My E30 M3, the story so far......
Discussion
I thought i share the tale of my M3 on here as some of you guys might find interesting from the feedback ive had on other forums. Its been copied from other forums posts hence why it reads the way it does in places but i hope that wont detract from it too much.
JANUARY 2016
So after the sale of my old white E30 M3,
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name=Forums&...
Another E30 M3 needing some love came along.... so i bought it!
Unfortunately i don't have many pictures of it when first bought but here is one not long after bought and mid way through some work.
A bit more about this particular M3. Like the white one, this is also one of the first 5000 built to homologate the M3 for group A motorsport with this one being an even earlier built car.
Another AK01 (non cat 200bhp car) Built on 14/11/86 in Lachs silver 203 with anthracite "houndstooth" cloth 0211 with the following options.
300 Central locking electric
400 Sliding Sunroof Manual
410 Window Lifts, Electric At Front
428 Warning Triangle Warndreieck
551 On-board Computer 2 With Remote Control
663 Bmw Bavaria C Electronic
681 Roof antenna
800 Air conditioning
979 Velour floot mats
So a bit more optioned up than the white car!
This car however was not an original UK supplied car but more on that later!
The car came into work with a view to being sold by the usual sale or return arrangement at Munich Legends but after being inspected it would have needed at lot of work to get it up to our high standards some of which would have required a high initial investment before it could even be advertised and as the owner wanted a quick sale i made an offer and it got accepted.
WOW! I'm sure some of you thought that after looking at the last couple of pics and this was one of the more expensive things that would have had to have been sorted before the car was even advertised.
Someone (more on that later!) went to a lot of time money and effort to create this two tone effort and that had to go!
As you can see from the first pic, the car was rolling on a set of racing dynamics - in 15" - which seriously dated the car but in a bad way, another thing which would have needed to have been changed prior to advertising and also not cheap to sort out.
These two things combined with the window tints made up to create a very late 80's/early 90's look now considered distasteful so this had to be sorted ASAP!
Other than the style efforts, the car was very low and stiff which turned out to have BMW motorsport group N bilsteins and unknown progressive rate springs which i estimated to be approx 50-60mm lowered.
Body condition is very good with virtually no rust, the only bits found are some very early stages of where the wheel arch meets the sill and the square factory lifting pads being a bit frilly.
The car has only covered 77k miles from new and a big part in why the mileage is pretty low is due to the fact that it has been dry stored and not been taxed since 1994!!! Unbelievable!
The story behind the car is that it was taken in payment for a building job and for some reason kept unsold, possibly because no one wanted to buy it looking the way it did?!
So work commenced pretty much straight away and first thing to be tackled was the suspension because it was so stiff and uncomfortable to drive on the road.
New front brake back plates were bought and those along with the front struts were blasted and power coated satin black.
Four new Bilstein B8 shocks and eibach pro kit springs (same as what was on the white M3 and my 325i Sport) were ordered up as well as a pair of new wishbones, eccentric wishbone bushes, camber correction top mounts, E46 convertible rear top mounts, Z3 reinforcement plates, front drop links, and a set of new unused eibach adjustable roll bars sourced from Kos were fitted which has transformed the way the car rides and handles compared to what was on before.
The red dashboard removed and the bulkhead inspected as much as could be with with no signs of rot or dampness. Some rectification work was required to the alarm wiring and a minty mint black dash from Paul Z3I was fitted.
A set of very nice original heated black leather seats were bought from Paul bmwe30metch and various other interior parts such as door cards, Hifi pack rear blind shelf and consoles from pacerpete plus some new seat belt stalks all made up to create a nice place to be.
Last of all, the 15" racing dynamics needed to go and a few sets of wheels were considered but one set i did want were a set of M3 16" BBS and as luck would have it a fairly tidy set with tyres popped up on the E30zone FB page being sold by Joel so these were snapped up a completed to "back to OEM" look.
As you can see, it has an Evo 2 front spoiler which it came with and the window tints have since been removed.
So thats where we are at but some digging of the cars history has revealed an interesting past.......
SO, being the inquisitive type i was looking though the history and found an old log book from 1991 with the first and second owners details. The 3 owner from who i got the car from for some reason never registered it in his name when he got it in approx 1995 and the story goes is that he took it in payment for a building job.
I googled the two owners on the log book and the second owner came up as a company director for a couple of companies but nothing significant but when i searched the first owners name, it also came up as a company director and i instantly recognised the the company name... Zeemax.
http://www.zeemax.com/general%20information.htm
The guy who bought the car new was Barry Perman aka mr Zeemax and some of you older guys who were into modding in the 90's may remember Zeemax and after an exchange of emails via the website i got the story on the car up until he sold it in 1991.
He had the car imported by a company in Hayes, West London called Cars international who sourced the car from a German dealer called Kohl who are a multi franchise dealer and is also AC Schnitzer.
Kohl.de
The car was a couple of years old but unsold and unregistered when it was imported and as with the white M3, it was one of the first 5000 built to homologate the M3 for group A motorsport. One can only assume that BMW just built the first 5000 cars within the required 12 months without all of them being ordered and sold so this may go some way to explain why this car was kicking about for a couple of years (and the white one 11 months) before being sold.
I asked Barry Perman about the sale and he just said that it was cheaper and better specced than if he ordered new in the UK and it was then that the car received the reg IIB 95.
This Porsche was one of Zeemax's creations in the early 90's and note the reg of the car. What relevance the IIB plates has to Zeemax i do not know.
Not long after he bought the car he had the interior done in the burgundy and grey leather which fits if you look at some of Zeemax's work and by sheer coincidence he saw the interior for sale on ebay a few weeks back... what are the chances of that?!
As well as the interior he also fitted the 15" Racing Dynamics wheels and he also had an exhaust made by a "racing company in Milton Keynes. I informed him that it has since been replaced with a standard BMW system to which he replied "I'm not surprised as it was very loud and used to spit flames".
