GunMetalGrey

Mods ( so BagelMan I guess...) polish off that ban hammer....

"Are you tired of things in your trunk being protected from the elements?!"

PVC wing was on back order but I got a screaming deal on these sick maxpeedingrods coilovers. They sound fast.

Tossed the battery back in this. Fired up and idled like I'd just driven it yesterday, even though it's been sitting in underground parking since October. Then, as one does, I decided to take it out for a beat run around the neighborhood on old gas and expired plates.
Someday I will learn to act right and behave like an adult. Today was not that day.
Other than that, no progress. Maybe bumping this thread will help get me motivated to do something with this. Unfortunately, there are other things higher on my priority list at the moment. Notably, fixing the compact and possibly moving, but in the meantime my work-life is about to become an unholy shitstorm as our 6-person engineering team has a half-million dollar project that the customer thinks should be done in two months. Goddam first-world problems.

I didn't realize this s52 was modified the way it was, and I'm glad to see someone else with a high power s52! 
The cams really do come on around 3500-4k, I've had people ask if it's turbocharged haha. 
 
New suspension should be awesome! 

Full tank of gas, I was standing next to it. Trunk tar in. 


My battery relocation to the rear requires a bit more work than initially thought. It's either an '84 thing or just early production, not sure. The rear battery tray area is narrower than a late model, so I will need a different battery. I also need to cut a hole for the battery cable grommet in the engine bay vs just punching out a blank plate.
My weight bias isn't great (55% front) but it's not as bad as expected. 

For ref, this is an 84 318i with full interior, full stereo in place, and a complete 6cyl e30 driveline and suspension components, with a 24v instead of the M20. I'm fairly impressed at the weight. 
 

The odd part is I've done nothing to reduce the weight! It's insane how light this car must've been when it rolled off the factory line sporting an m10 and an adorable drivetrain to match! 

Full tank of gas, I was standing next to it. Trunk tar in. 


My battery relocation to the rear requires a bit more work than initially thought. It's either an '84 thing or just early production, not sure. The rear battery tray area is narrower than a late model, so I will need a different battery. I also need to cut a hole for the battery cable grommet in the engine bay vs just punching out a blank plate.
My weight bias isn't great (55% front) but it's not as bad as expected. 

For ref, this is an 84 318i with full interior, full stereo in place, and a complete 6cyl e30 driveline and suspension components, with a 24v instead of the M20. I'm fairly impressed at the weight. 
 

Man, vintage shot right there, pre-surgery glasses and just a chin strap. 
Wild shit

Yup same fitment as style 5's. I think they look WAY better without centercaps (same with 16" style 5's unless you get those RS style waffles/hex nuts). I got my set for cheap at a junkyard and am planning to use them for track/auto-x wheels eventually

I know, I know, I know, I moved and abandoned everyone, but the car and truck both have WI plates so it kinda counts, right?
The real reason is to keep track of things, and this forum format is pretty slicks.

So, I bought another E30. Like any logical man I made sure to buy one that was thousands of miles away, and too low for any sanely priced shipping company to touch. 
Took my truck to WI to say hi to a few people, fly out to CA for work, then fly back to WI so I could load up the car on the trailer and head home with it. Nothing like a 4,000 mile round trip to grab a car!


So the real question here is; why?

This is a car that has been mentioned from time to time, a handful of you know it, but never had much presence on the internet or in person. This is the car that a friend purchased shortly after he saw me rebuilding my first E30 and thought it looked cool. I've been working with this car since day one, and know the details on all of it, so minimal surprises.
He's owned the car for around 10 years, and it has seen an M10, M10 turbo (shortly), M50, and the current setup. It has been the bastard child of many projects, but what I really wanted was the current drive-line. 

Car Details:
1984 318i
Rear euro bumper on, front in the car to be put on
full late model brake swap
houndstooth / black leather interior
Koni adjustable suspension, poly throughout the whole car for bushings
M3 steering rack

Engine Details:
S52 OBD1 Swapped
11.5:1 Pistons (bored over)
MLS Head gasket (.01" taller than stock to compensate for block and head decking) 
Shrick Cams
Bavarian CNC port and polished head
Upgraded valve springs
Solid lifters (?)
M50 Intake manifold
Riot Racing big bore throttle body
3.5" Euro MAF
24lb injectors
Turner Underdrive pulleys 
ARP hardware throughout 
Ceramic coated headers, full stainless exhaust from Mr. Asparagus's NA setup

Needless to say, the car can really get out of its own way. 
We rolled the car across a scale a year or so ago which was very similar to how it sits now, and the scale showed 2,400 lbs. Lightweight NA power is a whole different ball game from what I've known. 

