Long Time Dream Fulfillment: E30 Street and Track Car Combo

[CubbyChowder]

It's lookin more and more like a complete car every day:







Got all the lights working properly and took it for an actual drive this evening on some backroads near my shop. Did about 25 miles and got it up to 75mph or so. It feels super solid, I'm stoked.

[CubbyChowder]

ElJimo
Joeyz31
^^Thanks guys!

moatilliatta - Yes they are, and these are aftermarket boot kits so maybe that's why. I would've preferred just a standard allen bolt too but it's no big deal. As far as camber/toe adjustment, I actually ordered the serrated camber/toe plate kit from Garagistic with plans to run that, but didn't realize that they are stainless now. I don't have a TIG welder anymore so it would've been quite a hassle (and expensive) to get all the right stuff together to weld them to my subframe. Then I started reading about all the problems people were having of them coming loose and gnarling up the aluminum sleeves in the bushings so I decided to sell them and just run a 12mm riser kit for the rear subframe to counteract some of the negative camber in the rear. It's not the perfect solution but it's better than nothing.

[Joeyz31]

Looking awesome man! Must have been such a great feeling getting it down on the ground! Can’t wait to see more!

[moatilliatta]

Are the replacement axle bolts triple torx? I was really hoping BMW would stay clear from that...

Any rear adjustment for camber toe?

Coming together! Looks clean!

[ElJimo]

Looks great dude. Makes me wanna go get mine done.

[CubbyChowder]

Big update

Prepped the diff for a new gasket and fresh Redline fluid:



Started assembling the rear subframe and realized the little axle plates wouldn't fit with the new design of the boot kit:



So I had to modify all of those until they fit, then got the axles torqued to the diff. You can also see the 12mm diff spacer and stud kit installed in the background:



Slowly but surely got all the new bushings installed, got it all bolted up and ready to go in the car:



Exciting to see all the new parts coming together!



Then I prepped the driveshaft for install and that was when I learned that E30's had two different CSB sizes



I didn't want to halt all progress and wait for a new one to arrive, so some modification was in order:







It took a couple hours but got it installed and kept boogeying:



With the driveshaft finally in, I could install all the heat shields and exhaust. I had to fab up a new hanger for the downpipe near the transmission as this unit came off the automatic parts vert. Made quick work of that and stood back and just laughed at how shitty it all looks. This will get addressed sooner than later, but at least it gets me on the road for now:



Last week I discovered that my power steering lines were already leaking (I tried to reuse the original ones, I should've known better) so I got new lines and reservoir on order and they showed up earlier than expected which was nice so I got it all installed and I could finally put it all back together and get coolant in the car and bleed it. Once that was sorted, it was time to bleed the brakes and clutch, then wheels went on and I lowered the car down, torqued the rear axle nuts and did a jack stand/string line alignment and alas, the car was ready for it's first shakedown!

Test drive was successful for the most part! It pulls harder than I was expecting and feels very snappy, which was a nice bonus. Clutch and shifter feel amazing compared to my buddy's E30 sedan (sorry Chazzy). Brakes worked great. Suspension is definitely a bit rough for street use but that was to be expected. Oh yeah, I removed the rest of the purple tint too




It was a TON of work to get the car to this point and today was a very rewarding and gratifying day for me. I am all smiles. There is still tons of work to do but this is a huge milestone for the car. Pretty cool to see the before and after of the engine bay:

[nando]

I agree, I was pleasantly surprised by how meaty they look. Maybe you mean the RT615k+? I almost bought those.

I had the RT-615s as well (before the K revision), but those were "new" at the time. The first set I'm pretty sure was called the RT-215. This was like, 15 years ago.. lol

[Joeyz31]

Looking good! The RT660s look awesome on those wheels. I was pleasantly surprised by the width of them when I bought them. 205 R888s are super oversized and these are damn close and feel awesome. Looking forward to more progress. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CubbyChowder]

Those new Falkens look like they run wider than a true 195 - I had the original Falken Azenis (RT-215?) on the same wheels, they looked way smaller!

I'm considering going with them again (but in 15"). I've pretty much run only R888's for the last 8 years, I'm kind of tired of the noise, and they're pretty heavy too.

I agree, I was pleasantly surprised by how meaty they look. Maybe you mean the RT615k+? I almost bought those.

[nando]

Those new Falkens look like they run wider than a true 195 - I had the original Falken Azenis (RT-215?) on the same wheels, they looked way smaller!

I'm considering going with them again (but in 15"). I've pretty much run only R888's for the last 8 years, I'm kind of tired of the noise, and they're pretty heavy too.

[CubbyChowder]

New expansion tank showed up and really highlights just how heinous the original one is:



Started cutting up my front strut housings to shorten them 1":



Got them all welded up and then prepped/painted them:



Assembled and ready to go in the car. Beautiful specimens, indeed:



Got the offset CAB's pressed into the lollipops and drilled/tapped threads into the ends to install a bolt, to prevent the bushings from spinning in the lollipop:



Installed the strut housings, control arms, tie rods, brake rotors, calipers and brake lines. Nice to see it all together!



Washed the wheels finally, they actually cleaned up pretty damn nice:



With the front suspension all back together, I wanted to test fit the wheels and just see how it looks. I love it:



I'm really happy with how all the front end components came together and it's feeling more and more like a complete car every day. I can't wait to drive this thing

[CubbyChowder]

Tires arrived today! I wanted to try out the new Falken Azenis RT660 in a 195/60r14 on the stock 14" basketweaves (which I pulled from the vert parts car). I've heard great things about these tires, and they are only $110/ea




I'll clean the wheels up better at a later time but I'm really excited to try them out. Had to do a quick mockup with the car too. I've really grown to love the stock 14" weaves, but 15" Euroweaves are the eventual end goal for this car:

[jeenyus]

The stock configuration works fine, I don't have any reason to mess with it. I guess if you were missing parts or building from scratch (as in this case), it could be worth the effort, but otherwise - meh.

Simplicity is best. I'm surprised you haven't had to even mess with it.

[jeenyus]

I have yellows on my GC kit and it's been completely fine, but I have no reference to know the difference. They are smoother than my old Bilstein.

[CubbyChowder]

AWDBOB - Since the car will see plenty of normal street driving I opted for the street plates. I'll have nothing to compare them too but I'll let you know how they feel!

moatilliatta - the guy at GC said the red Konis are shorter and specially valved by GC for the E30. They provide a spacer so that you can run them in the stock strut housing length but they are meant to be run with a 1" shortened strut housing, which I will be doing. They are single adjustable and apparently better suited to the E30 than the yellows. That's my understanding at least. You can still get Koni Yellows through GC with their standard coilover conversion set.