E30 Zone

project m30 e30 coupe under way

Having lost a lot of interest in completing my touring M30 conversion over the last few weeks i have now decided to complete an M30 conversion but this time on a clean white 2 door i recently purchased off Gareth
Not sure what the hell i'm going to do with my L plate Sterling Silver enginless touring now but i'm sure i'll think of something
Hopefully i'll make a start on the 320 tomorrow and 1st thing will be to take the fuggin steels and wheel trims off
Got a few bits to clean, paint and bolt to my engine yet but with renewed enthusiasm and a little less moisture in the air it won't be long

Thank feck for that, going by the thread title i thought you'd thrown in the towel

Andy335Touring wrote:Thank feck for that, going by the thread title i thought you'd thrown in the towel

No mate just gone back to what i originally wanted to do until i gave up all hope of finding a suitable 2 door and went for the touring as my second choice.
Still love tourings and will probably have a play with one of those when this is done

Andy whilst your about and being the 'font of all knowledge' Whats involved in sticking the touring legs onto the 320 is it a straight bolt on job as i suspect it is? Also what about the rear arms and discs etc...do they just bolt on as well??
Cheers Spadge...

so did eye you drama queen, any way enough of the chit chat give you a fiver for the touring

Spadge, Everything will swap across. You will be better off using the Touring struts as Tourers use the M-Tech items which are also found on the 325i sports. If memory serves me correctly they are 51mm diamter rather than standard 320i struts which are 49mm. I have done this conversion on my 320i.

The rear arms and discs will also fit on directly, the master cylinders are the same although I don't know if there is a brake bias valve in the 325i system to compensate for the different braking forces induced by having discs rather than drums at the rear.

TFFT I thought you'd given up again.

Better not give up on the touring though!

'font of all knowledge'

I don't know about that mate

Any way i'm too late, James has answered

Jamese30 wrote:Spadge, Everything will swap across. You will be better off using the Touring struts as Tourers use the M-Tech items which are also found on the 325i sports. If memory serves me correctly they are 51mm diamter rather than standard 320i struts which are 49mm. I have done this conversion on my 320i.

The rear arms and discs will also fit on directly, the master cylinders are the same although I don't know if there is a brake bias valve in the 325i system to compensate for the different braking forces induced by having discs rather than drums at the rear.

Thanks James
I know the tourers have the bigger legs up front hence the question about swapping them.
When swapping the rear arms is it easier to just drop the whole beam out as the bolts for the rear arms from memory look a ballache to get to whilst its all still bolted up

MattG i don't understand the 1st part of that sentence mate are you pissed As for the 2nd part dream on

March i will do something to a touring but not this one and not an M30

Andy i'm very disapointed in you mate

should have gone in 10:22pm , & yes i (eye) nearly

cool!

i think you should keep the steelies for the full sleeper effect though!

incidentally, BMW have saved you some work, that 320i already has rear disks as it's got ABS the front disks and pads are new too (only just run in), though some uprated pads would be worthwhile while you're at it.

if i were you, i'd drop the 325i struts on and fit an uprated suspension kit. the touring does have m-tech suspension but i'd still want more with a M30 in there. i seem to remember reading that the touring ARB's are thicker than a saloon too so these would be worth throwing on.

gareth wrote:cool!

i think you should keep the steelies for the full sleeper effect though!

incidentally, BMW have saved you some work, that 320i already has rear disks as it's got ABS the front disks and pads are new too (only just run in), though some uprated pads would be worthwhile while you're at it.

if i were you, i'd drop the 325i struts on and fit an uprated suspension kit. the touring does have m-tech suspension but i'd still want more with a M30 in there. i seem to remember reading that the touring ARB's are thicker than a saloon too so these would be worth throwing on.

Thats cool about the rear discs mate
If it wasn't for the bin lid wheel trims i might have noticed lol
I will fit the touring legs but the whole suspension will be renewed with uprated items and the car dropped a 'little'
I had thought of keeping the steelies for the sleeper look but they look feckin awfull so that thought didn't last long and my 15" BBS's will be on it tomorrow weather permiting
The ARB's are another good idea and i can see me having to rape the touring or buy another to rip appart lol

hell, why brake the habit of a lifetime, buy a few more for bits!!!

how about some VW/audi 15" steelies? or does the new mini come with 15" steelies at all?

If the tourer has original or oe replacement wishbones they should be aluminium.

Saves a bit of unsprung weight if they are!

2-door is the lightest shell too!

Glad you are on the case with it! I'm sure you will enjoy driving it.

DRIFTBOY wrote:If the tourer has original or oe replacement wishbones they should be aluminium.

Saves a bit of unsprung weight if they are!

2-door is the lightest shell too!

Glad you are on the case with it! I'm sure you will enjoy driving it.

