Everyone's journey into the world of the BMW E30 is always a little different, for me the E30 chassis was the hot cougar I lost my automotive virginity to. Prior to undertaking this project my automotive knowledge extended to the mere know how to of an oil change and maybe replacing brake pads on a car or two. Before I ever found this forum or learnt of the versatility that the E30 presents its owners or of the legendary drivability I fell in love with the car.
So before I ever even saw one in person or even had had the chance to drive one, my search for the perfect E30 had begun, being in the Pacific Northwest the main focus was on a rust free body. As my search began I started to dive into this forum absorbing as much information as humanly possible. I quickly changed my focus to approaching this chassis with the opportunity to teach myself everything I could ever want to know about the inner workings of a car from a complete engine swap and reseal to body work and a fresh paint job.
***DISCLAIMER: All photos were shot with an iPhone, I know its a shame that the picture quality suffers but this isn't an art gallery. And also Ive done my best to take as many photos as possible but I have a habit of getting to work and forgetting to take an pictures****
My search stretched for 5 long months looking at many E30s in my region however none were up to my standard of rust free (rust repair was one aspect I was not looking to tackle). After these months of longing for an E30 I had finally found a 1987 BMW 325e coupe in luxorbeige metallic just 2 hours away from home.
The car ran great, got awesome fuel economy, gave me little to know issues ever and I drove it like this for 2 months getting a feel of the fantastic driving experience that the E30 gives. It was then that I decided I wanted more power. Thus time to apply all the knowledge that R3V has given me over the past months, I considered a M52 swap for a few weeks but a few local BMW guys convinced me that I in fact wanted to experience the torque monster the the M30B35 is. I enjoyed the idea of the period correct feel of it, it looks very similar to the M20 however drives like a bat out of hell.
After a trip to the local yard I felt I had struck gold finding a 1989 735i mated to a factory numbers matching 5 speed with just 160,000KMS, I was estatic knowing how rare it was to find a factory 5 speed in an E32.
Well lets just say it wasn't the healthiest M30 I'd ever seen
And as the head showed the extent of the wear was not only limited to the head, once I pulled the head I came to find out that the block had crack in 5 locations between coolant channels and head bolts, all similar to the picture below
I talked to the yard I had got the 735i engine from and they respected that fact that it was damaged and miraculously gave me a complete replacement engine out of a 1992 535i auto with 189,000KMS free of charge.
This engine was in much better shape
Only visible issue found of this bit of wear on the camshaft lobe of cylinder 5
Pulled the head
Appeared to the original head gasket
The tear of the gasket near the timing case occurred during removal
The factory cross hatching was still plenty visible on all cylinders
Upon tear down came time to order all new gaskets and seals for everything on the engine and the 3 main seals on the transmission. HUGE thank you to Steve at Blunttech, he set me straight on what I needed for completely resealing this engine, he couldn't of been more helpful with my million questions, THANKS Steve.
After many hours of wire wheeling the block I had given myself a clean engine block to throw some high temp paint on (I know the gold is little flashy but you can hardly see it when the engines installed and helps immensely for spotting leaks)
I sent me intake manifold and valve cover to a local guy for sandblasting and powder coating and the pieces couldn't of come out any better
Engine back together with all new gaskets, (I don't know how everyone manages to get photos of every step, so with me you see the final product)
As well as a new OEM clutch from Sachs
Then came time to pull the old M20, being the first time ever pulling an engine and the first my dad had done it in 30 years it all went surprisingly smooth, the old lump
An empty bay
Get the bay clean
New parts are always happy days, the rad that will be working overtime to keep this beast cool, Ive heard mixed reviews on Mishimotos but I look forward to a first had experience
And a SPAL pusher fan to help in traffic, this fan was a puller which was not what I needed but big thanks to CATuned for sorting out this mistake and swapping for a pusher, great staff!!
