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

[MFree]

I would be surprised if my story leaves a dry eye in the place as it has driven me to utter desparation!

I began with a noble aspiration: to take a good E30 M3 (an Evo 2 shell as it goes) and convert it to accept a full-house Euro E36 M3 engine and box - I always thought this would be a great conversion, as the Alpina and Hartge cars used the much heavier 3.5 lump - no-one had done this back in 1999 when all this began so i wanted to be the first!

My goal was to create a near race-car on the road, no compromise or failing. So i bought a low mileage 3.0/5-speed combo and
was recommened to use GTS Motorsport (well known outfit, who won the 24 Nurbergring race last year in an E36 M3) by Ian Donaldson at Oakfields. They quoted around £4500, immediately they offered me a no-cost swap for a 3.2/6-speed that they as they wanted the 3.0 for a race car, so i agreed.

After 8 months of ALOT of flannel and professing how hard it was to do the conversion (despite the fact that i discovered later that a german outfit do the whole swap in 1 day!) including much moaning about 2 weeks for the electrics to be done, EWS bypassing etc etc (also lots of hidden costs for new ECU, EWS, BMW engineer etc) i finally heard it run and went to collect it.

They had fitted my new £2000 worth of Ground Control suspension (including strut-mod for coilovers, again much moaning about that as well, and all rose-jointed, which looked fabulous) and THEIR choice of larger calipes (Brembo) which were Lotus Esprit ones apparantly, so bulky that they force the wheel mating face about 15mm further out than it has to be, but anyway finally i got the car back, with an exhaust cobbled together from E36 bits so it would not fit in the center tunnel and an £8000 bill!

But it ran. At least it ran!

In addition, GTS had fitted ONE new Sparco Corse seat out of two (??) and my new 4-point harnesses, but the car needed details finishing, as despite having the engine in and out about 6 times (so they said) they did not think to fix a split in the inner wing or even clean the bay properly, but the car needed detail work done, I wanted a Rollcage and quick-shift and new spoilers etc before a new (proper) exhaust and paintwork was done.

So needing someone who wasn't going to rip me off further as GTS had done, I got recommended my Mosely Motorsport
(who were too busy to take it on) and others to Stratos Motorsport (a leading BMEW Race car team), who promptly took £1500 off me to begin work but whom unbeknown to me were soon being investigated for car ringing - so as they had done much more serious things, selling off many parts of my car and removing the engine and box to use in a race car probably did not even bother them!

In the end when i finally tracked them down (they had moved by then to avoid customers and suppliers who'd been ripped off) to find my car and an explanation, i got no explanation and the car minus engine and box, bonnet, bumpers, harnesses (basically anything that was not specific to my specific conversion) albeit with some 'persuasion' needed! I later discovered that my engine had been used in the race car that Mark Williams was killed in on qualifying lap 2 of the final round of the Kuhmo series in 2002.

It had hit a marshalls post at 140mph and Mr Foster was even prepared to lie about that fact too after such a terrible event! Appalling!

The engine was recovered by Bob at Life Motorsports (who run Andy Allen's E46 M3 still), who had agreed, out of sympathy mainly i think as everyone in the BMW racing community knew how much I had been ripped off so far, to piece back together this very sorry vehicle which had been wholly raped and ruined by Mr Foster, alas they did not have any time to do it,
so after another 6 months, it came back to my place and lay in bits on the drive for the summer of 2003

I then found specialist number FOUR through an old mate, to take on the onerous task of re-building what had been un-done by stratos motorsport, including sourcing many parts all over again. This was a guy working out of his own garage at home really and though very straight, the whole thing had again become PAINFULLY slow, the car seeming to create a 'jinx' of in-action yet again, until i again got fed up of ringing up for nearly a year to no progress at all - eventually as if by magic, he had gotten the car back together, all the drivetrain and plumbing back in, brakes and panels.

