Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

March 2019 Car of the Month: betz

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    March 2019 Car of the Month: betz

    *** Editors Note: Ive loved Ben's car before I knew about it. Always been a huge fan of higher compression M20 builds, throw it in a rare-er color early model add euro bumpers and other goodies and you have an awesome car and a definite Car of the Month. Ben's a great guy and I swear he is one step ahead of me even in so many things, so he probably already knew that I was going to pick this car... who knows. Join me in congratulating Ben aka betz for his lovely E30 and our March Car of the Month***

    Factory options:
    Standard US car for the most part
    Pop out windows and crank sunroof

    Color:
    Burgundrot Metallic (214)

    Interior color:
    Originally beige

    Engine modifications:
    2.8L M20 stroker using all BMW parts
    9.8:1 compression
    885 head with 3 angle valve job, new rockers, eccentrics, and valves
    Bimmerheads 274 cam
    84 mm forged M52B28 crankshaft
    Eta 130mm rods
    Late 325i domed pistons
    Decked block by 0.020”
    S52 pink top injectors
    Adjustable FPR
    Innovate LC-2 WB
    Bavrest M30 AFM and K&N cone filter
    Sssquid 91 octane tune on Motronic 1.3

    Exhaust:
    Ireland Engineering long tube headers, ceramic coated
    Dual exhaust into dual-in dual-out magnaflow cat (crossover)
    Ireland engineering stainless cat back from eBay

    Transmission:
    Original Getrag 260
    Redline MTL trans fluid
    UUC evo3 short shifter with DSSR and all new bushings

    Differential:
    Torsen 3.46 LSD from Z3 3.0

    Suspension:
    Ground Control pre assembled setup w/ cut strut housings
    450lb / 650lb fr/rr springs
    Ground Control street camber plates
    Garagistic front strut bar, color matched to burgundrot
    Corner balanced (but for the 323i)
    M3 offset FCABs in OE rubber
    Z3 1.9 rack w/ power steering

    Wheels:
    Melber Mahle E21 weaves, powder coated and refinished
    15x7 4x100 et12
    5mm rear spacers
    Hawk HPS pads, SS brake lines, E32 MC

    Exterior modifications:
    Euro bumpers
    Hella Smileys
    Polished the heck out of it

    Interior modifications:
    E30 M3 sport seats w/ Stitchedwheels upholstery kit, tweed & leather
    Matching shift & e-brake boot
    Crack-free dash
    E36 e-brake handle
    Mtech-1 steering wheel
    Black door cards & rear seats
    323i cassette holder center console
    323i euro gauge cluster and euro clock
    Pioneer head unit and speakers
    ZHP weighted shift knob

    Story behind the car:
    April 2016 me and my buddy are drunk browsing craigslist late at night. He’s a huge BMW guy; me, I just like cars and have settled with a 6MT G35 coupe as my only car.

    I knew very little about E30s, but he was getting all worked up over this euro E30 323i sedan listed at $1000. Now, I knew E30s were light weight, fun and engaging cars, and ever since I drove my friends miata, it made me resent my portly G35 because it couldn’t make me grin ear to ear like that miata could. I figured this E30 could be a perfect project car!

    Went all the way to Santa Rosa to see it, and it was clear why the car was listed so cheap. Oil leaks, completely missing sunroof, seats were just plain broken, shook violently at highway speeds. But, it looked like everything was something that I could fix myself, given time. Not to mention, this thing friggin ripped. That 2.3L M20 would chirp tires into second. I fell in love with the car as soon as I drove it, even in its current state. Offered the guy $500, with the promise it would be gone that night and that I would handle smog, and it was mine.

    May 2017. I had spent the last year working on my 323i at my mom’s garage all the way in Stockton. It had gotten a number of modifications, but the engine was still completely stock, and burned quite a bit of oil so I knew I eventually wanted to do a stroker build with it.
    I already had purchased a good eta block with the intention of doing a budget 323i head / eta block stroker build to trade up for more power and torque and a better ECU. But, it was feeling so great with my fancy ground controls, I put it on the back burner.

    Unfortunately, less than a week later coming back from Alice’s, I overcooked it into a blind downward hairpin, and in a split second, my car was totaled. I was completely devastated.

    I quickly began the hunt for an early model shell I could swap all my parts to. I figured that I could get on with that motor build I always wanted to do, and could come out pretty good seeing as I was trying to buy a non-running car and using a bunch of parts from my 323i.

    My options were looking pretty bleak in a sea of bronzit, until one car came up locally in an burgundy color. It had like, two pictures that looked like crap, and there was no price on the car. Said it didn’t run because of a “blown head”. But I figured it’s down the street, so, what the hell.

    Looked at it, liked the pop out windows and crank sunroof. Also, the paint was covered in dirt but I couldn’t see any clear coat failure or rust, but it did have a pretty substantial dent on the fender.
    I was humming and hawing until the owner, a lanky skater kid, blurted out, “Dude look.. I just want some money to go to the beach with my friends, if you take it right now you can have it for $200”.

    Uhhhhhhh...
    Okay!

