S38B36 Laguna Touring

Doing a minor build / restoration or an epic one, post it here

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Cypriotgeeza
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Posts: 3057
Joined: Sat Apr 04, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: Under a bonnet somewhere..

Post Wed Feb 11, 2026 10:51 pm

lellis wrote: ↑
Tue Feb 10, 2026 11:24 am
Cypriotgeeza wrote: ↑
Sun Jan 04, 2026 8:09 am
Amazing car mate, I didn't realise you had a project thread on here as I've been watching your progress on Instagram :D I need to sit down one day with a pot of tea and go through it!

Can I ask a silly Q,
Do you ever have any issues uploading pics on here ? I try to upload 2/3 and it disconnects me from E30 zone and says site not reached :? I cant imagine how you uploaded so many without issue?
haha yes! done it for years and even I enjoy a little scroll through from time to time.

I upload the pics to Flickr then share the BB code onto here, trim off some of the link etc. Never had an issue doing it this way, it just takes longer than usual..
I used to do it this way before using photo bucket but then half my pictures disappeared from my project thread when they decided to start charging :mad:

I might have to start using flickr 8)

I still love the forum format, especially seeing how far projects have come and all the time and effort that was put into them, you don't get the same feeling on instagram.
Check my M30 build threads:
Project Frankenstein: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=194154
Headgasket: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=165704
Clutch issues: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=172482
Instagram: www.instagram.com/Cypriotgeeza
New Daily : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=285452
rix313
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Location: Silverstone

Post Thu Mar 12, 2026 10:06 am

It always feels like the hard work s building it. For me it is the post build snagging which burns up my patience and brain energy.
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lellis
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Post Thu Oct 01, 2026 10:04 pm

Ok I have some explaining to do, I haven't updated this thread for many months now and there is a reason; but it is not e30 related.
So I got the car on the road in Jan and then left the country mid Feb to travel the world, currently 7 months in and have been to Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, USA and currently in Guatemala for the Latin American part of the trip which should be about 8 months from now..

So the car is currently being looked after by my friend Ant, how helped me hugely when building the car. He has been able to tick off those last tasks I ran out of time to complete so let me take you through them.

But first I want to share my last week of being in the UK with the E30. Stratstone BMW Derby contacted me about an exchange, they borrow my car for a week and I get one of theirs. It was for the BMW ix3 reveal, so with their 'neue klasse' design they thought it best to have some older bmw's there too.

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It was great to see it in a dealership, but my favourite part was the loan car, a BMW X7! Now I have never been interested in new cars but this behemoth was actually amazing to use. It was a sad day giving it back.

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Then that was it, off I went leaving the car behind.

It eventually got picked up by Ant, he filled the boot with as many spare parts and tools I had accumilated over the years and took it up to his barn. But first stopped off at a car show.

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Then it was with a car that helped inspire me to dive so deep into my restoration.
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S38 swapped E30 Touring

Currently travelling the world

Instagram: http://Instagram.com/bad_e30
Build Thread: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=272997
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BadE30
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lellis
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Location: Nottingham

Post Thu Oct 29, 2026 6:41 pm

Ant has since been busy with my car, finishing off those last bits I unfortunatly didn't have time to complete.

Here is how the underside looks after a month of winter driving
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First up was something that failed pretty quickly (but not my fault). The gear selector bush securing stud had failed causing the selector to drop down and touch the prop shaft.
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Next up was to give the underside a deep clean and apply a corrosion resistant coating to protect it further (I totally forgot to cavity wax..)
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A quick rearrangement of the coolant pipes to tidy up the front
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I never had good heat from the fans, so we suspected it had an airlock, Ant spent a good amount of time getting this bled correctly and now they're working great.
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The alignment still wasn't right, turns out the rears had too much tow in, luckily I have the adjustable rear arms, so this was sorted and rear spacers reduced to fit in the arch.
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I never finished off the fusebox relocation, it just sat in the glovebox.. So this was another job before it could be enjoyed. I decided against shoving it all into the glovebox as there just is not enough room with the fusebox, ecu, relays and distrubution block to allow for easy access. A online friend showed me their solution and I followed it!
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The ECU and relays sit in the glovebox, tucked away right at the back meaning it is still functional.
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For now this will suffice, but the plan is to make a plastic cover with carpet material so that it is fully hidden and covered from any long legged passengers. Overall very happy with the result, it's very hard to notice it without taking a proper look low down.

Then some nice shots in the sunshine.

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But that isn't all, after mulitple test drives he noticed the coolant temp would rise when stationary, but quickly return to normal when in motion. This was always my concern with choosing a pusher fan system rather than a puller with shroud. I initially went with a pusher due to space restrictions but seeing it altogether now, there is enough room to move the fan to back of the rad with a easily removable shroud for maintenance access. Some may think it is due to my radiator design as it sits in the carrier rather than behind it, but this size rad is well tested within the s38 swap community, but they all have a puller fan...

On quiet days, he still takes it for a rip!
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So over winter, the plan is to redesign the fan setup, once this is done and proven, it is finally time to get the car mapped!
S38 swapped E30 Touring

Currently travelling the world

Instagram: http://Instagram.com/bad_e30
Build Thread: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=272997
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BadE30
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lellis
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Location: Nottingham

Post Thu Oct 29, 2026 6:51 pm

One big talking point of the e30 is nothing to do with my craftsmenship, but my poor taste in wheels..
I ordered these Konig's way too early in the project and as the car grew into what it is now, I feel the wheels became out of touch. So it was always a plan to replace them for something more period correct.

So, I don't really have the funds available to splash out on some fancy 3-piece splits due to travelling and unemployed... But Ant had a set of wheels he always planned to clean up and use for his other e30 once it was finished, so he offered to put them on the car whilst I am away!

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As they're going to be going on another e30, he spent a lot of time getting the perfect fit.
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With the car needing the coolant system sorting first, it hasn't left his place yet. But here are some with his e30
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The ride height requires some adjustment now as it is set for the 15's with smaller tyres, now it has 25mm more ground clearance so hopefully can lower the front to suit.

But overall, it is great to see the laguna green with silver wheels, I feel it really compliments the colour. I still double take it when I see it with the new wheels!
S38 swapped E30 Touring

Currently travelling the world

Instagram: http://Instagram.com/bad_e30
Build Thread: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=272997
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BadE30
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Cypriotgeeza
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Posts: 3057
Joined: Sat Apr 04, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: Under a bonnet somewhere..

Post Wed Nov 04, 2026 10:26 am

Brilliant update. 8)

I have a pusher fan with my M30 swap as (obviously) i have no room inbetween the rad and the engine to fit a puller, and have never had any issues with it?

Also can I ask how you upload so many pics to your thread?! Doesn't it block you from the website?

I've resorted to using Flickr and even then if I try and upload more then a few pics at a time it blocks me from the site :?

I have to say the new wheels suit it alot better then the black ones but I have never liked black wheels tbh, they never show off the style very well.

Looking forward to the next update :thumb:
Check my M30 build threads:
Project Frankenstein: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=194154
Headgasket: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=165704
Clutch issues: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=172482
Instagram: www.instagram.com/Cypriotgeeza
New Daily : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=285452