The car then went to an even more 'local' (for local read: non-professional)specialist whose job was to (if possible) sort out getting the motor running so exhaust and engine set-up could finally be tackled, as i had gotten back from Stratos with the car a box with all the wiring loom, ECU for the motor etc in it, assuming it was the 'matched' set s it would serve no purpose for anyone to keep that i thought!

This brings us to the present day where (for the 5th time now) after money spent and nearly 4 months having passed by, the last report was that the engine turns over (meaning they can connect up a starter motor, thats something i guess!) and that it at least is not destroyed internally, but has not run as such, yet.

So, having spent and respent in total now in excess of £17,000 on this project and needing the following to be done:

1) Engine running and custom exhaust built on the car
2) Engine set up for this exhaust without CATS
3) Seats and carpet fitting again
4) F/R Spoilers fitting (DTM rear and Evo2 + splitter up front)
5) Good paint job

I am now without anywhere to take it to be finished (and am naturally at the end of a seemingly endless teather) and desparate to complete the project. My mates told me at each sorry stage of this fiasco to give up and sell it for spares, but each stage has left me almost at breaking point but yet more determined to get it finished.

So PLEASE, anyone who can help, PLEASE recommend someone down south in London or anywhere on the way between here and lincolnshire where its coming from, who is CAPABLE and has the TIME to finish this project, so that what should have been YEARS ago can finally become the fantastic car it was intended to be! I have a suitable budget left, despite the fact that it should have been finished and finished WELL for the money already spent! I am just in need of someone who understands what doing a professional job MEANS - this would make my new year, it really would!

Many thanks in advance!

Revo M3

[MFree]

Basically, lots of members offered their condolances, support and suggestions for where to go next... I decided to opt for Zoom Motorsport as they have a track record and a good one with specialising in this specific conversion on the E30.

The more I heard about them the better i felt as it was ALL positive recommendations and no-one had a bad thing to say about them...

So - I arranged for them to collect the car and I arranged to go up on New Years eve to see them and the car... i shall return to the thread now...

Cheers

Rev is Dead - it's MFree Now - Ok my son? ;)

[MFree]

The car is at Zoom now. Jon got a big vote off my mate Chris who has been ferrying the car around for me, they know all the same guys he/we do - Russ, Bob at Life Motorsport, all of whom are good guys just very busy (and not thet knowledgeable about this specific conversion, which is the trouble most decent specialists will face - re-inventing the wheel). Jon can pretty much bolt his stuff onto my car, also Stratos had left *part* and i stress _part_ (the hoop and two front door bars) of a rollcage in there , so Jon rekons his guy can finish it - just an issue of how much lira for it..

ANyway, he's gonna decide if he uses my existing loom GTS did or how own one. It's only a £one-er anyway.

Then we'll all find out if that motor (and its torrid past) runs! Let's hope so!

One of the guys off here - Mr Cosworth himself, if hopefully gonna run me and my set of 17" wheels I got off Ebay (very cheap - £120 with tyres) up there on friday.
They are not my ultimate choice, but will do to run about on.

As I said to Jon, lots of folk will take an interest in this story/project, so it helps their business rep to do a good job, I am very confident in them anyway, they're making all the right noises!

I will keep the thread updated like a project journal and hopefully a nasty story can have a happy ending.

Till the next installment...

is there a trackday you guys attend where I could take the car to set it up properly as the ride height and damper settings are going to make a big difference to the handling?

Let me know - I'm looking for beginning of March.

Cheers

Rob

[MFree]

Got a call from John at Zoom this evening - my big worry was the engine being dmaged inside as you all know - well we dont know anything yet on that score other than the Loom is all as it should be. What was a shock was the rust - basically as its sat in various garages and sheds for 4 years plus, what was probably quite minor rust i the driver's footwell has become much worse and less so but still a worry in the passengers side... also a big hole under the fuse box - the annoying thing about that
is that John says the rust has been seen by the previous people working on the car as the carpets there were pulled back! (What assholes huh especially the last guy for not telling me out?)

I even paid the last guy to sort the fuse box hole out!!!

What Zoom were gonna do was make sure the motor ran and had no problems inside, then take it out to fit the intake and exhaust manifolds, then refit the engine, sort the other bits and bobs and send it off to be painted.