Prior to being able to toss the new engine in I had to deal with the 1% of rust that the entire car had, right where the firewall and inner fender met,
I had my buddy come over and weld it up with a crappy welding setup we borrowed but for our purposes it worked just fine
I purchased my mounts from F34R one of the moderators on here and one of my many inspirations for this entire build and then in went the engine after a little bit of firewall massaging
Let just say clearance was tight with where the engine is mounted I have about an eighth of an inch between distributor cap and rad
Doing a valve job to quiet the valves, and man what a fussy job, its not perfect as it was my first time doing one but sure helped
The final product
Off to the local exhaust shop as an open manifold M30 is much to loud at idle even to drive 10km, hopefully she isn't on a flatbed again for a long time
The M30 has now been running on the street for a week and Im having an odd issue, the M30 is running too COLD, weird I know, the tempt has sits around 1/4 on my gauge and even drops to the edge of the blue when cruising late night on the highway, and thats only in like 0 degree celsius weather, not that cold.
If anyone could shed some light on this that would be greatly appreciated??
Next up, Suspension:
For this department I turned to the guys at Ground Control, this car soon to be my daily driver I was focused on function over form and I knew I wanted an aggressive street car. On Black Friday I purchased Ground Control's Complete E30 kit with 440# fronts and 650# rears, I felt this would achieve the ability to throw the car into the corner as well as a decent ride height so I didn't have 4x4 status.
I turned to my local welder to section out 2" and TIG weld the strut housings. Looking back I wish I had only sectioned out 1" possibly 1.5" but either way you roll with it and this is what I achieved
And the ride height with the rear adjusters all the way up and the front almost at the highest ride height
Along the way I also dropped the rear subframe and paint the subframe and installed Condor Speed Shop subframe bushings and diff spacers as well as trailing arm bushings, I will have to get pictures later as I forgot to take any during the process, boy what a job. The car also has Condor Speed Shop motor mounts, trans mounts, offset CAB bushings.
The photo above is how the car sits as of today, next up exterior cosmetics time.
Plans:
Plastic Bumpers
Style 32s
A complete tear down of the car and respray of Luxorbeige Metallic
E36 Steering Rack
Short Shifter
Skid Plate
And then… interior
Hoping the exterior is done by Bimmerfest to have a respectable car to take on the 1200 mile journey
Until next time, Ian
So before I ever even saw one in person or even had had the chance to drive one, my search for the perfect E30 had begun, being in the Pacific Northwest the main focus was on a rust free body. As my search began I started to dive into this forum absorbing as much information as humanly possible. I quickly changed my focus to approaching this chassis with the opportunity to teach myself everything I could ever want to know about the inner workings of a car from a complete engine swap and reseal to body work and a fresh paint job.
***DISCLAIMER: All photos were shot with an iPhone, I know its a shame that the picture quality suffers but this isn't an art gallery. And also Ive done my best to take as many photos as possible but I have a habit of getting to work and forgetting to take an pictures****
My search stretched for 5 long months looking at many E30s in my region however none were up to my standard of rust free (rust repair was one aspect I was not looking to tackle). After these months of longing for an E30 I had finally found a 1987 BMW 325e coupe in luxorbeige metallic just 2 hours away from home.
The car ran great, got awesome fuel economy, gave me little to know issues ever and I drove it like this for 2 months getting a feel of the fantastic driving experience that the E30 gives. It was then that I decided I wanted more power. Thus time to apply all the knowledge that R3V has given me over the past months, I considered a M52 swap for a few weeks but a few local BMW guys convinced me that I in fact wanted to experience the torque monster the the M30B35 is. I enjoyed the idea of the period correct feel of it, it looks very similar to the M20 however drives like a bat out of hell.
After a trip to the local yard I felt I had struck gold finding a 1989 735i mated to a factory numbers matching 5 speed with just 160,000KMS, I was estatic knowing how rare it was to find a factory 5 speed in an E32.
Well lets just say it wasn't the healthiest M30 I'd ever seen
And as the head showed the extent of the wear was not only limited to the head, once I pulled the head I came to find out that the block had crack in 5 locations between coolant channels and head bolts, all similar to the picture below
I talked to the yard I had got the 735i engine from and they respected that fact that it was damaged and miraculously gave me a complete replacement engine out of a 1992 535i auto with 189,000KMS free of charge.
