1991 325i SE

[tha881]

Looking lovely!

Thanks Gus, keep us updated on your new project!

[Moz]

Great work as always! I've decided to refresh my engine bay and this just goes to show how good an engone bay can look if time is taken on it.

Thanks

[Lemon98]

As far as I know, FPM was the end of registrations that came from Coombs of Guildford as I have the original dealer stamps and service book to confirm mine came from there.

I've seen one other apart from mine that ends in FPM which was Coombs as well.


Great looking car!! I endeavour to have mine sitting like that on some nice 15's or 16's one day

[tha881]

Thanks mate, I have yet to find out which dealer supplied my car from new. It might be worth me asking Cotswold to see if they can find out. This is the plate that came with the car in case you want the logo copied to get your own set made up.

[tha881]

Used the car for my holiday again this year, and what a great road trip, we've covered 2500 miles in 10 days.

The route was Versailles onto hotels in Bordeaux - Biarritz - Canfranc Estacion - Vielha - Formigal - Lourdes and back near Bordeaux for a few days lounging by the pool.

About half the mileage was motorway and the other half was in and around the Pyrennes, taking on quite a few mountain climbs.

First pics are the car at a place called Gurs which was an internment camp in ww2, right at the foot of the Pyrenees, this was while it was still nice and clean

Next was a drive up into the mountains and across the border to Spain with a nice drive up the Col de Somport. Stayed in a lovely village called Canfranc Estacion which has a huge defunct railway station, once the largest building in Spain, and is now being restored.

The following morning was back into France and heading East taking in the Cols Aubisque, Soulor, Tourmalet, Peyrosourde, Aspin and Portillon.

This was a tough day for the car, what with being loaded with all our luggage and supplies, but it handled it perfectly. Lots of climbs where you have to keep momentum going, and lots of fast descents which are brutal on the brakes.

[tha881]

The next day we stayed in a town called Vielha which is 20min from the Port de la Bonaigua

Road works and cloud on the climb up one side, luckily the boring part, but as soon as I got to the top it was clear. It's the best road I've driven and ever likely to. Will definitely be revisiting it.

After that we took in a few more great roads

[tha881]

The last stop was a visit to Pau, had a little drive around the street circuit

And lastly just a few random shots of things along the way

[tha881]

Main points on the car is yellow residue above the exhaust, I'm guessing that indicates rich running. I will also be refitting the oil cooler or switching to 15w50 for summer duties as on the motorways the oil temps can reach 110+, not ideal on a 10w40 oil. The oil temp gauge was a lifesaver.

[JungleGus]

Nice trip! That road looks incredible

[rix313]

Road trip looks amazing! I’d love to do something like that one day.

[martauto]

WOW
What lovely places you have been to and in a hell of a good car , well done.

Mart.

[tha881]

Thanks for the comments guys, I mainly went for the beautiful roads, the touristy stuff was needed to convince the missus it was a good idea

[Brianmoooore]

Next was a drive up into the mountains and across the border to Spain with a nice drive up the Col de Somport. Stayed in a lovely village called Canfranc Estacion which has a huge defunct railway station, once the largest building in Spain, and is now being restored.

Just featured on Michael Portillo's railway program on BBC2.
Drove the street circuit at Pau a few years ago in my touring as well. Gives you a 'perspective' of the place when watching a race on TV.
Did you stop at Lourdes at all? I spent an hour or two there. Strange place - a giant, slick, well oiled religious machine is the best description I can give.

[DanThe]

I saw that about the railway station too, very interesting.
Looks like a great trip in a great car

[tha881]

Thanks Brian I've just had a quick look on bbc iplayer and gave it a watch, as you can see from the photo I took they are well into the restoration, they have completely re-rendered the outside since Portillo visited. The village was a lovely place to spend the night, found a great little restaurant and it had such a relaxed atmosphere.

We did visit Lourdes for a couple of hours as our next hotel was between there and Pau. It was one of the strangest places I've visited, everything is centered around the cathedral. We even saw a few nuns sitting outside a restaurant in the town.

Pau was very impressive, easily one of the best cities I have visited, Clarkson and Hammond did a feature on it on the Grand Tour, they had the town closed off so they could do a head to head in a classic Aston Martin and Jaguar. Well worth watching.

[tha881]

So I'm well back on my routine now after the summer road trip, and as always looking to make improvements to the car. First was a set of new rear tyres, these were legal before the road trip, it shows the effects on camber when lowering the car, and add to that a boot full of gear this is what you get

I matched the rears up with the front so it's running Yokohama Advan Fleva 205 55 15 all round

I've also fitted an oil pressure gauge from jr parts to match the temp gauge. With the oil cooler refitted the temps and pressures are spot on. 11psi warm idle and it builds pressure very quickly.

