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My Brilliant Red S50 24v Weekend Car!! [PIC HEAVY]

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    My Brilliant Red S50 24v Weekend Car!! [PIC HEAVY]

    Hey guys,
    My names Mike, like most people, I am a long-time lurker/part time poster whenever my car breaks and I need help lol. I'm a 21 year old who's still very confused about his future and blinded by his car.

    My love for BMW started back when I was 9 when I was first taken for a spin in an E34 530i. The sound of that car stuck with me throughout all my teenage years and I fell in love with BMW. I absolute fell in love with the sound of that engine, the way that car sounded when it drove away. Just such an awesome brand. I loved everything about it.

    I got my first car when I turned 18, A gift from my parents for graduating High School second in the Entire school. The gift was my very own, 2008 E60 528Xi.
    I absolutely loved the car, but always wanted something I can actually learn on. The car was automatic, it wasn't very mod friendly and eventually turned into a cool daily. Went through a few wheel setups, lowered it, change the front into an m5 rep and changed out the side skirts and a bunch of other minor stuff.

    My two girls at Bimmerfest East


    About a year after though, that was not fun enough, seeing as everyone my age was doing burnouts, events, driving manuals etc. After lots of convincing, I got some money together and got this bad boy.

    I couldn't find anything better in my budget, and at the time I didn't know what the difference was between 325i, e, or 318s. So this was the lame US version of the 325E. I have had so many memories with this car that several pages wouldn't be enough to write them all down. Fires, drifts, connecting friends. Radiators blowing up, coolant systems blowing up, this car lived through it all. Here's one pic of me on top and my friend trying to squeeze a new radiator in it. Haha

    A lot of work went into it as well as lots of my poor money. We put a spec e30 suspension in it and a bunch of other small things. The car inside was extremely clean. Not a single rip. Outside was a different story.









    It was an awesome car. I loved it to bits. Taught me so much about cars and how to maintain them, how things work etc. Soon though, the hunger for more power came in. I wanted more power than the poor M20 had to offer. I took it to a few mountain runs and as fun as it was, it just was not fast enough. Also the Diving Boards were bothering me big time.

    I had put away a full set of plastic bumpers away to put on the car once I had money for paint but it was becoming more and more apparent that the car would require way more than what I wanted to spend. Everything on it suspension wise had to be replaced. I also didn't have any space to even attempt an engine swap in New York, seeing as I was only renting a small parking lot spot next to a church that didn't allow any work.

    One day, I was regularly scouring the local Craigslist when this baby popped up.





    1991 318iS, Horrible Paint, Plastic bumpers, ripped up seats. Full of electrical problems.
    But what absolutely sold me was this guy.




    An S50 M3 engine. Documented with Shop receipts and 115k. Along with this followed a full M3 drivetrain out of the seller's wrecked Weekender m3 coupe.
    I sold my car that same week, and picked this guy up for an awesome price.
    I brought it back home, and tried to clean it up best I could.









    A lot happened after. I ordered a lot of parts, a clutch job followed due to a clutch burning out with a slave cylinder taking a shit. Electric pusher fan installed, Found out I have a huge battery drain issue I still to this day have yet to fix. ( I will )





    I got a GC street kit, The one that doesn't require cutting the strut housing. I picked up their Camber plates as well, and their Rear shock mounts.





    Picked up wheel bearings I have yet to install as well as UUC BBK That I also have yet to install, they're sitting by my bed waiting to go on the car. Not pictured but I also went ahead and fitted new race pads to the rear of the car, as well as purchased 2 rebuilt calipers from Bavarian both which turned out to be shit. One had a ripped boot and was leaking fluid, the other would not for the life of me piss any fluid and compress the caliper. So I retrofitted some new stuff into the old rusty calipers to make them work properly with stuff from the new kit. Also a bunch of stuff I probably can't remember.





    Was at home depot one night, and saw these white sharpie markers. Figured I'd give em a go and try and paint some white tire letters. They came out good if you asked me. Continued to drive the car around happily till more parts came in and waited for the weather to get nicer.





    And we get to the most recent pictures. This is the way the car is now. Still lots and lots of parts to get, and of course paint is ahead of it once I have a nice amount of cash for it.









