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e30mclow - back in an e30

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  • e30mclow - back in an e30

    After a few years without an e30, I'm back in the game.

    My last e30 was this one, which I sold in order to buy an e34 m5 as a daily driver:


    I then drove the M5 for almost 2 years and it never missed a beat:



    I then decided that I wasn't going to spend any more money on cars, so I sold it and bought a Civic

    > No photo <

    This lasted a month, after which I ended up buying an Imola Yellow B5 S4






    About that time I moved from Alberta, Canada to North Carolina. Unfortunately the Imola was taken for a joy ride by my movers, and crashed.
    It was a long drawn out thing, but ended with me eventually getting a realistic value + I bought the car back from insurance.

    Now on US soil (April '16), I set about finding a replacement S4. I found a mint 1 Owner 67k mile car in Atlanta and bought & shipped it unseen.
    No regrets, as the thing was like new.

    I decided to leave it 100% stock...for about 10 minutes.










    It is now running genuine RS4 turbos and has a lot of nice things going on.
    The s4 will serve as my daily in the coming weeks, once I sell my truck.

    Onto the e30! I'm no stranger to them. Before moving to Canada, and then the States, I was born/raised/educated/worked at home in Ireland.
    Here are a few of the e30s I had over the years, the most notable of which was my m3


    I still have a few other e30s at home.

    I thought I had moved on when I came upon this pretty grubby example in Sept '17.
    It was pretty disgusting as you can see...











    Yuck.

    I ripped into it immediately:




























    A familiar fire to all e30 owners


















    Interior time!

    Old poo themed pieces


    New sessy ones






    Picked up some Recaro SR3s




    Just waiting on warmer weather before pulling and replacing the carpet with a black or cardinal one.
    May have the inserts in the Recaros covered to match the door cards/rear bench.







    Current Spec:
    1990 325i
    Stock Engine with 6 branch manifold.
    Fully Serviced (all fluids and consumables replaced within the last 1,000 miles)
    Full Powerflex Bushing Kit
    BC Racing Coilovers
    SS Brake Lines
    SS Clutch Line
    New Brakes (Pads, Discs, Shoes)
    New Front Lower Arms
    Stiffer Engine & Trans Mounts
    1.9L Z3 Shifter with Tall Condor Knob
    Purple Tag e46 Rack with new Inner & Outer Rods
    Garagistic Clutch Stop
    Weld in Rear Camber & Toe Adjuster Plates
    3.93 LSD Flushed and Inspected - Will do clutch pack mod shortly
    Garagistic Front & Rear ARBs with beefier drop links and rear reinforcement
    SS Exhaust made from a spare b5 S4 APR Exchaust I had
    BBS RX Wheels with Staggered Tires
    Renown Wheel with Momo Hub
    Stock tan interior replaced with oxblood/cardinal.
    JDM Reacro SR3s with Massive Mounts

    Heading home to Ireland in July, at which point I'll bring back some nice parts (Schmidt 16x9 Wheels + a half cage + m3 fenders).

    Going to look at a single turbo 1JZ motor this weekend, so fingers crossed for some continued progress here!
    Last edited by e30mclow; 07-28-2021, 02:12 PM.

  • #2
    Welp, this is a good thread!
    Instagram: @Eurow

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    • #3
      Looking good so far! Can't wait for more!

      I remember seeing your Imola on Audizine, I used to have an A4 1.8TQM, B5s are a blast


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      • #4
        I really love this. look forward to seeing more
        Instagram - Benwalsh91

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        • #5
          In for progress

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          • #6
            Nice progress in history! Where in NC?
            Audi S5 daily | Audi UrS6 project | instagram @benznotmercedes

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            • #7
              Originally posted by rightfullrudder View Post
              Nice progress in history! Where in NC?
              Yea, I was wondering also! I wanna find out who did the interior work.
              Instagram: @Eurow

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              • #8
                what size are the wheels and tyres, I really like how they sit.
                Instagram - Benwalsh91

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                • #9
                  Hey man whats up with the Cork reg plate? Really liking this car...
                  My BMW E36 318ti Steel Blue Compact build thread -
                  http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=88271

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                  • #11
                    (Imgur is being cranky so the images are large for now)

                    2.5 years since my last update lol. There have been continuous changes.
                    The car has evolved into what is as close as possible to being my dream car.