The engine has been in and out over the years probably more than 8 times, but no-one ebven bothered to clean the engine bay let alone consider painting it or fixing rust holes! What is going to happen now (which is very sensible) is that Zoom are gonna get teh engine all sorted and any other mechanical issues in the engine area, then remove it, sort out the welding of the holes and the footwell rust, then send the
car off to get the engine bay painted and the outside painted just afterwards - this way a) the engine bay will look as good as the outside and the engine can be dropped back in without anything else needing to be done to it save for assembly, so little danger of the paint being scratched or anything.

The rust issues aren't serious, i would happily settle for them rather than the engine be a problem as that will be MUCH more xpensive to sort!

Duncan and I are taking my wheels up tomorrow, see if they fit and John will try and get teh engine to fire up for when we get there as he doesn't think he needs any new parts to do it.

Duncan's taking a digital camera with him to take some photos for this thread. So i will write an update once i get back!

Lets hope the wheels fit, the engine is sound and runs sweetly and my steering wheel turns up there as it should!

Till then

[MFree]

I will post a proper project update later, suffice to say John at Zoom Motorsport is the most enthusiastic and skilled mechanic/engineer i think i have ever met - if commitment, dedication to quality and sheer enjoyment of his cars and work counted for power, he'd be the next prime minister! He's gonna treat the car with the dedication and attitude he bestows on his own cars (WOW! - and his M Coupe - talk about BooooYakaSHaaaaaR or wot!??!?)

Finally somone has my car who can share and even EXTEND my lofty vision for it (instead of exploiting my trust and good nature) which is truly something amazing coming from me as I'm hardly a shy, calm and un-excitable person with low standards!

If i said anymore it would seem like he's bribed me or this had got a bit 'worrying' LOL so I will leave it there - Top Geezer!proper details of where it's at tomorrow.

Happy New year you Bimmer Nuts and Big Up the MFree Massiv

[MFree]

Ok folks!

It only took them a few hours but other than a fooked fuel pump, plugs and a whacked oil cooler, the engine 'she's a good-un' - BMW build tough engines as surviving a probable 50G + impact undamaged is really something! There is no question whose memory this car is dedicated to and i shall be thinking of him when i first drive her away... I can't imagine a more fitting and happy end to the whole terrible and tragic Stratos Motorsport saga...

I'd like to say here she is purring away, but although she is probably purring, with only a manifold on the exhaust she obviously sounds like an old Rover V8! She certainly aint the full del-monte yet but she's running... you can see and hear that here:

http://www.hedled.com/engine.mpg

I am working on my own Angel Eyes (a definite one-off with 2 rings per lamp!) and waiting for more news.

Cheers all

[MFree]

Hi folks,

I'm trying to decide what colour to paint my M3 when the time comes in a few weeks.
I wanted to do something special and unique, the problem is that all of the BMW colours that were non-E30 M3 colours have largely been done before, techno/Daytona violet, Avus Blue, Madeira Violet (metallic burgundy) - I thought I had found it with Le Mans blue as i REALLY like the look of a good metallic blue, but then i found a French E30 M3 which actually had the 3.2 conversion to add insult to injury!! (AND was for sale!!!) and it turns out that Le Mans blue is actually alot more 'bling' and garish (like Avus Blue) than the photo indicated. So here are my final choices:

Option 1: Porsche Lapis Blue
----------------------------

Pros:
-----
Really classy, deep, Lustrous colour that I think is nicer than Le Mans blue as it's less 'in your face' but is still really striking - and it makes all the other BMW metallic blue's look really dull by comparison I think!

Cons:
-----
It's not a BMW colour, it's more expensive than a flat color and harder to get 'right'
when doing a respray or touch-ups.

