SICK!!! E30 a lot of blood and sweat....... my buddy just picked up an E30, his goal is to do a LS1 in it......

 

So a little update on the head rebuild:

We discovered that the valve guide size matches up with valve guides used in euro-spec E30s...so for some reason, it seems that BMW used different valve guide sizes in the US and Euro markets. How I ended up with a grey-market euro head is beyond me, but that is what I have, so I am running with it.

I bought new valve seals and dropped them off at the machinist. Now we are just waiting for the valve guides ("with a few grand in parts overnighted from Japan- er, Europe- this thing will decimate all!!!") and then reassembly and back on the car...

 

Can't believe I just saw this, good job buddy!

 

Just got a call from the machinist...head is FINISHED! New valve guides and seals, valves re-ground, all hot tanked, magnafluxed, checked for true, re-assembled...

Sweet!

___________________

So some progress over the weekend...



$240 later, I got my head back from the machinist. New exhaust valve guides, a 3-angle job on the exhaust valves, single on the intake side (did not pay extra for the 3-angle job), new valve seals, all cleaned up, measuers, examined, etc.





I also got the rear of the DS connected with the diff and connected the halfshafts to the diff.

Brakes were bled all around and the car is just about ready to go back on its wheels, following the install of the wear sensors. (I have them, so why not?)

Hoping to get the head swapped back on the weekend of June 5.

 

Sooooo...... whats new?

Pics?

 

Progress...

The wheels are on the car, the rear struts are connected, and the car is now sitting on concrete!





Fender views:

 

Wheel gap with the top half of the motor still on the workbench:



I also picked up rebuild kits for my 19 lb./hr injectors. I got the ones for the Ford application. $1.88 through Amazon and Advance Auto matched the price. I bought 7 kits, just in case I mess up one.





I also grabbed a set of exhaust studs. With everything else that is redone on the head, I might as well replace the 12 studs on the exhaust side.

 

Be careful in the rain with those tires. Not hating on them, just be careful, they hydroplane very easily.

 

I remember when Cutler had that same issue with them in his first Miata.

 

I'm glad to see this isn't a DD for you with those tires.

 

I have stock 14" BBS basketweaves to drive on for around-town use. I just wanted to see what the 15s looked like on there.

 

Ugh, dude.

Bimmers SUCK.

 

Long time, no see, Ben.

I remember seeing your E36 323 over on bf.c.

Do you still have it, or is your sig outdated?

 

Still got it.

Recently swapped the diff and got new wheels & tires. Still working on the stereo. M50 manifold swap coming up.

Link in sig is reasonably up to date.

 

Looks good man!!

 

05.06.10

IT IS ALIVE!!!

So after a lot of fairly serious wrenching, here are the pics from the final assembly of my 327i motor.

I used Borg Warner Injector rebuild kit (P/N 274081) to rebuild my 19# injectors. Here is a shot of them, installed:



Exhaust manifold (painted flat black) installed:



Intake manifold (also flat black) installed:





A couple of pictures of it back on the block:







The motor fired up on the first shot and after a few minutes of idling, it really settled down to run pretty well. I need to adjust the valves and to install the fan (my technical advisor forgot to bring his slim 32mm wrench to re-install the fan). I might look into an electric fan instead.

While I had the car in the garage, I went ahead and installed the rear section of the exhaust and then took it for a quick drive in my development. I need to work out an odd “thunk” that is coming from the rear end as I get on and off of the throttle. I have replaced the guibo and CSB, so my fear is that it is the 3.73S that I installed. I had never driven on it, and I am hoping that there is not something amiss inside. I am running Mobil1 for the LSD differentials.

First impression is that it pulls like crazy, even on a stock 380 DME. I have a MarkD chip for a 173 that I plan to put in some time soon, but I am trying to work a swap of my MarkD for a 2.5 for one that was supposedly written for a 2.7i/327i motor. All other specs are the same between the two chips (AFM, injectors, octane, etc.).

I also installed white mirrors and took a few shots of it now that it is on all 4 wheels and with the weight of the head in the front end. The nose still looks a bit high on the H&R Sports, but it may settle with a little driving. I guess we’ll see.













I still need to fix the clunk, adjust the valves, fix my shifter slop, swap on my plastic bumpers, and start treating some minor rust spots. Also, my passenger window does not work and the mirror control seems to have a mind of its own.

 

Could it be how the rear is held in? Bushings or something?

Cuz when you get on and off the throttle the entire drivetrain is moving so I would assume it is something that is holding it in place.

 

Pulls like crazy eh? Wanna race a swapped car? (I'm a ****, I want to 2.7i my super eta too)

 

With a technical advisor on-site, it was harder to pay for all of the add-on costs than it was to actually do the swap.

The cost of a clean(ed) head was the worst.

 

It could be a loose suspension mount or even loose lug nuts. I need more time to investigate.

 

Lug nuts were loose, but tightening them did not solve it. I really think it is differential or subframe bushings.