The car needs plenty of clean up work as it has been "neglected" for many years, a lot of the finer details are not in a way that I appreciate. 
I'm excited to be back behind the wheel of an E30 that will actually be enjoyable to drive (the diesel noises were cool before, but the rest was strongly mediocre).

Until next time!

 

Identical pic from the bay of e
1742010 is what is on the throttle boy. 

Ben Plz'd

Thank you sir!  a
 
I spent some time the other day with a clay bar and some paste wax. Certainly helped the paint out a fair bit! It's not perfect but it'll do. 


I bought some radiator mounts from a late model (~$18 from BMW) which turned out to be part of the core support so I cut them apart and welded them onto my current chassis. I realized the radiator had been resting on the fan and not the lower rubber bumpers like I had thought 😕
Solved that issue though, some dripping paint for the kids. 



 I've found this specific chassis to be fairly terrifying to drive, the rear end is clearly significantly lighter than the front so it is always looking to rotate around in any non straight situation. I was at the junkyard looking for some other parts and came across an E30 where the trunk tar was completely loose and intact, so I got that for $15 and will be throwing it in. I also got a battery cable from a late model (and all the fixings) and will be converting to a rear battery setup to help with weight balance further. Battery cable was only $15 too which was awesome. 
Note the two tone trunk to plate area, as I haven't finished yet! 


The piece of the puzzle that I have been waiting for! Konig countergram's in hyperchrome which have been backordered since October, one place got a handful in stock and I managed to grab a set. 15x8 et25 and will be running a 225/45r15 likely with an rt660 for fun. 
Rears look like they will fit beautifully (IX rear end) and may have a smidge of room to go out further. 
Fronts have the rim .05" off the strut tower, so I will need to space that out. May end up grabbing camber plates for the front to make things more proper and fit easier. 
I'm stoked with the way they look in person! 



This car is coming along nicely, it wasn't fun to drive when I got it due to clutch and various contact points, but it has been fun cleaning up all the small lingering items! 



 

Thank you sir!  a
 
I spent some time the other day with a clay bar and some paste wax. Certainly helped the paint out a fair bit! It's not perfect but it'll do. 


I bought some radiator mounts from a late model (~$18 from BMW) which turned out to be part of the core support so I cut them apart and welded them onto my current chassis. I realized the radiator had been resting on the fan and not the lower rubber bumpers like I had thought 😕
Solved that issue though, some dripping paint for the kids. 



 I've found this specific chassis to be fairly terrifying to drive, the rear end is clearly significantly lighter than the front so it is always looking to rotate around in any non straight situation. I was at the junkyard looking for some other parts and came across an E30 where the trunk tar was completely loose and intact, so I got that for $15 and will be throwing it in. I also got a battery cable from a late model (and all the fixings) and will be converting to a rear battery setup to help with weight balance further. Battery cable was only $15 too which was awesome. 
Note the two tone trunk to plate area, as I haven't finished yet! 


The piece of the puzzle that I have been waiting for! Konig countergram's in hyperchrome which have been backordered since October, one place got a handful in stock and I managed to grab a set. 15x8 et25 and will be running a 225/45r15 likely with an rt660 for fun. 
Rears look like they will fit beautifully (IX rear end) and may have a smidge of room to go out further. 
Fronts have the rim .05" off the strut tower, so I will need to space that out. May end up grabbing camber plates for the front to make things more proper and fit easier. 
I'm stoked with the way they look in person! 



This car is coming along nicely, it wasn't fun to drive when I got it due to clutch and various contact points, but it has been fun cleaning up all the small lingering items! 



 

Got the engine back together and was still getting breakup issues around the 3500rpm mark, but wouldn't stumble if I was spinning tire at that point, and got worse as the engine warmed up. Being unsure of the quality of the chip tune, and long time desire to see this dyno tuned, it was finally time to take it in and see if the tune was to blame.
After some wood and time to get it up the dyno ramps (it's not high off the ground...) it was nestled in and the tuning commenced. Yes the door was open for tuning.



