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Previously in my lovely build threads: I had a brown S52 swapped e30. Life was good. Got a bug up my rear end to swap in a V8 - acquired a good M62b44. Tempted by friend, bought damaged S62b50. Picked up a beat up 318iS e30 as a daily. Brown car sat, and sat. Moved back to Nashville to finish school. Brown car had to be stored at farm 70 miles away from home.  Look at this poor thing. I've been sitting on the S62b50 I picked up for it with the intent of either following through with the swap after I graduate, land a job, and pay off my student loan debt. That'll be about two years from now realistically. I was getting tempted to sell the S62 stuff and throw money at the DD. The good times:  Yeah, I was an idiot and bought an e82. I make really smart financial decisions but not when it comes to cars.   I blame the exhaust. It has a Berk resonated midsection and race axleback on it. It sounds so ridiculously good. I sold the 318iS daily I had to the friend who bought my S52 swap. Just in time too - one of his friends stuffed his project e30 into something hard and unforgiving, and now he has a straight body to stuff the 24v in. The N54 is an amazing power plant. Anyway, I've been doing research at my university but this semester I started working at a Porsche / Euro / Exotic place doing wrenchwork. I haven't had an outlet to wrench for a while - too much time spent on school and too few places to do it. My brother shut down Track.One around August of last year, and everything car related felt like it's been on hold since then. He's actually working full time at this same shop, so he's in a pretty great position now, though. Working there has been great. The owner is another road course enthusiast, and talking with him has been throwing wood in the fire. I had to get back on a track. I dropped my plans to mod the e82, and called up the venerable RobertK. A few weeks later I was carting back a bunch of parts and a very special motor from Knoxville.   The original plan was to just find a normal 24v to stuff in and get the rest of the components needed to get the car back out on the track. I sold practically the entire drivetrain of the previous setup, so I had a decent amount to acquire. Trans, DS, diff, axles, exhaust, booster - all gone. I scored a ZF trans, 328i DS, and a 3.23 LSD from a local salvage yard for $165. Lucky find. I could have continued and grabbed pretty much everything I needed, until Robert told me about the motor he was getting in. Now I have to do that motor justice, and that means M50tu pistons for 11.5 CR and some custom cams at minimum. I have some pretty powerful engine gas dynamics modelling and CFD software right now, so if I can get into the university's machine shop some cooooool things are going to happen! The suspension is pretty much all set up, it's just getting motor related things together at this point. Five lug is happening, with e36 M3 calipers on all four corners. Driving the e82 on the Dragon made me realize just how poo poo the e30's brakes were. Should be a lot of updates until I run out of money / into finals, but at least when that happens I can post the cool things I work on at the shop! Like this!  Maybe without the shakey hands, though. My build threads always sputtered out and died, but I was in a very lovely place then. Now I'm on happy pills and everything is great!  Note: S62b50 = 1998-2003 M5 5.0L 394bhp V8. M62b44 = 286bhp 4.4L V8 that went in tons of different things, but mostly 540i's and 740i's.
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Mar 31, 2014 06:43
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Current parts list: Engine: M52b28 M50 Manifold OBD2 M3 Exhaust Drivetrain: ZF SG320 5 speed Rogue Engineering SSK w/ selector rod 328i driveshaft 3.25 LSD Suspension: AKG +12mm Subframe Bushings Z3 1.9L Steering Rack New Lemforder FCAs Treehouse Eyeball Arms Poly RTABs GC Coilovers w/ Bilsteins GC Camber Plates 318ti Rear Trailing Arms Brakes e36 M3 Calipers Saftey / Misc Bride Zeta III seat Personal 360mm steering wheel 5 pt harness (freebie I need to go pick up!) As you can see, I've still got a ways to go. No clutch and flywheel, no axles, still need a bunch of 5 lug parts and brake stuff. Roll bar is a big item I need too.
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Mar 31, 2014 06:51
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Super nice ride, homie. Plannin' on doing anything to the body?
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Mar 31, 2014 07:50
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Party Alarm posted:A few weeks later I was carting back a bunch of parts and a very special motor from Knoxville. Maybe I'm missing something here, but how is a generic pre-TU M52 a special engine? I mean, it's not a bad motor, but it's about as generic and unspecial as BMW engines get.
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Mar 31, 2014 09:24
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sansteele posted:Super nice ride, homie. Plannin' on doing anything to the body? I want to grab some KA Motors ultra wide fender flares. That's about it for now - aero will come later. HotCanadianChick posted:Maybe I'm missing something here, but how is a generic pre-TU M52 a special engine? I mean, it's not a bad motor, but it's about as generic and unspecial as BMW engines get. That engine block is not painted Party Alarm fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Mar 31, 2014 |
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Mar 31, 2014 13:47
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Why no V8 anymore? I love your E30s and it makes me want to swap all of mine.
