E30 Zone

Hi there guys, just to introduce myself my name is Jazz. I am a university student trying to work hard”¦ lol. (Too many female distractions)”¦..lol

I am not exactly new on this forum as I have been a member for along while now.This is the first time I am introducing my self because firstly I am now able to spend on my car and secondly this is where the project officially starts.

I have owned my car for a year and a half now and well since I bought it, it has been sitting in my garage since because of other serious commitments, but now I finally have time and more importantly money saved up for it.

My car is a totally standard E30 31.8IS. It is alpine white in color. The very early days last year August some time I was on the search for a well known trust worthy Mechanic. After about a month I was advised to go to Dips”¦( yes I know you all know him) =D. So I called Dips up and we arranged a time and date for me to drop of my car to him soon after that there I was on my way to Dips for a full mechanical check up”¦”¦Dips simply then checked the car overall and gave me a List of things that needed to be done”¦.thank God the list was not to big lol.

Rite guys early days I bought a E30 31.8is and I have found myself a well established top end trustworthy mechanic”¦”¦”¦.got my car checked”¦..now I have the list of things which need to be done”¦”¦.& I drive home and park her in me garage”¦”¦”¦”¦..she sits there for over a year and a half”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦..

It was unfortunate that I was out of a job and was unable to save up as to why the car sat there for this time. Throughout the year I kept in touch with Dips explaining my reasons and he understood and said not to worry when you ready just let me know.

Mid 2008

Things are going good I have a steady part time job and now saving. I call Dips and tell him ill be ready by end of November beginning of December to bring my car to you, and he said that’s fine.

The work I did on the car throughout the time she was sitting there for over a year was:

-Polished Rocker Cover & Inlet Manifold
-Mtech Pedals
& finally a
-Armrest

These are the only very few things I have done so far. I have many more plans for this bugger but it will take me time to get done as I’m studying at the same time.

Ill post some pictures of the car as soon as I get home.

Thanks for reading
Jazz

Do keep this in mind the car is totally standard with 15"BBS reps rims on it.

here we go guys...do enjoy.....

Pictures:








Baby Engine:





Interior:
Again all standard..






Polished Rocker Cover & Inlet Manifold:






Polished Rocker Cover & Inlet Manifold NOW INSTALLED:

Rocker Cover:


Inlet Manifold:


Mtech Pedals:






Armrest:







There you go guys”¦..... This is all well not all but so far of what I have done. I have step by step pics of me taking of the inlet and rocker cover but I thought I better not as there are quite allot of pics here already.

Apologies for the Bad Picture Quality the ole Nokia N73 has been through a lot lol

Jazz

I like the rocker cover and inlet manifold A LOT, the pedals and armrest I'm not so keen on. What else do you have planned for it? I reckon it would look great with a damn good clean, clay bar and waxing - cheap and easy to do too if you're on a budget

Wow, that polished up nicely.

thats nice that mate

very nice

i like the Polished Rocker Cover & Inlet Manifold

Looking good fella top job so far keep it up

Jazz, all credit to you mate. She looks spot on
Love the inlet and also the rocker, both look sweet. I also have a set of those pedals in my iS. They may not be to everyones liking, but i for one, like them
The armrest is spot on too, wouldn't mind one myself!! Where did you get it from??
Lastly, what are you looking to do with her in the future..

Nice Pic's too..

Much appreciate the warm welcome zoners.......... it’s been a long time since I have got my car back about 8 months now been enjoying every moment of it apart from not having no power steering believe parking the car was hard, and that diff making so much noise that you’d have to shout in the car just to have a normal conversation lol. Here is a list of what I have got done so far:

Mechanical Check list 1 complete:

Wishbones left & right - done
Brembo (Discs & Pads) All round - done
Engine Mounts ”“ not done
Gearbox Mounts ”“ not done
Prop Centre Bearing - done
Suspension 60mm - done
Up rated Bushes All round - done
Front and rear ARB - done
Service - done
Central locking - done
ENGINE FLUSH - done
Exhaust ”“ not done will do when time comes for re-spray
Breather Pipe - done
Wiper Motor ”“ done

I will post new pictures of how the car looks now as I have not done so yet, ill dig them out sometime today and post them up.

