E30 Zone

I bought this car off ebay in april 2010, it was completely standard which was what i was after. It even had the steel wheels and trims! Only upgrade was a tech 1 wheel. It has loads of life left in it, and im going to be using it for my 25 mile round trip to work.

I have spent money on usual maintenence but to be fair i only needed have done the cambelt/waterpump. Its on about 123k and i am the third owner. The first owner had it until 2005/110k, and had full service history till then with regular bills of £400+ at the dealers. I dont have any history from the second owner other than a couple of mots, but he only did 6k in it anyway.

Stuff i have chosen to do so far:

Added 15"bbs within about 2 weeks
Smoked indicators
New numberplates [not horrible german lookin stuff!]
Oil cooler grille
Plugs, air filter, oil and filter change
More recently diff oil, gearbox oil and fuel filter
Speedtouch mild chip

Heres a few pics












I can hear you all sayin lower it but i dont mind how the car sits. But sadly the suspension is all original. This is great for cruising but when pushing the car it is rubbish. I have bought some 318is/mtech springs just to drop it 20mm and tighten up the handling. Can i use original dampers or do you think boge turbo or billstein b4 would be worth adding? And would you bother with rear dampers or just the fronts?

Styling wise i will not be doing much just making perfect the paint/bodywork and maybe se skirts and an is lip.

Other plans are

325i throttle body on opened out manifold, which is practically ready to bolt on
Rotor arm/dizzy/leads
Rear anti roll bar and maybe strut brace

super clean fella

IS lip and 20mm drop would top it off!

Very very nice looking car!

First up, using Mtechnic front springs from a 4 cylinder car (318iS) with lower it slightly more than the 25mm they normally do because the 6 cylinder M20 engine you have is heavier.

Your best bet is to replace all four springs for six cylinder spec Mtechnic springs or eibach pro kit springs and a set of Bilstein B4 shocks all round.

Also worth doing is changing the front struts to 51mm ones from your existing 45mm ones.

A disc braked pair of trailing arms would also be a good ideal at a later date as well.

With regard to your PM, yes you would need 2 of each spring rubbers.

Thats a lovely looking chariot. Add BBS centre caps and colour code the bumpers and it will be perfect.

i'd be looking for colour coded bumpers and mirrors to finish it off

nice base to start with good luck clean looking motor

Thomas

Thought i'd update this rather than starting a new thread. Had the car a fair while now, over 3 years and its still running as nice as the day i got it. Mileage has just passed 140k

As you can see from the first post it started as a poverty spec 320i, electric windows and mirrors that was about it. Its still running the m20b20, but i did the 325i throttle body conversion and mild chip which was well worth the effort. I know its a strong motor so im not in a rush to swap in a 2.5

Had new B4 shocks and M-tech springs fitted, 14.5mm rear anti roll bar, refreshed all the brakes. Got a 20mm front arb to replace the 18mm aswell so its M-tech all round

Then came some attention on the exterior, colour coded front bumper and mirrors and some centre caps. Also fitted a new drivers side front wing








I was looking for a brilliant red rear bumper for ages but gave up, i decided to have a go at spraying it up on my own and glad i did. Just bought some plastikote bright red and gave it a few coats



Its a pretty good match and the paint only cost 15 quid. Car was actually quite dirty here didnt wana wash because it was the day after i sprayed the bumper





Also bought these from B7 recently, i was very happy to finally ditch the comfort seats



Only have this pic of them fitted



Im slowly but surely getting the car how i want it. Next major job is to get the rear subframe bushes replaced and new front control arms. Maybe some shadowline, is lip and se skirts in the future aswell. Also on the lookout for a rear bench to match the sports seats if anyone has one

Loving the brilliant red dude

lovely

Thats a very Nice Car, Colour coding the bumpers, makes a big difference.

looking good ,just a rear bumper to get and possibly a red boot spoiler ?

sport seats are a big improvement

looking good i like a red facelift, id keep the boot spoiler black or add a black/red tech 1 would be the very best thing and an is lip

Thanks for all the comments, i wish i'd colour coded the car a lot sooner thats for sure. I think the brighter colours really need it

magpie wrote:looking good ,just a rear bumper to get and possibly a red boot spoiler ?