I also decided to try out a new set of springs, I liked the eibachs but discovering I had the pre facelift version fitted which are for lighter axle loads left me wondering if there were improvements to be had. So rather than going for the correct Eibachs I decided to try a set of Vogtland springs. Spring rates are now 220f and 360r, very close to the Alpina springs rates

Some how it sat higher even though the new springs were shorter, obviously due to the increase in stiffness

As you can see the arch gap at the front was a bit ridiculous so a set of e90 drop hats were ordered

I had to remove the small pressed in piece of metal that doesnt exist on the e30 version. I managed to swap these over without removing the whole strut assembly which was a stroke of luck, I just had to compress the shock and locate the washers and spring hat over the top before it extended again

[tha881]

It's now sitting a lot nicer with the drop hats fitted, heres a quick pic to give you an idea

The ride height is very similar to the eibachs, the front is probably 10-15mm higher which is no bad thing. With the added stiffness it feels a lot flatter, there is far less squat and dive on braking an acceleration. The eibach were better in only a few situations, and that was in comfort not performance. Probably not helped by having prefacelift springs. It really feels good throwing it into a turn, there is hardly any lean or flexing, straight away it settles into the corner.

The other option was h&r 29664 springs which are 200f and 280r, but I feared they would be too soft in the rear. I think some b8 shocks might be ideal with the vogtland springs as that is what Alpina used.

[flybynite]

Spring rates are now 220f and 360r, very close to the Alpina springs rates

I think some b8 shocks might be ideal with the vogtland springs as that is what Alpina used.

Out of interest where did you get that information?

A lot of the 'Alpina' rates banded about on the net are for the B6 which obviously had a very different engine to the others.

[tha881]

Its from the spring rate list that's all over the net. It says it's an estimate so i wasnt expecting it to be correct

Regarding them using b8 shocks that info was found on the zone from Barry and Simon

[JungleGus]

The ride height looks great! I'd be tempted to do the drop hats on mine but I like a little more height in the front for clearance even if it looks gimpy.

The spring rate list is here: http://e30performance.info/viewtopic.php?t=1357 - Vogtland's look similar to H&R Sport (US spring) which I think is the perfect compromise for the E30

What shocks are you running now? I think you'd really like the Bilstein's if you're not already running them

Do you have any links to the gauges? They look pretty good IMO

[tha881]

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/show ... gs-for-e30

That's from someone with first hand experience of the alpina springs

The ride height looks great! I'd be tempted to do the drop hats on mine but I like a little more height in the front for clearance even if it looks gimpy.

The spring rate list is here: http://e30performance.info/viewtopic.php?t=1357 - Vogtland's look similar to H&R Sport (US spring) which I think is the perfect compromise for the E30

What shocks are you running now? I think you'd really like the Bilstein's if you're not already running them

Do you have any links to the gauges? They look pretty good IMO

I was looking for more firmness and a touch more ride height, so I got what I wanted. I have thought about using a 7.5mm rear spring pad just to raise the rear a touch. The car is perfectly flat now, whereas the soft eibach springs made the front too low

It's on the B4 shocks at the moment and it feels fine, but I'm sure a harder shock absorber would give more improvements

Heres the link to the ebay store
https://ebay.co.uk/usr/jr_parts_france

I would probably go for the alpina version in hindsight, but they serve the purpose intended

[flybynite]

Regarding them using b8 shocks that info was found on the zone from Barry and Simon

Still wondering where you read that, they both know their stuff (Barry especially) can't see them getting it wrong. But B8s did not come into production until a good couple of years after the E30 finished, about '93 or '94. I know because I swapped the suspension on my E30 about '92 and the only Bilstein available then was the HD (what became the B6). I put Koni adjustables on at the time because they were better regarded but agonised over putting Bilstein back on.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/show ... gs-for-e30
That's from someone with first hand experience of the alpina springs

It was the Alpina suspension fitted from new I took off to fit the Konis and when I compared them the Alpina springs were weaker than the Konis going on but I put a lot of that down to the Alpinas doing about 50K.

I have a new B12 kit to go back on which is about as close to the Alpina fit it had and they now come with the B8 as standard

Just curious, you mentioned Alpina a couple of times were you trying to do an Alpina-spec fit?

[tha881]

You have more idea than me as I dont have any first hand experience, I only got my first e30 in 2010. I think it was on the b6 vs b8 thread that the conclusion was b8 on alpina/hartge, b6 on tech 1 and boge on tech 2.

I wasnt trying to emulate the alpina setup, i just wanted to try a stiffer setup with what's available. It's a shame the alpina etc kits arent available anymore. I was looking at the US h&r 180f 380r that Gus recommended but the import tax and postage could have made it very expensive.

It feels great as the roads I drive arent too bad. I'm only running factory 20mm and 12mm roll bars with poly bush and mondeo links, so it all goes together quite well. I think the b8 shocks might be a better match for the springs, especially for higher speed stability.

[tha881]

A little update on the car. I've finally managed to get the rear panel completed, the work was carried out by j and c autos in maidenhead. Very pleased with the paint match and the gaps etc. You wouldnt tell from the outside that it had been replaced

It could still do with a new rear bumper and the spoiler respraying to make it perfect, but the car is nice and straight again which is the main thing. I can always do the bumper at a later date. I also got a quote for the centre plastic trim, BMW are now asking £95, think I will pass for now

Also decided to upgrade the stereo, the old one only had aux output which was a bit of a pain when using navigation and music on my phone. Now have the choice of USB, sd or bluetooth as you know. The sound still seems better through an aux cable than the other options so far.