In other news...

http://forums.maxima.org/washington-...track-car.html

 

used to drive an 87 535is. loved it, nothing tracks like the old bmws. rock solid in a corner

 

So it has been a month and I have done just about nothing to my car. I did buy a parts car (86 eta sedan, 5MT), just for fun, but I have not even picked it up yet. I did some brake work for a buddy and he is going to tow the new car to my house (about 100 miles, round-trip) for free. My wife also bought a TL and I bought new tires for my Subaru, so I have not had much extra money to play with.

Oh yeah- and my daugher has been sick, eating up time, money ($1000+) and emotional capital.

That all being said, I did finally get around to ordering some parts to freshen up the shifting mechanism, specifically a Z3 1.9 shifter (the updated one) and a new shifter arm bracket. I also got new clips and o-rings, even though I don't think that I need the rings with the updated shifter. It all arived yesterday!

I still need to buy a DSSR (dual shift selector rod) to complete the upgrade.



I also spent about 30 minutes trying to isolate the sound that I am getting from the rear after reassembly. I retorqued my lug bolts, re-tightened my rear upper strut mount bolts, checked the lower bolts, and double-checked the differential attachment points. All 12 allen bolts are tight, the diff input flange is tight to the driveshaft, the guibo and CSB are both new AND tight, and the RTABs and subframe bushings don't seem to be in terrible shape (though I plan to replace both in the next month or so).

The only thing that seemed to hav play is the halfshaft on the driver's side, but it has about 1/4" of lateral play, and the sound is coming from the passenger side. Engaging and disengaging the clutch at a stop or at low speeds is what does it, or if I am at meduim to high RPM and I engage and disengage either the clutch OR the throttle, I hear/feel the "thunking" in the rear.

I hoped to get some time to look it over this weekend, but things have been really busy lately and none of my friends around town are "car" guys, so a second opinion is hard to come by.

 

<3 for your baby hope she is okay

I realize you're doing a very thorough (and, uh, expensive) job here, but about how much does a stock E30 cost to keep running? I've heard mixed reviews - do it yourself and you'll be well-off, get a mechanic and you'll be broke, you'll be broke either way, etc. Any experience with such matters? I'd love to dd a 318i but I'm scared of German cars...intimidating to work on and expensive for parts.

 

Well, there are several ways to think of it...
As with any car, it is a depreciating asset. However, if you plan to track SOMETHING (whether it is your DD or a track car), and want to do it on the cheap, something like an e30, miata, B13 SE-R, etc. is a good way to go.

Most of what I have replaced in it costs about the same for any light car. Suspension components, brake parts, bushings, bearings, wheels, tires...all are about the same for most small, trackable cars. My suspension bushings and bearings for the E30 were no more expensive than they were when I had an A32...and may have been cheaper (less total parts).

I never priced stock replacement parts like tie rods or control arms for anything other than the E30, but the prices I paid seemed fairly reasonable. With the car being light (reasonabley so), the wear rates of some consumables (tires, rubber parts, brake pads) may be lower than for a heavier RWD car.

To replace suspension and brake parts on my Subaru is quite a bit more expensive than the same parts for the E30, and if I bang up the E30 or blow the motor, I still have the Legacy to get me to work on Monday.

There are other costs...$50 a month for liability-only insurance, the costs of the vehicle itself, and the headache of scrounging for parts on a 20+ year-old car, but once it is running, I even have a "spare" car for when I want to save miles on my Legacy, or when I just want to drive something different, just for fun.

For me, this lets me keep the Legacy mostly-stock and to have fun building something from the ground up. It takes a LOT of time, but I regret only a few of the things that I have done to it. In hindsight, I should have bought an 89+ 325i or 325is (better stock motor, better looks), or even an E36 92-93 325i/is (parts are easier to find).

 

Interesting, so you'd say you're not spending more to have an old BMW as a sport car than you would if it were a Miata?

Well, I guess I'm really asking a question you might not be in a position to answer. I haven't got the money for a second car (i'm a student u c), and I'm not interested in track driving or autocrossing, but your car is basically a second car for performance driving. Have you ever owned an E30 as anything besides a project? I love German cars and would be totally thrilled to get back into one, and I've heard E30s are relatively easy and cheap to take car of if you do the work yourself, as compared to other German cars. But I really dunno if that's true or just fanboyism clouding logic and reason.

I think what I'm saying, in the most roundabout way possible, is that your project looks fun and you're making the work look easy by doing a clean and thorough job. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

In some ways, it is as cheap as a miata, in others it is not. In general, the Miata has been a reliable vehicle, historically speaking. The E30 is as well- if it was maintained as it should have been.

After getting my hands dirty, the E30 has proven to be pretty easy to work on, but other than the motor itself, instead of repairing things I have replaced them. I could think of only a few places where I replaced things unnecessarily, btu there are times where I replaced part "c" when only "a" and "b" were bad, but the labor to replace "c" later would be a pain.

Because it is older and does not have all of the electronics systems that a newer car has, it has been really simple to work on. A lot of guys on the E30 boards daily their e30s, and many have them as an only car.

If you find one in good shape that does not need too much (if anything) to get it to pass a safety inspection, you could very easily stay ahead of issues, as opposed to getting behind them, as I have done.

As far as having owned one as my only car, I have not done that.