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So I've been looking for an e30 manual 6 cyl coupe for a while. Finally found this one for sale in Havelock North, pretty much right next to home: I'd even seen the car around a couple times and taken pictures: The problem being that I don't live at home anymore. I moved to chch for uni. Luckily enough my parents were happy to view the car for me and potentially pick it up. And with my luck the day before they view (and only a day after the guy posted the car to facebook) I get the news that the guy fell asleep while driving home from work and had an unfortunate encounter with a lamp post: But I decided fuck it I'll go for it anyway, I've been looking for so long and how hard can it be to fix? Also it's got some nasty rot under one of the tail lights: And some on the sunroof too: Anyway I'm looking forwards to Easter when I actually fly back home and get a good proper look at the car.

discuss stuff, or don't...

Hi all, as you all can tell i'm new to oldschool.co.nz but I hear you're a great crowed! This is my e30 that i've owned for a few years now. Was bought with a humble m20b20 engine that one day decided it did not like to live anymore. So I was more or less forced to do a m50b25 engine swap. These pictures will span over many years and life events. I feel that I have grown a lot with this car and can look back at the decisions i've made and learn from them. These were the 1st modifications I did, it took a lot longer than it should have and caused much anguish but it was all gone when I stood back and looked at her. The Patches if primer was the cancer (rust) forming - M20b20 (2 liter straight 6) - Manual conversion using 325i getrag 260, m20 lightweight flywheel, exedy clutch - Lowering springs with koni sport adjust shocks - Front and rear 325i sway bars I drove the car around as it was getting a feel for this new to me german vehicle. I did many minor modifications I pulled the trigger on attending my 1st track event. So I bought some things to make it feel more race car. But i had purchased this car for a reason, I wanted to build a rotary e30. A 20b NA powered e30. Ohh how this was gonna change... My girlfriend at the time was getting bored of me taking photos One cold winter's night, I was on my way back from a friends house when the humble m20 had enough. Twas the night before my day at hampton skid pan I have cool friends though and had started a following of e30 friends! Richard let me use his m50b25 powered e30 for the day So after I had a hoon I had to get back to reality. No rotary build for me. I needed a new engine and I needed something that I could do in a relatively short amount of time for a "budget" build... another thing I learnt, the term "budget" is not relative when it comes to cars. But after driving the m50 powered e30 and reading many (not enough) build threads/DIYs I started my search for a M50. Marcus (you'll hear his name a lot) had received a crashed e34 525i and offered me the engine and auxiliaries for a great price, so after checking the engine over, I gave him the thumbs up. I was now the proud owner of a M50b25 (cellphone pic FTL) And after a little more reading on feedback and noticing a trend with M50b25 swapped cars, I looked into selling this engine and find a m52b28. The reason being, most that did the swap found the m50b25 to have little reward for the effort. Until one day a friend asked why i'm not going to stroker it? So I started researching high and low for options and things I should do. I decided on the 2.8 stroker mainly because I had the conrods needed. I got a phone call from my wife (oh yea i got married) that she had bought me a birthday present. F*ck Yup my wife, bless her, pretty much upped my game for me and bought me the rotating assembly from an m54b30 (with help from ray@hellbm). So I guess I was going 3 liter. At this point I said screw it and sent the e30 in for panel and paint, my thoughts were by the time the e30 was finished the engine would be finished. This ended badly for me. I was naive and had put money down before they had finished the job. That is all I am going to say about the body. On a brighter note, PARTS! The apartment we were living in was not going to do, So we moved to a place with a double garage and just bigger in general. The apartment was super cramped, this town house we moved into was bigger, had a double garage and was the exact same price in rent. Auckland FTL Progress was going smooth for the rebuild Factory hone marks FTW while that was getting sorted I started unplugging the loom and disconnecting all the water and fuel lines as well as disconnecting the driveshaft and shifter linkage, work had shut down for the end of year break. I had 3 weeks to do the swap. Later that evening we got started on pulling the boat anchor out After much twisting and turning, prying and swearing it was out. and a me in the engine bay pic while Marcus makes it clear he is tired I prepped the engine bay, gave it a clean and changed the things that needed changing for the swap. I dont have pics, but the night before we dropped the m50 in, we installed the machined lightweight m20 flywheel and a brand new 6puk solid clutch between the engine and getrag 260 gearbox. The next morning we got on to fitting the engine IN after wiring up the engine and spending a few days diagnosing a non start, SUCCESS! