Lee Parkes' E30 Alpina B10.

[DRIFTBOY]

Good to hear that the traditional 'no exhaust initial start up' was followed!

When I fired mine up for the first time (with no exhaust, of course) my next door neighbour came rushing out thinking that someone was stealing his Harley Davidson!

I thought he was going to moan at me about the noise but he said "That sounds great, you're not going to put an exhaust on it, are you?"

Good neighbour!

[retroboyo]

Some people say to soak the radiator in paraffin

[leeparkes]

Right,have'nt updated for a few days as ive had computer problems and a touch of man flu but its done! but before we get on that subject,




Im using the M20 rad with no issues but its only a temporary fix as i dont know how it will behave in heavy traffic but for now it will do

Ive bodged the exhaust up,it turns out the bends in the E34 down pipes dont really follow the E30 floor pan as it should,to make it fit id have to pull the exhaust forward about 2 inch,so i cut the down pipes just before the bends then cut the 325i down pipes to slide inside and its a near perfect fit,again only a temp fix till i get down the custom exhaust shop to get a twin 50mm system built.

pics will explain my bodge









It works but doesnt sound right its lost that throaty noise it gave when it had the m20 blowing through it,hence going to a custom shop


Anyway ive modded the grill for a little extra air intake,what you think?

Before



After






Now the biggie!

once i was certain it was bled and everything was running fine i decided to take it for a gentle run around the block,felt very smooth with effortless power,took it back home to check again to see if everything was ok and re bled it,then went out again to put some petrol in and went for a blat

In 1st and 2nd you realy need to be awake to keep it in a straight line,the power delivery is perfect with loads of low down power,you dont even need to provoke it to get the tyres to break grip,stamp on the accelerator in first and it just smokes and i can feel it losing grip in second,third gear though is not what i expected,its a proper grunty torque monster!
Im very pleased with it





NOW,if ive got time it will go back on the weigh bridge tomorrow to lay some arguements to rest,

ive measured the height its dropped at the front and from the centre of the wheel to the lip on the arch it has only droped about 5mm,

need to do the maths aswell to see how much the swap has cost me,or should i say how much ive made,still got the m20 to sell and a few bits off the E34

Ill get some pics tomorrow of it in the bay,complete

[Dreamracer1]

Nice one Lee. Getting there!

[Rav335uk]

Exhaust thing is strange, as mine married up no probs.
What diff u running to burn up in first with out provokation.
Oh, you now know what fun i have

M20 rad should be fine if the fan is correctly mounted and working.

Oh and i like the modded grill too.Good idea, not just a pretty face then

[leeparkes]

Exhaust thing is strange, as mine married up no probs.

This pic here explains it,i wanted to keep as much of the E34 down pipes as possible so i wanted to cut the M20 system at the flange and join it there,if i could get the engine in position 4/5 they would probably fit,(does that make sense ) or if the E34 pipes were 2" longer it would fit



i want to swap the system anyway because 45mm pipes will lose me some grunt,not a lot but i remember using a 320i exhaust on my 325i for a while and it felt like it was being strangled after 4k.



Its a 3.64 diff and it does accelerate well,in second at around 2k stamp on the loud pedal and it pins you in your seat an you can feel the rears struggling for grip!

[Rav335uk]

Understand about the exhaust, as mine feels the same, strangled.
~I get what u mean on the exhaust, i cut mine further up.

My diff is a 3.46 and is a bit more "Drivable" if that makes sense??

But it is a beaut to drive.

Will u be going to the Tamworth meet now?

[ImysE30]

Nice work Lee, see you at the meet then

[leeparkes]

Will u be going to the Tamworth meet now?

Fingers crossed

[The_Diddler]

Will u be going to the Tamworth meet now?

Fingers crossed

Come on you know you want to................................., it would be good to see your handywork withe the spanners

[DRIFTBOY]

Good stuff Lee!

Have fun now!

[Rav335uk]

Diddler, my good man, have you started to clean the car yet???????
You don't have long now

[leeparkes]

Its been back on the bridge and the weight gain is far from good,




With the M20/b25 = 1242kg

With the M30/b35 = 1311kg

Its gained 69kg

This has dissapointed me quite a lot and its a good job it has plenty of power and didnt cost me anything because that weight gain is massive,the bare block there is about a 25kg difference between M20 and M30 but you have to consider the inlet manifold,gearbox and also beefys mounts are heavy.im not knocking the M30 because it has vastly improved the E30 and you cant realy feel the weight difference when driving,69kg is just under 11 stone so in reality its like driving with a passenger in the car.


it would be interesting to see how much weight an E30 gains with an M50 in there,


Now this swap is finished im strongly considering an M52 swap for my next project,

Watch this space

[winx]

excellent build chap, well done! Doesnt surprise me greatly about the weight but is a shame!
Count yourself lucky with the diff, mine is a 3.25 and feels pretty slow!

