E30 Zone

well, i sold the 318itds touring

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... sc&start=0


and bought a 318ti compact, with the usual options but very unique paint, bmw individual special order blue, eisblau. i just wish it had Air con.

any ways, it came with some lovely (NOT) extras like projector indicators, lexus rear lights and M roundels which were removed as soon as i got it home

whent over it mechanically an it was fine and then it was detailing time ! it had a few swirls so some paint correction will be needed

i had few ideas for the car but we'll come to them shortly......

Detailing

started with a de greace to clean off all products on the car using a foam lance, and some TFR ( traffic film remover) also, the engine bay was done and the door shuts, boot shuts, and under the arches.

next up was claying the car, then re wash with some bilt hammer snow foam. just before doing that, all the plastic trims were removed and so were the door mouldings and any badges.

then it was time to mop the car, 1st up was using some g10 to lightly cut back the paint and remove some swirls. did a couple of passes with this, then did the car again using autoglym super resin polish. this brings back some life into the paint and helps with de swirling. after that, a glaze coat by machine again, used Chemical Guys EZ creme glaze. a quick wipe down with meguires last touch, then finshed the car off with some Autoglym HD wax, then wiped the car down again with the Megs last touch.

windows clean with fast glass, trims with autoglym, tyres dressed, leather was wiped down dash cleaned and again wiped down with autoglym.

engine bay was then dressed with Aerospace 303.

in all i'd say a solid 16 hour detail.

Looks immaculate,colour is an acquired taste though I think?

it takes some getting used to and extreamly camp, but i'm happy with it now and the girls love it too

so, there it is. it stayed like that for a while and just used it getting me from A to B. i picked up set of M tech side mouldings which tie in better with the bumper mouldings

i toyed with the idea of selling it as i wasnt sure on the colour

BUT inspiration came in the form of 328i saloon........

it belonged to mate and he needed the cash quckly so i made an offer and took it off him. stripped as much as i could off it, sold off the M3 klit, sports seats etc and kept the M52 donk which is low milege aulisil engine. it came with decent indution kit and s truf brace which i could use when i move it into the compact

now, i know my way around cars quite well, but the job of the engine swop when to DanThe, a top guy who knows his way around these engines. so he got the car and engines and i left it with him for a week. not only did he get the M52 in for me, he fitted an M50 inlet manifold, a lightened m20 flywheel ( m20 fly is 8.9 kg, mine is at 5.5kg, stock m52 one which is 11kg) added new started motor and sachs clutch. we kept the ews and made an exhaust sytem for me to get me back home.

the drive home was fun, 1am no traffic job done lol

2 things flagged up on the way home, i need for proper exhaust system and the need for an LSD. the original diff was a 3.38 small case diff, the original 328i diff was 2.93. i like the shorted diff, but it was buit too short.

so i dug out an 3.25 LSD from my pile otf diffs and fitted that, later down the line i'll upgrade the shafts to e30 M3 ones which are touch thicker and use the beefier M3 output flanges. the diff bolts up fine but a few tweeks had to be done.

exhaust, i kept the stock 328i system including the cats X pipe and resonator, but had custom made system made up for the rear section. twin 2" to rear silncer with 2.5" outlet and oval pip which keeps the car looking quite subtle from the back

very happy with the sound as well. ar crusinf rpm it quite, low rpm it burbles and at high rpm it howls and compliment the induction kit

some more pics....



a machined m20 flywheel to fit m52



my effort







nice and subtle

when dan had the car he did a diagnostics check for me 2 fault codes flaged up, an O2 sensor and a Vanos jam, he cleared them and i had them checked again and they re appered. the vanos issue means it needed new seals, the O2 sensor was replace

had the car flash mapped as well, and it made healthy 216bhp and 205ft/lb of torque. the torque is quite good, it comes in at 1800 rpm at 180ft/lb and holds that peaking at around 5k. a nice useable power band. the vanos issue showed up on the power run as well

so, after all that we think once the vanos issue is sorted and working correctly, ditch the cats and at a BBTB i'll be up to 230 bhp.

oh, the flywheel......... the thing revs hard in every gear and pulls up to 140mph cleanly and quite quickly.