                    Currently running 470whp







                    Originally posted by Steven_318ti View Post
                    Hey man whats up with the Cork reg plate? Really liking this car...
                    Good eye! I'm from Cork boiii

                    Originally posted by rightfullrudder View Post
                    Nice progress in history! Where in NC?
                    Originally posted by MikeyRa View Post
                    Yea, I was wondering also! I wanna find out who did the interior work.
                    I was living in the Outer Banks, but relocated to Canada in late 2019.

                    USA:
                    - Bought a 1JZ donor car with a Nissan CD009 6 speed trans


                    - Bought a $200 325eS to use as a mockup before hacking into the white car




                    - Test fit of the engine was positive, but the trans is HUGE, so removal of the tunnel would be necessary. The shifter would also pop out behind you hip, but I found a pretty drastic fix for that (below)










                    - With the test mule thoroughly butchered and parted out, I began cutting into the white car.














                    - About this time my work situation changed and I relocated to Canada



                    CANADA:
                    - With the whole move being a pain, I ended up in a rental scenario so the car ended up in storage with no power/heat. However, I still plugged away at it.







                    Yes that's a baking sheet for a fan shroud.





                    - Upon moving into a new house with a garage, things picked up pace.

                    - 5 Lug Swap using e46 325i brakes all around so as to allow for 16" wheels. I used the sleeved front spindle option as I was happy with my e30 geometry and didn't want to mess with e36 m3 stuff.


                    2nd hand calipers refurbed












                    - Removeable core support (which makes getting the monster engine & trans in/out really easy)








                    - Engine bay/Tunnel Stuff






                    - I got the engine wired up and running


                    - Here is the complexities/customization necessary to fit the CD009 trans. I opened it up and cut the main selector rod, which allowed for the lever to be repositioned to the service/inspection window. The feel of this direct mechanical shifter is simply unbelievable.









                    - With that in, I wired up a momentary switch for 2 step/launch control. With the rev limit set while pressed, I also use it as a rudimentary traction control by keeping my thumb on it after leaving off the clutch. The wheels don't spin any faster than the preset rpm limit, meaning instead of leaving 11s on the ground, it chops the power delivery by hitting an rpm limit of say 5k rpm and not winding out to 7k +.









                    - One of the main hurdles was the disproportionate ratio between the stock e30 clutch master and the Nissan slave cylinder. I didn't want to go with a pedal box as my tunnel modifications killed any bolt-in solution such as the Garagistic product, but also due to cost. I instead made a neat conversion bracket to mount a Wilwood compact cylinder in the stock position. This required alteration to the clutch pedal, but it works flawlessly following some adjustment.





                    - Moving to the body, I decided to paint the car in my garage using cheap rattle cans. The car is only ever going to be something that I throw sideways everywhere, so I wasn't interested in a $5k paintjob. Therefore, off to Home Depot I went for some rattle cans. I prepared the car to a very very high standard, working up through high-build primer before flat sanding each panel. In the end it turned out beautifully and nobody in the e30 community doesn't take it for original pain. I hit it with 2k clear after a rather long cure.









































                    - I then revisited the interior and installed a new carpet and a few other nice touches.








                    - As with most people on here I have amassed a number of wheel options. I lucked out and found the PERFECT spec RSs in 5x120.
                    Front: 16x8 et11
                    Rear: 16x8.5 et5














                    Pontiac GTAs
                    Front: 16x8 et16
                    Rear: 16x8 et0

















                    I've been using the car for the last 2 years and rack up some serious mileage.
                    The. Best. Car. Ever.



















                    I'm just starting into another one now too. 1 owner, 144k KM 325iS.









                    Aaaand I bought this to replace the B5 S4 mentioned in the initial post






                    See you in another 2.5 years
                    Last edited by e30mclow; 07-28-2021, 02:04 PM.

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                    • #12

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                      • #13

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                        • #14
                          Epic! Put some slicks on there so it hooks up a bit better and it will be an AX monster!

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