E30 M50B28 Turbo Build

[slybma 38]

Good fitment on the wheels! Tyres need some shine though lol

They are still the tyres I got from you, the new ones will go on soon

Looks good man, reckon a spoiler would set the rear off nicely.

Ya I'd really like a Tech 2 kit for it, it looks a little plain from the side/back

[slybma 38]

Wheels are on but I'm not sure on the colour, I'm starting to think the blacks too dark and maybe a lighter colour would look better?

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

i went with a dark colour as well on my E34, but you can't go too dark, or it does just look like a black circle.

this pic in M52B20 spec lol click to see it bigger

[slybma 38]

Ya it looked ok with the old black wheels but i think with the extra spokes it doesn't look as good. I like the look of the lighter colour on the front but not sure if a gunmetal would look good

[qube 3568]

Hmm black does take away the nice spoke detailing of the style 32s.. Maybe lighter grey or you could try a two tone with silver lip and gunmetal spokes/centre?

[hybrid 1039]

Shadow chrome .. nuff said

[slybma 38]

I quite like the idea of white but i don't want it to be to bright, i've seen some red E30s with white wheels that look nice

like this one

[qube 3568]

+1 on shadow chrome.. otherwise maybe a matte white??

[hybrid 1039]

[slybma 38]

I like the shadow chrome but still not sure if it will suit the E30.

These arrived today wheel nuts still on the way.

[slybma 38]

New wheels all painted, stud conversion all done just the exhaust left and a few bits to tidy up and ill be heading for that cert. Hope to be driving it by Feb

Edited January 31, 2014 by Slybma

[slybma 38]

A quick update, M52 manifolds are on and only needed a small amount of modification to clear the steering. Alloy radiator thanks to Fenix arrived and is sitting nicely in place. I decided to keep the standard brake booster just needed moving left and down 15mm

Clearance before

Clearance after

Thanks Fenix

[Tristan 338]

Looks good, man. Are you going to be lowering it any more?

[slybma 38]

Ya i'd like to, the plan is coilovers at some stage just got to wait for the budget to stretch that far. I'm looking for some superlow 4 cylinder springs to go in the rear until then because the back end is sitting quite high compared to the front

[slybma 38]

Finally got the exhaust all done, sounds really nice will post a video up this weekend

[slybma 38]

Have been driving the car around a fair bit lately and started noticing a few issues the standard clutch has starting to slip with any kind of load so basically anything over 2000rpm so a HD option was ordered.

The front e36 suspension spring hats are a fair bit bigger than the e30 ones so on our lovely NZ roads, the spring hits the inner guard over big bumps so I ordered some adjustables to counter it and help lower it some more which arrived today. I tested the rears and the car still wont sit low. Even without the collars in with the springs the car still sits too high, there has been a fair bit of weight removed from the back but surely there's a way to get the tire to tuck in the guard. Has anyone had any success with a certain spring?

[slybma 38]

So I got around to fitting the coilovers and some lower springs with shorter shocks in the rear. Much happier with the height but wouldnt be too upset if the back was a little lower. Forgot that it was lower so I lost the front lip getting out of my driveway (thank god for cable ties)

Replaced the burnt out clutch with a HD option, pedal feel is significantly heavier but grips much better now

new one

Ready for the track now

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

im using ebaich springs with bilstein sport shocks in my vert, its a about the same in the front as yours, but a bit lower in the back, but then the cabs are a wee bit heavier than the sedans.

after years of research, i bring to you this fact: unless you go coilovers, or do something stupid like cut coils/heated springs, the lowest spring that is still of a good quality that you can get are H&R cup springs. These must be matched with either the matching H&R shock that comes as part of the cup kit, or another sport shock. OEM boge shocks, or other OEM length shocks are too long, and they wont be captive.

I have had heaps of setups over the years in various E30s (tho have never used Koni), and have found the best setup I have had has been the H&R cup springs with Bilstein Sport shocks. throw the H&R shocks that come with the cup kit in the bin, for a "matched" shock, you can still do better.

Note: Jamex or similar may get you lower, but whats the point if the car drives like a sack of sh*t because thier spring rates are so soft, thats how they get your car lower.

hope that helps

Edited April 9, 2014 by _Ethrty-Andy_

[slybma 38]

im using ebaich springs with bilstein sport shocks in my vert, its a about the same in the front as yours, but a bit lower in the back, but then the cabs are a wee bit heavier than the sedans.

after years of research, i bring to you this fact: unless you go coilovers, or do something stupid like cut coils/heated springs, the lowest spring that is still of a good quality that you can get are H&R cup springs. These must be matched with either the matching H&R shock that comes as part of the cup kit, or another sport shock. OEM boge shocks, or other OEM length shocks are too long, and they wont be captive.

I have had heaps of setups over the years in various E30s (tho have never used Koni), and have found the best setup I have had has been the H&R cup springs with Bilstein Sport shocks. throw the H&R shocks that come with the cup kit in the bin, for a "matched" shock, you can still do better.

Note: Jamex or similar may get you lower, but whats the point if the car drives like a sack of sh*t because thier spring rates are so soft, thats how they get your car lower.

hope that helps

As it sits now is the fourth setup ive tried to get a good combo of ride height and handling. The springs that came with my coilovers even at their lowest setting they were a tad high for my liking and extremely stiff, i tried king and jamex superlows they sit nice but a bit soft. This latest setup is a Vogtland spring with with Bilstein shocks meant for a KP61 starlet. These springs still feel really good much better feel than the king/ jamex not so soft.

The problem i have is that all the weight has been removed from the back and the heavy M50 lump up front causes it to sit a bit uneven.

I want to move the fuel tank back and anything i can move from the front to the boot i will, the extra weight from the upcoming roll cage might help a little

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

you will find that.

with any E30, especially M/S5x swaps, I usually recommend not stripping out the tar in the boot etc that some people (especially on the US sites) seem obsessed with, and also keep the spare wheel in.

[slybma 38]

The tar will be staying, most of it anyway, but the spare wheel well has been cut out to make room for the fuel cell

[slybma 38]

So started collecting the B28 stroker bits im going to need for the turbo build up. Had the crank polished and ordered the turbo.

For comparisons sake the difference between m52b28 rods and m20b20 rods to help bring down the compression, going to use

the M50b25 block and pistons, m20b20 length rods and the M52b28 crank.

[thorburn 120]

Is this fairly common? what compression should you end up with?

[slybma 38]

It is a very well documented build seems to be have been done quite alot not sure how common this combination is though. The compression should be about 9.5:1 which should handle a bit of boost ok.

[e30ftw 396]

This escalated from last time I had a look haha, looks good man. How much power you going for? Crazy Sweden build numbers?

i have the opposite issue, my rear sits lower than the front. Front has raised almost a whole inch with an M52B28. So much lighter than an m20. When I did an M50 in my last coupe, I used Eibach springs, shortest they made (Part of GC Coilovers), I think they were 5.5" tall. Sat reaaally low, to the lip on 16" wheels. But they were 650lb springs so were quite stiff.