Option 2: Flat Dark Grey!!!
---------------------------

(I mocked this up in Photoshop using a pic of a Red M3 and de-saturated the car in the photo to approximate how it would look)

Pros:
-----
I've never seen Non-Metallic grey done ANYWHERE before so it would certainly be unique and not in terms of THAT colour on THIS car! Kind of like the 'matt black' seen on prototype race cars. Will make the car look really stealthy and subtle and is cheap and easy to maintain, touch-up and get 'right'

Cons:
-----
Umn.. its flat GREY! It is a risk - no-one knows exactly how it will look until it's done! Could look too 'flat' and lets face it... its just GREY!!

---

Right - so there are the choices - I know the Grey is a very odd thing to consider but I don't know, I just think it could look REALLY different, stealthy and unique! I was thinking that if I got the lower part of the body (the Evo II chin spoiler, side skirt and rear valance bottom edge) painted in a slightly darker grey as you sometimes saw the old race cars done with a different colour on this bottom part of the body, it could look even nicer!

...But i love the Lapis Blue, it's SO SO classy and by far the richest and yet most subtle Metallic blue i have ever seen... I await your feedback everyone!


[/img]

[MFree]

I have had 90% in favour of the Grey (including John at Zoom who says he wants to paint his M Coupe in the same colour!!!)

I am definitely going to go for the grey, its just as i was saying to John, getting the right shade for it to look like the mock-up i did in photoshop (above and below) is the tough bit... I played with the brightness slider for ages to get it to this...

Here is what i meant about a different shade for the lower part of the body... nice touch?

///MFree

[MFree]

I have decided to go for the following bodywork options:

- O/E BMW Evo II front chin spoiler extension
- Carbon Evo Sport front splitter (the short not the long one) from www.s14.de
- Carbon Evo Sport Rear Wing and Large DTM Gurney Flap from www.s14.de
- Vented Carbon E30 M3 slimline Race style mirrors from www.s14.de

I also wanted Angel Eyes as my lights need replacing anyay, but the Ebay ones are LAME and dull, Dale325i's ones are nice but he's basically selling close to what i am assembling myself, i decided to buy a 2nd hand set of smileys (£40 off here!) and bought 4 15" lengths of this super-bright GlowWire stuff, which is basically like flexible Neon tubing!! it looks just like a wire in a covering when its sitting here - weird or what!??

Its only 2.3mm wide, very thin, so i've finally prized the glass off the 4 lamps (took 4 minutes each on the oven at 170F and LOADS of prizing with a screw driver) - i ended up breaking off a small part of the Head/sidelight lamp because the outer lip is plastic not metal like the full beam lamp... which sucks - you also cant remove all that grey rubber glue stuff which is what stuck them together, I can get it all off the glass and clean them up, but it doesnt matter because the 90 degree bend in the glass at the outer edge hides that anyway - also the Chrome/Black surround covers it anyway i think...

Lots of clear silicon sealant and bobs yer aunties live-in lover!

I am going to stick (with clear sealant) the lighting wires onto the inside of the glass around the outer edge, this will in effect appear to sit about 5mm from the visible edge of the lamp as the furthest point inside the glass is inset a bit due to the thickness of the glass... so it wont look TOO odd... i know the rings usually sit a bit further in from the edge, but i dont see an easy way of mounting it to the reflective coated lamp cone... i think this will look different to normal sure, but different does not necessarily equal 'worse than' !!!

I think they will look unique and ace! Certainly the brightest Halos out there for sure!!!

I will post a photo soon....

Later all

///MFree

[Geeman]

I love the grey. Kind of like the *cough* Audi TT *cough* Grey that they do.

Go with the grey. I really like it.

Giles.

[Geeman]

Dunno about the lower part being a different colour though. The later M5's had a similar thing done... and they looked okay...

With the mods from S14.de it should look Fantastic! Well done son!

Giles.

[Jhonno]

glad your actually gettin somewhere with it!! should be great once its done! Likin the grey as well

[jph78]

Glad to hear your making some progress mate.

That grey audi colour Giles was refering to is called Nimbus Grey. It's very popular in the modded VW scene but i've never seen it on a BM. Could look very nice, especially with some nice 18" splits with gold or gunmetal grey centres.

