Project - Stanced M50 Touring- UPDATE 23/08/11

[E30BeemerLad]

Looks cool, what's the sump clearance like then?

[oldroydsr4]

Cheers gents.

Terra firma to sump guard is circa 40-50mm.

Luckily, where I live the speed bumps have big gaps in the middle to drive through And my daily drive consists of 12miles up the M40.

When I start using it , I will be able to tell more but in reality the exhaust will be first to go. This however doesn't bother me because I would like to make a new system to replace the battered one on there.

[rob_k]

looks great, nice work with the stance too. currently working towards getting mine on the road after i get my head round my style 5's....

[ImysE30]

Looks damn sexual

[chips]

I'm loving this. Are you getting any rubbing at the back at all?

[appletree]

looks realy good that touring.

just out of intrest has the red touring witht the saab lump gone now then?

[rob0r]

Great work

I love the coilover springs on the back. Can you advice what spring length and rate you went with front and back? Might have to borrow the idea for the rear setup of my E30...

[oldroydsr4]

Rob,

I went for

5.5 inch , 550Ibs on the rear - these put the rear on to the bumpstops, so the adjustible perches are a must.

And

6 inch, 375Ibs on the front.

Faulkners is the place to go. I've yet to drive the car properly but these rates are for fast road and trackdays.

[SpencerLavery]

These Faulkners? http://www.dfaulknersprings.com/index.htm

Your stance is absolutely spot of the on, never seen 15 inchers fill the arches like that especially with 195s on the front!

I'm trying to get that exact stance without coilies at the moment but it's next to impossible to get that front end down, might have to end up chucking some on the front first to see if that helps.

Keep up the good work anyway, your motor is the first bit of proper inspiration I've seen on this forum, usually only the yanks on r3v and SW get it right.

[oldroydsr4]

Yes mate, that is the place.

Thanks for you kind words.

Personally I don't think it is feasible to get a sorted stance without the use of coilovers.

[SpencerLavery]

You're right! Especially on 15s, although the back's sitting pretty well without - for now.

Glad that's the place, they're literally 1 minute down the road from me, might pop in and see if they'd be interested in any sort of group buy.

[DaveyB]

Now this is

SIIIIIIICK!!

[LondonTom]

Top notch mate, that looks awesome.

I see you post a bit on driftworks, are you going to do any DWYB days?

[oldroydsr4]

looks realy good that touring.

just out of intrest has the red touring witht the saab lump gone now then?

The saab touring is still being built ( it can be seen in the garage behind with the cover over it) but basicly I haven't touched it since I bought this a year ago - Note to self - 1 project at a time.

If I hadn't of bought this touring and invested all the time in the Saab touring I'm fairly confident it would have been completed , but oh well.

When the m50 touring is all MOTed and taxed, I thinking of selling it so I can focus on the Saab e30. ( + I fancy a track inspired s2000 for a daily)

[oldroydsr4]

Top notch mate, that looks awesome.

I see you post a bit on driftworks, are you going to do any DWYB days?

Your a brave man mentioning driftworks or DWYB on this forum. LOL.

Joking aside, When I started out I built the car for fun, Including some drifting, so depending on how long I keep it, I plan to do a few drift days and if i properly get bitten by the dwyb
Bug who knows?

[LondonTom]

Top notch mate, that looks awesome.

I see you post a bit on driftworks, are you going to do any DWYB days?

Your a brave man mentioning driftworks or DWYB on this forum. LOL.

Joking aside, When I started out I built the car for fun, Including some drifting, so depending on how long I keep it, I plan to do a few drift days and if i properly get bitten by the dwyb
Bug who knows?

I'm sure I saw you posting about 'edition' something...much more of a sin than DW

I'll keep an eye out at you know where.

[oldroydsr4]

[e30rich]

Looks ace!

[oldroydsr4]

MOT booked for 17:15 tonight -

Fingers crossed, lets hope it passes, so I can enjoy it over the long weekend.

I feel like a father sending his child to there first exam!

[TouringMatt]

uber

[CaesarBob]

Whats the verdict then ????

[oldroydsr4]

Verdict -She passed !!!!!!!

