islandhopper : 1991 BMW 325i (E30)

[markrutherford]

Looking good! I've always loved the old bmw's

[XCRN]

Yeah dude. pretty stoked about this summer. this car is going to come alive.

In previous posts i mentioned it having a 4.10 open but i was mistaken. it has a 3.73 open but i've got a S3.73 lsd waiting to swap in. Already with the 3.73 and the 5-speed it's way quicker and way more fun to drive.

Every now and then when I go pick up parts from my guy here we like to converse for a bit and during one of our talks he was saying how much of a difference the LSD will make when driving in the snow. Doubt you will really encounter that in the PNW, but he can get through 6" of snow no problem. And obviously better handling. The 4.10 LSD I have is incredible in these S turns just down the street from my place, mixed with the new tires I have it is incredible how fast it will take it. Makes having no 4th gear fun! But they have a recommended speed limit there of 30 and I can do 45-50 with out a sweat. You will love it with a car about 1000lbs lighter than mine.

[c91bse7]

That steering wheel looks very similar to the one i have in the cb!

[islandhopper]

stuff happened..











Got the Luke-Box wired up and mounted. Tuned the amp and holy shit, it sounds amazing. The luke-box IS magic. I totally get why people say that now...i've had big 12's in ported boxes that made a lot of bass but clarity was poor to say the least. Very sloppy bass. That is NOT the case with the luke-box, it's tight and heavy. Plenty of boom when you want it. With premium speakers amp'd up and the luke-box dialed in it makes really great sound. Can't say enough good things about it. I love it. If you don't have one, get one.





Still working on a solution to clean up the wiring. Probably going to mount the amp differently and route them more discretely.

Moving on..here are some better shots of the Nardi Gara Type 3 and the new Condor "shorty" weighted shift-knob. Plus the custom aluminum cup/phone holder (http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=292015) i got from a local-ish member. It's pretty sweet...i really enjoy being able to place a drink down, go thru a corner at speed and not have to worry about orange soda all over my interior. And the phone holder is just plain convenient.

The Nardi is most excellent. Very supple leather, definitely 9.5/10 condition and the design is something i can't get over. I love the way it looks. Strongly considered a Nardi Classic with a lighter wood grain but im so glad i went with leather. Such good feel from this wheel. Love it.











Kinda diggin' the somewhat spartan interior. I'm putting together a black interior though so it won't be sparse for long. Just need a set of adjustable sport seats (OEM or aftermarket) and maybe black carpet or dye my old grey carpet...although i may just leave it out. It was surprisingly heavy.

Hey there..


My boy...caught him basking in the sun 8-)


Needs a wash and some TLC. Been considering a CF hood to be paint matched once i start the body-work. Wouldn't mind the weight savings but from what i hear the fit of most CF hoods is crap. Anyone know of any decent offerings?


Weird sky tonight...



That's the Sun. Was really cool looking. If i was gooder at taking pictures it would look way better, cuz these pics do it no justice.















Installed the Miller MAF+chip and 19# injectors. Used a K&N cone filter. Need to figure out an air-box/ram-air set up for this. Until then i've just used the lower half of the stock air-box/AFM underneath so hopefully it'll still scoop up some cool air from the headlight surrounds and keep it from getting splashed.
















Also got the exhaust system welded up...mostly. The long tube headers from topspeedauto on eBay don't fit, so i returned them. We chopped the stock down-pipes right after the o2 bung and merged everything into 2.5" all the way out the back. Not ideal but it'll do until i source a proper set of headers.

SUPER MELLOW tone. NO rasp at all. Even flat out at 7k..no rasp. A little drone on the freeway but really not bad. I'm actually very pleased with the sound, just wish i could have used the headers.

I'll get an exhaust clip up soon. Here's some pics for now.














Detailed the dash and center console. Also got my houndstooth shift-boot from stitched.











The throttle response from the MAF and the noise from the exhaust have made this car a lot more fun recently. Can't wait to install the cam and get it tuned.

Next up is suspension and diff. Then i get to tinker with the headlights.

[XCRN]

Cool stuff! I did not realize you had smileys on these. What kind of tinkering to the headlights will you be doing?

[islandhopper]

Cool stuff! I did not realize you had smileys on these. What kind of tinkering to the headlights will you be doing?