Lapis blue is also a good choice but why don't you just pay a visit to your local bodyshop and spend half an hour looking though their colour chips. You'll be surprised how many different shades of blue there are that are very similar to Lapis and there might just be one you like better.

Lastly i can vouch for the carbon stuff from S14.de. I have a pair of those vented DTM mirrors on my touring and they are superb quality. I dealt with a guy called Markus directly and he's a top bloke. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase from him again.

Regards,

Jon.

[Rich_W]

Apart from the obvious question as to why you'd want to do this to a perfectly serviceable E30 M3? Why not a 325?

Anyway, unfortuantly as you've found out. You need to do some research on your chosen garage. Out of all the ones you mention. Only Moseley and Zoom are well known. And Zoom only recently.

The other alternative is to do it yourself. I would guess you know one of a spanner from the other, so with a few mates and a lot of phonecalls. You should be able to get most if not all of it done quite easily.

Theres quite a few of these floating around now. So the info shouldnt be too hard to find. Hope you get it finished to your satisfaction.

[jmc330i]

I do like the grey and I reckon it could look pretty good, but I wouldnt have the guts to do it.

I dont think it looks quite right with lower parts a different shade, but thats only from the photo. Ive seen what looked to be bad paint jobs in pictures but in the flesh they have looked great.

Fair play to you, if your happy with it, then do it.


:arrow: On the 'old zone' we talked about which engine management Zoom used to remove the air meter. Have you had chance to find out?

[MasterBates]

The grey looks fine; BMW did a colour called Vulcan grey in 1990-92 which was a dark non metallic. Doing the lower bits a lighter shade is a definite yes - just get an offshade mixed. The car hasn't been a proper M3 for so long, do what you like with it!
Graham Foster is thieving scum. With luck, the Police will start finding bits of him before long.

[jph78]

Hey James.

John's (zoom) using DTA on his M Coupe so i would imagine he'd use that if some one wanted to ditch the factory system.

I spoke to him about using this on my S50B30 and he advised against it if the car was gonna be driven in varying weather conditions.
For a race car it's prob worth it but on the road? I doubt the benefits would outweigh the headaches.

Plus you're gonna get very little HP and torque gains from just swapping to DTA with a completely stock engine. If you had some really lairy cams, and were runnig 100 RON race gas i could see the point.

In fact John told me the only reason he's got it on the M Coupe is cos when he ditched the vanos (cos it's so unreliable) he also lost the cam sensors so the factory management wouldn't work any more.

Regards,
Jon.

[jmc330i]

Hi Jon.

Do you happen to have a number for Zoom?
I rang them a while back but cant find the number now. I wouldnt mind a chat with John about the DTA system.

It probably wont be any good for me as I would like to keep the Vanos unit, but its worth asking.

I thought that they used the DTA system on all their E30/S50 conversions.

Cheers

[jph78]

The 2 numbers i have for him are 01564 794720 and 07974 119185.
He is quite difficult to get hold of cos he's a one man band so he pops out collecting bits a lot of the time i think.

I'm currently working on using a aftermarket Eng Man system on mine but leaving the factory vanos with it's separate ECU on there. I'm hoping the Vanos ecu will run without the need to be hooked up to the factory ECU itself. I have a guy looking at whether this will work atm so i'll let you know what i discover.

As far as i know most of Johns conversions use the standard management and MAF with his intake plenum and exhaust manifold.

[jmc330i]

I'm currently working on using a aftermarket Eng Man system on mine but leaving the factory vanos with it's separate ECU on there. I'm hoping the Vanos ecu will run without the need to be hooked up to the factory ECU itself. I have a guy looking at whether this will work atm so i'll let you know what i discover.

That sounds good, hopefully something can be worked out.

Thanks for the number, I will give him a call sometime and see what he says.

