E30 Zone

Now I've bought a 320i I've been looking at mods to improve drivability/handling etc. In your opinion, what mods have you done to your car which you have transformed it, and what mods have you done which haven't made much difference. I'm thinking on the lines of E36 steering rack, powerflex bushes etc, rather than 'M52 Engine and Brembo brakes'.

As I've not got the car yet, and remembering how my old 320 could be improved, I'm thinking:

E36 Steering Rack
Z3 Gearstick conversion
and perhaps powerflex bushes

as my initial mods. What about you?

From the things i did to mine after getting it, my favourites were the z3 shortshifter & bilstein b4s + eiback springs.
Just those two things transformed the feel of the car

On the very first Zone Roam,I thought that I had a sweet-handling,powerful car.

Sure,my 2.7 left 325i's stuggling to keep up on the climbs,but the video evidence of the amount of body-roll my car exibited was frightening....
Indeed,one comment was along the lines of;
'Most sensible people improve the handling BEFORE fitting the big engine'....

So;
Suspension improvements are a must,any E30 that still runs it's original dampers must need work,a change to at least original spec is needed,if not an up-grade to more focused after-market stuff.
Then;
If it still 'feels' wrong for you,there's a whole after-market of possible improvements.

Once you have the handling as you want,you can start thinking about bigger,better,more powerfull engines....

A full service and refreshed suspension bushes would be an excellent and noticeable start.

my is already had bilstein+ebach set up, when i bought it, so never really knew any different, until a noticable difference when driving a couple of other e30s

but- z3 1.9 quick shift kit+ 370ml tech 2 steering wheel , made an immense difference to the feel of the drive , both are essential imo

and a RPM strut brace,further made the drive superb and tight, i really recomend a strut brace for £60 the difference youl love and feel

also, the sport map light mirror i love

First question to ask is how good is the car to start with and how well has it been looked after ?

A rough E30 can be transformed simply by getting it back to how BMW intended with bog standard but genuine or OEM quality parts.

Lemforder rear beam bushes
Genuine trailing arm bushes
Genuine M3 Lollipop bushes
Genuine ARB bushes
Lemforder droplinks
Lemforder front wishbones
Lemforder front top mounts
Genuine E46 M3 Cab rear top mounts

Bilstein B4's
Eibach Pro Kit

Refurbish Gear Linkage

Braided brake hoses

Braided clutch fluid hose

As well as an extensive service including Cambelt, water pump, all fluids, all filters braking system overhaul including new discs and pads, Valve clearances reset, check TPS operation and refurbish if necessary, Clean out throttle body with carb cleaner........

Believe it or not even something as simple as removing and lubricating the throttle cable so it operates smoothly will improve driving feel no end - I know because I've done it.
All of the above to do properly will cost a fair few quid and plenty of time but will transform the car - especially if it hasnt had much attention in the past.

Some good advice there. I'm surprised no one has said the rack conversion though. Looks like I might put the replacement bushes higher up the list...

I think get a good service done and replace any worn bushes and rubbers.... Then look at upgrades...

Zetecvan wrote:Some good advice there. I'm surprised no one has said the rack conversion though. Looks like I might put the replacement bushes higher up the list...

No point having a nice quick rack if the car handles like a jelly because all the bushes & shocks are worn out

Lemforder rear beam bushes
Genuine trailing arm bushes
Genuine M3 Lollipop bushes
Genuine ARB bushes
Lemforder droplinks
Lemforder front wishbones
Lemforder front top mounts
Genuine E46 M3 Cab rear top mounts

how much does all that cost rob in parts and the labour ?

mines good for this year, but on thsi breaker its got new wishbones and stuff on, and what i intend to do is refurb/powder coat as many bits as possible from it, have them all in the agrage, and in march next year, get the car up and a complete overhaul of underneath, all suspension off etc and re seal the underside etc and ensure everything is in top order, but in the mot last week i asked my mate to have a good look around all the bushes and running gear etc and he said cant fault it its all in good order, which was nice to hear

I thought we were going to rate the Moderators...

Shame- now that would be a great topic

bigwinn wrote:I thought we were going to rate the Moderators...

Shame- now that would be a great topic

bigwinn wrote:I thought we were going to rate the Moderators...

Shame- now that would be a great topic

It was what I expected when I opened the thread!

And the Mods breathe a collective sigh of relief...