When i first drove this car i instantly thought "this is quick!" much quicker than any non Evo E30 M3 I've driven and I've driven many through the course of work. The other two people who drove the car at work were also in agreement without being prompted on how quick it was and that always had me intrigued.
When i ended up speaking to Barry and he said it came from AC schnitzer when new i began to put two and two together so i asked he if anything had been done to the engine as the car felt quicker than any non evo i had driven.
His reply was "it had a complete rebuild and was uprated with cams etc by BBR". When i asked why, he said he put it into second gear at 100mph!! 8O
http://www.bbrgti.com/about-bbr-gti/
BBR aka Brodie Brittain Racing were well known for the exploits in tuning Sierras Cosworths in the 80's and 90's and also went on to develop the Mazda MX5 turbos which were sold in kit form through Mazda dealers in the UK but they also had their hand in other sorts of performance cars back in the day.
I contacted them to see if they had any info on the car and sadly the founding partners sold the company in 1999 and the current owners do not have records going back as far as 1989-1991.
http://www.brittainconsulting.net/ken-brittain/
http://davidbrodie.co.uk
I have since contacted both Ken and David but have not heard back from either.
So where does that leave me. I know its not a 2.5 from a simple check but I need to find out whats going on inside the engine so when i get the chance i will be doing a compression test, cylinder leakage test and an oil pressure test to check the health of it. I will then be checking and adjusting the valve clearances so when doing this i will inspect the cams for any identification as to what they may be.
I will also check the part number of the head to see if its an evo or 215 head and i will inspect the top of the pistons with a bore scope to see if these are different from standard.
Before all that I'm going to check the part number of the DME and also pop it open to see if its been chipped. My 325i Sport has a copy of a BBR chip incidentally and i know who has the original.
JANUARY 2016
So after the sale of my old white E30 M3,
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name=Forums&...
Another E30 M3 needing some love came along.... so i bought it!
Unfortunately i don't have many pictures of it when first bought but here is one not long after bought and mid way through some work.
A bit more about this particular M3. Like the white one, this is also one of the first 5000 built to homologate the M3 for group A motorsport with this one being an even earlier built car.
Another AK01 (non cat 200bhp car) Built on 14/11/86 in Lachs silver 203 with anthracite "houndstooth" cloth 0211 with the following options.
300 Central locking electric
400 Sliding Sunroof Manual
410 Window Lifts, Electric At Front
428 Warning Triangle Warndreieck
551 On-board Computer 2 With Remote Control
663 Bmw Bavaria C Electronic
681 Roof antenna
800 Air conditioning
979 Velour floot mats
So a bit more optioned up than the white car!
This car however was not an original UK supplied car but more on that later!
The car came into work with a view to being sold by the usual sale or return arrangement at Munich Legends but after being inspected it would have needed at lot of work to get it up to our high standards some of which would have required a high initial investment before it could even be advertised and as the owner wanted a quick sale i made an offer and it got accepted.
WOW! I'm sure some of you thought that after looking at the last couple of pics and this was one of the more expensive things that would have had to have been sorted before the car was even advertised.
Someone (more on that later!) went to a lot of time money and effort to create this two tone effort and that had to go!
As you can see from the first pic, the car was rolling on a set of racing dynamics - in 15" - which seriously dated the car but in a bad way, another thing which would have needed to have been changed prior to advertising and also not cheap to sort out.
These two things combined with the window tints made up to create a very late 80's/early 90's look now considered distasteful so this had to be sorted ASAP!
Other than the style efforts, the car was very low and stiff which turned out to have BMW motorsport group N bilsteins and unknown progressive rate springs which i estimated to be approx 50-60mm lowered.
Body condition is very good with virtually no rust, the only bits found are some very early stages of where the wheel arch meets the sill and the square factory lifting pads being a bit frilly.
The car has only covered 77k miles from new and a big part in why the mileage is pretty low is due to the fact that it has been dry stored and not been taxed since 1994!!! Unbelievable!
The story behind the car is that it was taken in payment for a building job and for some reason kept unsold, possibly because no one wanted to buy it looking the way it did?!
So work commenced pretty much straight away and first thing to be tackled was the suspension because it was so stiff and uncomfortable to drive on the road.
New front brake back plates were bought and those along with the front struts were blasted and power coated satin black.
Four new Bilstein B8 shocks and eibach pro kit springs (same as what was on the white M3 and my 325i Sport) were ordered up as well as a pair of new wishbones, eccentric wishbone bushes, camber correction top mounts, E46 convertible rear top mounts, Z3 reinforcement plates, front drop links, and a set of new unused eibach adjustable roll bars sourced from Kos were fitted which has transformed the way the car rides and handles compared to what was on before.
The red dashboard removed and the bulkhead inspected as much as could be with with no signs of rot or dampness. Some rectification work was required to the alarm wiring and a minty mint black dash from Paul Z3I was fitted.
A set of very nice original heated black leather seats were bought from Paul bmwe30metch and various other interior parts such as door cards, Hifi pack rear blind shelf and consoles from pacerpete plus some new seat belt stalks all made up to create a nice place to be.
Last of all, the 15" racing dynamics needed to go and a few sets of wheels were considered but one set i did want were a set of M3 16" BBS and as luck would have it a fairly tidy set with tyres popped up on the E30zone FB page being sold by Joel so these were snapped up a completed to "back to OEM" look.
As you can see, it has an Evo 2 front spoiler which it came with and the window tints have since been removed.
So thats where we are at but some digging of the cars history has revealed an interesting past.......
SO, being the inquisitive type i was looking though the history and found an old log book from 1991 with the first and second owners details. The 3 owner from who i got the car from for some reason never registered it in his name when he got it in approx 1995 and the story goes is that he took it in payment for a building job.
