My E30 M3, the story so far......
Discussion
Apologies for the lack of updates! Its been a hectic few months running BMR but progress has been made.
The metal brake and fuel pipes that were fitted to BMW's of this period were an olive green and when you buy new replacements from BMW they are now black.... which wont do.
Using a pipe that hadn't rusted badly, i got a tin of paint colour matched to the original to give the new pipes a coat. Fitted up with new metal clips gave a result im happy with,
The original 55ltr fuel tank despite being solid and not leaking was not in great shape so a new one was bought and painted in the correct satin black finish, New hoses and fittings were added before mounting with freshly plated bolts.
The original fuel filler neck was blasted and painted in the correct satin black and fitted up with new connecting hoses and clips plus the grommet connecting it to the additional 15ltr tank in the luggage compartment.
The trailing arms rear beam blasted and painted in satin black before.....
being fitted up with all new bushes, bearings and the rebuilt LSD.
Some of the nuts, bolts etc electro plated in the original finish used to refit the rear axle and other parts.
Brake pad sensor wiring for the nearside front and offside rear tends to perish and break up. On some of the Japanese import E30's ive seen this rubber outer insulation has completely broken up and fallen off.
Luckily this section of wiring loom is available new from BMW so both ends replaced.
The metal brake and fuel pipes that were fitted to BMW's of this period were an olive green and when you buy new replacements from BMW they are now black.... which wont do.
Using a pipe that hadn't rusted badly, i got a tin of paint colour matched to the original to give the new pipes a coat. Fitted up with new metal clips gave a result im happy with,
The original 55ltr fuel tank despite being solid and not leaking was not in great shape so a new one was bought and painted in the correct satin black finish, New hoses and fittings were added before mounting with freshly plated bolts.
The original fuel filler neck was blasted and painted in the correct satin black and fitted up with new connecting hoses and clips plus the grommet connecting it to the additional 15ltr tank in the luggage compartment.
The trailing arms rear beam blasted and painted in satin black before.....
being fitted up with all new bushes, bearings and the rebuilt LSD.
Some of the nuts, bolts etc electro plated in the original finish used to refit the rear axle and other parts.
Brake pad sensor wiring for the nearside front and offside rear tends to perish and break up. On some of the Japanese import E30's ive seen this rubber outer insulation has completely broken up and fallen off.
Luckily this section of wiring loom is available new from BMW so both ends replaced.
helix402 said:
Yes the Bilstein B8's come with a larger washer but they are not necessary The bush, sleeve and shock body are the same as an OE damper so there is no issue using the original washer.
The B8's on my 325i Sport have been on there for 12 years and approx 40k miles with no issue.
I am actually in two minds as to weather or not to paint the shocks beige as per the originals.
helix402 said:
I like the B8s yellow, it’s a sort of in-period modification.
Indeed. This car actually had BMW motorsport group N suspension fitted to it when it was fairly new which were very hard Bilstein B8's and when i bought the car 4 years ago it still had those shocks.They were too stiff for the road.
All four brake callipers were sent to www.biggred.co.uk for complete refurbishment in the original finish.
Rears fitted up with new genuine discs and brembo pads and complete parking brake shoes , springs and cables.
A new brake fluid reservoir tops off the 25mm 750i brake master cylinder and repainted brake servo. Also note the various reproduction labels by www.pukardesigns.com
Its been a while since ive updated this as ive had a bit of a break from it to spend some time with my family and as ive bought the Alpina B3 that ive been spending some money on.
[
A lucky find was a new old sock Michelin MXX tyre in 225/45/16 to fit for the spare obviously not to be used!
Through some wheeling and dealing i managed to obtain a missing piece boot carpet which is often missing as was the case of my car.
The pic above is the culmination of rebuilding the steering rack with new seals, bushes etc and building up the front subframe with the eibach adjustable roll bar and power flex black series bushes with all hardware electro plated as per OEM. New engine mounts also fitted in preparation for when the engine is mated to the subframe and the complete assembly is installed from underneath.
There will be a few more updates on the cars progress before it goes into storage as i need the space at work and i will be concentrating on the engine build for the time being.
