E30 Zone

So after being a member on here for some time i decided to pull my finger out and show you guys what the plans are and where im at ...

The over all idea is to see if you can buy an e30 and fit an s50b30 and have it on the road tax, tested and insured all for an initial outlay of under 2k

To make this possible rather then just going and buying items i need to complete the project ive gone and brought the whole car and broken it for parts (i know the purists out there are going to hate this) just to get the item ive needed and any extra money i make can then go towards buying the certain items that are more difficult/expensive to buy

i first started with a cheap e36 318ti compact for the obvious 5 stud conversion and the complete rear beam




This is how it looked just before it left my ownership ...



During this time i had be looking through many differant websites, car adds and even facebook for an e30.
Bare in mind the budget of £400 being tight i couldnt afford to be to picky, my only stipulation was that the shell had to be solid with either no or minimal rust (if such thing exists) but has luck would have it i found a little gem that had been sat in a muddy field/lock up for the past 5 months ...

316 auto in alpine white 2, absolutely solid shell with the only sign of rust being under the boot rubber seal around 2 inches long on the drivers side



The previos owner even threw in a manual pedal box and new passenger side rear light cluster

Once the compact was out of the way i went to pick up the main part of the puzzle that i had already secured a deposit on but due to limited space on the driveway i couldn't collect until the compact was gone ...

95 e36 M3 3.0
113,000 miles
full service history
18' schnitzers
new brakes all round
full scorpion exhaust
cruz control
electric rear windows




Obviously within a matter of a few days the looks of her changed a little



With a lot of the main "sellable" parts gone im currently gathering other items ie;
clio break servo
a pair of TRS 3'' 4 point harnesses
cobra fixed bucket seats
All power flex bushes for the rear beam
750i break master cylinder

The plan this weekend (if the weather holds out) is to remove the remainder of the M3 interior and put it up for sale and and then hopefully get the engine,box and diff out of the e30 ready to put up for sale all while trying to search for other items on the "to buy" list

Any thoughts good or bad welcome

Nice project you got going on.

Have you started to strip down the E30 to see how solid the shell is (as most of the cancer shows up once you start taking things off) ?

Also have you started with fitting the 5 stud conversion as you have already stripped the compact?


Keep up the picture diary a‘a

You must be a great hit with the neighbours!!!

Thanks Fastroad
when i picked the e30 up it was already stripped to the bare interior wise except the dash as i think the previous owner intended to use it for drifting so had a nosey then and all seemed well,
i do think it may have a small leak in the sunroof though as it did seem damp after the heavy rain we had recently plus i intend to fit a sunroof blank at some point any way.

No i havnt got around to fitting it just yet, in the process of stripping it to be painted and new powerflex bushes fitted, plus im hoping to find a Z3M diff before it comes to refitting it so itll save me time/hassle/money in the long run

Thats one of the first things people say Gert although ive never had any complaints,i think its because everything is usually coverd by tarpaulin when its not being tinkered with lol

Fair play matey! I recognise that M3, i'm sure i'd seen it for sale recently

Not sure it's this M3 buddy, it's been sat in someone's rear garden for nearly 5 months rotting, that being the main reason it's perfect for a donar car as the engine was regularly run but the car itself never moved, hence the massive rust holes in the passenger inner arch and battery tray

no fookin way would i go near that



how much was the m3 ?


best of luck with your project......be safe

Admittedly she does look a little sorry for herself but it'll be worth it in the end

Let's just say it was a good enough price for me to not even barter lol

Looks good, I love to give myself a target/budget, both of which never formulate. Aslong as the M3 was cheap and you are happy buying second hand parts over new then I dont see why it couldnt work?

Interesting so far, keep it up. E36 are nothing special in my book so feel free to frag as many as you want to keep the E30 alive

87mtech27 wrote:Interesting so far, keep it up. E36 are nothing special in my book so feel free to frag as many as you want to keep the E30 alive

Amen to that....

2k is a tight budget, even for a m52 with some extras. I assume breaking both e36's will allow you to spend over 2k total once broken and you get some money for them? Good luck building!

Yes jozi that's the basic idea, I just want to have an initial outlay of 2k, any money made back will just be put straight back into the project, for instance as it stands I have a free m3 engine and box

Nice, thats good going. Might have to challenge myself to something like to some day!

Nice way to do a project. I'm trying to stay on a strict diet of only funding parts on my touring from sales of my previous E30. Sure a lot of people on here do it that way too..

*SMALL UPDATE*

Weather managed to hold off today long enough to get a few bits done.

Started by stripping the exhaust from the m3 which was a stubborn s**t to say the least resulting in the need for an angle grinder

Then it was on to the the e30 unplugging all the necessary wiring ready to pull the engine and box out this weekend if the weather holds on and im not yet again called into work.




Radiators also loose but typically i dont have the right size spanner to remove the two pipes running to the bottom of the rad (power steering i believe)

Also got round to clearing up the interior or rather lack off lol.
only problem i seem to have is that it has a manual sunroof which at some point has had the handle removed along with other components and doesn't seem to sit flat where it is supposed to so it allows a very small leak into the interior of the car, dont suppose any one knows how to fix this as after all my fettling it still seems to allow water in ?

current state of the interior


Once the engine and box are out ill be breaking them both if anyone needs any bits


Ohhh and my collection of parts is beginning to grow



Just awaiting my special delivery from germany so keeps your eyes peeled

*UPDATE TIME*

Well its been far to long since the last update so here goes .....








Engine out, its a bit of a struggle with the gearbox still attached but a little fettling and it broke free ... eventually




so my akg engine mounts arrived so time for a test fit,must admit i wasnt to impressed with how the engine sits as it seems slightly high on one side.
Did a little reading and it seems a common problem so i thought id leave it to settle over night and see how it was in the morning, luckily theyd settled and the engine sat flush.




With the engine back out and delivered down to sean at iridium engineering for the ARP rod bolts to be fitted and the engine to get a once over to check clearances and condition in general.
Im happy to say i received a phone call not long after to say both the engine and box are both in top condition.

While sean was off working his magic i cracked on with both the 5 stud conversion and the z3 steering rack with some help off some good friends.

Big thanks to DanThe for both the power steering pipes and the wireing conversion,both top work.











Finally rolling on 5 stud,all be it looking like the old "donk" style drag cars (the only wheels avaiable to fit over the E36 evo front brakes)



So with the car delivered to iridium for the engine conversion my initial plan was to just have the engine fitted but sean being the perfectionist he is refused to let the car leave in such a state as he put it with faded paintwork so after a lengthy discussion we come to an agreement .... the engine bay was painted ...







After painting, the clio servo was fitted along with the VW 25.4mm master cylinder and all new brake lines were made and braided lines added.
A wilwood brake bias valve was added for pure ease when it came to the final setup.



I then went and got a little carried away on ebay ...





With the agreement being with sean to keep cost down that he'll work on the e30 when he can rather then a constant project that would no doubt amount to 100's off hours in labour i sent off the m3 plenum,cam cover and plug cover to be powder coated in black, once thats back the engine can be cleaned and then painted

The arches where under sealed as a precaution.







Just awaiting coilovers that according to bc raceing are being made to my specification .... needless to say ive been sat at the front door like a waiting dog for the postman ......

So they finally arrived
Z3m coilovers with e30 top mounts, both camber and damper adjustable.



Unfortunately won't get the chance to tinker with it until next weekend but I'm hoping I'll also get the engine sat back in for one off it's many trial test fitments.

Is there any does and dont's in regards to test fitting the engine apart from the obvious ?