I googled the two owners on the log book and the second owner came up as a company director for a couple of companies but nothing significant but when i searched the first owners name, it also came up as a company director and i instantly recognised the the company name... Zeemax.
http://www.zeemax.com/general%20information.htm
The guy who bought the car new was Barry Perman aka mr Zeemax and some of you older guys who were into modding in the 90's may remember Zeemax and after an exchange of emails via the website i got the story on the car up until he sold it in 1991.
He had the car imported by a company in Hayes, West London called Cars international who sourced the car from a German dealer called Kohl who are a multi franchise dealer and is also AC Schnitzer.
Kohl.de
The car was a couple of years old but unsold and unregistered when it was imported and as with the white M3, it was one of the first 5000 built to homologate the M3 for group A motorsport. One can only assume that BMW just built the first 5000 cars within the required 12 months without all of them being ordered and sold so this may go some way to explain why this car was kicking about for a couple of years (and the white one 11 months) before being sold.
I asked Barry Perman about the sale and he just said that it was cheaper and better specced than if he ordered new in the UK and it was then that the car received the reg IIB 95.
This Porsche was one of Zeemax's creations in the early 90's and note the reg of the car. What relevance the IIB plates has to Zeemax i do not know.
Not long after he bought the car he had the interior done in the burgundy and grey leather which fits if you look at some of Zeemax's work and by sheer coincidence he saw the interior for sale on ebay a few weeks back... what are the chances of that?!
As well as the interior he also fitted the 15" Racing Dynamics wheels and he also had an exhaust made by a "racing company in Milton Keynes. I informed him that it has since been replaced with a standard BMW system to which he replied "I'm not surprised as it was very loud and used to spit flames".
When i first drove this car i instantly thought "this is quick!" much quicker than any non Evo E30 M3 I've driven and I've driven many through the course of work. The other two people who drove the car at work were also in agreement without being prompted on how quick it was and that always had me intrigued.
When i ended up speaking to Barry and he said it came from AC schnitzer when new i began to put two and two together so i asked he if anything had been done to the engine as the car felt quicker than any non evo i had driven.
His reply was "it had a complete rebuild and was uprated with cams etc by BBR". When i asked why, he said he put it into second gear at 100mph!! 8O
http://www.bbrgti.com/about-bbr-gti/
BBR aka Brodie Brittain Racing were well known for the exploits in tuning Sierras Cosworths in the 80's and 90's and also went on to develop the Mazda MX5 turbos which were sold in kit form through Mazda dealers in the UK but they also had their hand in other sorts of performance cars back in the day.
I contacted them to see if they had any info on the car and sadly the founding partners sold the company in 1999 and the current owners do not have records going back as far as 1989-1991.
http://www.brittainconsulting.net/ken-brittain/
http://davidbrodie.co.uk
I have since contacted both Ken and David but have not heard back from either.
So where does that leave me. I know its not a 2.5 from a simple check but I need to find out whats going on inside the engine so when i get the chance i will be doing a compression test, cylinder leakage test and an oil pressure test to check the health of it. I will then be checking and adjusting the valve clearances so when doing this i will inspect the cams for any identification as to what they may be.
I will also check the part number of the head to see if its an evo or 215 head and i will inspect the top of the pistons with a bore scope to see if these are different from standard.
Before all that I'm going to check the part number of the DME and also pop it open to see if its been chipped. My 325i Sport has a copy of a BBR chip incidentally and i know who has the original.
A recent pic of it parked up at work.
With the knowledge that the engine had been rebuilt and upgraded by BBR it was time to do some investigation as to what had exactly been done.
Firstly i removed the DME to find the correct bosch number but in black not the usual green or red and no VIN number label. Possibly a replacement?
Opening the DME up revealed that the eprom chip has been changed but I'm unable to identify it. I suspect its one of BBR's own chips as they built the engine and i know they offered chips for various cars.
Next up a compression test resulted in a healthy 210 PSI across all four cylinders.
Popping the cam cover off revealed a very clean cam box area of the engine which is always a good sign. I also checked the cam box and cylinder head parts numbers and the are just standard early 200bhp spec parts.
And the money shot!
A pair of early schrick cams which tallys up with what the original owner said about the engine built "with cams etc" by BBR!
I'm not sure what spec they are yet as the markings do not relate to anything I've seen in the schrick catalogue and i did not have the correct tool with me at the time to measure lift but i hope to get this done before the end of the week.
Valve clearances were checked and all were within spec implying a well maintained engine.
I have a run on the dyno at Surrey rolling road booked for saturday morning so we shall see what we have!
Any bets/guesses?
So yesterdays trip down to SRR resulted in a not to shabby 203 bhp, 170 odd lbft and most importantly ok AFR's. I was happy with anything over 200bhp and as i have a track day and ring trip looming i wanted to know the AFR's were good.
Ive noticed the oil level has been dropping and engine oil was spotting on the ground plus the coolant level has dropped a touch since I've been using it everyday for the last few weeks so today was time to start to tackle these issues.
Upper and lower sump gaskets clearly leaking and also the water pump shaft seal leaking.
The oily mess removed to be cleaned up.
Unfortunately i did not have time to order a baffle this time round but i will be sure to have one fitted before the next track time.
Sump parts cleaned up before being fitted.
New vs old water pump.
Some brake upgrades were needed as well so some Pagid RS29's, new front discs, goodridge braided hoses and bled through with ATE type 200 fluid saw to that.
As you can see the rear axle beam bushes were totally shot and upon removal the date stamp was 6 so one can assume they were the original 1986 ones!
Out with the old and in with some new Lemforder ones.
The diff oil was in a sorry state!
No untoward noises though and seems to lock up ok. Some fresh castor SAF-XJ went in.
Four wheel alignment done at a mates garage after......
... four new Yokohama Neova AD08R tyres
https://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/detail/advan_ne...