I've also started playing about with springs again! I ordered the correct facelift eibach springs. I've only fitted the rears so far, but it seems the vogtland were too stiff in the rear, just not quite enough roll in the corners, they were a bit too firm. Didnt give quite enough feel through the bends and changing direction.

So I'm now driving with rates of 225 in the front and 274-377 progressive in the rear, more similar to h&r (200 - 285) setup. It feels really good considering they are mismatched, but i will get the 150 eibach fronts on soon and probably settle for that. We will see, thanks for reading if you got this far.

[parkin10]

That looks like a really nice car you have there
Makes my Turing look tatty
If I may ask what did the head cost?
Mine is losing some compression in cylinder 4 and I'm going to have to investigate it

[tha881]

That looks like a really nice car you have there
Makes my Turing look tatty
If I may ask what did the head cost?
Mine is losing some compression in cylinder 4 and I'm going to have to investigate it

Sorry I've only just seen your reply. Probably a bit late for an answer but the first stage is always to get the head off the car!

I would definitely recommend Corry Motor Services for any work and advice

[tha881]

I didnt get to take the car on any road trips this year, well we had a few days in Shropshire but not any major miles. So with the money that I didnt get to spend on a holiday, I decided to get the engine sorted once and for all. Since fitting the new head, I always had an oil leak from the front corner where the head meets the block. As you know the block really needs a skim to get a good seal, and with the sump gasket well overdue a replacement i decided to just pull the engine and give it a refresh

[tha881]

The bottom end was on 140k and probably could have gone on quite a bit longer. Luckily nothing nasty was found, as i expected. So I got them to press on with the rebuild. I just wanted a standard refresh, nice tight engine that will last another 30 years hopefully. The crank was good to go with a polish, new bearings for the rods and crankshaft, new piston rings, hone and skim the block, decoke everything and new seals. They also stripped the head and skimmed that just to be sure. A new oil pump was sourced from Wallothnesch in Germany. The rebuild was carried out by Corry's Motor Services, quite well known on here, I cant recommend them enough

In the meantime I was cleaning up all the parts from the car, ready for the re-assembly

NRF oil cooler from Autodoc £110, note it's the same as the one that came off the car (L&R) and is stamped BMW, so a nice saving over the dealers

Engine back, I had to refit the flywheel/clutch/gearbox before getting it back on the hoist

[tha881]

This wasnt sketchy at all

Managed to get it back in a couple of hours, once over the bulkhead I had to jack up the rear to get the gearbox into the tunnel. Then a bit of maneuvering to get it onto the mounts.

All in all it went quite well. Then a few more days, taking my time fitting manifolds, radiators, propshaft, exhaust, filling the fluids etc etc

Then it was on to bedding in the rings for 50ish miles and another oil change

[tha881]

It's got over a 1000 miles on it now and pulling very nicely to the redline, and the added bonus is there are no oil leaks or fumes in the car

Not much to do now this year except drive the wheels off it, more bodywork is planned over the next year or two to tidy it up in a few places. I might treat it to some camber top mounts if I get bored, it would be interesting to see the difference

[martauto]

Excellent work you have done there mate
Just out of interest ,what sort of price scale do you believe the engine "re-fresh" has cost you ?

Mart.

[tha881]

Excellent work you have done there mate
Just out of interest ,what sort of price scale do you believe the engine "re-fresh" has cost you ?

Mart.

Thanks Mart, I definitely saved a huge amount by pulling the engine at home. If I had just driven the car to a garage it would probably have been thousands

I supplied everything except for the bearings and rings as they are an unknown until you inspect the crank/bores/pistons. Autodoc is very handy for the majority of parts, and some bits you just need to get shafted at Bmw

Rod bolts, main bolts and head bolts from Bmw is around 200
Oil pump 175
Cambelt kit, water pump, gaskets, coolant etc 200ish
Oil cooler 110 (changed for piece of mind)
Then the rebuild and parts that needed inspection bought it to a bit over 2k total, add on the hoist hire and a few other parts it was no more than 2.5k

The head didn't need any parts as it was refreshed in 2019. Clutch was replaced a few years back so that was fine

[martauto]

Great piece of mind for another 30 years as well !!
I wonder how much this would be for a modern engine

Mart.

[DanThe]

Well worth the effort, an M52B25 crank and rods would have been a nice upgrade while you were in there

[tha881]

Well worth the effort, an M52B25 crank and rods would have been a nice upgrade while you were in there

I did seriously consider it, but as mine were in good shape I thought it was a safer bet to keep it original than finding good used M52 parts. If he had said the crank was scrap or needed a regrind I likely would have gone that route. I decided it was better to use known parts in the end. I do wonder though how well a 2.5 would go with a lighter bottom end and a fast road cam, I bet it would rip!