conrod

That sounds like a very well thought out project-well done! What type of events do you plan to compete in Andrew? Have you seen the 2.7 M20 at Bavarians? it belongs to a friend of mine, and will be going into his tarmac rally car, should be a very good engine once completed. What are you using for an inlet manifold on your engine?

Thanks for that! I have been looking for a while for these bits, and had all but given up, then all of it pretty much became available at once, so I guess I was a bit lucky there.Yes, it does share the same silhouette as a CRX- but only on the left hand side! I am hoping to have it completed in about 12 months, long enough to do it nicely, but not too long so I lose interest in it.

Yes it does, the spacing and geometry is exactly the same as an E30. Halfshafts are the same length, same inner CV as a 325, outer CV is bigger than an E30(same size cage and balls as the inner) BMW have made this project easy for me!

And another shot of one of the rear trailing arms, very similar to an E30, but the casting around the wheel bearing is bigger to accomodate the larger outer CV joint, and the caliper mounting lugs further apart to fit the M3 brakes. As well, you can just see the cross brace at the front, welded on to give it a bit more strength, and the are a few additional gussets in various places to tie it all together better....

And a pic of the Roadster rear diff... :thumb:

I did manage to get it running before I pulled the engine out- couldn't find the keys so tried hotwiring it, that didn't work because of the EWS system. Gave up on that until I was pulling the seats out and found the keys had been thrown underneath! Anyway, at 48000 kms the engine sounded good as you would expect, luckily no engine damage whatsoever, radiator still mint, oil cooler a bit bent from tow truck operator hooking up to anti rollbar.... The car came into NZ as a left hooker from Japan with some frontal damage, it was repaired and converted to RHD about 4 years ago it turns out.It was only by chance I found this out, as the person I bought the roadster rear end off, upon seeing it recognized it, and said he had imported it about 2001! The was a service stamp from Bavarian in the service book, in fact, it was the ONLY stamp in the book in the entire life of the car! I think BMW continued with the cast iron block on the M3 (while all other E36 6 cylinders went ally) for a very good reason, I suspect they didn't feel the ally block was stiff enough for the job, and so stuck with cast cast iron for this reason. The E46 M3 continued as the only cast iron six, and I suspect they would have loved to have taken excess weight out if they could have by going to an ally block. I could be wrong on this, it is only my opinion here- anyone know different? Meanwhile, here is a pic of what NOT to do with your M3.............. :thumbsdown:

Aha, I've just realised who you are!! You placed the ad for me on the BMWCC website a while back. Was the E30 that you speak of a Red M3 with BBS wheels? If so, it was one I did a lot of work on, a big AP brake package, and a lot of suspension work, as well as some other bits and pieces. It was powered by an M50 2.5 litre, and I had managed to find for the owner a low milage S50 and 5 speed out of an M Roadster, which I was going to fit. Unfortunately he changed his mind about this, and since then a crowd in the Sth Island attempted (rather unsuccessfully it seems) to build an alloy blocked S50, using the block from an M52, with the internals and head off an S50. After spending VAST amounts of money (I Know how much too) they gave up, and instead fitted an M54 3 litre, with a few mods, which apparently performs reasonably well.

Thanks for your kind words guys, I'll be sure to keep you updated as it makes progress. I expect the build time to be around 12 months, and there will be a lot of trick parts going into it, I'm really looking forward to this one....

Andrew, which car is the one you describe that has done Targa? The white 325 you describe is one I built for a friend about 4 years ago, and yes, Mark Herbert did the cage in that one for me. The headers would take a lot of work to copy, the primaries are one piece, possibly hydro-formed or sand formed, you could make them from mandrel bends, but would be a lot of work, and the flange plates are quite a piece of work, all individual castings in stainless.

You mean to sell? I'm still looking for a suitable "donor"- but it must be a goodie, a 2 door (of course) without sunroof, facelift, preferably white,and must be mint. Obviously not worried which model it is, as all of the running gear will be turfed out, but as the project is going to cost quite a bit to do I may as well start out with the best shell I can get my hands on.

And it came with these lovely set of headers! Well, at a retail of over $8000 (really!) you would expect them to be a bit special....

I am in the process of gathering parts together to build myself an E30 tarmac rally/circuit car with E36 M3 3.2 motor and 6 speed box. I know I am certainly not the first to attempt this conversion, but possibly the first in NZ? Anyway, I have managed to round up the hard bits, I was lucky enough to buy a rolled M3 through Turners damaged vehicle auctions, and have robbed it of all the bits I need. I have also managed to get my hands on an M Roadster rear end, which is much like an E30, but with bigger outer C.V. joints, M3 brakes, beefed up trailing arms, LSD and of course that lovely finned alloy diff cover. Here is a pic of the most important part......

Pretty basic stuff really,, convert front struts to adjustable platforms and 2 1/4 springs, with koni inserts and gussets on strut housing plus camber plates on top, convert rears to coilovers and strengthen trailing arms where necessary,replace bushes with uprated items, plus full setup of course- I raced one of these in the 6 hour at Pukekohe and the handling was superb- even in the wet, it was as quick as anything in the twisty bits. I'm going to do this next one a bit differently, will be fitting the E36 front suspension and rack in, with an M Coupe rear end, so pretty similar, but better. Just thinking, this thread has strayed a bit, hasn't it?!

It won't go pear shaped, I can assure you. I've built a couple of E30 tarmac rally cars already, (although not with S50 power) so it is fair to say I know what is involved. Considered briefly an E36, but then it would be just another M3, and there are a few of those about. Also, the E30 is a MUCH lighter car, and as the engine will be left stock, I need something lightweight to get reasonable performance (and as much as I considered it, a compact was never going to look good) Anyway, I'm going out to the garage now to play with my new toys!............. :thumb:

Oh all right, if you insist. It is going into an E30, which I am going to prepare for circuit racing as well as the odd tarmac rally. Good enough?? :jap:

I disagree with the first part of your statement, I shower regularly and do not partake in shenanigans with members from my own family, I do concur with the second part however, someone had to own it, so it may as well be me! :D

I've just removed the headers off my s50, and they look like a "bunch of bananas" compared to this rubbish, and yes, the primaries are far longer, equal length, and do quite a detour to clear the steering shaft. I think this dude is importing stuff and clipping the ticket, I checked out his other listings and there was a lot of Japanese performance car parts on there.

I asked the seller if he could guarantee fitment on a RHD, he replied that he couldn't, but that "they could probably be modified" (yeah right!) Also that they come from the USA- in short they are cheap, and no doubt better than a stock manifold, but unless you have a LHD DONT BUY EM! :thumbsdown: