CHANTARS - 1989 BMW E30 325i

[CHANTARS]

Very nice. Drill small holes at each end of the crack in the dash to stop its spread. Just drive the heck out of it.

Thanks man! Honestly, every time I drive the E30 it feels like I'm going hella fast, but then I see Toyota Corollas passing me on the freeway haha.

[ak-]

What's up man! I've definitely seen you around Diamond Bar! Saw your E30 awhile back way before I got mine parked in front of the new Pho Ha haha!

Guilty. Specifically remember the time too since I don't drive it too often Hah.

Don't be shy if you ever need some help or have a question!

[Shu]

Is the Clarion deck a marine or automobile deck?

[CHANTARS]

Another update!

Bought this 4.10 LSD that was rebuilt off someone from a local FB group! The original car had a 4.10 open diff to begin with. One tire fire was not fun at all haha. I was debating between a 3.73 or 4.10 but decided to go with the 4.10 since I'll mostly be cruising around town and the mountains. The diff was left out in the open uncovered so it had this crusty layer of dirty that took forever to clean.



After scrubbing and washing for an hour. The aftermath of all the dirt that came off the diff.



Cleaned the diff, and now it was time to drain the old fluid and scrape the old gasket off.





So fresh and so clean. Also went ahead and bought a poly differential bushing from Garagistic. Went for the 95A (Hard poly) which they say is for "Aggressive Street/Track."



Time to seal her up.



The finished 4.10 LSD and two new axles! Now all we gotta do is, fill her up, put the new axles, and put the diff in.









The 4.10 LSD was a game changer for sure, the car feels more alive if that makes sense. Can't wait to take it up the back roads.

Next: MOMO Steering Wheel, NRG Hub Adapter, and hopefully Bilstein/H&R/E90 drop hats combo for suspension.

[CHANTARS]

Is the Clarion deck a marine or automobile deck?

It's advertised as a marine deck I think, but it can be used in cars.

[CHANTARS]

Guilty. Specifically remember the time too since I don't drive it too often Hah.

Don't be shy if you ever need some help or have a question!

Noted! Thanks man!

[tonytones]

car looks amazing! man late models look nice, imma have to go cruise with yall soon

[D.Martijn]

Digging the black paint and tan interior combo!
Nice work on cleaning that diff, the paint on it still looks great.

[2mAn]

Judging by the 4.10 and the comfort seats, Im willing to bet it was originally an automatic car that got converted. Good move on the LSD, I need to get one myself but Im not in too much of a hurry...

Sport Seats shouldnt be too hard to find. Once you have those, and have swapped your steering you have most of the goodies that an iS came with anyways.

[ScottSneed]

Great looking car man! Looking forward to more pics & updates.

[CHANTARS]

Digging the black paint and tan interior combo!
Nice work on cleaning that diff, the paint on it still looks great.

Thanks man! I was looking for black on black or black on red, but to be honest the black and tan interior combo grew on me really fast. Currently in the process of paint correcting the car so hopefully the paint gets better! But single stage paint is such a paint to work on.

[CHANTARS]

Judging by the 4.10 and the comfort seats, Im willing to bet it was originally an automatic car that got converted. Good move on the LSD, I need to get one myself but Im not in too much of a hurry...

Sport Seats shouldnt be too hard to find. Once you have those, and have swapped your steering you have most of the goodies that an iS came with anyways.

Yea the LSD was a life changer for sure, it really wakes up the car. Not sure what Sport Seats are going for right now, the one's I've seen are like $600 reupholstered?

[CHANTARS]

Great looking car man! Looking forward to more pics & updates.

Thanks man! Can't wait to see how your 4-Door turns out!

[CHANTARS]

Not much has been going on with the E30. I've been super swamped with work and school, and to be honest it's been too hot here in SoCal to drive the E30. (A/C blows luke warm air LOL). Car has been a champ so far, although there has been some noise coming from the rear right wheel, sounds like a high pitched whining noise, kinda like something is grinding on something (speed related). I think it might be a rear wheel bearing. My buddy gave me an extra he had, probably gonna pop that one in and see if it fixes the issue.

I guess one thing new to the car is the Momo + NRG Hub Adapter I got for the car. I kinda regret getting suede, it's super hard to maintain clean. Kinda wish I got the Prototipo Leather wheel.




Took the E30 out to Grange Motor Circuit to do some grip/drift driving. Driving the car bone stock on the track was pretty fun and entertaining haha. Getting the car sideways was pretty easy and super predictable, and it's crazy how fast the car is around corners bone stock. Not pictured but I was running bottle caps all around, Falken RT615Ks at 38 PSI in the front and like some cheap Toyo tires in the back at like 45 PSI and the thing drifted like butter.



Oh yeah, got these floor mats in as well. I'm in the auto aftermarket industry and was able to trace some E30 floor mats and have em made overseas. If you want a set, let me know!

[paynemw]

those mats are dope! I really like it!