[A lucky find was a new old sock Michelin MXX tyre in 225/45/16 to fit for the spare obviously not to be used!
Through some wheeling and dealing i managed to obtain a missing piece boot carpet which is often missing as was the case of my car.
The pic above is the culmination of rebuilding the steering rack with new seals, bushes etc and building up the front subframe with the eibach adjustable roll bar and power flex black series bushes with all hardware electro plated as per OEM. New engine mounts also fitted in preparation for when the engine is mated to the subframe and the complete assembly is installed from underneath.
There will be a few more updates on the cars progress before it goes into storage as i need the space at work and i will be concentrating on the engine build for the time being.
At the tail end of July the M3 got put into storage as we needed the workshop space plus its near enough complete minus the engine.
Further back in the thread i posted that the engine was striped to a bare block and head. It sat on a stand for some time before the head was stripped and removed. Some pics of the cams coming out using an old BMW dealer tool for M88 and S14 engines.
Cylinder head and cam bearing housing vapour blasted.
Sump sections and timing cover vapour blasted.
Crankshaft, con rods and pistons removed from the block.
Crank main bearings looked ok.
Con rod bearings not so good.
All main engine parts will be going off to the machine shop to do their thing so any thoughts of a freshen up have turned into a complete rebuild.
Three years have passed without a real update to this. The rolling shell was put into storage to free up some space at work then life, Covid, other projects have all taken up my time and money until now.
Back in January I started on the engine build.
Near on 8 months have passed and I really should have been updating this but better late than never so here goes!
The block along with the bottom end rotating assembly was sent off to the machine shop to be inspected and measured. The cylinders only needed a hone, the block re faced, chemically cleaned, all core and oil plugs replaced with new. The rotating assembly again was measured and all within spec so that was all cleaned, crank journals polished and the whole lot balanced.
That lot was all wrapped up and sat on a shelf for two years until January.
Initial checking of running clearance begun today so a complete set of the correct bearing could be ordered. The running clearance for the main bearings are 0.03mm to 0.07mm and measured with standard size 55.00mm "blue" mains bearing we have a running clearance of 0.05mm so well within spec.
Crankshaft end float checked an in spec.
Pistons and rods all measured and in spec, assembled with new wrist pin clips.
New piston ring sets, new OEM rod bearings an ARP rod bolt set ready to go.
Piston ring gaps checked.
ARP rod bolts torqued to spec measuring stretch.
Bottom end rotating assembly complete.
Crankshaft rear main seal assembly laid out.
Various fittings electro plated.
The timing chain assembly for the S14 engine laid out and fitted up. Amazingly that little lot cost over £1100! The ///M tax is real with S14's!
Front timing cover and cylinder head bolted down.
Cam bearing housing bolted down and sealed using the correct Würth flange sealant. Buckets and shims fitted and all bearing surfaces coated with engine assembly lube as er the bottom end.
The Shrick cams that were installed over 30 years ago when the engine was rebuilt by Brodie Britain Racing were reused and installed using a 35 year old BMW main dealer special tool for use with M88 and S14 engines that I bought some years ago with a job lot of old dealer tools. All valve clearances set to spec using genuine BMW shims.
Upper sump section and oil pump fitted after having new a new rotor set installed.
Sprockets and upper guide rail fitted up.
Water pump, coolant rail, various brackets bolted up and cam cover placed on top rounded up the main part of the engine build which took me up to February during my spare time.
Life, a Ring trip and prep for that plus various jobs on my recently sold E46 M3 kept me away from this till June........
Installation time in June saw the engine mated to the already rebuilt Getrag 265/5 dog leg gearbox, vapour blasted bell housing and the billet flywheel and virtually new clutch were reused. Exhaust manifold blasted and painted in high temp paint then bolted up, the engine and box bolted on to the restored front crossmember and rack along with new engine mounts.
Lined up for installation.
The "marriage" is complete. First time the engine and box have been united with the car in nearly four years.
Back in January I started on the engine build.
Near on 8 months have passed and I really should have been updating this but better late than never so here goes!
