52 combo). Also have butt welded this DSSR originally to take out the twist (for the ZF320+M52). Both held up fine with just a MIG for me, so you should be fine with the TIG.

I had to add length to this DSSR which is why I sleeved.

[varg]

Why the bolts instead of the pin and clips? I had to shorten my DSSR too for the Wagon, hard to get it perfectly straight. I TIG welded mine, butt joint since I didn't have anything to sleeve it with, hope it doesn't break