E30 Zone

Seeing as my B3 thread has gone awol in the doomed e36 section!

thought i'd stir this up in this bit as we all look in here more


The B3 as some of you know is going manual.

Heres my stash, 5 speed box and 2.93 LSD being the main bits here. I picked this lot up along with the prop and a couple of other bits off an early 328 sport in my local scrappy. Couldn't believe my luck especially when he said £80 for the box and £50 for the slipper. The other bits came free. I had the pedals, hardline for the clutch hydraulics and clutch slave/master left from my old 328. Plus a braided clutch line, no clutch delay valve wrongness either. So not going too bad on the money front






Ignore the M20 flywheel as i picked this lot up today








Valeo solid flywheel and clutch kit for a e36 328. List price from ECP is £450 but thanks to powellys "contact" i got this little lot for cost plus 5% so £189.

Yes its heavier than an M20 setup but i think theres some good reasons to stick with this. Torque being one factor. This isn't no e30 either as theres probably 200kgs extra weight in the car itself to haul about. 9inch rear rims.

I just couldn't had a cheaper result, yes its heavier but the clutch is much more manly to take it. I only want to be here once






Very similar to the dual mass really, its 11kgs. It won't be once it leaves my Dads workshop for a trim on the lathe!

Whats the dual mass weigh on these anyone?

I got the scales out and had a tinkle

This setup with clutch also is 18kgs

A stock M20 setup is 15kgs

So a lighter M20 flywheel and clutch is going to be around the 13kgs total mark for most people.

I'd like to know the stock weight of the clutch and dual mass on a e36 328i for comparison.


So for the price of a 6 speed box where 5 speed manual with a slipper and a brand new clutch flywheel. I like this idea alot more plus with the manual 328 gearing it will have good m-way legs and still be quick.

All i really need is another alpina gearnob if anyone has one they'd like to sell.

I also had the rear anti roll bar off the sport as it had "anus" suspension and this bar 18mm thick compared to the stock 14mm item on the B3, if it upsets the handling i'll take it off.

Rims are in for refurb and theres a gold decal kit to go on! So that will only leave some bigger front brakes and it will be done for now.......................

I weighed my nearly new dual mass and clutch at 18kg Si, I also weighed a standard M20 fly and clutch at 15 so your not far off!

That clutch plate is the same they use in 2 litre E34's BTW, they also have a great big fook off solid flywheel just like the new one you have there

i reckon we can get a good 2-3 kgs off that fly. A new M20 clutch is what £140 now anyhow?

Looking good Si!

i only used the bathroom scales nothing fancy!

That gearbox and diff was a bargain, nice work

WTF happened to the B3 thread?!

And E36 chat being down the bottom SUCKS!!!

is this it ?

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 32&start=0

it's sh!t down there so i thought i'd carry on here. No doubt Brian will be along shortly to reprimand me

Hi all

The e36 forum is a bit trial and error at the moment, if you got suggestion for the e36 forum let me know!

Si, if you want your B3 thread move to this forum, let me know.

Bring the e36 forum back up with other BMW chat where it belongs not right down the bottom where no one goes.

bss325i wrote:Bring the e36 forum back up with other BMW chat where it belongs not right down the bottom where no one goes.

This^^^ I forget its there...


Good move going Manual also i cant wait to see it in its gold war paint.

I seriously don't know where you find the time to do all this Si...!!!

suchy wrote:I seriously don't know where you find the time to do all this Si...!!!

Man enjoys his work, gets stuck in! Rest of us just faff about

Bargain find in the scrappy too!

Billy bargain at the scrappy Si! Not sure what I think to the manual swap atm.. However, looking forward to the end result!

Z3 on bricks is PROPER council btw..

oh yeah the wheels are being refurbed thats why!

Well i've been on hols for a week in Devon which was nice.

I took a few pics of the place. It was by the sea..............




on the drive, mind that tide......................................






Tide out




Tide in! twas a mega old place in a tiny villaged called Lee near Iffracombe in Devon. Anyhow it used to be a water mill for 400 years then became a tea drinking shop, tabacconist. Interesing place and area. Its been altered alot but its all in keeping.


Anyhow i'd only been home an hour and the phone wouldn't stop ringing! Long story short theres a scrap metal type guy about 15mins from home breaking a boston green m3 evo cab and theres some bits on it i might like.

So heres what i came home with





struts, roll bar,rack, hubs with the brakes complete. Plus the 6 speed box. £125!

The cars had a rear end shunt and its been utterly raped. Its still got the rear axle minus the passenger hub and brakes. The LSD is still there and propshaft. Not sure how much he'd want for it. I might have it though

I'd quite like a 6 speed box. I've never had 6 gears before! Plus i could then use the 3.15 diff to get the acceleration up even more as i'd have the overdrive 6th gear for the m-way work and mpg's. Also of note which excited me somewhat is a guy on the Alpina forum has a manual B10 e39 3.2. Same engine but manual in the heavier 5 series. His car pulls 14.1 1/4's and a 5.9 to 60mph. holy moly!