    Fast Forward to November '17, I had the motor running and the car driving! But, it took a lot of fine tuning to get it where it is now, and I must say. It is 10x better than the 323i ever was.

    I absolutely love this car. The rest is outlined in my build thread thats right here. :)























    Simon
    Current Cars:
    -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

    Make R3V Great Again -2020

    #2
    I love this car.
    1984 Delphin 318i 2 door

    Comment


      #3
      Performance meets practicality with classy, tasteful mods. Well deserved.
      1990 325iX - sterlingsilber metallic
      1991 325i - lazurblau metallic



      Originally posted by delamaize
      E30 = Lego for men.

      Comment


        #4
        Very nice - love your story about the 323i, they are highly underrated cars!

        If you swap the diff ratios around in them, they are basically as quick as the 325i (BMW did a bit of trickery to make the 325i appear like a bigger performance upgrade than it really was, by changing the diff ratio from 3.45 to 3.73 or 3.9 to cover up the extra weight of the series 2 update!).

        I had an e21 323i. I rebuilt the engine with high comp. pistons, Schrick 272 cam and headers, and installed EFI (instead of the awful old K-Jet) and that car was great. Add in that the 80mm bore is more resistant to pinging, and a stronger head casting vs. the 325i, and they're great.
        My e30: OEM+ with M30B35

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by lukeADE335i View Post
          Very nice - love your story about the 323i, they are highly underrated cars!

          If you swap the diff ratios around in them, they are basically as quick as the 325i (BMW did a bit of trickery to make the 325i appear like a bigger performance upgrade than it really was, by changing the diff ratio from 3.45 to 3.73 or 3.9 to cover up the extra weight of the series 2 update!).

          I had an e21 323i. I rebuilt the engine with high comp. pistons, Schrick 272 cam and headers, and installed EFI (instead of the awful old K-Jet) and that car was great. Add in that the 80mm bore is more resistant to pinging, and a stronger head casting vs. the 325i, and they're great.
          I appreciate the compliments!

          Yeah, that 323i was a fun car. And I learned so much from working on it. It's really a shame, I spent quite a bit to try and save it, but it was just never going to be the same. Funny enough, it's diff ratio was 3.23 haha.

          I actually kept the ETA 2.93 for some time after building the motor. Going up to the 3.46 made a massive difference, I can see how it can easily mask some extra weight on the car haha. Luckily mine is still an early model, so nothing to mask! It clocks in at just under 2600 lbs :)

          That friend from.the beginning of my story also has an E21 323i. Super cool cars- I keep telling him to get it back on the road! Cus I wanna drive it ;)
          '86 Burgundrot 325 2.8 stroker.

          Build thread

          Other cars:
          2000 Porsche Boxster
          2006 Subaru Outback XT 5MT
          1972 Porsche 914

          Comment


            #6
            V nice! I like me some burgundrot, cloth seats, M20! Good job to you and good choice, Simon.

            ...and I see a 914 fan as well!

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by LateFan View Post
              V nice! I like me some burgundrot, cloth seats, M20! Good job to you and good choice, Simon.

              ...and I see a 914 fan as well!
              Thanks!

              Yeah haha the 914 is an even bigger project than the E30 was. I put it on hold for now until the summer, but I think I want to do a Honda K motor swap into it, eventually. But before that, it needs some minor rust repair, paint, suspension, and an interior. Unfortunately, if my housing situation ever changes, it will be the first to go though.

              In the meantime I'll always have something to do on the E30, (short list- willwood brakes and Sssquid MAF) the Outback is getting King Springs all around and some new speakers :)
              '86 Burgundrot 325 2.8 stroker.

              Build thread

              Other cars:
              2000 Porsche Boxster
              2006 Subaru Outback XT 5MT
              1972 Porsche 914

              Comment


                #8
                Nice! You need to find a knee bolster stat :)
                Mtech1 v8 build thread - https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/sho...d.php?t=413205



                OEM v8 manual chip or dme - https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/sho....php?p=4938827

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Jean View Post
                  Nice! You need to find a knee bolster stat :)
                  O shoot, you caught me

                  I actually have one, but all the holes are messed up. I've been looking for a nicer one, non airbag ones are hard to come by in good shape it seems.
                  '86 Burgundrot 325 2.8 stroker.

                  Build thread

                  Other cars:
                  2000 Porsche Boxster
                  2006 Subaru Outback XT 5MT
                  1972 Porsche 914

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Everything that the original R3vlimited stands for is exemplified in this ride! I dig it! Congrats.
                    FEEDBACK:
                    http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=316212

                    BMWCCA #398608
                    IG @yagayo38

                    "The Best E30's were built with two camshafts four cylinders and sixteen valves!".

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Very cool. Love reading the stories behind these cars. Congrats!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Great story to this car. About to dive into your build thread!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I have driven this car and I approve!! Congrats Ben
                          Build Threads:
                          Pamela/Bella/Betty/325ix/5-Lug Seta/S60R/Miata ITB/Miata Turbo/Miata VVT/951/325xi-6

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Superb. Love the paint/wheel combo. Molto.

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X