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Mar 31, 2014 14:41
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Lightbulb Out posted:Why no V8 anymore? I love your E30s and it makes me want to swap all of mine. Superleggera man! Looks like he's going for light weight over raw power with that aluminum block M52
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Mar 31, 2014 15:05
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Cool to see another Nashvillian on AI. If you ever need an extra hand let me know, I'm not as nearly as good with a wrench as you are, but I can lift things and open beers pretty good. I think I know which shop you're at, and yes...pictures of the stuff that comes in there would be awesome. Nashville has a surprising amount of exotics around I've found, though they tend to not be shown off too much.
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Mar 31, 2014 17:04
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Party Alarm posted:That engine block is not painted Give me 15 minutes with a sandblaster and I can make any engine unpainted  Why the aluminum block out of a Z3? An M54 would make more power for the same weight. Plus They're a lot more common.
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Mar 31, 2014 17:12
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M54 is electronic throttle which is a lot harder to swap over to an E30
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Mar 31, 2014 17:40
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M54 is a lot more expensive overall for the swap. I may be able to find a motor for a similar price but I still need to cough up the dough for a reflash to delete CAN and EWS. They also aren't the best track motors unless you want to toss an ATI Superdamper on one. They have vibration issues. The b28 is square - 84x84mm, and can rev without shaking itself to death. It's a very simple motor with few things to go wrong. No V8 because it was going to take too much time and money to do it right. That can wait until after graduation. I was actually excited about having less power - it could teach me a thing or two I figure. However, I'm shooting for the same power levels I had before with the S52 so  Been researching 3d scanning options. I need a Kinect and a better laptop, STAT Party Alarm fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Mar 31, 2014 |
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Mar 31, 2014 18:41
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 First go at 3d scanning. That's an e30 cluster housing. Need more resolution!
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Apr 1, 2014 23:53
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Hello E30 friend   
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Apr 2, 2014 00:43
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Can this be the E30 thread?? 
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Apr 2, 2014 01:00
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YES A clean red coupe parked next to my e82 when I was eating out just now. I should have taken a picture. Nice Ronals, e30 dude, wherever you are. e: Rename thread title e30 Sperg Zone if you want, I'm down with this being an e30 thread
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Apr 2, 2014 03:02
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I have Ronal LS's on my coupe, love them. Need to take the stupid stud kit off and get my hands on proper center caps though. Thinking about doing minilites on the sedan, just need to work out the offsets and how wide I want to go.
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Apr 2, 2014 03:12
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I've got Ronals, too! I need to get a picture of them on my father's car who I "lent" them to. He's going to keep them, I feel. I've been running 15'' Koseis on the red one and 16'' Team Dynamics on the silver one. Tire choice is annoying due to the wheel diameters.
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Apr 2, 2014 03:22
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My friend agreed to sell me my old exhaust setup for a price I can squeeze it in at. I was running S50b32 Supersprint replica headers, a dual l2.5" straight pipe center section, and a UUC System U catback. I mostly wanted the catback. I love Corsa mufflers. Going to chop up the headers. I might be able to get the company to send me one of their new revised headers for free. Ebay headers have poo poo collectors. Always will. Cheap headers pretty much always do. Need to get in there with a die grinder and make a velocity cone. Found a pretty cool read on headers. Choice quote: "No anodized aluminum butt plugs" This whole post is pretty AI, even if it's talking about Harley exhausts. Does that make it CA as gently caress? https://www.rbracing-rsr.com/exhausttech.htm
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Apr 2, 2014 03:38
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As someone else who closed their shop, mind if I ask what happened to Track.One?
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Apr 2, 2014 04:30
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I don't really want to go into to much detail, but it was my brother's first attempt at a business, so naturally some hard learned lessons came his way. Mostly had to do with money problems and lack of organization. Big projects would end up taking way too long and there was not enough money to show for it, some investments were made in equipment that never really resulted in profit, and so on. A risky move to a place with much more expensive rent at a time when both my brother and his tech were pretty burnt out put the final nail in the coffin. He started the shop in 2009, so naturally the economy hurt things too. Just before he shut his doors, a guy with a Hennessey Viper called up because he was referred by Hennessey Performance themselves when he asked where in Tennessee he could take it. It seems like making it in the aftermarket performance market requires products, or specialty services like tuning or engine building.
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Apr 2, 2014 05:22
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 Better days e: Content! Here's an image dump from work today.      