at santa pod it ran the quarter mile in 14.4 seconds crossing the line at 96mph
a g tech timer clocked its 0-60 at 6.2 seconds

so, for 2 to 3 weeks i kept it as it was, stock looking with m52 power and upset all the local rice rockets. type r's DC integras , a coulpe of silvias, e46 330's

ok, some cars it wont win a race against them, but its fun enought to piss them off when they all think its 318i

just seen your write up in TBMW, nice little chariot I'd often thought these would be the next best thing once cult status and rust takes E30's out of the 'fun cheap car' price range and you've proved it

ok, on to the suspension now. the orginal suspension on the car was ok. bilsteins on the fornt with what i belived were H&R shocks, but the car needs bigger better braks, so 17" wheels would be needed. and with my love of dished wheels coilovers would be required to get the stance right. i got some coilovers from a mate were ment for a saloon so the rear shock were way to long. they also turned out to be Jamex with the blue springs, not bilsteins as i was told they were. these are fine for the job of lowering the car to get the right satance, they worlked fine on my previous car a e36 touring and the handling is pretty good, the touring had no issues with them with hard road driving and on the trip to the ring

front when on with no dramas and on the back i've used new boge gas dampers from a Z3. thinker damper than the gas ones for a compact and they'll still allow the back end to squat a bit. i was thinking about e30 Bilsteins ( from an M3) but they were a bit too stiff, and GSF came up trumps on the Boger dampers and give a good discount

also fitted new ARB links rods, new top mounts and e30 M3 eccentric wishbone bushes and ARB mount bushes will be done next time i get the car on a ramp as well as ZM diff bush

so i got the allighnment done and then i fitted some new wheels

i did have some AC type 2 split rims which a mate off loaded to me to shift for him to clear his debt with me. i was thinking about fitting them, but i've got the following wheels.....







Uber rare BBS RSII's 8x17 et 15
which will be rolling on falken FK452 rubber

gareth wrote:just seen your write up in TBMW, nice little chariot I'd often thought these would be the next best thing once cult status and rust takes E30's out of the 'fun cheap car' price range and you've proved it

cheers mate , the car is silly fun

dips loves it, demlot and simon 13 think its hoot to drive, and so does every one else whos driven it or been for pax lap in it

This car is a really nice package and the compact is growing on me all the time.

The M52 is a lovely bit of kit, I'm really enjoying mine, just got to wring it's neck everywhere

E30BeemerLad wrote:This car is a really nice package and the compact is growing on me all the time.

The M52 is a lovely bit of kit, I'm really enjoying mine, just got to wring it's neck everywhere

its grown on me, i was looking at coupe's at 1st but i wanted something different. i was offered a nice 328i sport in px and was temped but i chose to go with the odd ball option

re the m52, the m50 inlet transforms them and the lightened flywheels makes it a screamer, and hard to drive sensibly

so the car as it stands at the moment



suspension settled a bit more





sitting nose down



rear arches have been rolled, and i can go lower on the front but its fairly low as it is.

next up is get some different rear springs and go lower because i think i does need some ballancing if i bring the front down 10mm more

got a few options for a front bumper/spolier. i may go down the m3 route with some subtle customising and a 330i brake conversion is waiting to go on

I think it looks perfect at this

good thread! ill be watching this one keep up the good work dude! colours diffrent but diffrents cool!

DanThe wrote:I think it looks perfect at this

Me to!

I'm beggining to warm to the idea of compacts when they can be made to look as good as this!

When can i take it for a spin?

compacts are cool that's my take on them...............

Dan I think its pretty much dead on, maybe just maybe a little lower

Barry, if you come to ace cafe you can take if for a spin mate.

love the colour

Alex wrote: love the colour

lol its only taken me 3 months to get used to it

Those wheels transform it. Awesomes.