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vT7jQQLmbw&feature=youtu.be Between that day and present mistakes were made. I had issues left right and center. Not doing enough diagnosing and trying for the quick fix I bought a "tune" from a company in the united states that claimed to have the right chip for my car. This just made things worse. The tune was so rich averaging 10:1 all over the rev range. This chip was pretty expensive, and the car would still misfire, jerk and barely idle. It sat here for a long time. I was in the gutter, it had been 1.5 years and I couldn't for the life of me figure this car out. I had checked every sensor with a multimeter, bought some new ones just to double check, checked the coils resistances, changed ecus, checked codes. I had checked everything. Makeshift smoke tester Checking tps Double checking sensors It went up for sale, people were coming to view. I had given up on it. Marcus the beautiful yellow man came around one evening and forced me to check everything again, even though we both had gone through everything twice. So we fired her up, to get her warm and I pulled off the plastic ignitor cover... It was like a light from the car gods telling me that my pain and arguments with my wife had satisfied them and this is the cure to my cars' defiance to idle and drive... Only in the darkness we saw the light. The insulation on one of the coils had cracked, so spark was jumping out of the side of the ignitor pack to the rocker cover. I had a spare SET of coils sitting in my garage and the only reason I didn't change them over was that they measured fine. We VISUALLY inspected all the coils I had before installing my spare set. Took her out for a drive, I couldn't believe it. I had a idling, running non misfiring e30. skipping ahead to the present, the mods haven't stopped. 5 stud conversion with bigger brakes from an e46 328i installed with e46 coilovers, whiteline swaybars, an assortment of wheels, wof, regd and certified for everything. I can finally enjoy this car. I've been trying to attend every meet, every event, anywhere I can enjoy this car. Talk to people who have their own projects, their own stories. Here's to the good times Discussion Thread

Thanks to some encouragment from Low'n'Slow, find herewith the latest chapter of my E30's build. The story up to ~2008: The project started in mid 2002, when I was given an E30 323i with a motor that was more of a 6cyl oil-pump than an internal combustion engine. So I setout to replace the engine with something more modern, BMW motors at the time were rediculously $$, with medorce HP gains (~190hp out of a M50B25). A 2JZ-GE sounded like a good option with 220hp and reasonable $$, but I couldn't find one. Until I stumbled across 2x complete 1JZ-GTE's with a JZA80 W58 for a whopping $2200. Then the fun began, and the engine swap, front brake upgrade & Cert' were done by mid 2003 in time to be used for our wedding. Which had a trio of 80's BMW's, being the E30 3er, E34 5er and a E32 7er. Not being content with the handling / braking, I did a '5 lug swap' using E36 Compact parts and M3 Control Arms. I used Porsche 996 Monobloc Brembo's up front with some nice Koni Coilovers. Stock Compact rear brakes, with Koni Shocks and Kings 'Low' Springs, still had it sqatting like a china-man with the 218rwkw it was putting down. With the Compact rearend, using the same E30 Axles & Diff this became the next 'weakest link' and was given the boot for some more custom DiY-age. Consisting of a late-model E28 5er subframe, trailing arms and axles, with a Supra *A70 G-series LSD (of which I have 3 for less $$ than one BMW LSD). At this time I needed to convert the rear to coilovers also to use the E28 trailing arms, which involved building some custom shock towers, and bracing to the new diff mount. The rear brakes were also beefed up to complement the front with matching porker 996 brembo monbloc's on big vented E36 M3 discs. After a couple of year of abuse, track days, suspension tweaks, exhaust mods, interior stripping, the old girl was not very street friendly and a bit anti-social. Which brings us to my current 'brain fart' situation. [edit] Dug up a few old pics: [/edit] Our first son was born in December 2008, and I had 6wks off work (well timed with the Xmas close down at work) and thought, geez this is cruisy, perfect time to get stuck into those 'bright ideas' I've had. Heck, there seems to be plenty of time to get things done..... Well, almost 5yrs later, as you can guess I couldn't have been more wrong!! ***** Rewind to December 2008: Well over X-mas, with a new addition to the family I had a bit of time on my hands and an angle grinder waiting for a good time. The goal is to be a fun track / clubmans race car. The mods meet the OSCA rules (Namely: max. 305mm firewall setback & No.1 cylinder no more than 5% of the wheel base behind the front axle), should I get the itch to take things up a notch (and find/win some $$$). As you will see, there is a long way to go yet.... I'll let the pics take it from here: Pulled out the engine & gbox and sat one of the rear sump pans I had in the bay. Then took to the firewall with the angle grinder. Jump forward in time a bit. Possible new location for the intercooler & radiator. Some new end tanks for the IC will be on the cards. ***** Brakes are well sorted, made sure of that a couple of phases ago. Porsche 996 Mono-block Brembo's with Pagid RS4-4 pads (oranges). Front: Rear: (also with the E28 rear-end and coilover) ***** Righteo then, a few pics of the limited progress. Downpipe & Wastegate done. Bit of a squeeze past what is left of the firewall Fitted up to the original 3" zorst just nicely NB. The tilton pedal box will be ~6-8" back from where the accel pedal is now. PS. Great tube notching/coping app. Couple of old ones (6/2005 ), of the rear towers (for running coilovers). incl rear bracing and diff mount. Welding to the panel steel was a PITA, was a 2 person job one holding a big copper bar (as a heat sink) in the wheel well. ***** Been a quiet winter, spending time in the warm with the kids had a bit more appeal than the cold garage. But it's spring, so lets check out the new growth... Got the new Firewall & Trans Tunnel folded up, and