The block along with the bottom end rotating assembly was sent off to the machine shop to be inspected and measured. The cylinders only needed a hone, the block re faced, chemically cleaned, all core and oil plugs replaced with new. The rotating assembly again was measured and all within spec so that was all cleaned, crank journals polished and the whole lot balanced.
That lot was all wrapped up and sat on a shelf for two years until January.
Initial checking of running clearance begun today so a complete set of the correct bearing could be ordered. The running clearance for the main bearings are 0.03mm to 0.07mm and measured with standard size 55.00mm "blue" mains bearing we have a running clearance of 0.05mm so well within spec.
Crankshaft end float checked an in spec.
Pistons and rods all measured and in spec, assembled with new wrist pin clips.
New piston ring sets, new OEM rod bearings an ARP rod bolt set ready to go.
Piston ring gaps checked.
ARP rod bolts torqued to spec measuring stretch.
Bottom end rotating assembly complete.
Crankshaft rear main seal assembly laid out.
Various fittings electro plated.
The timing chain assembly for the S14 engine laid out and fitted up. Amazingly that little lot cost over £1100! The ///M tax is real with S14's!
Front timing cover and cylinder head bolted down.
Cam bearing housing bolted down and sealed using the correct Würth flange sealant. Buckets and shims fitted and all bearing surfaces coated with engine assembly lube as er the bottom end.
The Shrick cams that were installed over 30 years ago when the engine was rebuilt by Brodie Britain Racing were reused and installed using a 35 year old BMW main dealer special tool for use with M88 and S14 engines that I bought some years ago with a job lot of old dealer tools. All valve clearances set to spec using genuine BMW shims.
Upper sump section and oil pump fitted after having new a new rotor set installed.
Sprockets and upper guide rail fitted up.
Water pump, coolant rail, various brackets bolted up and cam cover placed on top rounded up the main part of the engine build which took me up to February during my spare time.
Life, a Ring trip and prep for that plus various jobs on my recently sold E46 M3 kept me away from this till June........
Installation time in June saw the engine mated to the already rebuilt Getrag 265/5 dog leg gearbox, vapour blasted bell housing and the billet flywheel and virtually new clutch were reused. Exhaust manifold blasted and painted in high temp paint then bolted up, the engine and box bolted on to the restored front crossmember and rack along with new engine mounts.
Lined up for installation.
The "marriage" is complete. First time the engine and box have been united with the car in nearly four years.
The summer months have seen steady progress with the M3 in, usually on a Sunday afternoon in the peace and quiet of out storage unit between work, family life, and a trip across the pond to the big apple and to visit family in Ontario.
Throttle bodies assembled, adjusted and refitted back onto the engine. All new power steering hoses, engine oil cooler hoses and engine loom routed. This allowed the engine to be cranked over with the spark plug out to build up oil pressure in the engine before first start.
Intake plenum fitted and the start of the cooling system.
Engine bay complete with all remaining components fitted. The throttle body tamper proof caps left off to allow for any adjustments required during the initial running in period.
A new chrome tipped rear silencer as used on the Cecotto and Ravaglia models.
The end result of the underside.
Throttle bodies assembled, adjusted and refitted back onto the engine. All new power steering hoses, engine oil cooler hoses and engine loom routed. This allowed the engine to be cranked over with the spark plug out to build up oil pressure in the engine before first start.
Intake plenum fitted and the start of the cooling system.
Engine bay complete with all remaining components fitted. The throttle body tamper proof caps left off to allow for any adjustments required during the initial running in period.
A new chrome tipped rear silencer as used on the Cecotto and Ravaglia models.
The end result of the underside.
jamesson said:
You sold it?! 
A difficult decision!A house move in early 2020 to one needing a lot of renovation work plus the change of dynamic of the car once restored meant it was time to move it on.
I simply would not use the car as I used to once it had been restored.
The consolation prize was the purchase of the first brand new car I ever bought which was my F82 M4.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Despite moving on what some consider to be one of the greatest M cars of all time in favour of a modern turbo M, I still have a couple of non M E30's including the one car i'll never sell.
I suppose I should start a thread about it on here considering I've owned it 16 years so far........
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