Michael.

I concur!

What a beauty.

Word!! What was that!

That was definitely the most painful game I've watched since I can remember........... ughhhh The French were certainly on their game tonight.... But hey, the AB's kept the defense strong where it counted!

Good condition gear set for an E36 or similar with the 188mm medium case differential. Ratio is 3.91 Intended to use it for my car but I've opted for a different ratio. Selling it for less than what it cost me! After $150 http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=417578286

We have missed you. Welcome back.

Thanks Ethan Yeah, even though it took the best part of 12 months to sort it all out..... I feel it has been worth it, huge difference to the M50B25... did take a lot of effort and pissed the folks off many times! Only issue is essentially I am back to square one now with a V8 E36 than needs upgrades! Time to dump a second lot of cash into it! (Oh well) A good starting point never the less! All in all I'm very happy as it is right now, it runs so smooth and effortlessly. Fixed a few issues - but all is well now. I've just got to focus on sorting out the small things (RPM tach signal for example) After doing the bulk of a project like this main tips I can suggest are: - Plan what you are doing, and know what the goal is, don't just rush into it. I used a CAD program for all the designed parts, that meant accurately drawing out an entire 1UZFE block and E36 sub frame. It proved to be very precise (fortunately!) - Know good sources of parts (ebay was a godsend!) - Have the time to do the job on the side, this means cutting out a lot of social fee time to work nights and weekends on the car - Have decent work site to work on the car, preferably a concrete floor workshop - Use a half cut shell for the custom design work - much better than practicing things on your own car! - Make sure you have a full set of tools, fortunately I only needed a couple of extra (expensive) things - Only use quality parts - Measure twice, cut once - Don't take short cuts because its easier... - If it's worth doing, its with doing right! - Get accurate workshop manuals for torque settings / electrical diagrams. - Know a good reliable welder! - Have a spare car to run around in - utes are perfect in these situations - Be prepared to spend in excess of your budget. - Best of all, don't give up! Heres a quick little break down of the main costs for this project so far... Originally I budgeted about 10k + 5k for the car so around $15,000 (the price of an M3 E36 ) > E36 Car $5000 > 1UZFE + Auto $3000 > Drive shaft $650 > Custom engine/trans mounts $800 > Steering arm $400 > Sump $500 > Exhaust setup + Headers $850 > Remus rear box $650 > Electrical expenditures $150 > M3 Bumper (still to be painted...) $400 > 4.27 LSD $750 (to be fitted) > Oil filter relocation kit $200 > Power steering lines $200 > Fuel lines and connections $150 > Engine overhaul (Leads, Coil packs, spark plugs, rotors, distributors, water pump, cambelt, belts bearings etc) $1500 > Oils and fluids $300 > Certification ~$750 (in the process of sorting that now, all looks good so far) > Miscellaneous parts (Rags, hoses, clamps, cleaners, bolts, other odds and ends etc) $1000 Works out to be about $12,500 + 5k for the car. Keep in mind I did EVERYTHING bar the welding work so you could add something like $10k in labour if you had someone do it! I should mention I've other upgrades to the car such as fix the interior, which adds another $1000 ( Leather seats, new roof lining) amongst other minor things. Id say it will owe me about 25k all up once I've finished the next line of upgrades (Full exhaust, A650E gearbox install, paint shop repairs, Link G4 ECU, M3 wheels etc) Yeahhh......

Pretty sure I saw this the other day.

Love that!

So after some testing I have come to find the acceleration is satisfactory although could be MUCH better. It's pulling 100kph in around 6.5-7.0 seconds which is not too bad for it's current setup. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlbzTsosN44 You have to remember I am using a bog standard engine (240-250hp) and ultra lazy 4 speed gearbox with lonnnngg gearing. The gearbox was a compromise - I knew using it would make it a bit soft and it does, but I didn't have 4k for a manual setup at the time... Since then I have decided to run a newer automatic gearbox. An A650E 5 speed - yes it's not a manual but it will bolt straight in and require no more custom parts. I've got one which I am having rebuilt to run: - A high stall torque converter - Modified high pressure valve body (More crisp faster shifts/less slip) I will set it up to run a: - Custom computer control with a TCM-2000 (full reprogram of the shift modes, allowing for full control of changes and even the torque converter! - not to be underestimated) It will be quite a gearbox (on paper anyway). The ratios are bang on, giving good top out speeds in each gear with the 4.27 LSD I am refitting. 1st - 3.36 - 50kph 2nd - 2.18 - 78kph 3rd - 1.42 - 117kph 4th - 1.00 - 166kph 5th - 0.75 - 230kph I'm also under way with sorting out a pair of high flow headers as the stock ones I used (heh) are loosing me a good 20hp so they need to go asap. Running well otherwise...

Not sure about the wheels??????? They look superb! Multi-spokes are what BMWs do best. Ethan has chosen well.

On second thoughts Id rather have an F30.... In saying that I have no idea... I haven't driven any of them to compare! I'll just stick with my v8 e36 for the meantime...

Drove it it somewhat quickly on a private road.

This again!

I wonder if you could buy an F30 in 22 years time and enjoy it like you can with this 22 year old E30

Yeah. Best advise!

Great job, are you doing any upgrades to the drive shaft? Was the car originally a 525i e34?

Password to view album?

wow..

So you bought the car without sighting it yourself and taking it for a test drive etc?

$16,000 for a BMW Badge. Sounds like a waste of money!

Polley... very nice work. I am curious as to what metal type you used for the manifold? As in steel type/grade and thickness? I need to look at making up some 4-2-1 headers for my V8 soon so just want to get some ideas of what material others are using for exhaust manifolds.

Well done. Very easy on the eye.

Interesting ^ Hopefully you get those pictures!