The first pull on the chip tune yielded a very lackluster 236hp and 231lbft of torque, and the breakup around 3500rpm really reared its head.
I would be lying if I told you that I was happy with that amount of power, but rolled into it knowing that may happen.
The tuner then took the existing tune out and tossed on one that he had from a roughly similar motor to see how it liked that. The pull was smooth and didn't break up with the new tune, and it sounded much better. I glanced at the screen and saw 296hp flash across it, and I looked at the tuner to verify what I had just seen. He hadn't looked at the number yet, so we went over and looked. Sure shit, first pull with a different tune and we gained 60hp. We were all quite impressed, as that was nearing the highest HP S5x they have ever seen NA, and its a specific E36 shop that builds many a motor. 
More tuning commenced and the motor responded really well to any changes and kept improving in powerband and peak numbers, though as the engine would heat-soak the breakup around 3500rpm would return no matter how much fuel or timing was added/removed. That one boils down to a hardware issue somewhere that I am working on tracking down.
After a few hours of playing he finally determined that it was doing the best it could, and put down some serious numbers that everyone was happy with. 

We managed to pick up 75hp and 45ftlbs more torque on an NA engine which is simply astounding. The car is now making more TQ across the entire range than it made in horsepower on the chip tune. The rev limit is at 6600rpm right now and once I find that breakup issue when warm (affects rev limit also) I will be going back and having the limit moved up a fair bit as peak horsepower is at redline right now so I will likely continue to make more power.

The car is an absolute machine now, it pulls hard and smooth throughout the whole range and I keep hitting rev limiter because at no point does it feel like I need to shift. 

Absolutely stoked with the whole tune, and the guys at the shop were great to work with. 

 

I know, I know, I know, I moved and abandoned everyone, but the car and truck both have WI plates so it kinda counts, right?
The real reason is to keep track of things, and this forum format is pretty slicks.

So, I bought another E30. Like any logical man I made sure to buy one that was thousands of miles away, and too low for any sanely priced shipping company to touch. 
Took my truck to WI to say hi to a few people, fly out to CA for work, then fly back to WI so I could load up the car on the trailer and head home with it. Nothing like a 4,000 mile round trip to grab a car!


So the real question here is; why?

This is a car that has been mentioned from time to time, a handful of you know it, but never had much presence on the internet or in person. This is the car that a friend purchased shortly after he saw me rebuilding my first E30 and thought it looked cool. I've been working with this car since day one, and know the details on all of it, so minimal surprises.
He's owned the car for around 10 years, and it has seen an M10, M10 turbo (shortly), M50, and the current setup. It has been the bastard child of many projects, but what I really wanted was the current drive-line. 

Car Details:
1984 318i
Rear euro bumper on, front in the car to be put on
full late model brake swap
houndstooth / black leather interior
Koni adjustable suspension, poly throughout the whole car for bushings
M3 steering rack

Engine Details:
S52 OBD1 Swapped
11.5:1 Pistons (bored over)
MLS Head gasket (.01" taller than stock to compensate for block and head decking) 
Shrick Cams
Bavarian CNC port and polished head
Upgraded valve springs
Solid lifters (?)
M50 Intake manifold
Riot Racing big bore throttle body
3.5" Euro MAF
24lb injectors
Turner Underdrive pulleys 
ARP hardware throughout 
Ceramic coated headers, full stainless exhaust from Mr. Asparagus's NA setup

Needless to say, the car can really get out of its own way. 
We rolled the car across a scale a year or so ago which was very similar to how it sits now, and the scale showed 2,400 lbs. Lightweight NA power is a whole different ball game from what I've known. 

The car needs plenty of clean up work as it has been "neglected" for many years, a lot of the finer details are not in a way that I appreciate. 
I'm excited to be back behind the wheel of an E30 that will actually be enjoyable to drive (the diesel noises were cool before, but the rest was strongly mediocre).

Until next time!

 

Quality seems solid, crisp lines, smooth clear over the top. 

