BMConversions Dan has suggested the Scorpion exhaust mid-box can be vulnerable to getting ruined so a repack might be a good idea. If I can find a place willing to cut open and reweld the stainless.
Yeah it was interesting about the gearbox suggestion. But I think changing my diff to the 3.64 will be most sensible route. I've put a lot into making that work up to here - as much as I'd love a 6th gear.
We will see how that goes. And yeah the small case diff's days were probably numbered, but it seems to have been fine with the stick I've given it so far. It's probably one of those things that goes all of a sudden though...
If I can't make these HSD Monopro coilovers work with some softer springs then I suppose I will have to go for some OEM style replacements to tame it, as you describe. But I'm not yet ready to give up on the coilovers yet. Really hoping on that.
Part of it for sure is that I'm just getting soft as I'm getting older. A younger me wouldn't have flinched at some of the things that are grating on me with it haha!
There was always going to be lots of tweaking to get it just right for me, so I guess you're right to embrace the process. Cheers!
A little overdue maybe, but I've now had chance to put some miles on my M52 converted E30 and ready to share my experience.
The car has been awesome in many ways, and it's exceeded my performance expectations massively. It's an absolute hoot to drive, the M52 is strong and feels like a junior S54, and the whole thing is a lot more exciting to drive than my E46 M3 in my opinion. You're having more fun at much lower speeds which was my hope.
However, there are some issues with the car that I just cannot live with.
I took the car out on a spirited drive to try and relay how the car feels, and I also talked about some of the drawbacks that are spoiling my enjoyment of the car a bit.
I think I have a decent plan to tone the car down slightly. If I could get it to be a bit less savage, I suspect I would use the car a lot more, and I'll be ready to finish the build off too rather than feeling paralysed.
Let me know your thoughts on the exhaust sound, the "pots and pans" were an unexpected!
What a car, Alex! Fantastic.
I suspect that Scorpion "forgot" to put any baffles in the exhaust. If you can find someone who does custom exhausts (eg. https://www.redhillclassics.co.uk/custom-exhausts.html) they should be able to split your boxes and tone them down.
By the way, I've managed to get you to call it a saloon, next thing is for you to learn about manifolds, not headers!
Thank you Ben, and yeah it seems you may be right about the lack of baffling, a real shame that.
Looks like a great exhaust shop you're linking me to there, that's exactly the kind of place that could sort it out for me. Hoping for more local if I go that route though. Let's see how it sounds with a new map first.
Ahh yes, headers, I've obviously been watching too many American YouTube channels and it's started to catch on. It rolls off the tongue more easily than exhaust manifold.
You are correct though, I must work on that..
Looks like a great exhaust shop you're linking me to there, that's exactly the kind of place that could sort it out for me. Hoping for more local if I go that route though.
The modern scorpion stuff is so thin material now i wouldnt even bother trying to cut it open and altering it, you are better off just buying a box thats made properly to start with, its usually always cheaper
Back again with another E30 build update. After the previous video where I shared my experience of how the car drives, I set about trying to address some of the more unpleasant traits it has.
I took the majority of people's recommendation in going for 3.64 ratio diff to get rid of my silly short 4.27 one. Although this time its in medium case limited slip diff form. Not cheap in today's market, but I can't put it off for much longer. The diff I picked up was sat in the back of someones garage for the past 10 years having apparently come off a 90k mile 325i sport.
Although it looked in bad shape externally, cracking it open all appeared well so I opted to give it a bit of a cosmetic refresh, some fresh oil, and get it fitted. Thankfully the diff on the E30 is a breeze to change versus the E46.
I took the opportunity to part with everything I know about E30 differentials while I had both on the bench. Hopefully useful for anyone trying to not get scammed buying a diff.
In the meantime, I'd sent off my DME to Dan at BM Conversions UK (cheers Dan) for his special sauce E30 M52 with M50 manifold map, in hopes of getting rid of that awful "pots and pans" pop and bang effect. The map I was running was pre-loaded and unknown, probably from some drift car so I was assuming it was some kind of burble tune effect.
I'd also been in contact with Driftworks who supplied my HSD Momopro coilovers. I was hoping to gain clarity on which spring rates they had sent with my kit and see if I could switch to some softer ones. Unfortunately they seem to have lost track of what they used to send while they're making some changes to the kit. They're also suspecting I already have the softest they supply, but recommended I removed the preload from my springs to improve the ride.
With low expectations, I set about removing the 5mm preload I had applied to them, just to be sure on ruling preload out.
With the ECU back, I was excited to get out and see what effect my changes had.
The differential has made a massive difference, I'd go as far as to say it's transformed the car. You're cruising at far more sensible rpms, and I feel like I am in the correct gear now and not always fighting to urge to try and change up. To top it off, I've lucked out with this diff and it doesn't leak, it doesn't whine, and it locks up like a good'un. Second limited slip diff I've been lucky with in recent times!
Regarding the suspension preload, taking the 5mm off actually has improved the ride, it feels less crashy now, although certainly still too stiff. More work to do on that side.
Sadly, although Dan's map is undoubtedly great, it has not solved my pots and pans, which is pretty gutting as I'd convinced myself it was in the tune. It may be pointing to another running issue with the car, or a physical issue with the exhaust. Quite probably that mid box.
Overall, I'm happy to be making progress, but it was never going to be easy!
Yeah it seems like 600-650rpm currently, which I am imagining is stock E36 tickover for one of these? Probably for emissions reasons.
