Time for a do-over - 12/88 Diamantschwarz M3

[QuiqueUy]

Car came a long way , looks amazing and i cant believe how much it changed with the red stripe on the bumpers !

I do love the cardinal interior , i feel the SR recaros fit great on the m3 but not on normal e30's !

keep the parts hoarding haha , car looks amazing , keep enjoying it :D

[Panici]

How do you like the Blaupunkt Bremen radio?
FM reception is good?

How deep is the unit?
I have VDO gauges in my single din stock radio location, so planning on tucking my radio somewhere else.

[e30austin]

when i bought #50shadesofdiamantschwarz, four years ago (hard to believe it's been that long), i knew the engine was going to be due for a giant service. after all, it had just clicked 175k miles (now just shy of 200k) and 30+ year old rubber and plastic were not going to last forever. combine that with a plethora of oil leaks, that weren't resolving themselves (ugh), the situation slowly became a little more dire, with every passing week.

finally, when taking the old girl to storage, a few months ago, the clutch release bearing exploded. i knew in the back of my mind what was in store for me... a project that snowballs, so much further than i thought possible.

one Monday morning, i crawled up in the attic and brought down my boxes of parts, to truly see what condition my condition was in. realizing i had just about everything i needed, and then some, i set out to fix a fallen hero. the clutch job all went as planned, but once i removed the throttles, i realized my game plan was changing. the oil leak was coming from the camshaft intermediate housing. not the hardest job, but not exactly easy, either. combine that with being overdue for timing chain service, i'm sure you can guess what happened...

- new clutch kit w/ Sport Evolution flywheel, RMS and transmission output/shift rod seals
- completely resealed top end - from the valve cover to the head gasket - anything that came apart, was put back together better than it was
- timing chain, all guides and tensioners
- water pump, refinished drive pullies
- crank position sensors
- rebuilt injectors and fuel lines
- all vacuum lines replaced
- refinished valve cover and intake plenum
- jet coated header

all in all, between waiting on a few random parts and *cleaning everything*, the actual job took me a few days - ones i wasn't necessarily planning on using for this project, but i'm glad to have it over with!!! while i wished i could have popped the bottom end apart and installed my 11:1 pistons, it just wasn't in the cards this time. next time it comes apart, i hope i will have bought some 2.5l goodies!







Blunttech started selling the red 8mm Kingsborne ignition wires again, so those went on. as of this post, i've logged about 400 trouble free miles, and save for a minor drip from the input shaft seal and a very slight exhaust leak at the down pipe, it's doing great. nice not having it leave a puddle everywhere i go.

[e30m3s54turbo]

You did a good job on it. Looks great.
Im not excited to do my s38. I see the head bolts are under cams on tray. I want to install ARP bolts.

[e30austin]

You did a good job on it. Looks great.
Im not excited to do my s38. I see the head bolts are under cams on tray. I want to install ARP bolts.

thanks, Raul. you will have fun doing it... :P

it all comes apart really easily, just a lot of parts to remove, and even more cleaning before reassembly. i strongly suggest finding a copy of the factory BMW repair manual, it was a life saver for me. make sure you buy a bottle of Loctite 515 or 518 sealant, you will absolutely need it!!!