This engine was in much better shape
Only visible issue found of this bit of wear on the camshaft lobe of cylinder 5
Pulled the head
Appeared to the original head gasket
The tear of the gasket near the timing case occurred during removal
The factory cross hatching was still plenty visible on all cylinders
Upon tear down came time to order all new gaskets and seals for everything on the engine and the 3 main seals on the transmission. HUGE thank you to Steve at Blunttech, he set me straight on what I needed for completely resealing this engine, he couldn't of been more helpful with my million questions, THANKS Steve.
After many hours of wire wheeling the block I had given myself a clean engine block to throw some high temp paint on (I know the gold is little flashy but you can hardly see it when the engines installed and helps immensely for spotting leaks)
I sent me intake manifold and valve cover to a local guy for sandblasting and powder coating and the pieces couldn't of come out any better
Engine back together with all new gaskets, (I don't know how everyone manages to get photos of every step, so with me you see the final product)
As well as a new OEM clutch from Sachs
Then came time to pull the old M20, being the first time ever pulling an engine and the first my dad had done it in 30 years it all went surprisingly smooth, the old lump
An empty bay
Get the bay clean
New parts are always happy days, the rad that will be working overtime to keep this beast cool, Ive heard mixed reviews on Mishimotos but I look forward to a first had experience
And a SPAL pusher fan to help in traffic, this fan was a puller which was not what I needed but big thanks to CATuned for sorting out this mistake and swapping for a pusher, great staff!!
Prior to being able to toss the new engine in I had to deal with the 1% of rust that the entire car had, right where the firewall and inner fender met,
I had my buddy come over and weld it up with a crappy welding setup we borrowed but for our purposes it worked just fine
I purchased my mounts from F34R one of the moderators on here and one of my many inspirations for this entire build and then in went the engine after a little bit of firewall massaging
Let just say clearance was tight with where the engine is mounted I have about an eighth of an inch between distributor cap and rad
Doing a valve job to quiet the valves, and man what a fussy job, its not perfect as it was my first time doing one but sure helped
The final product
Off to the local exhaust shop as an open manifold M30 is much to loud at idle even to drive 10km, hopefully she isn't on a flatbed again for a long time
The M30 has now been running on the street for a week and Im having an odd issue, the M30 is running too COLD, weird I know, the tempt has sits around 1/4 on my gauge and even drops to the edge of the blue when cruising late night on the highway, and thats only in like 0 degree celsius weather, not that cold.
If anyone could shed some light on this that would be greatly appreciated??
Next up, Suspension:
For this department I turned to the guys at Ground Control, this car soon to be my daily driver I was focused on function over form and I knew I wanted an aggressive street car. On Black Friday I purchased Ground Control's Complete E30 kit with 440# fronts and 650# rears, I felt this would achieve the ability to throw the car into the corner as well as a decent ride height so I didn't have 4x4 status.
I turned to my local welder to section out 2" and TIG weld the strut housings. Looking back I wish I had only sectioned out 1" possibly 1.5" but either way you roll with it and this is what I achieved
And the ride height with the rear adjusters all the way up and the front almost at the highest ride height
Along the way I also dropped the rear subframe and paint the subframe and installed Condor Speed Shop subframe bushings and diff spacers as well as trailing arm bushings, I will have to get pictures later as I forgot to take any during the process, boy what a job. The car also has Condor Speed Shop motor mounts, trans mounts, offset CAB bushings.
The photo above is how the car sits as of today, next up exterior cosmetics time.
Plans:
Plastic Bumpers
Style 32s
A complete tear down of the car and respray of Luxorbeige Metallic
E36 Steering Rack
Short Shifter
Skid Plate
And then… interior
Hoping the exterior is done by Bimmerfest to have a respectable car to take on the 1200 mile journey
Until next time, Ian
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