Driving the E28 home yesterday gave me renewed vigour mate as that was fun
I'll check the front wishbones but suspect they have been replaced as has much of the suspension on the touring.
I was originally after a 2 door but ended up buying 4 tourings as i am kind of impatient and can't resist a bargain lol

I had an E28 once too - only a 528i though.
I loved driving it.
With the rear box replaced with some tubing it sounded great too!
Half my reason for going back to a BMW was the 6-cylinder noise!

Can you list all of the parts that are needed to put an M30 in an E30 tourer?

Matt, have a search, this has been asked rather a lot over the past year or two, should find what you need quickly.

15" VW Corrado steelies... nice.

[quote="gareth"]if i were you, i'd drop the 325i struts on and fit an uprated suspension kit. the touring does have m-tech suspension but i'd still want more with a M30 in there. i seem to remember reading that the touring ARB's are thicker than a saloon too so these would be worth throwing on.[/quote="gareth"]

Tourings do not have mtech suspension, yes they have the larger strut but the springs aint 325i sport caliber, my green turd handles like the titanic!!

It matters not about the suspension as that car isn't getting any more of my time after today
Back to plan A or a plan C? Or maybe i'll just buy a decent car and have done with it

Spadge, totally off topic but was that you i "met" on a roundabout one sunday just off the A5 bout 5 weeks ago?.I was in a red 325i cabbie with the top down and you(or not) asked if id like to swap. Think you were driving a black tourer with a couple of other blokes in it

gooner1 wrote:Spadge, totally off topic but was that you i "met" on a roundabout one sunday just off the A5 bout 5 weeks ago?.I was in a red 325i cabbie with the top down and you(or not) asked if id like to swap. Think you were driving a black tourer with a couple of other blokes in it

Not me mate

tomson wrote:Tourings do not have mtech suspension, yes they have the larger strut but the springs aint 325i sport caliber, my green turd handles like the titanic!!

i've read here and many other places that the tourings do have m-tech shocks at least. they need everything uprating to an extent to cope with an extra 20% more weight high up over the centre of gravity. i have nothing to back the claim though but i have read it a lot.

spadge, how does the E28 M535i compare to the E34 535i?

e28 feel faster and better to drive, but the e34 is smoother quieter and ultimately faster at high speed (better aerodynamics)

e34 a better car but e28 is generally much cooler.

amen!

Toby_Unna wrote:e28 feel faster and better to drive, but the e34 is smoother quieter and ultimately faster at high speed (better aerodynamics)

e34 a better car but e28 is generally much cooler.

I would agree totally with that but would add the E34 is built much better!

I'd have an E28 over an E34 anyday! (Not that I don't like E34s, they are very nice).

There's a black E28 near where I live - it looks sooo

They are great for a bit of "diffin" as it's being called on here at the moment!

[quote="DRIFTBOY"]I'd have an E28 over an E34 anyday! (Not that I don't like E34s, they are very nice).

There's a black E28 near where I live - it looks sooo

They are great for a bit of "diffin" as it's being called on here at the moment


If you like them that much then get 650 quid and you can have my old nail lol! Dogleg box , lsd , full leather Recaro's etc....

I wish I could! But I can't afford the car I've got never mind another one!

SPADGE wrote:

Toby_Unna wrote:e28 feel faster and better to drive, but the e34 is smoother quieter and ultimately faster at high speed (better aerodynamics)

e34 a better car but e28 is generally much cooler.

I would agree totally with that but would add the E34 is built much better!

i agree with that too!

my local bmw specialist (bmw mechanic for 25 years, self employed for 10 years) reckons the E32 and E34 are the best engineered bmw's ever. the newer stuff is all built to a price and apparently it shows!

gareth wrote:

tomson wrote:Tourings do not have mtech suspension, yes they have the larger strut but the springs aint 325i sport caliber, my green turd handles like the titanic!!

i've read here and many other places that the tourings do have m-tech shocks at least. they need everything uprating to an extent to cope with an extra 20% more weight high up over the centre of gravity. i have nothing to back the claim though but i have read it a lot.

spadge, how does the E28 M535i compare to the E34 535i?

Well i only know what ive experianced, ive had 2 tech II sports and about 8 tourings and the sports handle like no touring ive ever driven

HTH

fair enough, i've not owned a sport but have read about the touring spec in a few places.

if it's not 'sport' spec, it's probably still a bit better than the equivalent saloon due to the extra weight

you have a soft spot for tourings then?

Tomson the sports sit a lot lower than a standard touring and so are bound to handle better especialy with their lower centre of gravity.
The struts/legs are M tech and not the springs on a tourer.

a fettled touring is supposed to be better balanced than a saloon/coupe-but my tourer on a 60/40 cup kit with hnr antiroll bars,polybushed is not barge on bends anymore and does seem to defy graffity...lol touch wood

most touring suspension is shagged out high mile kit these days...my front shocks hadnt been done recently if ever and could literally pull them in and out like a loose accordian(spelling)


i dont have an accordian by the way!