My Slow Daily Driver build.

[TimKninja]

I figured maybe I'd start a build thread. Dont expect alot of updates. Im not very good at updates.

Here is my current E30 History.....

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=240292

I couldn't deal with not having a red E30,mostly because of my old m50 swapped car that i loved to death. Sold my 318is to lolcantturn for wicked cheap considering the money I had in it. and bought this 325is off of a kid named Adstock on bimmerforums. The car drove better then any other e30 I had drove before. And this is the lowest mileage one ive ever had, at 253k when i bought it lol.

Day i picked it up.


Blurry image of where it slept til I sold the 318


To get it road Worthy It needed a rear wheel bearing and a radiator. Also did timing belt and water pump. The exhaust fell apaprt at a retarded rate. like seriously within a month it went from just missing a tip to this....

Just replaced with Bosal catback. Needed to Pass inspection....

On dyno...failed emmisions twice. Went and got some of the guaranteed to pass stuff that you dump in the tank and passed with flying colors

Then Bilsteins and ST springs....



Then I went to H20....and ran out of gas on rt 50.


Then i got rear ended. :/



You cant tell but the quarter panel is fudged. I ended up getting $1900 from USAA, which were really scummy people to deal with. I then brought it to a guy we use at work for bodywork who said he could do it for the money they gave me .

And thats kind of where I am now. Doing shifter stuff this weekend along with my steering coupler. Then Its gonna sleep for the winter. Ive put 10,000 Miles on it since registering it in august with absolutely no problems. Was dailying it until i got rear ended.

Plans are-
-Get a better camera.
-Drop rear subframe over winter and do EVERYTHING back there.
-Get body work done
-Fit metal bumpers from an 88?
-Start some Auto Crossing in the spring time.
-Drive M20 into ground. Replace with M52

[Sputnik]

Nice project! Can you tell me what car that is on left, 2nd picture down.

[TimKninja]

Nice project! Can you tell me what car that is on left, 2nd picture down.

Its a 944. With ALOT of work done to it.

Maybe I'll Update this thread. Nothing special going on.

Ive had this really annoying clunk from the rear end. So I dropped the subframe. Over Christmas break.

Removed. Kinda sucked. Bolts where seized in there. Used the lag bolt trick and it popped out.


Torched out old ones...



Reinstalling with Lemforder bushings and IE RTAB bushings. Lowered the car down on top of the subframe then bolted it up. Wicked easy this way.

New rear brakes "While i was in there...Mostly because a caliper was seized and the Bleeder screws where Snapped...


I Thought this was it. i could drive it for the next couple of years No problem, Until the M20 failed on me , And it had plenty of poer and never burned a thing.

Until DougieE30 Posted up that he found a Wrecked E36 M3. So $700 Later....



Car had been T-boned. Dude was out of work And needed cash. So I met up with Doug and we went and picked it up. Car has 191 On it, which made me skeptical. But It had PLENTY of power and The head had been replaced by a BMW dealer at one Point. (BMW DOT-R on the back of the head).

So ethier I get the ca repainted or...S50 Swap.
Well Im dumb, so S50 swap it is!!!!



Engine out. (And for sale!)

Bay cleaned.

A/C Stuff removed (For now)


S50 On a stand with China Headers, and E34 Pan. Im getting the valve cover powder Coated for free Thanks to work.



Now Im out of money again, lol , But next weekend the driveline is going in! Hopefully updates Next weekend .

[efficient]

Cool thread

[TimKninja]

Figured I'd update this for the lulz.

Got the S50 in the car, got it running. Have been dailiying it ever since. Maybe I'll throw a few opinions out there for fellow S50 Swap people.



-Keeping the ZF trans will kinda suck if your on a budget. You have to Find a new Driveshaft , the OBD2 E36 one is always in high demand and their getting tougher to find. Then the gearing sucks atleast for the E30 on stock wheels....well seeing as all my driving is highway driving it sucks.

-I bought a Gripforce stage 2 clutch. It was only like $10 more expensive then a stock setup from gripforce. Im not a huge fan of the stage 2. Its not terrible but I love the way the stock M3 Clutch felt over this. Engages too close to the floor, engages too suddenly. Kinda stiff but bearable and the LTW Makes a racket.

- I cant get my gas mileage above 22MPG (Mostly highway) . Replaced the 02 Sensor. no vaccum leaks. I have a Racing Dynamics chip in it so maybe that part of the problem. Also car never warms up past 1/3. Possibly because i used a cooler thermostat. DOnt know if that has anything to do with it.

TLDR. Onto the pics.

Right before I dropped it in




wired up. Got it running.