No doubt it's my stiff Condor engine mounts making it feel a bit more vibraty at idle at this lower engine speed, but the stuttering on gentle pull-away might be an indication that the engine isn't running as perfectly as I thought. I guess I need to investigate.
Either that or it's just how it's going to be now with a lightened flywheel and longer diff. It's liveable but just feels like something is off.
It's been a little while since the last update but I'm back on the E30 project and moving on to the next phase.
After swapping the cam sensor and still having the exhaust pots and pans noises, I have decided to park that and get back to it when I am driving the car again.
For winter I've tucked the E30 up in the garage to avoid the salt and this gives the opportunity to start looking at the next phase of the project, which is the interior.
I've started off by removing the seats with a view to re-covering them, but before that I want to make sure they are mechanically sound, and both seats are not functioning as they should.
I can slide the seats back and forward, but that's about all, the seat base and backrest adjustment are non-functioning. The back rest is a particular issue as it flops straight back, if you are in motion when you pull the lever it can be pretty dangerous, or at least very funny.
I fiddled around with the way the driver's seat was set and I've been leaving it alone since. I would really like to be able to refine the driving position for myself.
I was very fortunate when I purchased this 316i that someone had already swapped sports seats in, which I really like. These ones I have are houndstooth and stamped 1985 so I am reckoning on them being from an 325i Sport MTech 1 model which is pretty cool.
It turns out the adjusters are operated on little gas struts which are NLA and I managed to source some aftermarket direct replacements from a company in the US called NineStitch. These little struts are remarkably strong so I also had to get creative with how I installed them. Luckily this was much easier by the time I got the seats out and stripped the back rests off giving me access to remove the entire hinge assembly.
I am sure this work will make the seats feel much more solid under the butt, giving a much more stable base for spirited driving. Next up will be recovering the seats so I haven't rushed to reassemble and test the new struts out. I will have to look forward to that. Cheers!
Thanks Mart, I will look him up!
I do have full leather seat covers on the shelf which have been staring at me for a while which I'm hoping to make use of. But the jury is out on it currently, decision will need to be made very soon though!
Back with another E30 interior update. I dove head first into recovering the rear seat bench with some Lseat leather covers I picked up ages back.
I figured it would be best to learn all the hard lessons on the rear seat before I try to do the fronts, which seem much more complicated.
Effectively the rear seats are only a two-part thing, the seat base and the seat back, which makes it quite simple.
What I was most concerned about was ending up with an unsightly baggy result which can really look awful. Even though this is a DIY job, and its my first try at anything like this, I really didn't want it to look DIY and stick out like a sore thumb. From some research, the key to avoiding bagginess is in part down to the use of a good upholstery spray adhesive.
This helps the new cover take its shape to the foam.
I made a video about the whole process and I'm quite proud of the result on this one. Let's hope I can do similar on the fronts, I will be thrilled if so.
I couldn't help but add the retro-looking E30 seat badges, I feel like they really lift the otherwise plain rear seat.
I couldn't quite work out how these were fitted at first, but it turns out they simply push fit and poke through the cover and into the foam where you can bend the ends outwards.
I believe these were common dealer-installed additions on 325i sport models and M3s. Their placement can vary slightly, but I think I've got mine in the right spot by eye.
Hopefully I don't get too much stick about putting the M-stripes on a non-M car.
Thanks Mart, even when we are disagreeing on something (quite regularly), I wouldn't change dad for the world. He keeps me on the straight and narrow. Long may that continue!
Thanks Mart, even when we are disagreeing on something (quite regularly), I wouldn't change dad for the world. He keeps me on the straight and narrow. Long may that continue!
I got the front E30 sports seats reupholstered using the Lseat covers too. It was actually more challenging than I anticipated and took an extremely long time to do. I chipped away over multiple weekends to get them done, really taking my time to get them right.
It might be a bit long for a casual watch, but I saw the opportunity to show how to do it properly with plenty of detail with the driver's seat. Hopefully, it will be appreciated by other enthusiasts. Feel free to have a skim through it to see before and after.
I used a lot of what I learned with doing the rear bench and applied it to the fronts in terms of using the spray adhesive and hog rings. You want to pull plenty of tension on the bolsters but let the centre cushions remain plump in their own shape. Otherwise you end up being able to see through the gaps in the panels. I had to re-do some of it when I figured that out.
Overall I can recommend the Lseat E30 seat covers, the quality is spot on and if you're prepared to get stuck in, a fraction of the cost of getting a pro to reupholster your seats.
You Lied to me Alex !!!!!!!!
You said you were not an engineer .
Your problem solving and thought process in doing so is remarkable !
The way you attacked each individual problem was sensational to say the least, but, the end result is something to be very proud of and I really hope your build in total is Very helpful for other guy`s.
Thanks for this !!
You Lied to me Alex !!!!!!!!
You said you were not an engineer .
Your problem solving and thought process in doing so is remarkable !
The way you attacked each individual problem was sensational to say the least, but, the end result is something to be very proud of and I really hope your build in total is Very helpful for other guy`s.
Thanks for this !!
Mart.
Hahaa thank you! I do feel I may have excelled myself with this one. The sport seats came out better than I anticipated (although also much harder work than anticipated). It's surprising what you can do when you really take your time with something. Hopefully the vids are a great resource for E30 enthusiasts present and future.
Nice progress Mr Rash. When's the paint work coming?
Thank you, hoping to start sanding in a few weeks ready to paint the car in my garage over summer. We will see how that goes! My old man is encouraging us to fix the paint on the E36 first, which might make for some much needed practise before we do the E30. I really do want this E30's paint job to look like a professional result...