[ImysE30]

69KG That's quite a lot, seeing as the cabby weighs more, it's worse

I'm swaying towards M52, you can start mine if you want Lee

[DRIFTBOY]

Oh dear, seems the M30 non-beleivers were right all along then!

Oh well, just add another 30kg or so of turbo and intercooler and sort out the power to weight ratio once and for all!

[winx]

Oh dear, seems the M30 non-beleivers were right all along then!

Oh well, just add another 30kg or so of turbo and intercooler and sort out the power to weight ratio once and for all!

good idea! Still need to come for a ride in yours!

[The_Diddler]

Diddler, my good man, have you started to clean the car yet???????
You don't have long now

Not yet, mind it aint been far since the last meet so should only take a week or so to clean

[The_Diddler]

Lee

Lets see a close up of the bay, the view on the weighbridge is teasing.............................

[Rav335uk]

+1

[leeparkes]

As promised,



















What do you think?
It does need cleaning up a bit from where i was working on it but you get the idea,and have you noticed the mod to get the M20 rad to fit,i didnt want to cut the top hose as there will be a bigger rad going in (more weight) i made it up from an M20 top hose and it fits well (and works)

[blingsta]

that rad is well small!!! Really need the e28 rad in there. I've got a spare e34 one if you want?

[leeparkes]

Its holding out well with no overheating issues,even in traffic

YET

[DRIFTBOY]

Oh dear, seems the M30 non-beleivers were right all along then!

Oh well, just add another 30kg or so of turbo and intercooler and sort out the power to weight ratio once and for all!

good idea! Still need to come for a ride in yours!

Once it's up and running again I'm sure that can be arranged some time.


That bay looks great Lee, well done!

[The_Diddler]

Nice Lee very nice, looks good

[ImysE30]

Stunning Lee , very nice, i'm rather jealous

[Rav335uk]

Nice one Lee, that bay looks clean enough to eat dinner off!!!!!!
It does look "Factory" fit

The rad should be ok, if you have no overheating issues now, I don't think you will in the future.
Someone has said in the sticky that it can be used.

See u at the meet.

Let me know when your going and i'll link up with u and the rest of the "Black Country" mob.

[leeparkes]

Cheers guys^

Bit of an update,been running nearly a week now and all is fine,well apart from the one down pipe blowing and it sounds vile (fluttering on 3 cylinders) also got an oil leak from the back of the sump but while fixing the exhaust today i nipped the sump nuts up a bit more,hope it works,

Ive been looking into custom exhaust systems,the plan is twin 50mm pipes straight through to an oem size back box,its going to knock me about £300 but it wont be restrictive like the 325i system and it will sound like it goes

Here's a few pics of todays exhaust bodge,ive gone with U clamps as the C clamps didnt seem to tighten up very well,im guessing ill have a few fights with speed humps though using the U clamps oh wont be for long









And a pic of how close the downpipe is to the lollipop (its touching the sheild)




Apart from these small issues its been running well,dont know how to work out MPG but on £20 worth of fuel at 97p a litre im getting just under 100 miles which isnt bad to say its a 3.5


Rav i dont know what time im setting out for the meet,im guessing ill be there about 2ish (if i drive slow )

[DRIFTBOY]

Good stuff!

I'm using U clamps but I just turn them to point to either side, saves smashing their thread on the road.

That fuel consumption sounds about right (if you do 95miles to £20 @ 97p/litre it works out around 21mpg) for road driving.

You should get close to 30mpg on a long motorway run if you're careful-ish!

[winx]

From the small amount of mileage when mine was running right I was getting 32 on a long motorway run and about 22 commuting. Something like 12 on the track

[gareth]

i can get 6mpg on the 'ring, 20ish mpg round town and my record is 38mpg on the loooong road to the ring

on gas, on a reasonable run, i can get 100 miles to a tenner

[leeparkes]

Ive tried turning the U clamps but they hit the floor pan,especially the o/s one,

The thing i love about this is the amount of low down power,ive become lazy and pull off in second everywhere,havent been in a traffic light grand prix yet but i recon when the time comes ill be off the mark in second,first gear just lights the tyres up,

Thing is im getting used to the power now and want more!

[DRIFTBOY]

I always pulled away in second, and I was quicker at Santa Pod launching it hard in second as well!

[Rav335uk]

Rav i dont know what time im setting out for the meet,im guessing ill be there about 2ish (if i drive slow )

Let me know which way your shooting up and i'll link up

[leeparkes]

Dont know which way im going either rav,im not very reliable when it comes to time keeping either,
best if i meet you there mate.