Cheers

[MFree]

Zoom are ace, in all departments, John will im sure be able to tell you what u need to know - personally i cant see the point in keeping thd vanos on but using an aftermarket ECU?? Wouldnt that defeat the object in that the vanos would restriict what you could potentially get the new ECU to do for your engine? In the short term, Im going to use a re-mapped factory ECU (just new software) from Jason at Chipped UK as the proof of the pudding is always in the eating and when i went to Zoom to see my M3, I got taken out in Jason's 3.2 engined E30 with that remapped ECU and it was very rapid, i have nothing to compare it to granted, but its pickup and shove was excellent compared to the last E36 3.2 M3 i was in - Jason claims something like 15bhp and 10-15 lb/ft of torque - not bad and if you have ZOom's freeflow exhaust and inlet manifold you're looking at about 25-30bhp increase!

Also why did i pick an M3 to do it with not a normal E30? Easy... because the M3 is an iconic car that handles beautifully and looks amazing - the E30 is to me, extremely ordinary, doesnt handle at alll like the M3 and has bad associations ...

Start a thread for your conversion whether you use Zooms stuff or not , like a project diary for YOUR car as i am doing here for MINE, and you can then have those discussions in your thread yeah?

Sweet....

///MFree as a boid...

[jph78]

personally i cant see the point in keeping thd vanos on but using an aftermarket ECU?? Wouldnt that defeat the object in that the vanos would restriict what you could potentially get the new ECU to do for your engine?

No it wouldn't. With the proper set-up VANOS will be benificial no matter what management you have. DIGI-TEC have an M Coupe for endurance racing (nurburgring 24) which produces just over 400BHP. It uses the factory VANOS system and Alpha-N management.
There are several other reasons why someone might want to keep the VANOS but have attermarket management, but i won't clutter your thread up with them.

a project diary for YOUR car as i am doing here for MINE, and you can then have those discussions in your thread yeah?

Sorry dude, didn't mean to offend, i was actually trying to give you some advice if you read my posts. The discussion topic may have left your car for 5 mins but it was still about an engine management system that we thought you were gonna be using. No offence intended mate.

Regards,
Jon

[Rich_W]

Also why did i pick an M3 to do it with not a normal E30? Easy... because the M3 is an iconic car that handles beautifully and looks amazing

Yep. Handles beautifully. But thats when it has a 16v 4 pot in it. That's 3/4 behind the front axle line.

Going to be the same in yours is it? With that extra 2 cylinders over the front?

But hey, you no doubt paid a premium on the M3 for which your about to replace virtually all the car. Daft in my book.

[MFree]

I have been away for 8 days - i did hear from John at Zoom briefly before the weekend and gather everything is on track, but i think Zoom are tackling bigger and potentially really exciting issues right now - none of you folk want my normal M3 rear spoiler for Ԛ£50? Shame... oh well. Im waiting on the Carbon rear DTM wing and vented mirrors from www.s14.de, we are shelving the idea of finishing the weld-in cage that Stratos left a few bits of in the car originally, as its too costly for what it is. A bolt-in mioght be better - I think Craig (the E30 3.2 M3 conversion in the queue aheadof mine at Zoom!) having seen my M3 and been out in John's MCoupe is gonna do some special engine mods to make it even quicker and put some better brakes and suspension on too.... oh well if its gonna be a pissing contest then I might end up losing now! I am gonna use ChippedUK's remapped ECU for nwo though and leave it at that, a true 325-330bhp should be enough!!!

I have finished my own angel eyes - they look wicked, very different to most you see, much thinner light ring but MUCH MUCH brighter than any other as its this flexible glow-wire stuff, i just heated off the glass, drilled a tiny 3mm hole (just wide enough to get the light wire through) just inside of where the glass seals on the plastic/metal lamp casing, then the wire is held against the inside of the glass with clear silicon gel and can form a complete circle as opposed to the many incomplete ones you see...

I will post a photo of it soon...

As for my dream wheels, the BBS RS 1 in 17 and 18" which are available (8.5 and 9.5 widths) they are ET13 offset unfortunately so the fronts would stick out too much... shame! So its the MCoupe Rears all round until i can get an exact offset and width measurement to give to Kerscher - also John is preparing some grey sample panels so we can get as close to the mock-up i did above as possible... we think this unique colour might become the Zoom trademar colour!