The wheels I've wanted for this are finally in stock so I snagged a set, right after saying I was done with excessive spending for the rest of the month...😒

Went out wheeling the other weekend because a friend was looking to test out his Jeep. 
It started with driving right into a river that was not shallow and driving down the bank a bit. We laugh after exiting and ask him what the heck that was about.
"It's usually just river rock along the bank, turns out it's water today!"



We then proceed to drive to a spot where we've gone winter wheeling up a mountain before, and it started snowing as we got closer. 
We didn't see much for tracks going up, and this is a popular spot. Turns out that it had snowed many feet since the last people were up there! 
The Jeep was a snow plow, and the only reason we did have snow rolling over the top of the 35" tall tires was due to the bumper pushing it to the side first. It was an awesome time! 
I need to fix / scrap my broken ass Jeep lol. Ripped a brake line off it accidently on our new years day run up the same mountain, not to mention all the other issues.

It's snowing here today which is odd and reminded me of this. I also love seeing people play in the snow in the city here since it doesn't happen often. People sledding in the streets, quads / side by sides ripping around with sleds behind, just people out enjoying it. That and a ton of cars in the ditches haha. 

Went out wheeling the other weekend because a friend was looking to test out his Jeep. 
It started with driving right into a river that was not shallow and driving down the bank a bit. We laugh after exiting and ask him what the heck that was about.
"It's usually just river rock along the bank, turns out it's water today!"



We then proceed to drive to a spot where we've gone winter wheeling up a mountain before, and it started snowing as we got closer. 
We didn't see much for tracks going up, and this is a popular spot. Turns out that it had snowed many feet since the last people were up there! 
The Jeep was a snow plow, and the only reason we did have snow rolling over the top of the 35" tall tires was due to the bumper pushing it to the side first. It was an awesome time! 
I need to fix / scrap my broken ass Jeep lol. Ripped a brake line off it accidently on our new years day run up the same mountain, not to mention all the other issues.

It's snowing here today which is odd and reminded me of this. I also love seeing people play in the snow in the city here since it doesn't happen often. People sledding in the streets, quads / side by sides ripping around with sleds behind, just people out enjoying it. That and a ton of cars in the ditches haha. 

Quality seems solid, crisp lines, smooth clear over the top. 

The wheels I've wanted for this are finally in stock so I snagged a set, right after saying I was done with excessive spending for the rest of the month...😒

Went out wheeling the other weekend because a friend was looking to test out his Jeep. 
It started with driving right into a river that was not shallow and driving down the bank a bit. We laugh after exiting and ask him what the heck that was about.
"It's usually just river rock along the bank, turns out it's water today!"



We then proceed to drive to a spot where we've gone winter wheeling up a mountain before, and it started snowing as we got closer. 
We didn't see much for tracks going up, and this is a popular spot. Turns out that it had snowed many feet since the last people were up there! 
The Jeep was a snow plow, and the only reason we did have snow rolling over the top of the 35" tall tires was due to the bumper pushing it to the side first. It was an awesome time! 
I need to fix / scrap my broken ass Jeep lol. Ripped a brake line off it accidently on our new years day run up the same mountain, not to mention all the other issues.

It's snowing here today which is odd and reminded me of this. I also love seeing people play in the snow in the city here since it doesn't happen often. People sledding in the streets, quads / side by sides ripping around with sleds behind, just people out enjoying it. That and a ton of cars in the ditches haha. 

Yeah I was eyeing up the golf boi... the current shifter is meh

Yeah it is a Renown unit, figured I'd give it a shot. Everything feels nice and sturdy, price is appealing, shall see how it holds up! 
The tri-color stitching wasn't my first choice, but after ordering the black stitching they said they were out and it would be some time before getting any more. I think the tri-color is acceptable given the powerplant! 

Throttle body updates? Nah
I determined I want to do some data collection before that regarding intake vacuum pre/post TB

What I did do was replace the boat 3 spoke steering wheel with a smaller unit. Please ignore the lack of kick panel near the pedals, and the speaker grille. Gotta love early models for not having actual kick panels there. 


 

Throttle body updates? Nah
I determined I want to do some data collection before that regarding intake vacuum pre/post TB

What I did do was replace the boat 3 spoke steering wheel with a smaller unit. Please ignore the lack of kick panel near the pedals, and the speaker grille. Gotta love early models for not having actual kick panels there. 


 

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