    So this is my car for now! Hopefully you guys liked it sorry if you think I missed anything or the post was too long. I have thousands of pictures, I'm sure I'll post stuff from before as well. I'll try to update the thread with upcoming modifications! :)
    Last edited by Mike_z; 05-15-2016, 05:55 PM. Reason: change title
    sigpic
    2008 E60 528Xi - Daily
    1991 E30 318iS S50 ///M
    1987 E30 325 [SOLD]

    Follow my build thread!
    http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=385058

    #2
    It might be worth looking into, but I think you might be able to have a professional save the faded paint. I think brilliantrot has clear though so if the clear is toast, then it will need a respray
    Simon
    Current Cars:
    -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

    Make R3V Great Again -2020

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by 2mAn View Post
      It might be worth looking into, but I think you might be able to have a professional save the faded paint. I think brilliantrot has clear though so if the clear is toast, then it will need a respray
      clear is gone. its peeling all over the hood, drivers side is gone, roof is gone, and passenger side is gone. tried getting it buffed but did absolutely nothing :/
      sigpic
      2008 E60 528Xi - Daily
      1991 E30 318iS S50 ///M
      1987 E30 325 [SOLD]

      Follow my build thread!
      http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=385058

      Comment


        #4
        a wrap might not be a bad idea then, vs a full respray
        Simon
        Current Cars:
        -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

        Make R3V Great Again -2020

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by 2mAn View Post
          a wrap might not be a bad idea then, vs a full respray
          Yeah definitely gave that a thought, however the car needs a fair amount of body work done, so I'd prefer to just get it done all at once. My heart set on a nice respray so that's what I'll probably do
          sigpic
          2008 E60 528Xi - Daily
          1991 E30 318iS S50 ///M
          1987 E30 325 [SOLD]

          Follow my build thread!
          http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=385058

          Comment


            #6
            I had a 3.25 LSD out of an e28 laying around.
            Finally got the flanges and cover to piece it together



            Repainted the cover and fitted the 95A Diff bushing, as I wanted to retain the stock feel, and no additional noise to the cabin



            Ready to be put into the car



            Swapped! Car feels great, Less get go at first of course since the OEM was a 4.10 LSD, but the car feels absolutely wonderful in every gear. Power delivery feels great and highway driving is no longer a pain to the ears as it since at a nice calm rpm doing 70-80 at about 3-4k rpm +-

            sigpic
            2008 E60 528Xi - Daily
            1991 E30 318iS S50 ///M
            1987 E30 325 [SOLD]

            Follow my build thread!
            http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=385058

            Comment


              #7
              Great start man. The car looks good. Quick question, I am usually good at finding stuff after researching but for whatever reason, can't find any info on that GC kit. Is it installed in those pics? I thought the whole point was to leave the strut housing the way they were but looked for pics everywhere to see if someone had a shot of the coilovers springs sitting on the stock perches. Is it as simple as putting the front strut in the tube and then business As usual and install the springs on top of the huge stock spring perch and camber plates and thats all?
              Keep the updates coming otherwise!

              Comment


                #8
                You should spray paint the front valance. Will clean it up a lot
                My Seller/Buyer Feedback

                Performance Aftermarket Parts & Accessories

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Joeyz31 View Post
                  Great start man. The car looks good. Quick question, I am usually good at finding stuff after researching but for whatever reason, can't find any info on that GC kit. Is it installed in those pics? I thought the whole point was to leave the strut housing the way they were but looked for pics everywhere to see if someone had a shot of the coilovers springs sitting on the stock perches. Is it as simple as putting the front strut in the tube and then business As usual and install the springs on top of the huge stock spring perch and camber plates and thats all?
                  Keep the updates coming otherwise!
                  I get where you're coming from man, I researched a shit ton before buying my setup and still bought them without knowing half the things I wanted to hahah. Everyone told me I need to hack the front struts and I just didn't want to. Don't know where you live but massive low in New York with a low oil pan is plain stupid, so this is perfect height. NOW let me stop rambling and get to the real stuff.

                  The street kit is completely weld-free. Almost.
                  You install it exactly how you would any lowering springs, GC provide you with a weld kit which I didn't pay attention to, which is basically 2 small metal plates.
                  You install them and quickly find out that the lowest ride you can get is about halfway on the adjuster. That is because the perch is in the way. If you don't mind that, here is how it looks with the adjuster as far as it can go with the stock perch.