What i'd like to know is can i use the front half of the evo prop and mate it to the 328 rear. Get it balanced and that saves the ball ache of rear axle swapping. Plus will my 328i clutch and fly work in the 6 speed box?







Sexy wheels back from refurb, new tyre valves. badges rubber rings. They look nice. Thanks to Powelly for sorting that






My drivers side mirror has not worked since i bought the car, plus the base plate has some corrosion. Hence why i had those wing mirrors off the evo cab. The base plates don't interchange so that f**ked that idea. Any how a quick look showed this, snapped power wire. I didn't realise the mirror was heated but makes sense considering the spec of the car.







plug cut from spare loom and soldered on and all is working again. My kind of fix that is, so now really everything works on the car!






The 3.2 had fallen off this ting. Some arroldite has cure this plus i've aquired some cover plugs for this cover and the rocker as they were all missing when i bought the car





Check out the spring pad! 21mm I've had enough of the rear end scraping when the backs loaded. 4 people in the car and the exhuast is pinging off manhole covers and the rear wheels are rubbing on the inner arch and the rear edge on the inside of the bumper. No good. 9 inch rears with 255 tyres may look good but not for everyday abuse my tourings get!

Saggy old springs maybe but have you seen how much alpna springs are!




original alpina eibach springs. This is the alpina part number


So some before and afters.














A minor difference that should hopefully help. The 21mm pads are listed on the etk as Eastern europe! or poor roads package. The other sizes listed are 5mm 7.5mm or 10mm i didn't think these would alter the ride height enough to help. I'll see how these settle down a bit.






These evo calipers will come up a treat. The pistons are mint behind the dust sheilds. So they look like a good set of servicable calipers. The pads and disks are shot






They're pretty light these discs. I still need to get an evo master cylinder though




As i gather you need the hubs too if you want evo front brakes so i have these, but a bolt snapped Should be able to get this sorted. Looking more closely to the wishbones and lolipop bushes. This car had standard e36 arms fitted and lolipop bushes!

Do i need evo arms for this to all work? I've got stock arms but with eccentric lolipop bushes fitted. Bit lost here so need to read up a bit





Are these top mounts of any use to me also? Or should i just sell them on. I won't be using the shocks or anything as ill keep the alpina springs and bilsteins.

Do evo's use a different steering rack?

All go but some more choices to be made

You can sell me the E30 brakes as a thank you for hooking you up with all that Evo frag!

Wow that's awesome stuff going on there. I think this Touring will be hard to beat as the ultimate all- rounder. Good work

Nice wagon and setting!

That's some chariot you're building there Si, good work!

Your wallet will also be pretty light once you have replaced those discs!
You need an E46 3 turn rack on there Si, never mind the M3 tat

Nice wagon!

RE the rack i was thinking i might relieve the wifes old Z3 of its rack before i sell it. It can have a stock e36 rack i've got spare

I've read a brillaint thread on the e36 forum. If i get the evo propshaft all else i need is the 6 bolt diff input shaft. Fit this to my diff and off i go bolt in 6 speed without the need for an entire rear axle change. The stock 328 clutch fly i have will all fit. The m20 fly and clutch will also go. As in the write up the guy has fitted an 6 speed box with the m20 flywheel mod.

I can use the 3.15 diff then. I like this idea, also i found a few jobs that should be done to a 6 speed before you fit it. Detent kit?! you can buy this as a kit from BMW to fit to any pre 2000 built 6 speed boxes. Theres a potential with the old design that the box can lock into gear?

Are these 6 speed boxes as bad as internet folklore says? I'm not an animal, the worst this car will get is the odd beasting up santa pod and maybe 1 -2 trips to the the ring. The rest is road use and i'm no clutch kicking drift hero anyhow.

whats wrong with the Alpina Switchtronic has it packed up ?

no, i want it manual.

But you could probably sell it (via the Alpina register in the BMW Car Club) to recoup some of your outlay?

i shall make a space for all the switch tronic parts in my garage and sell it all with the car when the time comes.

Fair one - if the new owner is an OEM homo he can undo all the manual rightness!

indeed i doubt there will be a que for it with the milege when i'm done but you never know!

i've had a thought. Seeing as 6 speed is now the order of the day. If i kept my current diff and had an LSD unit built into it.

The ratio is 3.46 it would go like a bloody rocket. You'd really need that 6th gear though for the motorway as 80mph would be 3000rpm.

it would still give a silly gearing of 150mph at 7000 in 5th and a potential 180mph in 6th which is never going to happen.

Even 30mph in 1st and 60mph just in 2nd gear. Would be a good 1/4 miler

Depends what you want from the car TBH - do you want an epic dragster what will go like a rocket but will be a PITA on a daily basis or a quick, practical family wagon that you can still have a bit of fun in now and again? Depends what your needs are really.

thing is looking at the gear calculator its gearing won't be too short really it. It'll just be bloody quick, it is anyhow tbh but this would really make it go! Can't hurt

I can always change it back to 3.15 if its too much i suppose