sport seats are a big improvement

Sprayed the rear bumper mate, may consider a red rear spoiler in the future but im happy with the exterior for now. Its a nice original looking car at the moment. Sports seats are a huge improvement, hope i never have to go back to comfort seats!

polsta wrote:looking good i like a red facelift, id keep the boot spoiler black or add a black/red tech 1 would be the very best thing and an is lip

I like the tech 1, not sure they look right on a facelift though. I will be getting an is lip in the future but not without fitting some se skirts aswell, i think you need both for it to look good. Sweeps calypso is a good example, would love to get it to that standard

Nice looking two door there. Good to see that you've chipped away at over the last three years.. I like a slow burner. Sometimes the rate that people turn their cars around on here can get a little overwhelming..

Quick update of things to come for spring. Just got a years mot put on it. Its had new better quality bumpers and mirrors fitted, rear subframe bushes and a few other bits and bobs.





Managed to find a matching rear bench from irish zoner sskoda. He delivered it personally on one of his trips





Also bought this but decided it would need too much bodging to fit. An is lip will be a much easier option





I got some dealer plates made up by pukar. First time he done this design i think. The quality is unbelievable and i can't wait to fit them



Also got this lot to fit at some point



Dug this out too and wondered if it someting many e30's still have

Good progress there

Another quick update

Got a few bits completed on the car

-New diff bush and oil
-Rear subframe bush fillers from Danthe [bushes were replaced last year]
-Lemforder front wishbones with offset CA bushes
-New pair of toyo proxes up front

Also fitted the dealer plates from Pukar











As always though, the work never stops!

I need to give the car a good detail and tidy up a couple of bits on the sills.

Cambelt is due this year and also want to refresh the prop and gearshift.

Love the BMW Dealer number plates

Just clocked that this is another 320i in brilliant red from Stephen James, like mine, but not the number of doors...

looking good

Cheers fellas i love this car even with 2.0 and open diff it still a blast to drive. I plan on keeping it and just chipping away as i have been, we have come a long way and there a lot of memories in the car. In factory spec it wasn't very special but with the bits i've done it has made it unique and it handles very well with fresh bushes and mtec suspension, there are still improvements to be made though!

pony wrote:Love the BMW Dealer number plates

The plates i am really happy with, i think every e30 that knows where it came from deserves a pair!

goosiegander wrote:Just clocked that this is another 320i in brilliant red from Stephen James, like mine, but not the number of doors...

Stephen James have a few dealerships now, not sure how many they had back in the 90's though? Your car is a weapon, would love to do something similar but keeping mine on the road in good condition is my main priority, and the 2.0 and long rack with open diff is quite nostalgic!

That is a lovely looking car...very tasteful changes you have made there

tha881 wrote:

pony wrote:Love the BMW Dealer number plates

The plates i am really happy with, i think every e30 that knows where it came from deserves a pair!

I can't decide whether to get some retro BMW Dealer number plates of the original supplying dealer made by Pukar (L&C Tunbridge Wells) or New Genuine BMW Dealer number plates from one of my nearest BMW Dealers such as BMW Berry Chiswick or BMW Park Lane ?

pony wrote:

tha881 wrote:

pony wrote:Love the BMW Dealer number plates

The plates i am really happy with, i think every e30 that knows where it came from deserves a pair!

I can't decide whether to get some retro BMW Dealer number plates of the original supplying dealer made by Pukar (L&C Tunbridge Wells) or New Genuine BMW Dealer number plates from one of my nearest BMW Dealers such as BMW Berry Chiswick or BMW Park Lane ?

If you buy plates from a dealer they will have wrong-for-E30 era font. The current post ?2001? font is too narrow

Retro of pucka

rh306 wrote:

pony wrote:

tha881 wrote: The plates i am really happy with, i think every e30 that knows where it came from deserves a pair!

I can't decide whether to get some retro BMW Dealer number plates of the original supplying dealer made by Pukar (L&C Tunbridge Wells) or New Genuine BMW Dealer number plates from one of my nearest BMW Dealers such as BMW Berry Chiswick or BMW Park Lane ?

If you buy plates from a dealer they will have wrong-for-E30 era font. The current post ?2001? font is too narrow

New Genuine BMW Dealer number plates will have font from 2008/2009 to present