Olaf

Finally, the other item I forgot to include in my runthrough of what you need you consider as part of your M5x swap is - amongst your certing, suspension refresh, and brakes - the 5 stud swap. If you want to know how it's done, don't ask - google. A specific form of e36 front control arms, some knuckles, the rear from one of the Z3's or a Ti (I forget which), and then of course the right rotors, calipers, pads etc. You'll find more -ve camber, and a big selection of wheels... join the long queues of e30 conversion owners looking for a diminishing supply of the same 16 and 17 inch 5 stud wheels. Have you bought a car yet?

@Autoglym @Neal

awesome. [edit] - could this be a great opportunity for me to pick up an affordable e46 M3? Surely there'll be many displaced by carefully sourced GR Yaris.... I heard Toyota did bring some in - all pre-sold.

Good vidjo! [EDIT] mein gott some of their camera positions get the shot but are a bit risky! [EDIT II] Their editing is fresh; lots of candid footage from multiple cameras, tightly edited to avoid 'too much filler', they're using ND filters on their cameras and grading the output in post so it looks good. Contrast that to the Fab Rats version that has way too much saturation and contrast. I've been watching Jerry from Bullshitkorner for years. Discovered his e46 repair videos, laughed at his batchelor cooking videos, and was won over by his excellent engineering projects. You get garage, outdoor, and four wheeling projects, and the occasional rant. (this one's NSFW for some of the language)

Awesome. What's prompted the 5-stud conversion on the racecar, more brakes? I should note that's a decent collection of Resene cans there too. Waterborne enamels FTW!

^^^ this post needs PICTURES!!! 😀

what, so it blends in those obviously stuck-on arch extensions to look 'factory'? The whole look is based on paying homage to race cars, while getting a wildly extended track 'street legal', and it works. Frenching-in extensions will probably crack anyway, which is why it went out of vogue.

but the runflat rims are stronger and heavier - made for that extra demand RFTs place on them.

No. Austere models - now referred to as 'poverty spec' are low-cost, optioned down, to keep the price low. It usually added $1000 or thereabouts to the price to add an autobox. So no, the 'luxury' of Automatic has no place in a poverty spec car of the 70's or 80's. Go buy a car already! PS - poverty spec is a pretty ironic reference for a cheap 4 cyl BMW that cost more than half the price of a three bedroom house in a second or third-tier suburb back around '87-90.

tht's not poverty-spec, it's got powah windows! and foglights, and rear headrests. try no tacho, wind-up windows, slicktop, manual, no aircon. Just an electric antenna and a radio cassette.

so you factor in some welding, or a door skin, or a door if you can find one for a coupe. You can pick holes in it from your armchair, or you can get an inspection done (by a BMW specialist!) or go see it for yourself. They're thirty year old classics, a perfect one will cost you over $30k now, and if it's rare it'll cost you $60k. They all need work, it's a question of being sure what needs doing, and is it worth it to you.

if you buy a very tidy coupe and buy an M52 (and the right sump) and appropriate gearbox and do the full service of all those parts mentioned earlier and conversion finishes with around $25k outlay (it costs a bit more to do an M52 conversion than an M20). So $13k - unless it's a complete basket case - isn't unreasonable. Question is, where do you want to be for your $25k?

All the work's been done, and it's certed. Not to say you wouldn't spend a few $k on sorting the body - does it have the usual e30 rust or is it clean and sorted? My personal view is those wheels are dugly, but one many's meat is another's poison! It might need a few $k on bringing maintenance up to spec, or it could be good. But hey, if it's certed, wof'd, and rego'd, and it's an M52B28, and a slicktop coupe, for $13k. Worth investigating at least. [EDIT: wonder which gearbox they used?] I suspect it'll shift quickly unless there's something glaringly wrong. Note: this is not a recommendation for you to buy. Caveat emptor.

shame your tyre shop didn't mention the buckles! +10 points for Dukes of Hazzard action, though.

Friends don't let friends go to VTNZ. Find a good independent, develop a trust relationship with them instead. VTNZ commented on my WoF sheet that the oil was low. The oil was in fact perfect - they didn't know how to read an M54 dipstick.

PS: http://www.unixnerd.co.uk/e30models.html

I can't afford the real thing, even if I could find one. So I'm rolling my own.

there's a project thread if you look for it. I'm not sure being the voice of reason is entirely useful, it has a short shelf life.