Right... more when i have it...

Later

///MFree (aka RevoM3 aka Rob)

[MFree]

Yep. Handles beautifully. But thats when it has a 16v 4 pot in it. That's 3/4 behind the front axle line.

thats isn't WHY it handles so well... it is a small part of it, but not THE reason.

Going to be the same in yours is it? With that extra 2 cylinders over the front?

If you inspect closely, you will see that there is perhaps 6 inches difference in how much further forwards the motor protrudes - so YES it IS going to be the same if not better i think because I have a superb Ground Control suspension setup not just some cut down springs and standard shocks, adjustable castor and camber and spring and damper rates properly devised for the new motor and given the weight increase is only around 25kilos over the S14 engine, the 245's as opposed to 205/215's all told i think will not hurt the inherent sweetness of the handling, so, drop thre sarcastic tone as its not constructive, if you want to debate any of these points then be my guest - otherwise best to say nothing!

(Sorry to be pedantic, but when using the plural 'cylinders' it is common practice to refer to said cylinders as ''those' in that context, not 'that cylinders')

But hey, you no doubt paid a premium on the M3 for which your about to replace virtually all the car. Daft in my book.

If you followed the story from the outset, you willl know that i could have probably had this car done AND a nice Ravaglia edition as well in my drive, as i have been mercilessly ripped off by immoral wangers - so yes, there is no doubt, as I explained what happened so far at length at the start of the thread. Personally i think that the look on a Carrera4 or E46 M3 driver's face when i dissapear away from them at a rate of knots will be pure vindication of all the heartache i have endured, to have that as well as the sweet handling in what is IMO the prettiest little saloon car ever made will be nothing short of magical!

BTW it's "you're" after "you are' not "your"



yuh tewell...[/quote]

[Geeman]

Sounding like an awesome project. I hope that you'll bring it to a few meets so we can all drool over it.

Really happy that you're going with the grey - It'll look classy, yet individual, without being 'in your face'. I'm really looking forward to the finished article, sound like you're (good spelling) having all the right bits done/put on...!

Interested in your halo lights that you've made. Maybe you could do a 'mini how-to' write up. What glow-wire stuff did you use...?

All the best...

Giles.

[H35-IAN]

MFree

glad to see that i pointed you in the right direction there buddy!!

my hartge will be goin down to zoom when i get 5 minutes lol ent seen john in ages!

[MasterBates]

I drove Michael Pollmuller's (Digitec) 400 bhp M Coupe in Germany and it was bloody awesome. Did 160mph on an A road past an old USA airbase......

As for handling, an E36 M3 motor would be okay. I've driven a couple of Alpina B6S cars and they don't feel particularly nose heavy despite what the 'experts' say. The 3.2 Evo engine is light, possibly lighter than an M20.

It doesn't make sense either to get rid of Vanos. Okay, the 3.2 Evo's vanos unit is a piece of unreliable British made crap but without it, you'd lose a whole load of low down torque. Drive an E39 M5 with a failed vanos unit - it wouldn't pull your foreskin back, horrid.

But M Cool - make sure you don't try to race my old man's Carrera 4 - twin plug 993 varioram motor, 380 solid bhp. And please, drop the attitude.

[MasterBates]

Personally i think that the look on a Carrera4 or E46 M3 driver's face when i dissapear away from them at a rate of knots


Don't you mean "I think that the look on a Carrera 4 or E46 M3 drivers face when I disappear away from them at a rate of knots"?

Only one S in disappear, two P's too.

[Toby_Unna]

Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:41 am Post subject:

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Personally i think that the look on a Carrera4 or E46 M3 driver's face when i dissapear away from them at a rate of knots


Don't you mean "I think that the look on a Carrera 4 or E46 M3 drivers face when I disappear away from them at a rate of knots"?

Only one S in disappear, two P's too

good effort master

[MFree]

Was it really worth the Protein required for your body to type that in and move your hand to the mouse and click it (which ok is only about half a lentil or what, 10 Big Macs? LOL - but furrymuff) ?

