e30mclow's latest e30

[e30mclow]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

Hmmm, the going rate down here for an s54 is around $3,500-4,500. Add $7-900 for a manual box with it.

It is so tempting, but probably to worth it with this particular car.

[Feens]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

probably easier and cheaper to go wit an LS3 swap plenty of v8 grunt,

id love to import my e46 m3 but id say its ridiculous to get it shipped to Canada

[e30mclow]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

Things have been happening:



Adjustable Subframe Mod


Rear struts & brace installed


6 Branch Manifold


Polybushed Rear End + flushed and inspected the diff (had an LSD, which was a great bonus!)


New front control arms, drop links and powerflex bushings installed


Steam cleaned and painted the inner arches



I stripped back and cleaned up the front inner arches and installed the control arms, coilovers and new discs.
I still need to tighten everything up this weekend.


I also created fire, as I am a man and that's what we do




Dreaming big and hoping to get the rear subframe all buttoned up this weekend, along with all brakes and new SS lines.
Then it can sit on 4 wheels again.

[witchcraftz]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

Awesome job. It's going to look better than when it came out of the factory!

[Ur0Drivr]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

Brilliant Gerard!

[e30mclow]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

A few updates.

I was flip-flopping between wheel ideas, but was trying really hard to avoid my usual "stance" ways. These very nice BBS RXs popped up for sale semi-local, which I think suit the car. They're a conservative 16x7 et35 with sticky tires up front, and slightly larger cheapo ones in the rear - perfect for an e30, as the rear tires shouldn't ever last too long.
I ordered some 10mm spacers and will pick up the wheels this Thursday night.


Over the weekend I got the rear beam back in, brakes assembled and bled, clutch slave swapped out and bled, strut brace on and got the car on 4 wheels for the first time in a month.





the existing brake fluid was pretty dirty





Things that need to be done before getting on the road

Fix this :(


Buy a gear knob of some sort - suggestions?
Mount wheels and tires
Set the ride height and do a basic alignment
Tighten up all nuts & bolts & mount the underside shielding
The big one - make an exhaust for it

After all that, we'll have an e30 that has had a fortune spent on it, but looks exactly the same as when I bought it

[syncrovan]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

After all that, we'll have an e30 that has had a fortune spent on it, but looks exactly the same as when I bought it

Lol....

But it will handle and sound 10 times better!

[e30mclow]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

Lol....

But it will handle and sound 10 times better!

It is so messed up. Nobody will understand where the money went, especially the better half.
I've recently adopted the $40 Tactic -> No matter what turns up in the mail, no matter the size of the parcel, just say it was $40. Through trial and error, I've established that her threshold for concern/"the look" is the $50+ range.

Typically I'd have gotten the aesthetics looking top shelf first, then work backwards through to handling. This is meant to take over daily duties from the '16 Silverado, so I figured it best to concentrate on reliability/handling.

Transmission is a little "crunchy", so I'll need to flush & change the oil before it hits the road.

[P Arkus]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

Awesome to see the progress man. Those wheels will look great on that car!

[funkin]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

I like the $40 tactic. I'm going to try implementing that in my life haha

Love the progress with the car!

[e30mclow]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

More things! $40 wheels and $40 spacers fitted!

I was uncertain how the staggered tires would look, but I like it a lot! It leaves a lot of room for lock to lock correction and suspension travel up front.

[syncrovan]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

Looks pretty good!

[e30mclow]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

First drive!
My dad is over for a vacation, so he went straight to work on making the B5 S4 exhaust fit.

You can tell by his t-shirt that he's an old BMW guy too.



Car sounds good, if not a tad too much like an old 6 cylinder Triumph more so than a BMW.
Next will be to tighten up any straggling nuts & bolts, then set the ride height and preload on the springs.

Debating whether I drop $400 on uprated sway bars on Black Friday or not..

[Feens]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

Nice work Ger.. when you bringing it to Alberta

[e30mclow]

Re: e30mclow's latest e30

More work done:
- Quick Steering Rack fitted
- Ordered new e46 steering boots
- New steering wheel arrived, so I'm just waiting on the MOMO hub adapter to fit it
- Aligned the rear swing arms, now that things have settled in (I had fitted camber & toe adjusters)
- Torqued up the tie rods as I was getting a vibration at 60+ MPH
- Fixed the fan resistor, so I now have heat
- Took apart the MAF, all the way this time (opened up the board) and cleaned all of the contacts
- Set the preload on the rear shocks and got the hardness settings in a semi-hard setup that works for me
- The rear subframe retaining nuts (the 22mm nuts on the pins that drop through the floor) were very loose, so I tightened them up
- Bled the coolant system at the head
- Got the power aerial working which is a first for any e30 I've owned, they've always been FUBAR
- Fitted the new clips and put the iS lip on properly, which improves the looks greatly
- Best of all, I found that I was only getting about 80% wide open throttle as the cables needed adjusting. This made a huge difference!

I've been zipping around in it getting a little sideways here and there.
Can't wait for the front and rear ARBs to arrive, as that'll be the chassis/handling department well and truly sorted.