E30 Zone

hi everyone! its good to see quality e30 enthusiasts in the UK! from all the videos and pictures ive seen of the e30s out there...its simply amazing =)

so yeah, im from California (USA obviously) and ive been recently been doing the ol' m52 swap on my alpine white (84)...
here are some pics i took early on in the process of the swap(youll notice a lot of things missing around the engine bay haha)

Engine : M52 2.8L
Suspension: Stock but with the addition of a set of shock absorbers
Brakes : ATE power disks
Wheels & Tyres: brand of wheels unknow.(currently doing 5 lug conversion to fit style 18s)
Exterior : stock.
Interior : stock. reupholstered driver and passenger seats. black/reddish
ICE : very close to setting one up.
Security: stock. ews2 system =)
Performance: havnet dynoed yet.
Future Plans: new mtech steering wheel, style 18 wheels, black headliner, and the ICE.


peace.







(yeah..they are sorta dirty but ill be cleaning them up soon =)

so yeah, hopefully ill be taking some updated pics of the swap...i need to finish up cleaning up the wires and stuff..get em organized.

Good luck Fella
Don't forget loads of photos when finished

Seats look okay, shame about those US spec bumpers. They really spoil the lines of the car, but then I suppose if you're used to seeing E30s with them maybe they don't.

Sorry, just rambling really, but good luck with your project. Should be a nice swift car once you've done it all.

tim-ix wrote:Seats look okay, shame about those US spec bumpers. They really spoil the lines of the car, but then I suppose if you're used to seeing E30s with them maybe they don't.

Sorry, just rambling really, but good luck with your project. Should be a nice swift car once you've done it all.

hahaha i 100% agree with you. ive been trying to source some good plastic bumpers(something out of maybe an IS)...over here they are sorta hard to come by.

eventually ill upgrade =)

BM-Bloke wrote:Good luck Fella
Don't forget loads of photos when finished

thanks. yeah these projects are never "finished" haha. will be taking pics though =D

hello mate -good conversion you got going...i must say the bumpers -think you lads call em dv... HUGE

i frequent e30 tech...some nice cars there too......anyway welcome and goodluck,keep us posted

Nice pic's bud...Good to see that you at least want to get the euro style bumpers

Definately post some pic's up once done....

The seats look quite nice actually, i'm warming to them...

Pal

I like those groovy brake discs - kinda nuclear!

a little updated pic...its a bit cleaner now

Nice! Thats going to be one quick ride.

Where can I get those awesome ATE powerdisks in the States? How much do they go for? What pads are you using?

Thanks!!!

yeah, its pulling nicely so far.

check it out, im not sure if ATE is still making the ones i got for the e30s but last i heard they started selling them again...you might want to try: http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html/sh ... Cat=Brakes

As far as the prices goes i really dont remember how much i got em for but i think it was 100 bucks per pair...something around there.

Looking good. An '84 as well? very early car then.

yeah 1984 325e. with its new soul it feels much rejuvenated

Looks like your project is coming along nicely. Would deff lose them huge bumpers and replace them with some european spec metal bumpers and an alpina or M tech front apron spoiler.

Keep us posted fella!

That engine looks lovely shoehorned in there!

Just out of curiosity, what are the circular things on either side of your kidney grille (the little ones, not your lights! )?

bss325i wrote:Looks like your project is coming along nicely. Would deff lose them huge bumpers and replace them with some european spec metal bumpers and an alpina or M tech front apron spoiler.

Keep us posted fella!

Thank you, and yes, believe me ive been trying to source a good set of bumpers. The particular set i want is from an IS model e30. Ideally though i would very much like the Hartge stuff. I remember checking out a pic in some forum of a nice silver hartge e30...the behind of that e30 looks VERY nice.

Alyman wrote:That engine looks lovely shoehorned in there!

Just out of curiosity, what are the circular things on either side of your kidney grille (the little ones, not your lights! )?

Thanks. Still needs a few things here and there to organize but its coming along pretty good i think.

and those little ones are in fact lights. I wanted to do something that made the car look a little different than the other e30s out there. personally, i dont think they look that bad...although the hardcore e30 purists would think otherwise. but its all good.

welcome to the zonemate i do like the seats will you post a pic of your interior when its done

shazE30 wrote:welcome to the zonemate i do like the seats will you post a pic of your interior when its done

thanks. yeah ill post pics, i havent been working on the interior much though...needs a lot of work. Its gonna be a while until I get it done.

jees those bumpers are pretty terrible! nice conversion though!

slinky2000 wrote:jees those bumpers are pretty terrible! nice conversion though!

you know what, i would be more than happy to cure your pain by allowing you to send me some plastic IS bumpers...really...i dont have a problem with you sending me some LOL.

yeah bro, i keep searching for some good ones to fit to mines but so far i havent come across some good ones. if you guys have ay info on some, i would really appreciate the info!

good luck man that will be a great car!

i like the fact this web site is world wide and we get some crazy people on here!

groovy bouncy bumpers !! Was it an option to have those or are they standard?? The car is looking very nice .

ric325i wrote:good luck man that will be a great car!

i like the fact this web site is world wide and we get some crazy people on here!

hahaha ill take that as a compliment

trevski wrote:groovy bouncy bumpers !! Was it an option to have those or are they standard?? The car is looking very nice .

thanks a lot.

yeah, standard..US spec deal. I really want to put some IS bumpers though.

If you're just talking about the plastic bumper setup on UK spec IS models then they're the same as the bumpers on all facelift cars over here (except the IS has a different clip on lip at the bottom).

Scrapyards over here are full of them. I think there's a lot of mucking about to fit them onto an early pre-facelift car like yours though, but it can be done. Depends how handy you are with the spanners/metal mods etc (or how deep your pockets are!)

Here's a link to a guide:

http://www.r3vlimited.net/Tech/bumper1.htm

I've read through a few threads with people having talked about/done it and the consensus seems to be that it's a big hassle and they will never look quite right (the rear arches on a pre-facelift are a different shape, causing the plastic bumper to look a bit out of place when fitted).

Your easiest choice would be to get your hands on a tech 1 kit. It'll bolt straight on and look nice and factory fitted.

hi guys, an e30 buddy of mine notified me of some 88 bumpers that were in an e30 at my local junk yard...to make the long story short i went and scoped it out and ended up purchasing the front valance, front bumper, rear pumper, and now i only need the front lip and a rear apron(i wanna get the racing dynamics one). I finished the front swap a few hours ago and it fit pretty good. here are some quick and dirty snapshots.
(yeah i havent cleaned up..lots of dirt and grease as you can see)

Oh yes, that's better. So much smoother with those bumpers instead of the American ones.

Nice work, it looks great.

yeah i agree haha...ive been wanting to do this swap for a while and finally got around to finding a set.