E30 Cabrio from Cali

Show off your pride and joy here

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e30pq
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:40 am

I'm new to this board but I share a passion with E30's. I wanted to show a few shots of my weekend cruiser and my track car (I co-own the track car with a good friend).

I finished my 24v swap about a year ago using a US spec 95 M3 motor.

The first few shots of the car are recent. The last few are some action shots from an autocross a while back when it had the M20. I autocrossed once with the new motor. It did well but it needs a better gear ratio. I installed a 4:10 LSD when it had the M20. I purchased a 3:73 LSD but I've been too busy with the Turbo M42 D-Mod car (the other project) to install the diff. I used the Getrag 260 for the swap which is why I want to go back to the 3:73.

This car is a garage queen, weekend cruiser and occasional autocrosser. It has a Ground Control suspension setup with Koni SA shock, Eibach sway bars, Treehouse eyeball control arm bushings and Sparco strut tower brace. The car has a custom roll bar that was covered in matching leather.

The motor has some basic upgrades like 24lb injectors, Ignition Solution coils, 540 HFM, Bimmerworld 3.5 to 3 reducer elbow, fan delete (lower temp thermostat, lower temp fan switch, aux fan on/off switch), JetHot coated exhaust manifolds, lightened M20 flywheel, Turner chip, E36 cats and E36 M3 Remus cat back exhaust. I would like to add an oil cooler in the near future just to be safe.

The best way to explain the track car is to send you to our CarDomain page. It started life as a 325i but we pulled the M20 and installed an M42 turbo motor.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2980038

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e30topless
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 7:32 am

love the cab looks great :thumb: first time I have seen a cab with a roll bar does the hood close ?
B7
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 8:24 am

That convertible is lovely. Colour is nice too (isn't it barry?). We were only discussing this the other day. I really think it suits the e30.
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old_skool
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 8:37 am

Hi and welcome to E30 Zone :wave:

The wheels on the cab look great too. Nice to see your pictures especially in the California sun 8)
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Loki_V2
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 8:44 am

Tidy install.
Jindmahi
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 10:27 am

A brilliant colour said it many times but had a bronze beige metallic e30 many years ago....miss it dearly used to turn heads!!! :cool:
motorsport325i
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:26 pm

sweet rides....
Welcome to the zone fella. :cool:
aceraf
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:32 pm

Welcome to the zone...

cab looks :cool:

What have you done to the front of the red one? Have you fitted a mesh in front of the lights or removed the lights?
**LPG E39 Spares or Repairs for Sale**
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Breaking 325i Touring
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e30pq
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:21 pm

e30topless wrote:love the cab looks great :thumb: first time I have seen a cab with a roll bar does the hood close ?
Yes, the soft top closes without issue. It doesn't even touch.
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e30pq
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:27 pm

aceraf wrote:Welcome to the zone...

cab looks :cool:

What have you done to the front of the red one? Have you fitted a mesh in front of the lights or removed the lights?
Since the car has an intercooler we needed to change the front bumper cover to get the intercooler in clean air. We used a fiberglass E46 replica front bumper cover. We painted it with white lips to be different.

The BMW plastic head light grills are still in place but covered with mesh. I honestly don't care for that look but my buddy Rob pushed for that. I think it's holding back too much air making it difficult for the radiator to cool. We might pull those off the next time at the track to measure the difference in cooling.
Philwild
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 6:16 pm

Awesome cars pal... Have you managed to go round Laguna Seca in an E30? If you have - i'm jealous winkeye

I love Cali, me and the Wife get over there as often as we can. Usually end up with a 300C rental car to cruise around in!
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1992 Mauritius Blue 325i Cabriolet.
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e30pq
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 8:03 pm

Philwild wrote:Awesome cars pal... Have you managed to go round Laguna Seca in an E30? If you have - i'm jealous winkeye

I love Cali, me and the Wife get over there as often as we can. Usually end up with a 300C rental car to cruise around in!
I haven't had a chance to run at Laguna Seca yet in the track car. I have been there and even got a ride around the track in someones car. It's really a great track.

So far we have run at Willow Springs, Buttonwillow, Cal Speedway (road course with part oval) and Phoenix (road course with part oval). The race car isn't street legal so we need to tow it to the track and the tracks in Northern California are a long tow. We will eventually run up there.
GrindCulture
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 10:13 pm

Saw a video of the red one at Willow Springs posted up on M42club if I remember rightly.


Also think I might be right in saying that this is the only turboed M42 on the zone atm?
Not in E30s any more :(
JGG1
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Sat Jun 21, 2008 10:24 pm

M3 conversion looks really tidy, very nice!

Red one looks hard as foook! Look at the size of that turbo :eek: :eek:
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e30pq
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Sun Jun 22, 2008 1:31 am

GrindCulture wrote:Saw a video of the red one at Willow Springs posted up on M42club if I remember rightly.


Also think I might be right in saying that this is the only turboed M42 on the zone atm?
Yes, that was Aug 07 the first day on the track after we installed the turbo motor. After that we added more tire all around and Wilwood brakes up front.

That car is a blast to drive.
greentouring
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Sun Jun 22, 2008 3:33 pm

Schweet cab, mate! I love it all, especially that roll bar and the wheels.
motorsport786
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Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:44 am

Lovely car, and lovely views....
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e30pq
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Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:38 pm

We recently reworked our E30 club race car.

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More photos and details on the build at:

http://www.hqautosport.com/story.html
ImysE30
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Fri Aug 13, 2010 11:35 am

The cab is stunning :drool: :drool:

S50 too :cool: :cool:
Current Fleet:

E30 335i Turbo M3 Convertible Replica
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e30pq
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Fri Aug 13, 2010 3:55 pm

ImysE30 wrote:The cab is stunning :drool: :drool:

S50 too :cool: :cool:
Thanks

The cab is a fun car to cruise and even more fun to autocross. It sounds awesome.

Here are a couple of video clips of the cab where you can here the exhaust.

The race car is addicting. It usually takes me a week to get the smile off my face after a race weekend.

Cabrio on the street
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Cabrio autocrossing
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