Rite guys 8 months down the long line but time has now come for its last bit of mechanical work to be done. It’s with dips now so he can work his magic.

Mechanical Check list 2:

3.91 LSD
Power steering rack and pump
ENGINE FLUSH & Oil Service + oil filter
Fuel & temperature gauges??
Fuel pump and fuel sender unit??
Central locking check
Over heating in traffic
Heating & electrical valve
Fuel tank patch up
Rocker Cover Bolts and finally
Starting problems temp sensors I presume

Hopefully after this my car should have no more mechanical problems hopefully. After this is all done money then can be saved for my re-spray and the all mighty rims. This is the update so far will keep you posted on some more pictures yet to come.

Jazz

Nice rocker and inlet, a bitch to keep clean though.
Looks nice

yes very hard to keep clean but once done looks spot on

im liking what your doing mate should be a gooden.

where you get that armrest from...does it get in the way when u put the handbrake on ??


cheeers.

Hi there guys many thanks on your thoughts”¦.

Here are some pictures of how she looks now”¦.. hope you all enjoy

Interior:

Steering wheel

Door card 1


Door card 2


Trying to keep it clean ( a lot of elbow grease) lol


And again


Hood off


Way to central for a couple of pictures


Leading the way of course lol


Shoot starts


Rear light


Me with the vdub collogues:


And again


More pictures







Found a little side street and tried making the best out of it



Hope you all like this so far.. will keep you updated as project rolls on.

Many Thanks
Jazz

looks good mate. where did you get the armrest???

Good pics there, apart from the tacky one with the bottle of "Perfume"

cheers bud was just tryna be creative... to do somethign weird and diffrent lol that so called tacky cologne dammm smells nicee though Prada lol

tomti the armrest a friend bought for me I think he got it from eaby was a long time back not sure but will confirm later

Love your car. Great pics.

tomti the exact same arm rest

ebay Item number: 170313837591

cheap and cheerful lol

Hi there guys, unfortunately got some bad news. Got my car back last week, and was told she’s given up the ghost!!! Which I am surprised at because 8 months ago when I had a full service done, there were no reports of any serious problems . It seems that my mechanic doesn’t want to try and find the problem, but would prefer an engine replacement. (It’s a M44 engine from the e36 31.8is with a full service history, which he has).


However, I fell in love with the E30 31.8IS, and don’t want to jus end up with an E30 shell and different engine. Simply because personally I feel that the E30 31.8IS was a superb piece of German engineering, and round the track and in general she handles beautifully, and I don’t want to loose the essence of the original car.

Some may say, put a bigger engine but if I wanted to do that I would jump straight to the M3 (which i can’t afford- well not right away) nothing in between. I choose the 31.8is because after careful consideration, this also was economical for a full time student to run, and work on.

The problem seems to be from the engine, when idling she sounds fine as it should be but when reving the car between 2 to 3rpm she stars to make a rattling/knocking noise however after 4rpm the noise goes away and the engine sounds smooth. This seems to me as if though the chain is loose and hitting something (chain case rail). The noise is coming from the front of the rocker cover and travels along side the camshafts.

I have been told from local garages that the timing chain a tensioner needs to be changed.
What are your opinions guys?

Cheers
Jazz

This is how she sounds nasty i know

http://s232.photobucket.com/albums/ee5/ ... 009027.flv

That sounds nasty,put that post^^ in the technical help forum im sure some on there will help you out good luck

Those sidestreet pics are beautifully lit - very nice indeed!

Very bling engine there

Some awsome pics there evry nice car

morat, rix313 thanks alot guys

SLIMADI im just tryna get this resolved man its annoying having to know its not rite.

