E30 325i Rag-Top

A bit slow with the updates, but here are a few more pics... The new engine and box are now in the hole.. Lots more room around the engine than with the M20 lump, and sits further back, and more balanced over the front sub-frame which should all be good for better turn-in and stability under brakes? So now trial fitting and connecting everything up to see what goes where, and what I am missing, gradually having to buy lots of small bits and pieces to get it all to fit together. M3 radiator with new hoses - straight bolt in fit, no problems!! Not so lucky with the driveshaft - managed to slide it down to the right length, but the output flange and guibo on the 265/5 box is a bigger size than the one on the ZF box I took out, so need a new driveshaft flange hopefully it is the same as some other more common BMW models - fingers crossed. Next up on the list, sorting out the exhaust headers and seeing what needs to be done to get clearance around the steering column past the two secondary pipes. I have a 50/50 header and would like to avoid too much cutting and bending if possible!

Build thread is started here... http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/46498-e30-racecar-engine-swap-with-a-difference/ Needs an update, I will put some more pics up this week-end. Buying a complete 320iS and putting a cage in would probably have been a better idea, oh well...

I have spent a lot of time looking around for an E30 M3 and/or S14 motor in NZ, and in all that time I did not come across and 320iS or even hear of any. Just like the M3 they only came out in LHD, which makes them harder to import into NZ and for the hassle and aggravation it would be more worthwhile to get an M3 for most people. A few still come up for sale in Italy now and again on some of the web-sites, but they tend to be priced fairly high as most people have cottoned on to the scarcity of the model and especially the engine. Quite a few have made it into the UK and Germany where people have grabbed them as they are cheaper than the M3. The two door version is a great car, 2.0ltr S14, dog-leg box, LSD, M-Tech2 kit plus quite a few extra goodies, the four door not so much, still has engine, box and LSD but not Tech2 kit and fewer goodies (as standard) - so again 2 door prices are a way above the 4-door. With all the original M3 / 320iS bits I have bought for my S14 conversion it is going to be pretty close to a genuine 320iS by the time I have finished!!

Life Cycle Impulse (LCI) is the new-fangled term for a "face-lift", worked from the fact that all series have a life cycle of approximately 7 years, so to keep the design fresh(without re-designing the whole series) it is given an "impulse" three and a bit years after it is first introduced. For example the F10 5-Series went through LCI this year. What you are thinking of Graham is the "model year update" which confusingly happens three times each year, where standard factory spec can be changed, market specific (ie NZ) spec can be changed or options can be made avaiable or removed. The amount of changes varies wildly, it can be no change at all, or a major revamp of the vehicle spec. It's hard to keep up with all the changes!!

Nice summer cruiser. Trying to work out what spoiler you've got on the boot - is it just the bottom half of the Tech-2 Spoiler set?

I have got the Anycar in my wife's E46 wagon, and it is pretty reasonable for the price IMHO. Yes, you have to plug it into the CD changer hole, but later cars have two inputs into the back of the unit and if you are fairly smart you can still use both. I had to change a few pins from one plug to another to keep the factory bluetooth phone working with the Anycar - but it only took 30mins googling to work it out.

You ain't seen nothing yet.... loads more series, models and segments still to come!

Very nicely done, for a great all-round result. Personally I really like the pin-stripe M colours on the grille and thought that was a really good detail (and so did the wife!!).

Loving your work man!! Good to see such enthusiasm for your car - keep it up.

Just keeps getting cooler and cooler.. Added to my Santa list!

Not the series ones, I think they are "lows", deffo the wrong part numbers though.

Yeah I saw that too, it belongs to a guy who lives up in Farm Cove. Maybe a problem with the trailer when taking it home? Pretty sure it's not road legal!

Try Dave at Autoblast, real good guy and really knows his stuff, got loads of different blasting media to do the job right.

Says Mr. 6,252 posts... Yes, I think we can safely say those seats are probably the same as some other cars of the same era. Try finding the correct cloth or leather to trim them for the M3, rather than those horrendous Jappa colours!

The Evo seats are probably Recaro made, so the same as other models, it would be the trim that determines if they were for the M3 I guess, only way to really tell would be the part number on the seat somewhere. This is a cloth trimmed version.. You can see the shape, cut out for harness, etc. is all the same. Very comfy as well! And as others have said, the E30 M3 went into Japan as LHD from factory, all E30 M3s were LHD from factory, although there are some that say the two Japanese special RHD cars were "factory"! Japan spec was the same as the US spec I believe, only two variations were "Euro" or "US". Cars could then be specced with different options over and above those specs.

From the photos those seats look like the E30 M3 Evo II or Evo III seats which are schweeeet!! And if they are what I think they are they would push the price up a considerable amount, not down. After following prices on E30 M3s for a while I would say this is car is worth every penny of that $39k, due to it's condition and the overall spec of the car - good colour, great interior, some nice goodies - still pretty stock. Only thing that lets it down is the gearbox which I am pretty sure is not a dog-leg (Jap spec was 265/6 overdrive box), which is more sought after by collectors. Wish I had the cash to buy it... and far too nice to convert into a race car, so I would need another one for that!!

^^ x2 try without, if it picks up some interference then chuck it back on.

Those wheels are niiiiice! What size are they? Are they real centrelocks, or are there stud holes behind that centre cap? Look good anyways - would look even better on my an E30!

Not quite all of them, but a good effort, it is only missing some of the recently released styles. I'm not surprised he's finding it hard to keep up with the latest, the number of different wheels that are out across the range now is mind boggling!!

Cool, you might get lucky and find something local, but most likely will be an overseas find. Have you looked on s14.net? Main site is down at the moment but there are some temporary forums up. I will pm you the details of the guy I got my stuff from, he has engines quite regularly.

There was never a recall for any swirl flap or inlet manifold issues on these Turbo Diesels, just quite a few cars that were repaired - some out of warranty with a substantial "good will" payment from BMW. And there is not even an official chageover date to the later design of flap. Interesting comment on the job sheet that the flap was missing, I can only think it means the swirl flap. Some did get stuck on the way in (lucky) - others went through and caused havoc. Would still be worth pulling the inlet manifold off, just to see what has been done.. for peace of mind and safety's sake.

What do you need, block, long block, complete engine, complete engine swap? Oh, and budget...

Just seen the General Lee on Ti Rakau, big orange Dodge (?) with the 01 on the side - looked cool. Also saw a nice vert outside BMWorkshop this morning, same colour as mine on weaves, anyone on here? We could be cabby twins!!

When I did mine there was no hard and fast rule to work out what size blanks you needed to use, so had the whip the inlet off, measure the holes, then put it back on while I waited for them to arrive and then take it off again. I think there is now something you can look for on the inlet (like an extra sensor or something...) that tells you without having to take it off. I got mine from an outfit in Essex - Bimmer Performance Tuning or something, that did a lot of the early development on the blanks and seemed to know their stuff, price was about the same as you have. Didn't do the breather I must admit, might do it one day.. I hear it makes a big difference to the performance. Pretty sure they had them on their website as well.

The problem I see is that it won't stop the hard-core drunk driver, who is way over the limit anyway and just doesn't care - these are the ones that are the big danger and cause the real big accidents I believe. I've had guys working for me that have been done for DUI three, four, five times and were banned but still drove and still did it pissed, was not impressed. Those that will fall foul of this will be the people stopped at a road-block that have have had one beer after work and are on the way home and are marginally over the new limit. I hope I am wrong and it works, we shall see..