Xcel

Is the LSD 3.15 ratio and still available?

The head in my M50B25 cracked so I'm looking at a replacement (with or without valvetrain). (deleted my last post due to it being redundant)

Seems pretty normal to me, I haven't noticed revs hanging and the clutch grabs pretty firmly. The gearbox has taken a bit of getting used to though, you can't throw it between gears quickly like some cars due to how notchy it is. 1st/3rd and 2nd/4th are quite close together laterally so it's quite easy to go from 1st to 4th by accident, not sure if it's the short shift kit or just how the gearbox is designed. I have to make sure I don't select reverse when going for first too haha.

Haven't been posting progress but the car is now a manual and I've been driving it around like that for 2 weeks now. It's been a headache, the competition clutch was riveted the wrong way so the clutch disc was rubbing against the guide bush and making an awful squealing noise. Easy fix with a grinder but we were having trouble bleeding the hydraulics and then the clutch pedal wouldn't keep pressure. Had to replace the master cylinder with a brand new one which solved that problem. The only issue remaining is shuddering (clutch chatter) when slipping in first/reverse which is probably related to my clutch kit - avoid competition clutches in my opinion. I think it's time to put this project on hold so I can have a car that can actually be used and not spend a month on jack stands. I'll need a 3.15 LSD at some point though because the gearing is a bit short and fuel economy suffers at 100kph doing around 3600rpm. It's probably not the most interesting one to share on here anyway because my budget it pretty low. Here is a photo I took of it way up on the ranges anyway. Quite impressed that it got up the gravel road without issue despite being lowered and it's a lot of fun around the twisties.

If it's anything like my E36 then that's just how they design these cars. The rear of my car has a few cm more ground clearance than the front so it still has the rake but the tyres sit roughly the same as yours in the arches.

So we ended up making our own socket extension with some steel tube and finally got the automatic transmission out, but what a mission. The surprising thing was the weight difference between the two. The automatic is 95 kg including torque converter and ZF manual only 36 kg (excluding clutch and flywheel).

That sounds like a good idea actually, will have to give it a go in the morning.

Update: Designed door panels and got them cut out with a cnc plasma cutter on 1.6mm aluminium. It was a bit rough around the edges so I attacked it with grinding tools and a wire wheel. I've managed to install the door panels so that they fit well with some steel reinforcing around the handles to reduce flex. Going to cover them in black vinyl so they don't look so nasty. ATF was drained then exhaust, drive shaft, head shield, ATF cooler and lines have been removed. Engine is tilted back and we're trying to remove the bolts holding the transmission on. Currently our ratchet extensions are proving to be too flexible with the length required to clear the automatic transmission. Sprayed the bolts with CRC and will try them again tomorrow.

Lanzar Vibe 410

Ah I will try to find some cheaper Bridgestones, but the PS3's are on special currently ($239 ea). Yes the brakes will be getting replaced with a 330i conversion after the manual conversion is sorted.

Decided to replace my Lanzar Vibe amp with an RE Audio XT-800.4 gem I found on TradeMe. Not a huge upgrade in power but it's a better quality amp, looks nicer and doesn't seem to run as hot. I'm quite happy with how the suspension feels on the car despite it being a bit of a mix, but that's how it is sometimes when you're running to a budget. The wheels are rarely ever scrubbing on the arches or guards and it's still quite comfortable with much less body roll. Koni seem to be a great choice in shocks for the street. As you can see the arches now meet with the top of the tyres nicely. Next I will probably need to replace my rubber because they are snow tyres (what it came with for some reason). They don't provide the most direct road feel and wear down pretty quickly but don't seem to be nearly as dangerous to use in summer as most people say. I'm tempted to get some Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyres from Hyper Drive.

Too expensive for what it's worth and it's always a gamble when buying springs. The Dobi Sport springs I have at the moment seem to ride fine and I'm happy with the ride height now that it's been lifted. Eventually I'll probably just replace the whole lot with decent coil overs when I'm ready to get it certed.

Head and headgasket appear to be fine but the coolant reservoir cracked so I got that replaced. Engine is running well again, just need to get the front lifted up a bit with 20mm spring packers.

Today I learnt the hard way about bleeding your cooling system properly with a BMW, it's a bit more complicated than adding it straight into the radiator like in my previous cars. The symptoms of air in the cooling system were confusing me, I thought I'd added too much coolant into the expansion tank but the system had hot spots, started boiling and forcing coolant out. Unfortunately it did get hot enough that the engine stalled and started leaking some oil so I'm getting the engine compression tested tomorrow to make sure the head gasket is still good.

Poor wheels, I'd rather park 1 foot from the curb than risk scratching mine. You've done a great job with them.