This true story will make you weep... E30 M3 3.2 Conversion

[MFree]

Its funny how small things make such a different innit?

The rear tyres ARE way too tall, 45's not 40's or 35 profile. And also there ae no center caps! Thats a small thing but makes such a difference..

dont worry, they look the Dogs nadgers in the flesh... its weird the M3 is one of those cars that never looks as good in a photo as in the flesh, unless the photo is of it moving.... odd... you need to get the angles right and Im not that experienced in photoing cars...

Just got to sort this pesky Angel Eye ring that bust then its good to go...

Ian - the Airbox design will be Folded aluminium box, as per any other type of airbox its designed to pick up cold, dense air supply from the front of the car and do its best when the car is stationary to minime the amount of warmer air being sucked in... I think it will have an ITG type foam filter at the front and a fixing kit to connect it air tight to the air mass meter.

I am not going to bother to setup the engine till this is done, Im just slapping a basic cone filter on it to go down to K2 with it first...

dunno about cost. Simons a mate but does stuff like this for a living and it is a custom Job, unless you wanna lose a headlight and fork out for the GruppeM style one which I think is way over £1000 to buy!

MFree

[MFree]

The car has it's MOT

I'm driving it home tomorrow...

Pinch me....

MFree

[dazleeds]

congrats fella

time to enjoy @ last

[MFree]

ta geez... there are a few issues to sort but its basically a go-er! Just tuning and fettling and setup

Will post some photos tomorrow

MFree

[Pal318is]

Finally. Well Done Dude

Pal

[bootyman]

[Ziggy]

Only a little bit more than 2 years after you started this thread...

I'm not sure whether to encourage you to 'enjoy' (:twisted:) it or be sooooo careful...!

[Geeman]

Great news that it's up an running fella... been a LONNNNNNNNNG time coming!

Looking forward to seeing it in the flesh!

[bryang]

Excellent news..pics ASAP please.........

[Geeman]

Yeah... PROPER pics!

[Jimbob]

Probably already been shunted up the arse on the drive home from the MOT place.... sorry! Couldn't resist.

LOTS of pics please!

[fuzzy]

its been a long time coming.drive home slowly tomorrow and dont do what i did and crash it within the first 24 hours how much do you think youve spent on this project all in over the years then?

[Moofles]

hey wow it's been so long i've even left the zone! lol! nice one though, i look forward to pics...

[MFree]

Don't ask me that question - I really have no clue - its been 8 years or more in total - If I hadnt been serially ripped off I rekon about £12k on top of the cost of the base vehicle - but given what happened over that time its more like double that...

Aint collected it yet - some trim covers (mickey mouse parts) are still not there with the car even though they aint in any way crucial except for aesthetics only - but theres also the small matter of no insurance...

I bet you cant imagine what the quote would be EVEN given max no claims and 35 years in age...

Best not to ask

MFree

[Wilson325i]

nice one rob, i must say the paint on that car is outstanding, i wanted to go with keith to the MOT station but had to get back to work.

took some pics for my own pleasure later on

[MFree]

thanks - yeah that was probably the one part of the car that came in at a bargain as anyone in their right mind would have charged £4k+ for that paint job, especially if you knew just how shite what was under it was!

[fuzzy]

is this the end of the longest thread ever then?

[johnono]

big up y´self Rob

good stuff , glad its sorted.

now.....

no excuses, lets have a round of decent pics for the lads!?

[MFree]

Here goes... at long F U C K I N last!!!

Reminds me of that quote in Sexy Beast where they are in the Restaurant at the start....

"No risk... No F***in risk? 9 Years of my F***in life and no F***in RISK!??"

(I'm havin the Calamari....)

[maxfield]

Looks awesome but somes got to say it get a proper M3 badge and put it in the right place

[MFree]

And even though I shouldn't have (it aint taxed yet although it IS MOT'd)
I drove it for about 10 minutes on Tuesday...

Ok the engine NEEDS a bigger fuel pump I think and DEFINITELY needs mapping properly but...

It's a Goddam ANIMAL!

To be honest it sounds like a Holden Commodore Aussie Touring Car V8!

Must be that Milltek exhaust....

Wheelspin in 3rd gear...

The suspension is hard but amazingly good ride....

