It started out as a track car project so I found a clean non-sunroof shell and started to get it sorted. My focus was on handling not power, hence my choice of engine. I got rid of the original M10, got the car up on stands and stripped all the running gear, suspension and subframes off the car and set about rebuilding them.
Anything that was reused was cleaned and painted and a lot was replaced with new or uprated bits. As the work progressed I found a few rusty bits which were repaired, the rear arches being rolled while it was in the bodyshop so I could fit the MiM's without any rubbing.
After I started driving it though, I realised I wanted to use it every day, so I put a carpet back in and found a very nice interior for it.
Here is a spec list. I'm sure I will have missed something though -
Shell
- 1987 316 in mineral blue
- No sunroof
- Manual windows
- Rear wheelarches repaired and painted
- Rear drivers side wheel well and filler neck repaired
- Rear valance at towing eye repaired (although not the best job)
Engine & Transmission
- M42 1.8 16v conversion with about 150k miles on it
- New engine mounts
- Clutch with less than 5000 miles
- Chip worth about 12bhp
- Big bore throttle body
- Coil on plug conversion
- Receipts for timing gear, water pump, etc change less than 5000 miles ago
- Supersprint rear exhaust section
- Z4 3.0 gearshift
- 3.94 limited slip differential
- Electric fan conversion
Suspension & Steering
- Both subframes refreshed and repainted
- Powerflex rear beam bushes
- Superflex trailing arm bushes
- Eibach ARB's front and rear
- M3 offset control arm bushes
- New top mounts all round
- New rear wheel bearings
- Spax springs and dampers, 40mm drop I think
- RPM front strut brace
- Z3 steering rack with hoses from Pirtek
- New fixing hardware used wherever possible
Brakes
- Rear disc brake conversion
- Rebuilt brake calipers with new seals, bleed nipples, etc
- Goodridge braided hoses all round, 6 hose kit
- New trailing arm brake pipes
- Pagid disks and pads
Anyway I've never really posted any photos of it so here we go -
When I bought it, complete with RNLI window sticker and clip on door reflectors
Rear beam rebuild
Engine in
And how it looks today
Minty rear arches
Engine bay
Interior