Hello there matey, good to finally see pics of the car! looking very clean

Gutted for you about the engine though, hopefully it isn't something too major...those guys on tech help will know what's going on though

ikorin its been a long time lol finally getting somewhere and again ive ocme to a stop lol

i hope it aint to major.... i mean the local garages said its nothing to major. The car is not being driven since untill it gets sorted. ill put up a post in the tech section and see how it goes.

no1_jazz wrote:The problem seems to be from the engine, when idling she sounds fine as it should be but when reving the car between 2 to 3rpm she stars to make a rattling/knocking noise however after 4rpm the noise goes away and the engine sounds smooth. This seems to me as if though the chain is loose and hitting something (chain case rail). The noise is coming from the front of the rocker cover and travels along side the camshafts.

I have been told from local garages that the timing chain a tensioner needs to be changed.
What are your opinions guys?

Cheers
Jazz

Has the engine actually stopped working correctly or is it just that it's making a bit of noise? Is the noise a new feature? How loud is it? I see you've posted a link with sound but I'm not in a position to be able to view that right now.

The IS engines are often quite 'rattly'. This is the timing chain. Replacement will quieten it down but it's a pig of a job and will cost a fortune to pay someone to do.

Unless it's stupidly loud or the engine has started behaving differently or not functioning correctly i wouldn't worry too much! An engine replacement would probably be the easiest idea if you're sure the current one needs timing work doing. The M44 one isn't that much different to the M42 and I wouldn't have a problem putting one in if it were my car.

Anyway, make sure you get a proper informed diagnosis on the apparent problem and don't do anything rash until you're sure you know what's what. I think you might be worrying about something you needn't!

Has the engine actually stopped working correctly or is it just that it's making a bit of noise? Is the noise a new feature? How loud is it? I see you've posted a link with sound but I'm not in a position to be able to view that right now.

The IS engines are often quite 'rattly'. This is the timing chain. Replacement will quieten it down but it's a pig of a job and will cost a fortune to pay someone to do.

Unless it's stupidly loud or the engine has started behaving differently or not functioning correctly i wouldn't worry too much! An engine replacement would probably be the easiest idea if you're sure the current one needs timing work doing. The M44 one isn't that much different to the M42 and I wouldn't have a problem putting one in if it were my car.

Anyway, make sure you get a proper informed diagnosis on the apparent problem and don't do anything rash until you're sure you know what's what. I think you might be worrying about something you needn't!

The engine is still working fine and still has loads of pull when I put my foot down”¦ I mean no loss of power at all but indeed very loud and due to this noise at such low revs 2 to 3rpm I have just stopped driving it because I don’t want to cause any more potential problems.

Most local garages say it is in fact the timing chain that needs to be replaced and the tensioners. All it is its stupidly loud and annoying.

When you get a chance do check out the small video clip I have put up.

is anybody able to help

nice work jazz

car looks niceeeeee

loving the i.S mate..do you still have this? because im suurree i've seen you around as im always in or around hackney!

hope you got the problem sorted

hey man applogies for the crazy late reply lol yes i still do have the car however i have not been driving it for the past coupple of months. do you live in hackney ?

no1_jazz wrote:hey man applogies for the crazy late reply . yes i still do have the car however i have not been driving it for the past coupple of months. do you live in hackney ?

Not anymore i used to live in stoke newington, n still have family there so im there quite alot.. Hows the iS going?

cool ... all the IS needs is a flywheel and a new clutch before she can be driven again just awaiting on vision racing to get back to me so hopefully soon it’s should be rolling again.

how’s yours coming along and what have you done to it do you have a build thread ?

aj_mckay wrote:I like the rocker cover and inlet manifold A LOT, the pedals and armrest I'm not so keen on. What else do you have planned for it? I reckon it would look great with a damn good clean, clay bar and waxing - cheap and easy to do too if you're on a budget

+1 for this !

i was interested to see what you ment by arm rest as i scrolled down,and i got to it and actualy burst out laughing , its not for me and cant see the use of it really in an is , unless you do a lot of long distance motorway driving, in which case the is isnt the car for that, not keen on the bling of the pedals , the polished engine bits look crazy bling , must be unreal to keep clean ona daily car