Needs a pair of badges... fine tuning and sorting, a decent airbox a front and rear strut brace (when I get some super soft tyres) - but by god, it compares to my 340BHP Subaru Type R i used to own....

cept more bonkers!

I had to stop after 10 minutes because I was laughing so much...

Thats some good quality motor in there....

More to follow

MFree

[Andyboy]

Stunning.

Though we've had a few spats on here................

........well fackin' done mate. At last!

[MFree]

I just hope I can afford to keep it...

The 'Spats' you talk about (since 1997/8 involving now 7 separate garages/mechanics) have cost me in excess of £30k to build this car.

It should have been about £20k but for all of these wallies and tyre-kickers, but I'm about done financially with this and there is a small way to go to make it concours... maybe another grand or two.

My friend Mark said to me when we drove in it on Tuesday "Sell a kidney, shit man, sell a f***in testicle if you have to, just don't sell this car..."

I'm gonna try not to.

It's kind of irreplaceable really....

MFree

[Morat]

When you finish it, polish it. I don't want to be reading another 28 page thread of woe if you decide you wanted an M5 afterall

[Jhonno]

Rear strut brace will do nothing unless its a proper welded in one on an e30

but

Nice to see its finally finished! (nearly!)

[johnono]

glad to see it all in one peice finally

inside shots too please!

[buster]

rear strut brace does fuck all

[Kos]

well done rob, f-kin result!!! you finaly got there

looking forward to seeing it again, now its complete

[Andyboy]

rear strut brace does **** all

Agreed. The 'strut tops' are just there for the top shock mounts and fitting a brace will do precisely nothing as ther are not a load bearing member. It's only cars where the complete strut/spring assembly mounts in there (E21/E28 etc) that a brace will do any good.

But if it's a shiny bit of alloy, it'll look nice!

[buster]

rear strut brace does **** all

Agreed. The 'strut tops' are just there for the top shock mounts and fitting a brace will do precisely nothing as ther are not a load bearing member. It's only cars where the complete strut/spring assembly mounts in there (E21/E28 etc) that a brace will do any good.

But if it's a shiny bit of alloy, it'll look nice!

I must say,i've got one also
Bought it before i knew any better

[MFree]

Yeah its the same with a cage tho - its about how and where its fitted and how extensive it is...

There's alot of torque in that engines, as much as the Group A cars had, and under power with decent tyres Im sure it will create alot of flex in the rear of the car, increasing what is already an oversteer based stup on the M3 (not E30 type oversteer as the M3, as we all know, has different suspension geometry to the other models, I own both sorts and can testify to that) to one that makes the car hard to drive fast as its rear is too soft... the spring rates are perfect I think, but even with the shite tyres it has on now and probably 40-50 bhp down on where it could be I can feel the chassis flexing under power....

Hmm.

[jonb]

Rubbish

The chassis cant flex with that sort of power. It would take a massive blown engine with silly torque to twist anything. Listen to what your being told. Its not load bearing member as said.

Why is it hard to drive with a soft rear end? Stiffening up the rear suspension to much will make the car nasty, and hard to drive on the road.

[Ant]

Why is it hard to drive with a soft rear end? Stiffening up the rear suspension to much will make the car nasty, and hard to drive on the road.

soft rear is an aid to grip, the squat will tranfer weight over the driven wheels.... BUT, if the dampers are not matched to the spring rate, it could squat and then unload violently, with lots of wheelspin and break-away, not good.

Sounds like, apart from a few niggles and a final polish, Rob has got the car he wanted

[MFree]

So my M3 is back with Phil at CPC fine tuning and fettling... and guess what the play in the front suspension is down to... we find...?

Yes my new (unused albeit been around for about 5 years) Koni front shocks look erm... like "they have been kicked around the floor" and have more play in them than Simply Red (sadly)...

How can that be says me? They are UNUSED!

GTS Were competent but not that interested in doing a fine job, Moffat and Zoom were enthusiastic but cronically disorganised and distracted - leaves who?

Stratos.

And I swear if I ever see that thieving lying tosser Foster again, I will run the guy over with my car (Mike at BMC will be right behind me in his car and MANY others too)

So annoying... they aint cheap those either - to add to the £3-4k of other parts he stole off the car

Asshole

Having said that the car roles out in true 300 bhp guise on Friday...

MFree

[bottlecapE30]

Well done, it is really about time. Car sounds like a lot of fun