It was my first drive of the old girl in over a year and to be honest she behaved brilliantly, tempurature guage never went past half.

Its worth noting that I haven't driven a slammed car in over 3 years and it appears that the standard soft suspension and 60 profile tires of my compact and 328i sport prior to that has got the better of me.

Its fair to say the ride was ,ummm ................... a little, firm !! ,but by the end of the trip I'm ready for more.

There are however a few issues I need to address-

Rear left wheel rubs on the arch (needs lifting or rolling further) and the constant smell of rubber gets a little tiresome.

Exhaust is touching the body at some points which creates a horrific vibration.

oh and I managed to run the sumpguard on the road at one point to - I'm resisting a ride height increase but we will see!!

Heres a couple of images

[charlE30]

Nice one mate, you did tell the MOT man about the slipper being fitted didn't you??

**cough**passenger ride sometime **cough**

[oldroydsr4]

Yep told him about the slipper and because it was so low , it wouldnt have got on the rollers, we used some fancy digital g gauge for the brake test. To be honest , I think he was quite glad to use his kit.

I still need to tax it, but as soon as that is done, you can come for a passenger ride.

[Coops90]

Good work. Looks good.

[SpencerLavery]

Faulkners price list is confusing the hell out of me, do you know the inside diameter I would need, 2.25"?

Would love to see a close-up photo of your rear setup, only ever seem to find in-depth guides for the front. Noticed you've got the adjustable sleeve at the top whereas most of the people fitting GC kits have it at the bottom, any reason? Did you keep the rubber spring pads in?

[Vier]

The colour with that set of wheels is a killer.
Keep up with the upgrades. Looks nice.

[oldroydsr4]

Time for an update:

I’ve started tidying up the interior, my initial plan was to find a full mint interior but as I had loads of black dye left from the carpet, thought I might as well have a go a tidying up the current trim. A full clean and dye was carried out.







Pretty happy with the results!

The rear bench clearly needs doing but as there is a stain on the seat I thought it was probably best to replace it rather than bother dyeing it.

On to the powertrain

The rear beam needed some attention as one of the rear tires was rubbing on the arch. This pointed to knackered bushes, however I really couldn’t be arsed with the hassle of pressing in new bushes and I wanted to make the beam fully adjustable.

When I saw that someone was breaking a track car with a freshly polybushed /adjustable rear beam and trailing arms, I was soon on the short journey down to Oxford.





While I was working on the back end the rear top mounts were replaced with some e46 M3 cabs ones, I had knocking around in the garage.







Also, had some nice braided hoses in my e30 parts so decided to install them and give the brake fluid a change with some competition AP fluid ”“ The brake feel is far better now.









The next stage is a full alignment, which will be carried out in the following days.

Now on to some better shots-

Once a year at work (Jaguar Land Rover Gaydon), we have ”˜Wheels’ day, basically every one brings in their toys and if you want you can go and have a blast on the track. This image was taken by the photographer.



Data logging-

Recently myself and my old man have started competing in the No Budget Cup Endurance race series. (Image from Anglesey).



I decided to test the data logger after it had been sat on the shelf for a good year or so. The touring was the perfect candidate, one of the functions is 0-60 and after a few practice runs a time of 7.1 seconds recorded.





There is definitely room for improvement but I didn’t think it was too bad considering I have rock hard budget rear tires and plenty of camber.

While I was testing, took a few pics.







I’m now at a stage of considering selling the old girl after a friend has offered me his ex concource rather stunning poor mans Porsche.

Here is a little taster

[oldroydsr4]

Now for sale.

[SpencerLavery]

That's a shame, but I don't blame you, that Porsche is lovely.

If on the off chance you decide to break it, or sell any of the goodies, would be v interested in the coilovers, steering wheel and rear beam

[oldroydsr4]

Hi,
I currently have no plans to break the touring, if it doesnt sell I will just keep.

[TouringMatt]

I currently have no plans to break the touring

[JdmFanBoy]

Awesome read. Very interested in the coilover idea, what diameter does the coilover tube need to be for the e30 strut? Also what was the cost in total for the front setup? Any help appreciated