New shocks and springs- in my case g-max super sport gas shocks and springs (40mm)
New drop links
New track rods
New lower arms
New top mounts

The car felt like jelly before, I think it was on its original shocks but the above transformed my car and now drives as I wanted it to! No body roll and considering the setup the ride isn't as harsh as people would think..... Agreed with the above though in that before any rack conversion ect these MUST be done first even if the existing parts "look" ok.

Another mod I'm very fond of is the z3 shifter, its a pleasure to use and feels nice an tight with no slop. I drove another e30 yesterday and it felt terrible!!! In gear, the stick would slop all over the shop and the general ride.... , it actually made me appreciate how my car feels and drives to be honest

polsta wrote:Lemforder rear beam bushes
Genuine trailing arm bushes
Genuine M3 Lollipop bushes
Genuine ARB bushes
Lemforder droplinks
Lemforder front wishbones
Lemforder front top mounts
Genuine E46 M3 Cab rear top mounts

how much does all that cost rob in parts and the labour ?

mines good for this year, but on thsi breaker its got new wishbones and stuff on, and what i intend to do is refurb/powder coat as many bits as possible from it, have them all in the agrage, and in march next year, get the car up and a complete overhaul of underneath, all suspension off etc and re seal the underside etc and ensure everything is in top order, but in the mot last week i asked my mate to have a good look around all the bushes and running gear etc and he said cant fault it its all in good order, which was nice to hear

Off the top of my head that lot will probably set you back about £350 in parts alone

Worth it though

e30-dk wrote:
Another mod I'm very fond of is the z3 shifter, its a pleasure to use and feels nice an tight with no slop. I drove another e30 yesterday and it felt terrible!!! In gear, the stick would slop all over the shop and the general ride.... , it actually made me appreciate how my car feels and drives to be honest

THIS !! its very satisfying when something really makes you appriciate your car, after getting used to it/taking for granted/forgetting the difference, isnt it

i drove that is back the other day all standard and it made me appriciate mine, even more so was driving a chromie 325i a couple of weeks ago, wow it was so different, the gear felt so sloppy and loose it was unreal

capri_rob wrote: Off the top of my head that lot will probably set you back about £350 in parts alone

Worth it though

i bet it is, although i dont need that sort of stuff at the moment, but over the winter i want a good inspection and overhaul of anything needed , just to keep it all nice, roughly how many hours of labour would you say ?

Alarm,full service,change viscus,water pump/therm and then the strut brace,shocks,lowering springs,exhausts scorpion,rims.

polsta wrote:

capri_rob wrote: Off the top of my head that lot will probably set you back about £350 in parts alone

Worth it though

i bet it is, although i dont need that sort of stuff at the moment, but over the winter i want a good inspection and overhaul of anything needed , just to keep it all nice, roughly how many hours of labour would you say ?

hours and hours and hours mate.

To do the back end alone is at least a days work and thats IF nothing goes wrong - which it will - and if you try and do it without help it will take a lot longer - ideally you need 2 people as the rear beam components are heavier than you might think !

You could probably do the front end on your own in a day if you have all the right tools to hand and don't encounter any stuck or snapped bolts.

As you have a "spares" car you're fortunate that you can now refurb all the bits you might want to swap over from the breaker whilst still using your car as normal and then do it all in one hit.

If you're gonna fit the M3 eccentric lollipop bushes remember that these are single use only - i'e you'll wreck them taking them off the arm so you need to be 100% sure the arms you're fitting them to are good.

CharlE30
Skipunda
HartgeH27
Willnz

Duke137 wrote:CharlE30
Skipunda
HartgeH27
Willnz

Sadly, all most of the good mods have stopped being active.

capri_rob wrote:First question to ask is how good is the car to start with and how well has it been looked after ?

A rough E30 can be transformed simply by getting it back to how BMW intended with bog standard but genuine or OEM quality parts.

Lemforder rear beam bushes
Genuine trailing arm bushes
Genuine M3 Lollipop bushes
Genuine ARB bushes
Lemforder droplinks
Lemforder front wishbones
Lemforder front top mounts
Genuine E46 M3 Cab rear top mounts

Bilstein B4's
Eibach Pro Kit

Refurbish Gear Linkage

Braided brake hoses

Braided clutch fluid hose

As well as an extensive service including Cambelt, water pump, all fluids, all filters braking system overhaul including new discs and pads, Valve clearances reset, check TPS operation and refurbish if necessary, Clean out throttle body with carb cleaner........