Fabbed Up an exhaust. 2.5 Inches- Borla to a Vibrant. SOunds GLORIOUS. But far too loud! Gonna quiet it down one day!





Took it for the first spin. Holy waffleswaffleswaffleswaffles, what a blast . much more power then the M20. SOooo much fun. Really makes the e30 a blast to drive. After parting out the E36 I was only $800 into the swap. Granted the Driveshaft I got for free along with the diff.

After that I drove it awhile. But quickly the ZF's gearing to the 3.73 Diff made it untolerable on the highway. 3500 RPM at 65 MPH. Thankfully we had a rotted out E28 528e out in the lot at work that I could borrow the diff from. Thinking it was just going to be a 2.93 open. By some chance it ended up being an S3.25!



Much better on the highway, Ended up trading the 3.73 LSD for a 2.93. SO that may go in soon. Im at 3000 RPM at 65 MPH. Much better, still not great.

Got a much better Valence on! No gay Volvbro lip. painted Rustoleum Sunrise red. Almost perfect match to Brilliantrot.


Went to GFEST again!


Current pics of how it sits! Just rolled over 268k






plans next-
-Get rid of current headlight setup. Sealed beams suck
-Need new wheels and tires. Bald 195 Uniroyals do not put down the power of the S50 Very well.
-Drive the shit out of it. Want to autocross so bad .

[lolcantturn]

Awesome car!


Not running at operating temperature is for sure going to run your MPG's, it's running way rich like that.

[TimKninja]

Well Im bored,Slightly hungover its like 40 Degrees out and Raining. So Ill update this for teh lulz.

Summer 2013
Daily driving car continues. Fix many small things along way, Everything ive had to fix is because i didnt do it right the first time.

Bought EuroWeaves from Sweete Pete (The BMW Horder in CT) They needed a refinish, the terrible off-white color had to go.



This SUCKED. 4 Cans of paint stripper, many sunday afternoons. If I had to do it all over I'd just get them powder Coated. But I really liked the polished lips. Used VHT "Bright silver"






Cant get the center caps to re-assemble right and stay on :/

Went to H20i



Was at a Stop light, guy bumped into my car, took off. Ocean City Police Caught him, I got a total of $100 out of it, and a nice dent in my tail panel :/ coulda been worse.



Finally had my first autoX. I sucked. but it was lts of fun.





Winter 2013/2014



Bought A W115 for a winter beater. Interior was destroyed and Rear floors were rotted. Promply sold it for what I bought it for and Bought A Volvo 240 Wagon instead. Not as Beautiful as the W115 But alot more reliable, easy to find parts for, etc etc.

Started Rust Repair tear down/Interior Re-do. My Carpet was Shitty, and covered in water and coolant. I knew the car had rust. It spent its entire life in NH. I dont have any finished photos but the floorboards came out allright. still gotta do my battery box which is DISSINTIGRATED.





Had a Fabrication guy do this part, im not good enough at welding to do thinner areas yet. This is where the firewall meets the strut tower. I Caught it in good time. Otherwise It would of been like my first 325e all over again







Sitting for the winter. Bought myself an IS lip


New Headlights, Just Euro Hellas, but they were SOOOO MUCH better then the sealed beams that were in there


Wash, unknown when I took this



Spring/Summer 2014


Interior going back in, Carpet out of a 44,000 Mile 318is that was getting parted plus Black Sport seats to replace the Aged Cardinalish interior

After driving around with no carpet it felt like a new car again!



Wax and a Buff






Winter beater Volvo creepin

Gfest at Lime Rock park. Was an AMAZINGLY good time. Camping the night before and hangin out with Our Favorite Moderator F34R. Plus AutoX the next day! I hope the event is just as great next year!





I learned that the DZ101s suck for autoCross. Great summer tire. Suck for AutoX. Plus only a 205, with an S50 is pretty inadequate . So much oversteer. A shit ton of fun tho.





Updated Picture at this spot again

Car's ride height was getting annoying, one day Ill be that ride height again but because its my Daily I was getting tired of it, plus RI Roads suck

Found barely used H&R sports, Installed those. Ride got alittle better. Ride height still acceptable.Still need new front shocks. Maybe Konis?

H&R on right, ST 318is springs on left.





New ride Height



Most recent shot. really needs a clean. Lost all of the polish look on the lips due to my cleaning Neglect (100 miles a day kinda sucks for keeping rims clean)

Car now has 293,522 Miles! Its been wicked reliable.

Plans for the winter-
-Get Ebrake working
-repair battery box rust
-do all the coolant lines for peace of mind
-drive it when Volvo breaks.

[88BlackS-ETA]

Nice car. Those rims look amazing now.