A lucky find on a 5 series forum were these Recaro SRD's for a bargain price. I wanted some more supportive seats as the standard ones are useless on track and even hard road use to be honest and it also means i can keep the original ones nice with minimal use.
I will get these trimmed in black leather to match at some point.
A couple of pairs of theses were ordered from Germany, correct Recaro E30 brackets to mount the SRD's.
Just enough time the night before the track day to get the drivers one bolted in with a 4 point harness i had.
With the knowledge that the engine had been rebuilt and upgraded by BBR it was time to do some investigation as to what had exactly been done.
Firstly i removed the DME to find the correct bosch number but in black not the usual green or red and no VIN number label. Possibly a replacement?
Opening the DME up revealed that the eprom chip has been changed but I'm unable to identify it. I suspect its one of BBR's own chips as they built the engine and i know they offered chips for various cars.
Next up a compression test resulted in a healthy 210 PSI across all four cylinders.
Popping the cam cover off revealed a very clean cam box area of the engine which is always a good sign. I also checked the cam box and cylinder head parts numbers and the are just standard early 200bhp spec parts.
And the money shot!
A pair of early schrick cams which tallys up with what the original owner said about the engine built "with cams etc" by BBR!
I'm not sure what spec they are yet as the markings do not relate to anything I've seen in the schrick catalogue and i did not have the correct tool with me at the time to measure lift but i hope to get this done before the end of the week.
Valve clearances were checked and all were within spec implying a well maintained engine.
I have a run on the dyno at Surrey rolling road booked for saturday morning so we shall see what we have!
Any bets/guesses?
So yesterdays trip down to SRR resulted in a not to shabby 203 bhp, 170 odd lbft and most importantly ok AFR's. I was happy with anything over 200bhp and as i have a track day and ring trip looming i wanted to know the AFR's were good.
Ive noticed the oil level has been dropping and engine oil was spotting on the ground plus the coolant level has dropped a touch since I've been using it everyday for the last few weeks so today was time to start to tackle these issues.
Upper and lower sump gaskets clearly leaking and also the water pump shaft seal leaking.
The oily mess removed to be cleaned up.
Unfortunately i did not have time to order a baffle this time round but i will be sure to have one fitted before the next track time.
Sump parts cleaned up before being fitted.
New vs old water pump.
Some brake upgrades were needed as well so some Pagid RS29's, new front discs, goodridge braided hoses and bled through with ATE type 200 fluid saw to that.
As you can see the rear axle beam bushes were totally shot and upon removal the date stamp was 6 so one can assume they were the original 1986 ones!
Out with the old and in with some new Lemforder ones.
The diff oil was in a sorry state!
No untoward noises though and seems to lock up ok. Some fresh castor SAF-XJ went in.Four wheel alignment done at a mates garage after......
... four new Yokohama Neova AD08R tyres
https://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/detail/advan_ne...
A lucky find on a 5 series forum were these Recaro SRD's for a bargain price. I wanted some more supportive seats as the standard ones are useless on track and even hard road use to be honest and it also means i can keep the original ones nice with minimal use.
I will get these trimmed in black leather to match at some point.
A couple of pairs of theses were ordered from Germany, correct Recaro E30 brackets to mount the SRD's.
Just enough time the night before the track day to get the drivers one bolted in with a 4 point harness i had.
A couple of pics from the track day last Friday at Abingdon.
http://www.motorsport-events.co.uk/abingdon.php
The car behaved very well and was a joy to punt along, most notable were how good the tyres were!
It has highlighted a couple of areas that need addressing one of which is the wear in the gear linkage giving a less than positive gear change and despite overfilling with oil to the first kink, the constant fear of oil starvation means a decent baffle is going in!
http://www.motorsport-events.co.uk/abingdon.php
The car behaved very well and was a joy to punt along, most notable were how good the tyres were!
It has highlighted a couple of areas that need addressing one of which is the wear in the gear linkage giving a less than positive gear change and despite overfilling with oil to the first kink, the constant fear of oil starvation means a decent baffle is going in!
MAY 2016
Thanks for the comments guys! I thought i had replied to this.
As Dan said, its a tool thats made by AST and does several cars, E23, E24, E28, E30, E32, E34 and E36 compact. I bought it nearly 10 years ago and it has done countless cars so was well worth the high purchase price which was about £300+vat i think.
A cheaper version like what Dan posted would be fine for occasion DIY use.
Yes the tyres are pretty epic have found and fine for normal use in the wet i have found.
Jon, right handers and heavy braking are the problem areas for S14's so......
A horizontal baffle plate was ordered from Frank at rsgarage.com.pt and fitted along with a fresh fill of castrol 10w60. The picture is not my actual sump as i forgot to take one but its exactly the same.
This sloppy mess was replaced with all new bits from BMW including a Z3 1.9 shifter which has tightened things up.
The well proven upgrade of 25mm master cylinder from an E32 750i was also fitted which has improved pedal feel.
A sparco/Hartge style alloy strut brace has also been fitted as it will clear a DTM style carbon intake.
The A/C system was not blowing cold, had not been converted to R134a and had no gas in the system. The condenser was looking worse for wear so a new one plus new receiver/drier, new dual pressure switch, R134a port adaptors and some new seals along with a shot of gas had the system blowing cold just in time for...........
....an epic weekend at the Ring!
I have driven 3 different E30's there now, an S50B30 touring, my 325i sport and this which is by far the most enjoyable!
The trip was not without its hiccups though, the A/C compressor decided to seize on the way there and cooked itself nicely and at some point on track the compressor bracket broke which is a common problem.
The slightly worn alternator bushes saw a belt make a bid for freedom on track as well but a spare belt was fitted to keep going and i have new bushes ready to fit.
I also got brake judder from the OSF so I'm pretty sure i warped that disc. I'm mulling over some brake options at the moment and some Evo cooling ducts will be going on.
