1986 325iX 3.1L Stroker + Turbo

[downforce22]

You guys may have seen this a couple years back, but it is finally on the road.

Some quick information on the car.

Its a 1986 325iX in diamond Schwarz Metallic. Looking up the vin, it seems to be one of the first iX's produced (11/85 with production starting in 10/85). The car was brought in to the US through Texas in March of '86. It didn't pass inspection (federalization) until October of '89 according to the VIN report. It has lived in Colorado ever since and passed a few hands until I found it.



It was the euro M20B25, so 9.7:1 Long Skirt Pistons, Motronic 1.0 073 ECU, taurus red leather sport interior, ski bag, ac, 13 button obc, sport mtech 1 steering wheel, rear headrests, power windows, power mirrors, power sunroof, euro bumpers, iS rear spoiler, front and rear fogs, and the Jimmy Hill Chin Spoiler.

The guy I picked it up from messed up too much to detail, but I made a few changes in fixing it.

+2 86mm Block Overbore
Forged JE Flat top Pistons 9.5:1 CR
H Beam Forged Rods
M54B30 Crank 89.6 mm Stroker
Crank Spacer
Stock Flywheel with full rotating assembly balanced
F1 Racing 6 Puck Clutch
Z3 1.9 Shift Lever
Gates Racing Belt
Motronic 1.3 Engine Harness and ECU Upgrade
Rebuilt 885 Head Stock Cam and Valves
Ottoco 86mm MLS Head Gasket
Later Style Water Pump, Radiator and Coolant Reservoir
3.64 Viscous Differentials
AEM Wideband Oxygen Sensor
BBS front Valence


I have some 24# injectors I was planning to run but I am having trouble with my whodwho MS2 Extra PNP MS2 setup. I think I need to change to a Variable TPS from an M5x engine to make it work correctly.

Couple more photos:

[digger]

how does drive with stock cam?

[litu]

Sound nice project :)

[downforce22]

how does drive with stock cam?

It runs pretty good with the stock cam. Quite a bit of torque. I haven't run it much above 4000 rpm but it pulls up to there. I'm sure my altitude isn't helping things. Only about 500 miles on the engine now, another oil change and I'll be getting the whodwho MS2 setup.

[jeenyus]

Cool project. Lots of work ahead of you! It's weird to see the euro aluminum bumpers, but then see the NA grill surrounds. It's a cool car with an interesting background.

[bradnic]

SUB'D. so cool to see a euro bumpered IX in the US. Been considering it for my 88 coupe resto.

[bradnic]

More details / pics of the engine and interior please.....

[CorvallisBMW]

Sweet! I bet a cam would really wake it up.

[AWDBOB]

That's a badass project, looking forward to updates!

Oh, and sell me your 3.64s!

[E30NJ]

dayum!

[Jamaican_Blitzkrieger]

Love it with the zender valance! If I may ask what happened to the Jimmy hill lip? Why switch?

[downforce22]

Here are some photos. Please excuse the dust, I didn't have time to wash before the sun went down.

A couple of things:

-The previous owner dyed the interior black. I cleaned the rear sears, ski pass, and door cards to get them looking like they do now.
-Oddly, the Vin tag under the hood and the federalization tag in the door call it a '325i'
- I converted to the later style radiator, water pump and coolant reservoir for room next to the exhaust ;)
-The Jimmy Hill looked ok and is rare, but I liked the BBS valence as it has the horizontal lines like the euro iX side skirts and the e28 rear spoiler I plan to mount. Also notice the rear flares behind the rear wheels are early iX specific
- The wideband oxygen sensor will eventually go to the MS2 and have a gauge pod to sit in without the wiring mess
-I have euro grilles but I wanted to see how it looked with the silver outline
- I have new fog lenses, I just need to wire them up and mount them since the old wiring was cut :letitout:
-I had to piece together the instrument cluster because the original one was federalized

With the Jimmy Hill










































Some things I need to fix:
-ABS light comes on after every startup
-Heater does not blow warm, cold only. Need to check the valve is getting power from temperature control
-i think a shock is blown
- wire fogs, running lights on smileys, replace front fenders that don't have side markers, and install rear spoiler
-rust on drivers side, (There is none on passenger side?)
-Look into removing window tinting
-Replace batteries in cluster, fuel gas is intermittent

[kid325e]

Sorry if it's been cover but those flares and skirts look different then the U.S. iX's!

Stripes on the skirts, and the flares look more like the ones you see on E28 M535i's "barely there" flares. Thanks for sharing man, looks like a cool car!!

[bradnic]

pre 87 Euro IX flares.. don't exist in the US.

[downforce22]

Sorry if it's been cover but those flares and skirts look different then the U.S. iX's!

Stripes on the skirts, and the flares look more like the ones you see on E28 M535i's "barely there" flares. Thanks for sharing man, looks like a cool car!!

pre 87 Euro IX flares.. don't exist in the US.

Yes sir. Thats what I thought when I first noticed them. Actually there is a local euro iX in colorado springs my friend sent me a picture of it.

Also, there is another set in the US:

http://www.gutenparts.com/gps-bmw-e30-early-ix-flares-and-skirts.html