CamB

I had about 25mm cut out of JiB's struts and with 450lb (I think) 200mm springs (I think) its in the middle of the adjustment range (I think). The problem is, all three "I thinks" above might be wrong. Either way, he complains about not being able to go low enough, rather than complaining the other way, and the shocks are the same.

My expectation (and the reason I keep banging on about putting them on the car) is that with preload wound up as far as your puny guns (I have the same problem - weak as piss) can manage that the front will be too high, which means you need to cut the struts and shorten them by approx 25mm. Then you should be happy, as you will have a further 25mm of lowering available. Until you mount them on the car, I am only guessing. You do know you need to get it realigned every time you raise or lower it, as the toe changes, right? It's not free.

JiB - hopefully he has that the right length already for the spacer - it needs to be the right size to make up all the difference between the (short) bottom of the shock and the bottom of the strut so the shock is held firm. Incary - has the car been on the ground with the new front setup, in the position you show? - is it too low? I think you are worried unnecessarily about the lack of droop by the way. You'll note you have SFA at the back now.

If they are both medium case diffs, you should be able to swap the rear covers and the drive shaft flanges (they just pop out) from your e28 diff to the e30 diff ... and you're done. You might need to change the plug for the speed sensor. Which city are you in - could be keen on the 3.91 at the right price.

It seems to me it would be retarded to have the second sensor giving input into the fuel trim (simply because cats can clog, and because I really can't see any benefit), but just because its retarded doesn't mean that manufacturers don't do it for some reason I can't fathom. Which is why I am being cautious.

What's megatune showing while cranking?

Further comment - am still not sure why you're worried about preload (within reason) - an E30 has plenty of both with standard springs.

Yeah - just wind 'er up like the man says. (edit) - ok, I see your reply now. Seriously, the preload may not be the issue you think it is. The weight of the car does that job too. Have you put it on the ground like it is now? On that note, you should wind up the rears too if you haven't already stuck it on the ground and found out - JiB's are barely captive and its reasonably low at the back.

And it arrives quickly. I closed my eyes, gritted my teeth and handed over the cash for a non-remote key so I'd have a spare in case something bad happened to the key I've got.

I absolutely respect this - I wouldn't personally recommend people remove the cat (I agree - unlikely to do much for most, however it will/does on a turbo Skoda), but find myself in a position where its already gone... so am basically just looking for an answer for me.

All I wonder is if there is some sort of documentation showing this. All evidence I find (which is generally low-trustworthiness internet evidence) suggests the opposite. (edit - I must stress, it really is ALL evidence, as I can find none that suggests the 2nd sensor has input into the a/f ratio etc).

Glenn, yeah it does still have a cat, but my thinking is that whether its there or not, the ECU thinks it isn't so will be doing whatever bad stuff it is that you are worried about. Thanks for the link jordy - that's my current plan, but would prefer to absolutely know for sure what OBD-II does with the signal from the second sensor before I start fooling it.

Without meaning to be difficult, in the whole wide internet I can't find any evidence this is the case. You'll get a check engine light for catalyst below threshold, but the second sensor doesn't appear to be part of the fueling decision making by the ECU - it seems to only have the task of determining if the cat is working properly. I'm happy to be proved wrong (and would really love to know for certain one way or the other). The wife's Skoda has a P0420 code because it has a highflow APR downpipe and cat, and so far the engine hasn't blown up in the approx 20-30,000km since its had the code.

Bringing only my M10 knowledge (and I think M30 is effectively 1.5x M10), you'll need to be careful on rocker selection and/or valve springs and ensure piston to valve clearance. Oh, and PM sent on another matter.

Ah ok, 22mm - I couldn't remember. Were the brakes ok in the 306 with that m/c? My recollection on my mate's car is that it was adequate but not fantastic.

Can you use the 306 master cylinder?

I'm sure most of them aren't that mean to the car, but the theory behind that test is that you need to be able to stop the car repeatedly from speed, and presumably they sort of account for the amount of power the car makes by accelerating harder. Having said that, when my 2002 was certed the first time, the certifier didn't exactly give it death (it wasn't fast anyway). I heard a story about Ray William's 930 (specs here) being certified, no idea if its true - Ray was apparently driving and they were lined up on a short straight bit of road and the certifier explained the test. Ray said - shall I do it now, the cert guy said - nah need more room, Ray said - this'll do, followed by roooarr --- screeech --- roar --- screech - roar - screech. Done. Cert guy nearly crapped himself, apparently. As I said, no idea if its true but since they do 100kph in 1st, its believable.

They seem to like castor - just run as much as you can without having the tyres rub. The ground control pics totally oversell the practical benefit of their OMG camber abilities. I understand there's no point in having much over 2.5-3 deg unless you use slicks, etc, and in JiB's case this much camber only required about 10-15mm offset from centre. Plus, to use the full adjustment GC show in the pic, you have to cut the tower to make space for the allen head bolts, which isn't especially practical. For this reason, I think on JiB's car he only has about 5mm of extra caster put in. Basically it looks more like the "competitor" picture. It can go further, but not without some cutting. If you wanna see caster I should take a pic of the M3 some time. It's an Evo, so longer control arms, but I also had the control arm bushings replaced with the offset ones, so the wheel is visibly forward in the arch. I like it, but the steering is quite weighty.

Bigger injectors will just be rich. Have you checked the timing is right yet? If you block the wastegate, when the cert guy jumps on the throttle the first time he accelerates to 100kph to test the brakes, you'll get a hell of a fright as it boosts uncontrollably. It will be fun but not much good for the engine.

That's not quite right. I've had quite a few sleeps since I measured it all up and cut them (someone else welded). Maybe what I seemed to remember needed to take into account: - the Konis have a very short travel - the springs are also very short - so its hard to make them captive - the springs are so short they are captive only when they are fully wound up (edit - see below) - therefore, when they are captive, without cutting the struts it would be sitting high (at least in JiB's case) - so you cut and shorten the struts and the shock spacer that goes in the strut to make it lower - however, in his case it still wasn't ideal (unfortunately I can't remember if the issue was sitting high, not captive, or too stiff) so 50mm longer and slightly softer springs bought. He couldn't add tender springs or it would have gone from a bit stiff to mega too stiff. Actually, it can't have been captive, otherwise we wouldn't have considered tender springs. It must have been that the GC springs were so short that they couldn't be captive, even wound up. Now it's mint, with longer springs. Either way, sorry for the book-length and rambling reply. So basically, measure a lot. Think about it a lot. Good luck.

Straight cut gears are (immensely) strong, and whine - that's not why you can shift hard/fast/without clutch. Are you thinking of dog engagement, which you might have got too? ...struggling to find something decent. This will do: http://www.carbibles.com/transmission_bible.html

Haha - 'tis true. Helpful tip - some of those fasteners are 'Merican - you'll need a 1/2" or 7/16", and I think the allen key bolt to adjust the rear height might be imperial too.

I'd take a 3.91 too Will keep it in mind - 3.73 probably fine so in the unlikely event I find a 3.91 maybe we can sort something out.

Not sure what they'd come in - possibly late e24 or an e32. I'm after the R&P to see if it can be coaxed into the M3's diff. Hopefully cheap, coz I am not sure its going to work.

Just be careful - its USA M3 cams, not Euro M3 cams. I have also seen Schrick and "Sunbelt" associated with M50 cams. Its a lotta money for not a lot of gain?