Despite replacing the gear shift parts with new and a Z3 1.9 shifter I'm still not happy with it so i may go down the DTM shifter route but that would also mean group N engine and gearbox mounts from either BMW or AKG. If anyone in the UK has this set up i would love to see how much extra noise and vibration this gives.
Thanks for the comments guys! I thought i had replied to this.
As Dan said, its a tool thats made by AST and does several cars, E23, E24, E28, E30, E32, E34 and E36 compact. I bought it nearly 10 years ago and it has done countless cars so was well worth the high purchase price which was about £300+vat i think.
A cheaper version like what Dan posted would be fine for occasion DIY use.
Yes the tyres are pretty epic have found and fine for normal use in the wet i have found.
Jon, right handers and heavy braking are the problem areas for S14's so......
A horizontal baffle plate was ordered from Frank at rsgarage.com.pt and fitted along with a fresh fill of castrol 10w60. The picture is not my actual sump as i forgot to take one but its exactly the same.
This sloppy mess was replaced with all new bits from BMW including a Z3 1.9 shifter which has tightened things up.
The well proven upgrade of 25mm master cylinder from an E32 750i was also fitted which has improved pedal feel.
A sparco/Hartge style alloy strut brace has also been fitted as it will clear a DTM style carbon intake.
The A/C system was not blowing cold, had not been converted to R134a and had no gas in the system. The condenser was looking worse for wear so a new one plus new receiver/drier, new dual pressure switch, R134a port adaptors and some new seals along with a shot of gas had the system blowing cold just in time for...........
....an epic weekend at the Ring!
I have driven 3 different E30's there now, an S50B30 touring, my 325i sport and this which is by far the most enjoyable!
The trip was not without its hiccups though, the A/C compressor decided to seize on the way there and cooked itself nicely and at some point on track the compressor bracket broke which is a common problem.
The slightly worn alternator bushes saw a belt make a bid for freedom on track as well but a spare belt was fitted to keep going and i have new bushes ready to fit.
I also got brake judder from the OSF so I'm pretty sure i warped that disc. I'm mulling over some brake options at the moment and some Evo cooling ducts will be going on.
Despite replacing the gear shift parts with new and a Z3 1.9 shifter I'm still not happy with it so i may go down the DTM shifter route but that would also mean group N engine and gearbox mounts from either BMW or AKG. If anyone in the UK has this set up i would love to see how much extra noise and vibration this gives.
SEPTEMBER 2016
Time for a another update of the last few months activity in some sort of order.
This was fitted before some time back but forgot to post about it. Its basically a Becker traffic pro but a BMW branded retrofit item for later models which has an AUX in, matches the dash illumination perfectly and doesn't look as offensive as the early 00's Pioneer that was in there when i bought the car.
A lucky find on eBay got this Italvolanti 360mm steering wheel as used on some of the Group A cars but Ive yet to fit it as before i bought it i had already sent the 370mm tech 2 wheel i had off to Jack at royalsteeringwheels.com.
I ended up going with black alcantara with M tri colour stitching as no one who does steering wheels seems to do suede as per sport evo.
As said in my last post i was going to to fit some evo brake ducts so it was a case of new ducts, tubes, lower engine cover and all 4 wheel arch liner sections.
During the last Ring trip the exhaust note got some what louder and i had noticed a popping sound on overrun at high RPM when on track, this was confirmed as a flame out the tail pipe by people following me as as the rear silencer has some corrosion and a small hole where they always start to go, i guess on pop to many caused the end to blow out.
The rear silencer was replaced with a second hand Eisenmann rear silencer as a temporary measure until a new OEM one is bought but no pic of this yet.
Also another thing mentioned in the previous post, worn alternator bushes replaced.
Some new rear discs and pads as well as a new pair of front discs and a reface of the paid RS29 front pads meant it was ready for.....
Another trip to the Ring which was not without drama but no real car related issues other than an OSF calliper that started to stick but that was sorted by stripping and cleaning the piston.
Once back it was time to make the car a little more road friendly so the pagid RS front pads were swapped out for some OE pads to get rid of the rattling and squealing as well as the savage brake dust!
Another thing ive not been happy with for road use is the front ride height as despite shortening the internal bump stops on the front B8 bilsteins, over harsh bumps or unavoidable potholes it was still bottoming out with a horrid bang. Great on track, crap on road.
For those of you who have read the thread from the start will know i ended up using a new set of eibach springs and as they don't do M3 specific ones, just 4 cylinder or two types of 6 cylinder spec springs for 2dr/4dr saloons i went with the 4 cylinder spec ones.
The OE front ride height with 16" wheels is 568mm and i was down to 520mm so a drop of nearly 50mm.
A pair of sport evo spec springs were worth a try as they are meant to be approx -15mm compared to the standard M3 springs so with these now fitted the ride height is 555mm so close enough.
More importantly no more crashy ride!
Interestingly the rear ride height on the eibach springs is pretty much bang on OE ride height at 533mm.
Thats it for now.
Time for a another update of the last few months activity in some sort of order.
This was fitted before some time back but forgot to post about it. Its basically a Becker traffic pro but a BMW branded retrofit item for later models which has an AUX in, matches the dash illumination perfectly and doesn't look as offensive as the early 00's Pioneer that was in there when i bought the car.
A lucky find on eBay got this Italvolanti 360mm steering wheel as used on some of the Group A cars but Ive yet to fit it as before i bought it i had already sent the 370mm tech 2 wheel i had off to Jack at royalsteeringwheels.com.
I ended up going with black alcantara with M tri colour stitching as no one who does steering wheels seems to do suede as per sport evo.
As said in my last post i was going to to fit some evo brake ducts so it was a case of new ducts, tubes, lower engine cover and all 4 wheel arch liner sections.