have started fab'ing into place. The top half of the firewall is now welded inplace. Next is the trans.tunnel O'Joy ***** Metal work nearing completion. Just have the area around the shifter and the steering column to go. Then onto seam sealing and some rattle can red. ***** The E30 saw the light of day for the first time in +4yrs (March 2013). Found a small dragon lurking in the bay... And a smaller one making the engine sounds from the drivers seat... Took about an hour to get him out of there. And a couple of the finished tunnel / firewall. Now it's off to Bam's toget the rollcage done ***** Well, she's back from her holiday at Bam's Just need to sort out my expired race licence(s) and send off the homologation paper work. Had to dial it back a bit to meet my budget, plus I'm never going to want, get or expect 10/10th out of an old E30 chassis. So what would have cost a lot more $$ didn't really add any more value (to me). It is still a pretty comprehensive 8pt cage with nice direct load paths through the main members. Most of the 'extra' stuff can easily be added later if so desired/needed. Also, the way Sch A now reads, and from discussions with MSNZ, directly tie-ing the 'safety' cage into suspension or driveline mounting points is a no-no (ie. top of the rear shock-tower, rear subframe attachments, etc...), With the emphasis on occupant safety and not a means to building a half tube frame reinforced chassis, unless you head down the 'free concept' path and prepare all the engineering calcs/certification. Now I need to pull finger and get the motor & loom back in there *joy* ***** Enough of the retrospective stuff, back to the present. Got the race license sorted and homologation all done Got the cage all prep'd & primed with some nice black etch primer. The exhaust manifold has been machined and painted with some arguably sacrifical 2000° VHT, along with the downpipe. Fab'd the oil drain for the turbo and blanking plates done for the rear water line (heater core removed). The Motor and Box are back in so I can get a few bits'n'pieces fab'd up. Checked I could put it in with the exhaust manifold on, so I can get it wrapped while on the engine stand. Got the seating position set, and setting up the steering column at present. Printing out the template today for the mounting brackets to weld to the dashbar so I can check before getting them cut. If you've driven an E30 you'll unterstand that the steering wheel positon is not adjustable, and is on a semi-bus angle. Not so good when you've moved the seat back 8" and lowered it, so the firewall mount has been raised to flatten the angle. The new column mounts will have a small degree of adjustability built it. I've got a deep dish Mod-08 Momo Wheel and will need a quick release, so should work out well for reach distance. The lower steering column is a bit of a DiY hodge-podge, not wanting to preclude the possibility of getting her re-cert'd for road use, I have used a selection of E30 & E36 Uni's & shafts that can be bolted together. The 'rag-joint' was replaced with a nice steel disc to hold the 2 halves together. Then onto mounting the pedal box. Will now have to do some real work so I can get some new pics up. Hope you enjoyed the read for now.

Discussion Thread: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/36553-graphites-1989-bmw-325i-e30-4dr/ Hi Everyone. I purchased this BMW E30 325i around 8 months ago, at the time it was a stock standard automatic with stock worn out suspension. This is how it looked on the day I collected it: Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us The 1st change was to convert the car to a manual using parts from a written off 1987 Tech 1 Motorsport Coupe. Uploaded with ImageShack.us After this I decided to put it on the Dyno and see how many horses had escaped over the years. It managed 102wkw which isn't bad for one of these with 233,000k on the clock. Uploaded with ImageShack.us At this point it was time to replace the Cambelt, waterpump, tensioner, fuel filter, dizzy cap and rotor. Along with the engine mounts and gearbox mounts and the all important bonnet Strut. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us I then gave the car a valve adjustment and replaced the valve cover: Uploaded with ImageShack.us At this point I installed my MAF conversion and the included chip from www.millerperformancecars.com (This gets rid of the old Barn-Door Style AFM). However this tune didn't seem to work that well with my car and resulted it it running too lean, so I then purchased the War chip so that I could re-tune, currently I'm using someones Dyno tuned Base Map (from Auckland) and this needs fine tuning for my car, but its running well and I don't see the point in paying for Dyno time until I mod the engine, ie cam, headers. In the mean time the car feels a lot more torquey and drivable then it was with the stock AFM. Uploaded with ImageShack.us In went the Bilstein B12 Pro Kit, this is a kit matched Spring and Shock package tested at Nurburgring. Uploaded with ImageShack.us [/img] Uploaded with ImageShack.us This is the cars current state: Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Last week I replaced all 4 Brake discs with new Brembo OEM items and CPLUS Pads + new Fluid. I also ordered some Hartge 15x6.5inch Wheels with an ET20 offset, these are lightweight Rims. They look the same as: Uploaded with ImageShack.us I'm getting them with 3 of the centre caps, these are rather hard to find, but all in good time. They look like: Uploaded with ImageShack.us Once I have them and Buy tyres I'll take some more Pics. Things to do: Panel and Paint: (Its got plenty of small dents etc) Restore Leather seats Tighten Up Steering. (I have this coupler to install). Uploaded with ImageShack.us Mod the engine, cam, headers etc + final dyno tune.