Looking for my first track project

All the info you need to race E30's

Moderator: martauto

richy187
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 197
Joined: Fri May 30, 2008 11:00 pm

Post Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:41 pm

Hi everyone,
Firstly I'm new to to the forum so please go easy on me :) ,

secondly, the reason I'm here, is because I'm looking for a track/project car. Me and a friend are looking to buy an E30 325is for track day use, and were hoping that you would be able to offer some advice on what to look for.

The car MUST have 2.5 litre engine (or more) and a lsd, T&T not essential but would be nice to have to begin with. What else should I be looking out for?, is there anywhere in particular that rusts, any other common/expensive problems I should look out for before I make a purchase.

Thanks in advance!!! :D
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agent006
E30 Zone Regular
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Posts: 701
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Cheltenham

Post Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:10 pm

richy187 wrote:Me and a friend are looking to buy an E30 325is for track day use, and were hoping that you would be able to offer some advice on what to look for.
Buy a regular 325, and buy an LSD for it. The premium for 325 sports is increasing every day it seems, and it's pointless for track use as you'll change pretty much everything that a sport has over an SE.
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northloop
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Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2006 11:00 pm

Post Mon Jun 02, 2008 2:51 pm

Rust is getting to be an issue on these cars. Take the carpets out the boot and have a look around the arch area. You will soon know if you have a problem.

Overheating is another area (head gasket). Take the car for a spirited drive and leave it to tick over for a while after. The temp needle should not go above half way. If it does the head gasket could be on it's way out. You might be lucky and it be the viscous coupling (fan infront of the engine). To check if that's ok get a rolled up paper and stick it in the fan. If it tries to rip your arm off the coupling is fine, if it stops the fan it needs replacing.

As said an LSD will be required to keep you on the straight and narrow for track work where you are pushing on.

Plenty of build threads on here have a look through the last couple of pages in this section.