Believe it or not even something as simple as removing and lubricating the throttle cable so it operates smoothly will improve driving feel no end - I know because I've done it.
All of the above to do properly will cost a fair few quid and plenty of time but will transform the car - especially if it hasnt had much attention in the past.

THIS

E30BeemerLad wrote:

capri_rob wrote:First question to ask is how good is the car to start with and how well has it been looked after ?

A rough E30 can be transformed simply by getting it back to how BMW intended with bog standard but genuine or OEM quality parts.

Lemforder rear beam bushes
Genuine trailing arm bushes
Genuine M3 Lollipop bushes
Genuine ARB bushes
Lemforder droplinks
Lemforder front wishbones
Lemforder front top mounts
Genuine E46 M3 Cab rear top mounts

Bilstein B4's
Eibach Pro Kit

Refurbish Gear Linkage

Braided brake hoses

Braided clutch fluid hose

As well as an extensive service including Cambelt, water pump, all fluids, all filters braking system overhaul including new discs and pads, Valve clearances reset, check TPS operation and refurbish if necessary, Clean out throttle body with carb cleaner........

Believe it or not even something as simple as removing and lubricating the throttle cable so it operates smoothly will improve driving feel no end - I know because I've done it.
All of the above to do properly will cost a fair few quid and plenty of time but will transform the car - especially if it hasnt had much attention in the past.

THIS

+1

capri_rob wrote:

polsta wrote:

capri_rob wrote: Off the top of my head that lot will probably set you back about £350 in parts alone

Worth it though

i bet it is, although i dont need that sort of stuff at the moment, but over the winter i want a good inspection and overhaul of anything needed , just to keep it all nice, roughly how many hours of labour would you say ?

hours and hours and hours mate.

To do the back end alone is at least a days work and thats IF nothing goes wrong - which it will - and if you try and do it without help it will take a lot longer - ideally you need 2 people as the rear beam components are heavier than you might think !

You could probably do the front end on your own in a day if you have all the right tools to hand and don't encounter any stuck or snapped bolts.

As you have a "spares" car you're fortunate that you can now refurb all the bits you might want to swap over from the breaker whilst still using your car as normal and then do it all in one hit.

If you're gonna fit the M3 eccentric lollipop bushes remember that these are single use only - i'e you'll wreck them taking them off the arm so you need to be 100% sure the arms you're fitting them to are good.

nice one rob ! chatted to my mate about this the other night, looked through the history for the breaker-its had brand new wishbones,power flex bushes, and stuff on it not long ago, finished stripping all i can from it here now, cleaned,wrapped, all the parts up, my escort engine swaps been done this week and drove it the 1st time this morning round the block with the 1.6 in , dumped the old stripped engine and other old engine i had, and a few other bits, making space

the breakers going up my mates workshop tomorrow, and were stripping it completley over the next week or 2

got to build some shelving in my garage and have a proper tidy up of all the parts this week, service my is this week, and finish the escort, and decide to keep or sell

but anyway- plan is to get all the stuff off the breaker,and over next few months refurb it all like you say, powder coating,bushes etc and have it all built up, ready to just get my car in there in the winter- get it all off mine,totaly refurb and re seal the underside of the car and waxoil the cavaties etc, and refit it all nice and new with my bilstein and ebach , for next spring time

once its all off within the next week or 2- a proper access of it all and layed out il post pics up and wel go from there and get a definate list up of what i need

Cruise control. The best option I've added.

Lpg conversion is the best mod i have made to my 325i touring, as well as all the front bushes, ball joints, steering rack,track rods, ATB bushes and links, IS lip spoiler.

Oh and my sports leather interior .

Thicker anti roll bars.

2.7 engine, Eibach anti roll bars, H/R springs, Bilstein shocks.

Nice

M52B30
S52 cams
Balanced bottom end
Lighten fly
40% ATB LSD
Full B8 and H&R suspension
Renewed every bush
Z3 rack
WSM 4 pots
Z3 shifter
Leather recaro's and M3 rear bench
The list goes on.

/me ticks the "rust delete" option furiously

Oh, while you're at it:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Toad-Alarm-A101cl ... 4839d2c636

Simple, reliable and not much more expensive than a remote locking kit anyway.