S'funny y'know, when I was doing my Philosophy degree at Kings in London I had to write 10,000 word essays BY HAND (as it was like 1993/4 and though they had one apple mac it only got quizzical looks from me like 'what does that thing actually 'do' again?) that had to be grammatically and spelling-wise perfect - now, having been working in the Web industry ever since 1995 and doing everything on computer, even WITH the checking tools, you still have to opt to USE them and overall unless it's a major new client who may judge me on it I just tend to let pragmatism rule the roost, if someone gets what I'm saying, that's enuff innit... Wierd (I know its 'e' before 'i' but i've just always thought it LOOKS right the other way around!).

BTW mate - how many "p's" are there in Pedant? Or how many "Oi You's" in 'Get a life'!!!???



I bet you know the scrabble points score for the word 'Plank' as well, stoff like dat an 'ting an rice and pea... (dats wun fur me 'evvryting's ireee' massiv - raaa)



Right - back on-topic for a while, not much happen wid dee Key-Arr (sh1tters I'm doing the Jamaican accent again in Phonetics)!! StAppp Now Marn...!!!

John at Zoom is well busy (too busy IMHO and over-worked) at the moment, him Key-arnt hepp been da marn evvry wun wants tuh see cuz him so kick-horse dat him get arl dee jabs cannee?

Right I promise no more... NONE! He has driven my car around the farm and all the mechanics work, the loom is being bound up now, basically the car is now gonna be stripped down and while Mercedes-painter-extraordinaire-by-day-Jason' (i dunno his surname) does a top-snatch paint jab on my car which includes welding up the extensive rust and painting the engine bay. We were also going to do the whole inside and boot as well for total professionalism and as i was gonna have the back all stripped out and everything, vut as I have decided that for the sake of the tiny amount of extra weight involved, to have a new carpet and back seat instead of the cage so that the only 'racerish' aspect to it's interior's appearance are the front seats and harnesses, that I can save Ԛ£1000 not doing those areas! Also, because of the unusual grey colour, EVERYONE is gonna know its not an original colour and hence a change, so big deal if they pull the carpets back and find macau blue... i could always just do the sill area myself for that one test people always do!

Also, it means I can get people in the back too as i originally bought tilting-mounts for the seats so am gonna use them.

Whilr the painting is being done, Zoom are going to be making sure the motor is all cleaned up really nicely, sorting the clutch out and the brakes because they are not quite right yet and fine tuning the suspension conversion a little, then it will all be re-united probably sometime at the beginnning of March and 'Voila'!

That's the plan anyway....

Till next time

Keep it Wheel

///MFree

[MasterBates]

You can have whatever qualifications you like, you're still a f*cking idiot who blew nearly twenty grand on a piece of rubbish. Julian Smith has seen your car at Zoom and says that it's absolutley rotten. Clever old you.
We have a mutual friend in Pacer Pete. You bought an Alpina B7 from him. I bought a concours Sport Evo from him which I managaed to a) enjoy and b) sell at a profit. Clever old me.

You come on here full of attitude telling other people who were only being interested and polite to get lost and start their own thread and say that standard E30's are crap - considering how much you've spent, how gullible and easy you are to rip off and the pile of patched up sh1t you've ended up with, I'd say that you were a prize pr1ck.

Loser.

[MasterBates]

[H35-IAN]

julian smith is a drift god!! one of the best i rekon i take my hat off to the legend everytime i see him drift , john being one of his gd m8s is also a vv good drifter.

mfree how come since i set u up with john you havnt even spoke to me vv weird!!

and dont nock the things andy - master bates knows hes a genius when it comes to bmws!!

[Geeman]

I can't beleive you're all knocking this guy....!

He's laying out his plans for the car, the journey it's making from a being a mess to a gem, the highs and lows, and all you can do is have a go. He didn't have to write this journal at all, but it's a good read and I for one would like to see the outcome.

I'm very dissapointed. It's not a pissing contest.