Forrest 35 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 (edited) So what do you do when you have a obnoxiously loud, bumpy, unreliable, modified E30 that constantly gets threatened with threats of being parted out, sold or turned into a nice pile of ash? You decide to stop being a pussy and do what you should have done to start with, go slightly more wild than you already were and put a roll cage in it along with some other trick bits and put it predominately on the track that it was built for deep down, all along. End of the day, it was never going to be tidy enough to be a 'mint' road car and I have already done too much to go back and as everyone says, driving on the track in anything is "the most fun you can have with your pants on". So currently I have a partially disassembled E30 325i in a garage that is trying to be a track car dressed as a road car, but not for long. Hope I am making the right decision, it is too late now anyway. Let the games begin, there is no deadline for this, just focusing on doing everything right the first time, whilst being safe but not silly about throwing the cash away as it is done on a modest budget, bang for buck is the key, although basically the majority of work has been done in terms of car modification. As it stands: 1985 BMW E30 325i Coupe Platanengrun Metallic NZ New Factory Manual 309,000 km Engine: M20 2.5 with Motronic 1.1 Ceramic coated race exhaust and factory exhaust manifold Custom Alpina style rocker cover Urethane engine mounts Oversize radiator Aluminium air box enclosing a Simota pod filter with CAI Custom AFM mount Gearbox: Getrag 260 Z3 1.9 short shifter Differential: 3.73 LSD Urethane solid differential mount Suspension: Koni Sport adjustable shocks front and rear Eibach super low (60mm) front springs King Spring super low (60mm) rear springs Ultra Racing front upper strut brace Nolathane urethane control arm bushes Nolathane urethane rear trailing arm bushes Noltec urethane rear sub frame bushes Whiteline 23mm front sway bar with SuperPro urethane mounts Factory 12mm rear sway bar with Nolathane urethane mounts Brakes: Factory booster, master cylinder and calipers, with ABS removed and certified Braided brake hoses Trusting high performance brake pads Exterior: Color coded running boards Fibreglass copy Alpina front valance Aluminium exhaust exit surround Under car exhaust heat shields removed Painted tow hooks Face lift window seals Face lift ellipsoid headlights Interior: All interior sound deadening removed MSNZ fire extinguisher bolted to the floor Diff bolt access cutout in boot floor Wheels and Tyres: BBS RS001 (15 x 7, ET25) with Toyo Proxxes R888 (205/50/15) Below is assortment of sorted of ordered pictures since beginning of ownership, summing up what I have done so far, also shows how indecisive I really am haha. Will keep this updated as progress continues. Cheers, Nathan Edited July 19, 2010 by Brams Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JiB 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 Uh oh! Sounds like the story of my old track hack. Heaps of fun ahead of ya Nath Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nobimmer 694 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 Awesome. About time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Forrest 35 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 A bit of inspiration before I get started: My favourite E30 I have ever seen and a ton of ideas have been taken from this car. Thread here: http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86053 The first job I am tackling on this is removing the sunroof and installing a polycarbonate panel much like Henry (Incary) did with his M325i. Have managed to sort a polycarbonate panel through Ashkan (Indecorous), so once that is sorted I will work on removing the cradle and bolting the panel in. I am in the process of creating a splitter for bumper like the car above. Also, I have started taking apart the RS's and will be painting them and polishing them up before fitting the race tyres, all of which will be documented on here. Looks like plenty to keep me entertained, more updates to come. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bmpower 3 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 ABOUT TIME!!!! May the force be with you my son... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
_BRS_ 199 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 Good move i say. Once its ready for the track we will need a catch up/ you can take me for a blat round Manfield! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cale 36 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 Good Shirt. Subscribed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Forrest 35 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 (edited) Update'o-saurus tonight. Just organized some of these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...s%3DI%26otn%3D2 Looking for a manual window winder conversion now also. And changed the thread title name because it was funny having a german hidden message for about four seconds. Edited July 19, 2010 by Brams Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JiB 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 I went from electric to manual windows. Pretty sure manual windows added weight lol. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Forrest 35 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 ^ Haha maybe I leave it then, another reason why I want to is because my electric ones don't work the greatest ha. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pjay 8 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 Good Shirt. Subscribed. +1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 Nice one brova! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CamB 48 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 I went from electric to manual windows. Pretty sure manual windows added weight lol. And I helped, so can confirm this. We did it because it was expedient (electric windows stopped working and the manual windows were sitting right there). Electric windows are good in a race car (assuming you're not being uber anal about weight) - its usually quite hard to reach the window winders and the winders are borderline in the way for side impact bars. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apex 693 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 Nice montage of photo’s and a good looking project. Good luck. +2 on the windows, I have found manual winders weigh more on some cars, just fix them up! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Forrest 35 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 ^ Cheers guys. I had thought that the side impact bars don't like manual winders very much so electric they will stay! Going to extend the current wiring for the windows to allow the switches to be put in a panel on the dash, think I will swap them to E36 switches for ultimate wank effect while I am there haha. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nobimmer 694 Report post Posted July 19, 2010 Get lexan front windows. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
huff3r 347 Report post Posted July 20, 2010 (edited) ^ Cheers guys. I had thought that the side impact bars don't like manual winders very much so electric they will stay! Going to extend the current wiring for the windows to allow the switches to be put in a panel on the dash, think I will swap them to E36 switches for ultimate wank effect while I am there haha. You've seen the clearance for my window winders right? I have to have the doors open to wind down the windows haha. Good to see your finally going all out, and can't wait to see you on the track. I was considering selling mine, but i think i should just keep it and abandon race series rules, and go nuts. Gotta keep up with you, Oli and Kerry somehow . (Team Welly Racing?) (or Team Shelly BMW haha... keep it oldschool ) Edited July 20, 2010 by huff3r Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Braeden320 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2010 Nice one, Hope you stick with this idea its your best yet! Should be a good thread Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Forrest 35 Report post Posted July 20, 2010 ^ Haha sticking with things to do with this car is not my strongest point it has been threatened to be sold/parted out weekly, so I figure putting something like a cage in it gives me an excuse not to give up as I can't really throw it away once it has 3-4k worth of metal tubing inside haha. I am sure my friends on here are sick of me changing my mind anyway so it gives them peace of mind lol. Should be a good challenge, going to be tough having limited money till the summer to get anything done, but we will see, it is a bang for buck build after all. I am not going to go crazy with things like lightning the shell too far, would rather focus on the other end of the power to weight equation once the safety stuff is all sorted. By then I will have graduated with a decent job and have some cash to put into a M54 or similar I hope. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar90 0 Report post Posted July 21, 2010 Cage, M54, ... I like where this is all going Nath!, getting back to your 316i roots! gonna be awesome. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pureboiracer 0 Report post Posted July 21, 2010 always willing to help if you need anything. or you can buy one thats already set up for 8k??? good to see your doing something with it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
APT 179 Report post Posted July 21, 2010 Finally got your head straight, Good Stuff Nathan..Wheres the 8k setup, links ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nobimmer 694 Report post Posted July 21, 2010 Whos doing your cage? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pureboiracer 0 Report post Posted July 21, 2010 Finally got your head straight, Good Stuff Nathan..Wheres the 8k setup, links ? in my garage... havent put up anything official yet but its there for the taking. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kiwi535 538 Report post Posted July 21, 2010 unreliable? and track car doesnt sound like much fun,or are the unreliable bits more the road car periphery? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