I went M42 for four main reasons. Firstly I'd already spent on updates dedicated to 4cyl, it would be a waste of time and money to backtrack and spend the same money twice. Secondly if I want a performance car, I already have that in other vehicles. Thirdly I really enjoy the balance of a four cylinder e30; they're frankly better balanced than a six. YMMV. Fourthly if I put an M5x into my car, it wouldn't be a 318iS replica. Ultimately I've not owned a four cylinder car since 2008, and last serious four cylinder car I owned was 1996; I'm keeping this one four-pot for the driving experience. Why is the M5x the sensible move? It's a more modern engine, superior to the M20 (doesn't have the maintenance weakspots of the M20), has more power, less weight, multi-valve top-end, and VANOS for the bottom end (later models). It's a far superior motor. If you're going to the expense and effort of re-powering a thirty year old e30, and the expense and hassle of certing it, you might as well do an M5x - plenty of power and a better drive. Unless you're building (say) a 1990 spec 325i (replica), and you specifically want the character of the M20. I acknowledge that for most people an M5x makes more sense than an M42 or M44 - the M42 is pretty pricey for some of the engine parts. And then there's the M30 😀. I expect somebody will be along shortly extoling the virtues of M60/M62 conversions; I'm not worthy! 😁 I'd love to experience one. I'm picking nobody says they're easy, or easier than an M5x or M4x conversion? Hope that helps. Here's a thought. Have you bought the specialist books about the e30? Take a look on Amazon, buy up, read up.

No, that's entirely new territory. Many are watching the project threads for those going N52 now, to focus on the well-engineered N52 conversion. If you want N52 e30 conversion TODAY be prepared to write a blank cheque to a fabrication shop to do your conversion and get it certed for NZ. It could be quite some time. By all means go N52 today if you want to be a pioneer and understand what that means in terms of of $$$ or your own time with the requisite skills and access to machinery.

this is why - having done allmost all of the work mentioned above on mine, I'm going M42. Still have to cert it. But the car will be a 318iS replica, and the only stuff I end up 're-doing' is the cooling system hoses. The brakes, suspension, all of the bushes are already done. If I went to M5x (the sensible move) I'd be up for springs, change to medium case diff etc etc. @Southerner I stopped adding mine up ages ago. The accounting terms is "f#*king heaps*. Though the smiles per mile make it all worthwhile.

A/C is uncommon on 316i (could you even option it on the 103hp poverty-spec model?), some 318i have it. You'd want to go to disc rear end (most 316 and 318 are drum rear and solid fronts) and 6cyl vented front brakes (rotors, calipers), with new hoses, caliper rebuilds, pads, rotors. Anything less will be under-braked for your 170hp powertrain. You'll need 6 cyl springs for the extra weight, so might as well do your shocks while you're at it and don't cheap-out (so factor H&R+Koni, or Eibach+Bilstein), and you'll want the 6 cyl ARB. In fact it's thirty years old so do a full suspension bushing refresh front and rear incl rear subframe & trailing arm bushes, lollipops and LCA bushes (or just replace the LCAs as they're not expensive) at the front, along with strut mounts, bump stops, booties. You'll want to replace the diff mount on the medium case diff your 6 cyl conversion came with, unless it's looking fresh. Auto to manual, do all your shifter bushings and a Z3 1.9 short shift, easier to do it now. You'll need a 6 cyl plug for your cluster if converting from 4 cyl, so the tacho reads right. As you're certing, might as well do a purple tag rack conversion. If it came on steel wheels, you'll need bottle caps as a minimum for the fatter calipers - as the pads wear the'll end up contacting the steel rims. Avoid cheap tyres when you go to get it on the road after spending all that money, the wreckers are littered with e30's where a damp road has been encountered and the tyres &/or driver experience isn't up to it. Doing cooling system refresh as part of your M20 install? You'll need the bigger radiator (if it didn't come with your M20 conversion) as the 4 cyl is a lot smaller. Maybe change all those old hoses and waterpump whie it's out as precautionary maintenance? Or defer till later and keep a watchful eye on it. OE/OEM parts are reasonably inexpensive but the prices mount. If you're doing it yourself you're saving labour at least. If you've bought a $4-5k M20B25 full drivetrain (rad to diff), and pay $12-15k for a clean 4cyl coupe, then add the costs above, you're around $20-25k certed and on the road with a clean tidy sorted car with no maintenance headaches. And people think e30's are cheap!

August 2017, Makara.

@HardBall66 it's time to scratch that e38 itch my friend!

Wow, that's a cool e28. should be easy to sell! Can't afford an e30, buy a more credible 80's weapon. Sharkattack! GLWS!