                  I wasn't happy with it. I ended up finding a welder who works with many spec E30s around here, gave them to him. He cuts the stock perch, and welds those two plates on. It looks like this



                  And you end up with basically something like this



                  Word of advice though. If you buy this kit with the Konis, they have a 22mm top nut on them. If you want to use your stock shock mounts, make sure you have a really really thin walled socket. I had a regular craftsman 22mm and it wouldn't fit for shit. my shock mount was crap so I decided to just buy the camber plates and everything fit tits but just telling you so you keep that in mind.
                  I'm really happy with mine, Plus the oil pan sits a good amount away from the street so I have peace of mind. If you want lower than 2 inches though, I'd go for shortened struts.
                  sigpic
                  2008 E60 528Xi - Daily
                  1991 E30 318iS S50 ///M
                  1987 E30 325 [SOLD]

                  Follow my build thread!
                  http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=385058

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by MrSlacker View Post
                    You should spray paint the front valance. Will clean it up a lot
                    You know, that spot bothers me ALOT, but I'm fighting against fixing each piece one by one, and just get it taken care of once the car goes in for paint. Previous owner got an extremely shitty respray.
                    sigpic
                    2008 E60 528Xi - Daily
                    1991 E30 318iS S50 ///M
                    1987 E30 325 [SOLD]

                    Follow my build thread!
                    http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=385058

                    Comment


                      #11
                      So my wipers went out out of nowhere and completely stopped working. After researching endlessly on the forums I haven't found any good answers for my symptoms. So expecting the worst, I dove in.



                      Like everyone says, its not a very pleasant job at all. Space is limited, and especially with a 24v, its very tough to get your hand in there.



                      I started by taking out the motor. 3 screws underneath, as well as the nut that connects the motor arm to the wiper linkage. And Voulah!



                      Quick inspection led to this finding. The notches/teeth on the motor arm were pretty much completely stripped. So that's in the mail.



                      I took the little grill covers and sprayed them with a few coats of black.




                      Also one more thing, and this will be a question to guys. I had my car towed after my rear diff exploded a few weeks back. The guy hitched it to the tow hook and put it on the bed of the truck but while doing so I heard a loud sound and ever since then I've had something like this.


                      I forgot to take more pictures, but I took everything apart today and found out that both the little bumper shock is bent outwards as well as the bolt holes in the beam are bent outwards as if something of course pulled them. I don't have pictures and I really didn't want to go and take everything off again, but do you guys think its fixable? I'll buy a new bumper shock, but can the holes inside of the beam be straightened back out by the body shop when the car goes in for paint? I surely hope so :/

                      I have a bunch of stuff coming in the mail so stay tuned for updates!
                      sigpic
                      2008 E60 528Xi - Daily
                      1991 E30 318iS S50 ///M
                      1987 E30 325 [SOLD]

                      Follow my build thread!
                      http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=385058

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Got these in the mail today along with some extended bolts from Turner Motorsport



                        They're 15mm for the rear. I have 5mm upfront and they I want a small poke in the back. Hopefully they do the job. Will install them tomorrow if all goes well. Will provide before and after pics!

                        sigpic
                        2008 E60 528Xi - Daily
                        1991 E30 318iS S50 ///M
                        1987 E30 325 [SOLD]

                        Follow my build thread!
                        http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=385058

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Hey guys, a little overdue on the update.
                          I installed the spacers but it rained after so I had to wait a few days to get a few decent pictures.
                          Here is a little before picture of the drivers side without any spacer


                          Putting them on





                          I wanted to lower them much more however my rear drivers side quarter panel is both dented in and damage and in effect is much lower than the passenger side. So whatever I do to the passenger side, its worse in the drivers, and the tires are already heavily rubbing. I'm considering removing the spacers for the time being because





                          They are chopping this tire alive.
                          The other side is fine and both sides are completely at the highest setting.
                          What I plan on doing is adjusting the koni shock to its firmest setting in the nearby future to see if it stiffens up and prevents from rubbing this bad. If it continues they'll have to come off.

                          Also during this time I scored this bad boy.


                          I read up on the forums that Sunrise Red Rustoleum spray paint is the closest match for brilliant rot. So for the time being just so its not in primer, i rattled canned 5 layers of paint and 3 layers of clear



                          Here's the result. I absolutely love the new face it gave it.



                          and one more glamour shot



                          Give me some feedback guys! It's kind of demotivating when your thread has a decent amount of views but no comments hahah! :P Any fellow New Yorkers also give me a shout, i'm looking for some BMW friends as I have NONE!
                          sigpic
                          2008 E60 528Xi - Daily
                          1991 E30 318iS S50 ///M
                          1987 E30 325 [SOLD]

                          Follow my build thread!
                          http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=385058

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Looks good. Keep up the good work.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              The work is good and the look is also good.
                              AWD > RWD

                              Comment

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