During the last Ring trip the exhaust note got some what louder and i had noticed a popping sound on overrun at high RPM when on track, this was confirmed as a flame out the tail pipe by people following me as as the rear silencer has some corrosion and a small hole where they always start to go, i guess on pop to many caused the end to blow out.
The rear silencer was replaced with a second hand Eisenmann rear silencer as a temporary measure until a new OEM one is bought but no pic of this yet.
Also another thing mentioned in the previous post, worn alternator bushes replaced.
Some new rear discs and pads as well as a new pair of front discs and a reface of the paid RS29 front pads meant it was ready for.....
Another trip to the Ring which was not without drama but no real car related issues other than an OSF calliper that started to stick but that was sorted by stripping and cleaning the piston.
Once back it was time to make the car a little more road friendly so the pagid RS front pads were swapped out for some OE pads to get rid of the rattling and squealing as well as the savage brake dust!
Another thing ive not been happy with for road use is the front ride height as despite shortening the internal bump stops on the front B8 bilsteins, over harsh bumps or unavoidable potholes it was still bottoming out with a horrid bang. Great on track, crap on road.
For those of you who have read the thread from the start will know i ended up using a new set of eibach springs and as they don't do M3 specific ones, just 4 cylinder or two types of 6 cylinder spec springs for 2dr/4dr saloons i went with the 4 cylinder spec ones.
The OE front ride height with 16" wheels is 568mm and i was down to 520mm so a drop of nearly 50mm.
A pair of sport evo spec springs were worth a try as they are meant to be approx -15mm compared to the standard M3 springs so with these now fitted the ride height is 555mm so close enough.
More importantly no more crashy ride!
Interestingly the rear ride height on the eibach springs is pretty much bang on OE ride height at 533mm.
Thats it for now.
NOVEMBER 2017
A LONG overdue update!
After Photobucket decided to try and ruin the internet I have been putting off reloading all my pics to another photo hosting site until now and this thread is the first one I've done so after spending hours sorting this and reloading pics I can now update whats gone on in the last 8 months.
The Becker wasn't cutting it for me and a lucky eBay find was this period brand new old stock Pioneer KEX- M700.
Coupled with this JL audio bluetooth receiver hidden away it gives the best of both worlds of having a nice looking head unit and being able to stream music from any bluetooth device.
New under dash panel while I was in that area.
As seen in my previous post one of the go faster goodies is a JB racing billet flywheel and above shows the weight saving.
This mod has given a nice improvement in responsiveness to the engine and well worthwhile.
The old clutch dated 11/86 so the original to this car! It wasn't slipping but it was getting a bit on the heavy side plus there was not much life left in it upon inspection.
New Sachs clutch kit, new Genuine prop centre bearing and Guibo coupling all went on with the flywheel in time for a forthcoming road trip!
A LONG overdue update!
After Photobucket decided to try and ruin the internet I have been putting off reloading all my pics to another photo hosting site until now and this thread is the first one I've done so after spending hours sorting this and reloading pics I can now update whats gone on in the last 8 months.
The Becker wasn't cutting it for me and a lucky eBay find was this period brand new old stock Pioneer KEX- M700.
Coupled with this JL audio bluetooth receiver hidden away it gives the best of both worlds of having a nice looking head unit and being able to stream music from any bluetooth device.
New under dash panel while I was in that area.
As seen in my previous post one of the go faster goodies is a JB racing billet flywheel and above shows the weight saving.
This mod has given a nice improvement in responsiveness to the engine and well worthwhile.
The old clutch dated 11/86 so the original to this car! It wasn't slipping but it was getting a bit on the heavy side plus there was not much life left in it upon inspection.
New Sachs clutch kit, new Genuine prop centre bearing and Guibo coupling all went on with the flywheel in time for a forthcoming road trip!
For those of you that have read this thread from the beginning you may have seen me mention that I had an impending wedding. Well I got married in June which lead me to my honeymoon in august.
What has this to do with my M3 I hear you say? Well The wife and I had two weeks off work and instead of lying on a beach for two weeks we decided to do something different.
I've always wanted to do a European road trip taking in some of the Alps so I worked out a route with an overnight stay in a different city each night for a week with us leaving the car at an airport so we could fly out to Santorini for a weeks relaxation.
So, onto the road trip! The exact route was planned loosely around a route used by one of the companies that do driving tours round Europe but tailored to fit in with what wanted to do so the route went like this,
Calais via the tunnel - the Nurburgring - Munich - Burghausen - Innsbruck - Bolzano - Chur - Zurich - Stuttgart
As we were driving through Germany it seemed rude not to stop off at the Ring for a couple of laps and more to the point to show the wife what the fuss was all about. My wife is not the greatest of passengers and it took some persuasion and reassurance to come for a lap so after which she said 'that was not as bad as I thought it would be' we did another and I'm glad we did as it was a much cleaner lap with less traffic and a better flow.
This was followed by the obligatory meal at the Pistenklause and some drinks in Adenau.
The following morning we headed south toward Munich via a large section of the romantic road taking a more scenic route instead of sticking to the autobahns.
http://www.romanticroadgermany.com
Still managed to stretch the M3's legs on the autobahn though!
Parked up in a side street in Munich city centre. Even in its home town its surprising the amount of attention an E30 M3 can attract as several people waking past this sport would stop to have a look and take a pic!
We met up that evening with family for traditional German food and beer.
After leaving Innsbruck we headed toward Bolzano in Italy... the long way round!
This was so we could travel via the Grossglockner high alpine road in Austria.
https://www.grossglockner.at/gg/en/index
The following morning on route to Switzerland we tackled the famous Stelvio pass.
http://www.stelvio.net/english/
This was one of the highlights of the trip for me as it is simply breath taking.
Along the route we took from Chur to Zurich which included the San Bernardio pass, we made a stop off at the Verzasca Dam which was used in the opening scene to the James Bond film Goldeneye.