Luvly jubbly fella, love it!

well its been a while since i made an up date on the turd.

i have put it up for sale, however i'm not too fussed if it sells or not. as its stands the car has been super reliable and fun to drive.

what have i done in the last few months, well i did fit an M50 fuel rail cover as the m52 sits too high and doesnt fit in with the inlet manifold. it fits ok, but it didnt think it looked right

m50 one required a couple of mods to fit, but its all done now. this also needed to be done because i have strut brace to go on at some stage and a rear one to go on too

a new new gear nob, well that got fitted a few months back, but the other thing i have is new steering wheel to get rid of the factory bmw bus effort. the gear nob is BMW weighted one from an e46

momo champion, with the top section re trimmed in alcantara with contrasting stiching. i asked the trimmers to add some more detail into the stitching for me, and i'm well chuffed with it

so interior is pretty much as it was when i got it, just few small changes done. at some stage i'll re do the piping on the drivers bolster as its starting to perish a bit. i quite fancy some black headlining and a/b/c pillar trims. but for now.........





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the only issue it has was tempremental heater which turned out to be f-king air lock , combined with faulty heater valve. it was probably the worst time of year to not have heating in the car lol. so, while that was sorted, drained the coolant and refilled it with fresh coolant, and replaced couple of other water pipes and connectors just as precaution. also its generaly a good idea to refresh the coolant in any engine every 2 years, especially alloy block engines, also fitted a BBTB which was kicking about.

front bakes, the original brakes were non vented stuf, ok on the road but the pads were stock and didnt like being worked too much. they have last for only 4 months lol so long overdue an upgrade

i was going for an e46 330ci set up and huge 325mm discs but the kit i had line up is not available now. so i'm removeing all the existing braking system and fitting 328i front calipers with vented disk. the dicks going on are brembo "max" discs and i'll be using EBC red for pads. they work from cold and up to the job of fast road use. i may upgrade to yellows depending on how i get on with these. problem with yellows is they need a bit of heat to work and they give off a LOT of dust, not good for polished BBS lips. the Brembo MAX disc has had great reviews from people who do lots of track work in 328i, which when mildly stripped are about the same weight as my compact. No issues like cracking and they are proven brand. i was going to go for the new EBC Ultimax disc but they are un proven, but visualy look better. so after talking it over with neil from auto mac i whent for the brembos. rear discs are fine, but i'll be matching them with some EBC reds on the back as well. also, i'll be fitting new brake lines, with any luck braided ones if Auto mac can source me a set for the compact. all the brake fluid is being replaced by ATE superblue fluid.

also, i'll be changing the oil and filter, fuel filter, plugs new ARB bushes, diff bush and front control arm bushes for e30 m3 eccentric. i'll get the tracking done, some of this is all precaution because i have every intention of doing a track day and i want to be 100% sure its mechanincally perfect.

whats works on the road, can fail on the track. and with track work in mind i've gone and bought some track day wheels, 8 x 15" et25 compomotives with Kumho track day rubber, tyres in this size are cheap and the wheels will clear the brakes and coilovers, thankfully i didnt get the 330i brakes, as that would have required a new servo and master cylinder and 17" track wheels in the appropriate off set.

finaly, i need to fit some new vanos seals ( thanks to danThe for sorting these out) as the vanos comes up with "lock" fault code and and fit a couple of O2 sensors as well as one of them flags up on the diagnostics every now and then. it was cleared and was fine but still at times you can feel thats its not working as it sould. at some stage i'll be getting custom centre exhaust section, once thats done i'll be going on the rollers for a mapping session. jason over at B&W has a few ideas to get more power out of the car.


so just few things, but will get it all sorted over the next few weeks with any luck

so much for selling it

awesome thread the car looks stunning,really like it.i miss my dakar yellow compact that was a lovely motor but i did get a bit bored with it.

great work, wicked colour..what shade/name is it?

rhubarb wrote:great work, wicked colour..what shade/name is it?

eis blau.v.nice colour nice and different

well

9 years later it is pretty much done
passed its MOT and had a quick road shake down !

[url=https://flic.kr/p/EZQa1a][url=https://flic.kr/p/EZQa46][url=https://flic.kr/p/GwdbxN][url=https://flic.kr/p/GwdbxN]

Not a bad timescale for you Kos. Looks almost to clean to track it!

It's looking great Kos, still M52?

Steve wrote:It's looking great Kos, still M52?

Cheers steve

Yep. Still M52 and that'll do for now

Bodgemonkey wrote:Not a bad timescale for you Kos. Looks almost to clean to track it!

Cheers mustafa

Car looks minted Kos.

Builds track car and then parks it in the garage

Track days all booked then?