BMW E30 M3

[e21Mark]

I can imagine!

[RoninDZ]

It's been a long time since I posted in any fórum, and it's been quite as long since I've been lurking PH and not replying. But I've got to admit that your thread and Buggle's build thread draw me towards registerings just to say: wow.

I've read through all the pages and I just can't believe how much I love your car. It's a thing of beauty

Cheers!

[e21Mark]

Thanks. It's a labour of love and eats up just about every penny I earn, but I know I'm extremely lucky to have it. I know there are much faster cars available for the same money but I've always had a thing for E30 M3.

I'm in Spain on holiday right now and looking forward to getting back and fitting the light pod that arrived from Germany just as I was leaving. It's fitted with 4 PIAA 8" HiD spot lights which should mean I can see where I'm going in the lanes. The new 60 litre fuel cell is almost ready and I just need a swirl pot. I'm just unsure what size to opt for?

I had been looking forward to Deutschfest at Brands Hatch next month, as it was supposed to be an open pit lane track day on the Saturday. Unfortunately this has been changed to a few 15 minute "novice taster sessions" that commence with 2 laps of "ducks and drakes" so that's even less uninhabited track time. I seem to recall they don't like you going too quickly either. Anyway, I'll probably go on the Saturday and head up to Shelsey Walsh on the Sunday, for the Retro Rides Gathering.

[scottos]

Cars looking great Mark, glad to see the updates on here, thought the thread on the 02 forum had gone a little quiet!

If you're needing the itb's rebuilding at some point its worth speaking to JC Racing up in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. They rebuild them and actually had a couple of sets mid build when i popped in a few weeks ago.

[e21Mark]

Thanks for that. I'll give them a call once home next weekend. (I'm lucky enough to be on holiday in Spain right now)

I see my car made Petrolicious this month too.

https://petrolicious.com/articles/track-modified-a...

[s m]

e21Mark said:

Thanks for that. I'll give them a call once home next weekend. (I'm lucky enough to be on holiday in Spain right now)

I see my car made Petrolicious this month too.

https://petrolicious.com/articles/track-modified-a...

I'll save that for late night telly tonight!

[scottos]

e21Mark said:

Thanks for that. I'll give them a call once home next weekend. (I'm lucky enough to be on holiday in Spain right now)

I see my car made Petrolicious this month too.

https://petrolicious.com/articles/track-modified-a...

Good read Mark, im going for a similar goal with my '02 and in a similar situation where it's all saving/ hard work whilst trying to do things properly! Hadnt realised you had been in a bad smash, glad you came back well enough from that.

[e21Mark]

It's been a long road but the M3 was a welcome distraction and gave me something other than physio to concentrate on.

[e21Mark]

Looking forward to finally taking the M3 to Brands Hatch at the weekend and it's there that I first saw an E30 M3 being driven in anger. Vic Lee Motorsport were testing and doing press photos in the pit lane, so it wasn't hard to get close to the cars. Whilst mine is a world away from those cars, I am still pretty excited at the prospect of getting it on track.

I'm going to do a thorough spanner check this week and hopefully spot anything that might spoil the fun. I had hoped to have the corner weights done this week but have just been too busy. I intend doing it next month though and it'll be intriguing to see how heavy my car is now? That said, I don't intend on doing anything to make it lighter as I was never aiming to make it a full on race car or else I wouldn't have refitted a carpet. A kind of club sport spec' is just a bit more civilised on the road.

http://www.deutschefest.co.uk/

After Brands on Saturday I'm heading up to Shelsey Walsh for the Retro Rides Gathering. It's just about my favourite event of the year and the diversity of cars is awesome. It's also great fun getting a few runs up the hill. Hopefully, I will get some video this time.

http://forum.retro-rides.org/

My light pod and HiD spot lights are still to be fitted. I'm painting the pod itself in body colour (brilliant red) but I still need to get some protective covers for the lights themselves. I also need a pair of support struts but I think Hella make them, so should be easy enough to source.

[DanielSan]

I'm going to Retro Rides this Sunday, looking forward to seeing it go up the hill, I'll try and bag many pics of it while I'm there aswell.

[Stuart Thompson]

She looks good Mark

[Butter Face]

I saw you yesterday along Teagle Mark, looked ace, I was chatting away on test drive and had to cut off mid flow to watch you go past

[e30m3Mark]

Well everything was going swimmingly. Was.

After the 4th track session I decided to head off, get some fuel, some coffee and head back to the hotel. I was within a couple of miles when I turned left but the right front wheel didn't. Instead it left the car and hit some poor chaps car, taking out his rad and front bumper! Bugger.

Cue traffic chaos, angry unsympathetic car drivers and some random chap who was convinced my car was a replica anyway, so it didn't matter. Eventually 3 really helpful chaps stopped and helped me get the wheel back on. This meant I could creep the final mile or so to my hotel and book RAC recovery for the morning. It was a stty end to an otherwise excellent day.

Damage is minimal but annoying all the same. I'll post details tomorrow or when I'm finally back home in Cornwall.

[Butter Face]

Ahhhh FFS man that sucks!!

[stevesingo]

So your front wheel fell off?

No warning from the steering feel?

No noise?

I'm guessing you weren't torquing the wheels regularly throughout the day.

[e21Mark]

stevesingo said:

So your front wheel fell off?

No warning from the steering feel?

No noise?

I'm guessing you weren't torquing the wheels regularly throughout the day.

Absolutely no warning whatsoever, or else I'd have pulled over. Always check torque which, in part, is why I'm so baffled. Obviously once car is back in workshop I'll inspect more thoroughly.

[helix402]

Annoying wheel stuff! Love the car. Do you have wheel bolts or a stud conversion? What are you torquing them up to?

[e21Mark]

Stuart Thompson said:

She looks good Mark

Thank you! Driving Brands in my own M3 is something I've looked forward to for nigh on 30 years!

helix402 said:

Annoying wheel stuff! Love the car. Do you have wheel bolts or a stud conversion? What are you torquing them up to?

85 ft/lb's usually.

I'm just home although the car is following down overnight on a low loader. Getting it picked up didn't instil confidence as I wasn't allowed to drive onto the truck due to 'health & safety' and or insurance. The driver was then baffled by a seat that's bolted in, a reverse gear that's locked out and a 'dogleg' first. Every time I tried to offer some help he barked back how he had driven more cars than I'd ever know and how he just needed a minute to work things out.

A minute passed.....

A 2nd minute passed.....

Eventually he admitted defeat, said it was 'different to the others he'd driven' and promptly stalled the engine.

Anyway, I was left with a shed of a courtesy car and made my way home. The lady in the hotel (after I explained what had happened) was convinced that someone would have tampered with the nuts while it was parked in Swanley's infamous ''Asda Land''. I have my doubts but she said that anything shiney and remotely desirable would be targeted by the locals, who are of the ''don't stay where they are'' variety.

Tomorrow we will take a proper look and assess what needs to be done.

[helix402]

Try 120Nm for the wheels bolts. For years BMWs were 100Nm then BMW decided to increase it to 120Nm.
We were told in the dealership at the time that a car/cars on an autobahn had bolts come loose. Not teaching you to suck eggs but make sure bolts/hub holes have no grease on and no grease on mounting face-only on pictured bit.

[JakeT]

What utter bks. I was fully expecting you to be there heading up the hill and be about for a chat about the old thing.

Not to mention the RS200 that was a surprise guest deafened me when he did a burnout with daft me stood 4 feet behind it.