I tried to keep this post mostly car related but there was much more I could have wrote about and posted pics of.
Needless to say, the M3 was in its element on some of the greatest driving roads in Europe!
I took with me a selection of spares and tools including a pair of crank sensors, fuel pump, relays, hoses but I didn't need to open the tool bag once!
Approximately 3700km's covered without a hitch and this fortifies my opinion that a well maintained E30 is one of the most reliable cars you can own!
After we flew back a week later then drove home from Stuttgart it was back into use on the Monday for the daily commute to work.
Its now tucked up in storage for the winter until I get some spare time to fit the rest of my go faster bits.
What has this to do with my M3 I hear you say? Well The wife and I had two weeks off work and instead of lying on a beach for two weeks we decided to do something different.
I've always wanted to do a European road trip taking in some of the Alps so I worked out a route with an overnight stay in a different city each night for a week with us leaving the car at an airport so we could fly out to Santorini for a weeks relaxation.
So, onto the road trip! The exact route was planned loosely around a route used by one of the companies that do driving tours round Europe but tailored to fit in with what wanted to do so the route went like this,
Calais via the tunnel - the Nurburgring - Munich - Burghausen - Innsbruck - Bolzano - Chur - Zurich - Stuttgart
As we were driving through Germany it seemed rude not to stop off at the Ring for a couple of laps and more to the point to show the wife what the fuss was all about. My wife is not the greatest of passengers and it took some persuasion and reassurance to come for a lap so after which she said 'that was not as bad as I thought it would be' we did another and I'm glad we did as it was a much cleaner lap with less traffic and a better flow.
This was followed by the obligatory meal at the Pistenklause and some drinks in Adenau.
The following morning we headed south toward Munich via a large section of the romantic road taking a more scenic route instead of sticking to the autobahns.
http://www.romanticroadgermany.com
Still managed to stretch the M3's legs on the autobahn though!
Parked up in a side street in Munich city centre. Even in its home town its surprising the amount of attention an E30 M3 can attract as several people waking past this sport would stop to have a look and take a pic!
We met up that evening with family for traditional German food and beer.
After leaving Innsbruck we headed toward Bolzano in Italy... the long way round!
This was so we could travel via the Grossglockner high alpine road in Austria.
https://www.grossglockner.at/gg/en/index
The following morning on route to Switzerland we tackled the famous Stelvio pass.
http://www.stelvio.net/english/
This was one of the highlights of the trip for me as it is simply breath taking.
Along the route we took from Chur to Zurich which included the San Bernardio pass, we made a stop off at the Verzasca Dam which was used in the opening scene to the James Bond film Goldeneye.
I tried to keep this post mostly car related but there was much more I could have wrote about and posted pics of.
Needless to say, the M3 was in its element on some of the greatest driving roads in Europe!
I took with me a selection of spares and tools including a pair of crank sensors, fuel pump, relays, hoses but I didn't need to open the tool bag once!
Approximately 3700km's covered without a hitch and this fortifies my opinion that a well maintained E30 is one of the most reliable cars you can own!
After we flew back a week later then drove home from Stuttgart it was back into use on the Monday for the daily commute to work.
Its now tucked up in storage for the winter until I get some spare time to fit the rest of my go faster bits.
MARCH 2018
Spring is here!
That means the M3 is now out of its winter slumber where it has resided with my other E30 which doesn't really get a look in these days.. 240 miles in it last year and a chunk of that was for my wedding.
So what do we have here? A freshly rebuilt LSD including new clutch plates with the lock upgraded from 25% to 40%, the ratio changed from 3.25 to 3.46 (which the 320iS uses) finished off with a new Z3M back plate which has extra cooling fins and a stronger bush over the E30 back plate.
Ive only driven it home from the workshop but early signs are good, tomorrow ill be off out on a better drive with clearer roads.
Spring is here!
That means the M3 is now out of its winter slumber where it has resided with my other E30 which doesn't really get a look in these days.. 240 miles in it last year and a chunk of that was for my wedding.
So what do we have here? A freshly rebuilt LSD including new clutch plates with the lock upgraded from 25% to 40%, the ratio changed from 3.25 to 3.46 (which the 320iS uses) finished off with a new Z3M back plate which has extra cooling fins and a stronger bush over the E30 back plate.
Ive only driven it home from the workshop but early signs are good, tomorrow ill be off out on a better drive with clearer roads.
MAY 2018
Update time.
The black leather BMW sport seat interior has been replaced with an anthracite cloth interior with the rare optional Recaro LS seats as ive had these seats in a few E30's over the years and some Fords from my youth and find the more comfortable and supportive than the BMW sport seat. That and the cloth grips you better than the leather.
Pressed into regular use again after the LSD was fitted i began to notice a noise at low speeds which i pretty much new what it was going to be before i investigated as it was quite a distinctive rattle ive heard on other E30 M3's.
What was more worrying was that i was booked for the DN19 track day a few weeks after i noticed said noise.
So gearbox out, the detachable bell housing of the Getrag 265/5 making it a bit quicker/easier for it to be stripped and rebuilt with all new bearings and anything else it needed.
BIG shout out to All-gears in Worksop who not only repaired it cheaper than i could have (BMW want £900+vat for the bearings, gaskets and seals alone!) but also got it turned around in time for the track day.
First track day at the Ring after years of Touristenfarten and its the way forward. Had a great time but im beginning to find the limitations of its very much road biased suspension so i think it might be time to retire it from track work.
We shall see.
Update time.
The black leather BMW sport seat interior has been replaced with an anthracite cloth interior with the rare optional Recaro LS seats as ive had these seats in a few E30's over the years and some Fords from my youth and find the more comfortable and supportive than the BMW sport seat. That and the cloth grips you better than the leather.