Party Alarm fucked around with this message at 07:26 on Apr 4, 2014 |
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Apr 4, 2014 07:13
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GAH MY HEART. A 911's on my list one of these days.
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Apr 4, 2014 22:41
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Moxie Omen posted:GAH MY HEART. A 911's on my list one of these days. Especially that generation of 911 
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Apr 4, 2014 23:03
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'89. Sold for $45k and it still need a $6k valve job. Porsche prices are nuts right now. Boss has a '91 Turbo he just acquired. Rare car!
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Apr 4, 2014 23:32
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So, anyone ever restore an old shift knob?
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Apr 5, 2014 04:17
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More work photos WHY CAN'T YOU BE 5x120?  Wheels wheels wheels wheels I'm still waiting on a few things to make some progress. Need to ramp up my hours at work a bit - still have some money I need to spend to get what I need.
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Apr 6, 2014 16:55
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Who else have gods true chariot, an E30, on the forums? I know myself, Beach Bum, Party Alarm, Moxie Alarm, aventari....
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Apr 16, 2014 14:43
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My first car was a red -90 318 iS with a sunroof. Sold it to my brother-in-law who sadly crashed it one year later  (he was ok). I keep checking ads for a e30 iS but I wonder if it's better to keep that car as nostalgia.
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Apr 16, 2014 14:51
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Enter sadman
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Party Alarm posted:It seems like making it in the aftermarket performance market requires products, or specialty services like tuning or engine building. Just selling parts is super cut throat, ask me how I know!
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Apr 16, 2014 14:57
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Lightbulb Out posted:Who else have gods true chariot, an E30, on the forums? I know myself, Beach Bum, Party Alarm, Moxie Alarm, aventari.... I made the mistake of selling my old euro 325ix for peanuts when I was sure the ECU was dead. I miss that car, nothing has ever been as fun to drive in the snow. I keep trying to find a solid e30 to daily, but such a thing doesn't really exist anymore around here.
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Apr 16, 2014 15:44
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Lightbulb Out posted:Who else have gods true chariot, an E30, on the forums? I know myself, Beach Bum, Party Alarm, Moxie Alarm, aventari....   I finally reglassed the bumper over Christmas, just waiting for it to warm up so I can respray it with some Imola.
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Apr 16, 2014 18:11
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Lightbulb Out posted:Who else have gods true chariot, an E30, on the forums? I know myself, Beach Bum, Party Alarm, Moxie Alarm, aventari.... Yes, my E30 was pretty godly awesome, to me at least.  Unfortunately...  (click pic for the full album)I will have another, some day. I had the full SpecE30 suspension on there, EVERYTHING worked (including the SI board!), Euro projector headlamps, poly motor/trans/suspension mounting hardware, 197k on the clock, fresh timing belt/waterpump, I had just gotten a spare rear subframe to do the adjuster welding... I had just bought the Volvo too, so the E30 was going to go into full weekend car mode. It was the last weekend before we got the house with the garage. EDIT: SuperDucky posted:
Pre-Facelift divingboard E30s for lyfe  
Beach Bum fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Apr 16, 2014 |
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Apr 16, 2014 20:40
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Quote is not edit.
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Apr 16, 2014 20:48
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Hi I'm stealing that first picture picture for my desktop background at work so I have something to motivate me to give a gently caress, that is basically what I want my car to look like except in alpine white. Here is my crappy but lovable E30: 
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Apr 16, 2014 23:57
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Beach Bum posted:
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Apr 17, 2014 05:42
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Lightbulb Out posted:Who else have gods true chariot, an E30, on the forums? I know myself, Beach Bum, Party Alarm, Moxie Alarm, aventari.... 91 318is DD here.
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Apr 17, 2014 05:55
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Yeah, that's going in my wallpaper rotation. Makes me want an E30 even more
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Apr 17, 2014 07:02
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Things have been kinda slow because I caught some sort of stomach flu. ill be headed down to Knoxville to pick up some parts soon. Gonna post some content in the morning, for some reason my phone seems to hate posting here
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Apr 17, 2014 07:41
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Lightbulb Out posted:Who else have gods true chariot, an E30, on the forums? I know myself, Beach Bum, Party Alarm, Moxie Alarm, aventari.... Had a Touring with an -is swap before my Subaru. Great car, but had to get something safer for the kids. E30 is still the best BMW for actual driving on roads. All the later stuff has too much weight, complexity, grip and power.
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Apr 17, 2014 12:32
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Saga posted:Had a Touring with an -is swap before my Subaru. Great car, but had to get something safer for the kids. E30 is still the best BMW for actual driving on roads. All the later stuff has too much weight, complexity, grip and power.
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Apr 17, 2014 17:53
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