I've got a custom bracket/mount kit ("DEPO" style) made by SquaredMotorwerks (http://squared-motorwerks.myshopify.com/) for a pair of Morimoto mini H1 6.0's. Plus i need to wire up the actual high-beams. Was actually thinking of deleting the high-beam on the driver's side in preparation for a ram-air set up.







Here's an exhaust clip. Last bit is after the MAF+tune and 19# injectors were installed.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/108410544@N07/w621F1

[DAKOTADEMON7]

Super sweet e30. I love the E30's. I've had an 86 325es and a 91 318is. I still miss the 318is to this day. I would love to get another 91 318is.

[islandhopper]

Super sweet e30. I love the E30's. I've had an 86 325es and a 91 318is. I still miss the 318is to this day. I would love to get another 91 318is.

Thanks man. I don't think i'd get rid of this one. Especially not with the market the way it is now. It's insane! That 318is would be hard to find for less than 4k in decent condition..Best of luck finding one.








New seats and interior! Corbeau GTS II in full suede. E30 specific brackets by Corbeau with double locking sliders. Got them for a crazy good price from my buddy in AZ who is a distributor. Paid less for my seats, shipped to my door, in suede, with double locking sliders AND brackets, than what a pair of just the base seats in cloth go for on amazon. Also installed all the black door cards i've been holding onto as well as the rear ski-pass...just need a clean black seat bottom and maybe some rear headrests.














Got my gearswitch E30 ultimate cupholder. it's pretty neat. now i have 3, count em', THREE cupholders. yeah. 8-)







Got the Ireland Engineering race headers installed.
Click for exhaust clip. The mic on the iphone makes it seems raspy. there's still no rasp even with the IE race headers.

They sound amazing. Can hear the individual exhaust pulses now. Really sounds great. This clip does it no justice but gives you an idea. Feels like i lost a bit of low end but the mid range and top end are much more robust. Been having a blast cruising around lately.



Phone pic of the headers after a dozen heat cycles or so. Most of the black coating has come off. Going to hit them with some high temp paint soon.

[XCRN]

I still have none

I see a Bentley back there, best investment ever.

Got my gearswitch E30 ultimate cupholder. it's pretty neat. now i have 3, count em', THREE cupholders. yeah. 8-)

[islandhopper]

I still have none

I see a Bentley back there, best investment ever.

Keep looking! and yes, a Bentley repair manual is an awesome resource to have. I always reference it first before doing a repair/modification.








New exhaust clip from my dash cam. Quality took a dive after going thru movie maker and flickr. meh

~3/4 throttle pull onto the freeway then a quick clip of a twisty section, that wasn't overly crowded, on chukanut.

https://flic.kr/p/tnq8FW

The bikes didn't want to play...which is kind of lame since they were the ones who cleared the road by flashing and waving at people to pull over for them. Once i caught up i guess they had lost their motivation.


I'm really impressed by the noise it makes now. Not too loud, not too quiet. Plus as a super duper added bonus the IE long tubes actually got rid of the gnarly drone i had with the cast manifolds that had been merged into a single 2.5" collector. Around 2400-2900RPM there used to be a noticeable bass-heavy drone. Not anymore. Just sounds throaty throughout the entire rev range. I like.


Wrinkle black on my valve cover and a shot of my E30 at the beach...



Went to the beach.

[cb9love]

How do you decide which machine to drive in the morning?

[HenRoc]

I see you bought from BAV Auto. There about 45 min northeast of where I live.

good work with your e30

[islandhopper]

How do you decide which machine to drive in the morning?

Kinda easy right now, the bimmer!...but that's not to say i wouldn't choose the CB, i just don't have the option right now since it's in Oregon and i'm in Washington.

I see you bought from BAV Auto. There about 45 min northeast of where I live.

good work with your e30

You must be referencing the plug wires...i actually got them second hand from a buddy parting a crashed E30 sedan. They had like 100miles on them so i snagged em. But i did get my mudflaps from BavAuto!

[Tippey764]

Just curious, are you on the R3v facebook page?

[islandhopper]

Just curious, are you on the R3v facebook page?

I am not. Much like the old CB7Tuner FB page, it's full of nonsense.

why do you ask?