Pressed into regular use again after the LSD was fitted i began to notice a noise at low speeds which i pretty much new what it was going to be before i investigated as it was quite a distinctive rattle ive heard on other E30 M3's.
What was more worrying was that i was booked for the DN19 track day a few weeks after i noticed said noise.
So gearbox out, the detachable bell housing of the Getrag 265/5 making it a bit quicker/easier for it to be stripped and rebuilt with all new bearings and anything else it needed.
BIG shout out to All-gears in Worksop who not only repaired it cheaper than i could have (BMW want £900+vat for the bearings, gaskets and seals alone!) but also got it turned around in time for the track day.
First track day at the Ring after years of Touristenfarten and its the way forward. Had a great time but im beginning to find the limitations of its very much road biased suspension so i think it might be time to retire it from track work.
We shall see.
AUGUST 2018
And so it begins....
Started to strip it down for a full bare metal repaint and tend to any corrosion along the way.
Many brand new parts have been ordered for it from BMW including
Both front wings
Bonnet
Both bumpers
Sunroof panel
Sport evo rear spoiler
Front and rear screens
Windscreen had a massive crack in it from what felt like a rock hitting it chasing some one through pflanzgarten, when i was taking it apart i whacked it and just shattered.
More to follow over the next few weeks, did want it done in time for Gaydon but thats not going to happen.
And so it begins....
Started to strip it down for a full bare metal repaint and tend to any corrosion along the way.
Many brand new parts have been ordered for it from BMW including
Both front wings
Bonnet
Both bumpers
Sunroof panel
Sport evo rear spoiler
Front and rear screens
Windscreen had a massive crack in it from what felt like a rock hitting it chasing some one through pflanzgarten, when i was taking it apart i whacked it and just shattered.
More to follow over the next few weeks, did want it done in time for Gaydon but thats not going to happen.
Wow, what an awesome car and thread. Your euro trip looked like a very similar one to what me and a few mates did back in september. I hope to do something similar in my 2002 once it's done, which is being done in a similar way to your e30, primarily a road car for road trips and the like but a lot more focused!
SEPTEMBER 2018
Bodyshop update time as its been a while.
Right rear sill looking a bit scabby
Cut open to reveal some sneaky rust
Cleaned up and repaired.
Further along the same sill, previous damage from being jacked up poorly needed repairing.
The rear tow eye area had a few small scabs so we thought it best to cut a section of the the rear panel off to have a look inside, glad we did!
Tow eye cut off and cleaned up before being welded back on
Front panel cut off, poor thing looking sorry for itself!
New front panel welded on and trial fit of new wings, bonnet and bumper
Its now looking like the engine, gearbox and everything else is going to come out.
From what was going to be some minor rust repair, a repaint has now turned in to a full blown resto. :?
Didn't think it would go this far but i should know more than anyone how these things can snow ball with E30's.
In for a penny and all that!
Bodyshop update time as its been a while.
Right rear sill looking a bit scabby
Cut open to reveal some sneaky rust
Cleaned up and repaired.
Further along the same sill, previous damage from being jacked up poorly needed repairing.
The rear tow eye area had a few small scabs so we thought it best to cut a section of the the rear panel off to have a look inside, glad we did!
Tow eye cut off and cleaned up before being welded back on
Front panel cut off, poor thing looking sorry for itself!
New front panel welded on and trial fit of new wings, bonnet and bumper
Its now looking like the engine, gearbox and everything else is going to come out.
From what was going to be some minor rust repair, a repaint has now turned in to a full blown resto. :?
Didn't think it would go this far but i should know more than anyone how these things can snow ball with E30's.
In for a penny and all that!
OCTOBER 2018
The Sunroof tray is one of the E30 bodies well known rust traps due to it being a collection point of moisture and virtually zero protection with only a light dusting of paint on the tray and bare E-coat on the inside of the outer roof skin.
Upon close inspection there were signs of of surface corrosion starting in the M3 so this needed to be addressed now as left to fester it would spread to the outer skin and perforate it meaning a new skin or a tricky repair.
As new sunroof trays are NLA a whole used roof with virtually no corrosion was purchased (from brutus on here) and after the outer skin was cut away i was left with the donor tray pictured above.
This was then blasted back to bare metal then etch primed although i forgot to get a pic of it.
With my old sunroof try cut away you can see the extent of the surface corrosion in the pics above.
Inside of the skin was ground back to bare metal and a rust neutraliser used.
Inside of the roof skin primed and painted in Lachs silver.
Sunroof tray primed and painted in Lachs silver.
Bonded and welded into place as per factory but now fully painted inside and out so with some cavity wax applied when the body resto is complete will mean this area will be much more protected than when it was originally made.
Next step will be to remove the engine, gearbox, axles etc to tackle the underside.
The Sunroof tray is one of the E30 bodies well known rust traps due to it being a collection point of moisture and virtually zero protection with only a light dusting of paint on the tray and bare E-coat on the inside of the outer roof skin.
Upon close inspection there were signs of of surface corrosion starting in the M3 so this needed to be addressed now as left to fester it would spread to the outer skin and perforate it meaning a new skin or a tricky repair.
As new sunroof trays are NLA a whole used roof with virtually no corrosion was purchased (from brutus on here) and after the outer skin was cut away i was left with the donor tray pictured above.
This was then blasted back to bare metal then etch primed although i forgot to get a pic of it.
With my old sunroof try cut away you can see the extent of the surface corrosion in the pics above.
Inside of the skin was ground back to bare metal and a rust neutraliser used.
Inside of the roof skin primed and painted in Lachs silver.
Sunroof tray primed and painted in Lachs silver.
Bonded and welded into place as per factory but now fully painted inside and out so with some cavity wax applied when the body resto is complete will mean this area will be much more protected than when it was originally made.
Next step will be to remove the engine, gearbox, axles etc to tackle the underside.
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