Clarifying an M3?

WWW.335ITC.CO.UK

Ok, this is just an enquiry to true "m" owners on what is and isnt ok.

Just before you read this, please note: -
all parts i got were already advertised, and not taken from an existing m3, all "m" parts are genuine, including the impossible fit of the rear wing's. (just didn't want any flaming for being an "m butcher").



I have basically converted my 325i 1989, into what is near as damn it an e30 m3 evo (3) The parts i have sourced, would probably have ended up being botched onto a similar project, and the cars from which these parts came would all but disappear.. i have used all genuine parts i.e. front and rear wing's, front evo lip.

I totally appreciate that it is and always will be at heart a 325i convertible, but i was just wondering what value true m owners would place on such a project?

i.e. did i just help the "market" for cutting up m cars, or did i do something useful with parts that had already been removed.

I know a car like this would never make it to status of a m car in an owners club, but where would you place it?

The car isn't finshed yet, but please view www.335itc.co.uk for the latestpics (these will be live around 11 am 3/20/06 (today).

your replies greatly appreciated.

PLEASE VIEW THE LATEST PICS HERE http://www.335itc.co.uk/Respray.htm










Please note that the Jaggy lines are where they have been resized.
thanks. craig.



Edited by Check it out!

ultegra wrote: I can't fault your guts. Are you doing the whole job with aerosols? You must have your very own ozone layer depletion right over your lock-up.

lol, probably. i could, and i can get an excellent finish, but its a matter of getting material on the car, so its hopefully being sprayed (cellulose) with proper air gun etc this weekend. Running out of time, and i have already missed 3 summers, so i havnt got time to learn to properly spray.

when i started i didnt know how to weld, spray, or anything like this, so its been a great learning curve. guts? mmm, i can think of other words, but guts probably sounds better!

Edited by Check it out!

Hi, that is a point. basically the side in that pic doesn't have the spacer, however, this pic should show better.

Its a massive amount of spacing, but i hope to remedy that when the car gets back on the road, with some bigger offset bbs's. at the moment these are just 7.5 j bk299's, and just aren't ideal. they look good enough for now. I'm not using normal spacers, these bolt to the hub, and then the wheel to that.

The whole chassis has been overhauled as well

The whole suspension has gone poly bushed, and adjustable where possible. I made my own coilover for the front, as the wheel's didnt look right in the m3 arches and i needed to fine tune the ride height.

Fushion Julz wrote: Looks like a pretty huge task, in all.... It certainly isn't an E30 M3, though, cos it has 2 too many cylinders, for a start....

 

and an extra litre lol! i expect it will be a totally different drive to an m3, although the chassis modifications should help keep the heavy lump pointing in the right direction! (i hope)

UweM3 wrote: I can understand you like the look of the M3 (so do I!!) but I can never understand why people want to have a M3 Convertible??? Have you ever seen a Sierra Cosworth without a roof? One would think with all the effort, time and money spend you should have sold the 325 and bought a proper M3 in the first place. At least some of your money would not be down the drain. Doing a conversion as this will always be a loss. Unless you find somebody keen for this car. But still admire you dedication to takle something like this. Good job. BTW trailing arms are all the same on any E30. The hubs are different.

purchasing a good convertible m3 would be around 9k, i bought the m3 kit for 450, and was quoted 1300 just to fit the rear arches. fitting in total has probably cost me under 1k, including the welding equipment. I also wanted to totally overhaul the suspension, so even m3 suspension was not what i had in mind (people upgrade m3 suspension alot),

and power i wanted around 300, so tweaking a genuine m3 engine is apparently very very expensive.

I must admit that i didnt intend to go this far, it all started off as just a simple 3.5 drop in, but went wrong somewhere along the lines.

As for it being a convertible, i always wanted one, but the 2.5 wasnt quick enough, i have seen a convertible cossy and to me it doesnt make sense, so i am sort of contradicsting myself here, but cosworth never made a convertible, bmw did.

Wth regard to it being a loss, then yes it is, if i put it on ebay as just another m3 conversion, but luckily i don't tire of the car, and owned it for two years prior to the three (plus) year conversion i am doing now, and an m10 318 prior to this.

i never set out to have the m3 kit, but i needed to fit bigger brakes in (with around 340 bhp i didnt like the idea of uprated standard brakes), that meant bigger wheels (and offset), and i really didnt want fibreglass. This sort of left me with m3 kit.

I think your points are valid, and it really is down to opinion and preference.

ive taken the 735i 1989 engine (218bhp) m30, added hartge throttle bodies 288 degree cam etc. this takes her to around 260>286, then running t70 very low pressure (on initial engine), at only 3psi. When i uprate the bottom end i'll run higher pressure, but for now its just to get all the kit on the engine running. And to not get on/off boost issues.

6psi should see me around 400, but from 170> 340 is a pretty good improvement. Im more into the handling and braking now, but i can at least take the engine further if i need to.

Hi, with the whole project, its been "yes i'll do that", and then ive had the chance of something better so have gone for that. the throttle bodies were supposed to give me much better power and keep the engine n/a, but now i will just be able to run much lower boost and keep the same power. reducing the lag effect of the turbo.

heres some pics of the suspension for you.

 

Check it out! wrote:

And please don't fit the Cecotto front spoiler (please ) would you mind posting some pictures of you front strut conversion??[/QUOTE]

And yes, sourcing a genuine cecotto was sooooo difficult. Ive got the evo3 carbon fibre lip going on as well.

Being a convertilbe the m3 rear spoiler would look too "max power" for me, so im sticking to the sport double type.

[/QUOTE]

thanks for the piccies. Is that Groundcontrol stuff?
Have you shortend the strut? What strut inserts are you going to use? Spring rates? (I have some 2.25" springs left if you need some)
So your're going to make an EVO5 front spoiler? (EVO2 and EVO3 at the same time)
Lucky you can't drive full speed over here. That will create some serious downforce at the front with almost nothing to match at the rear. The EVO3 front is fitted togehter with and EXTENDED M3 rear wing. Don't underestimate how much downforce you need to match your rear.

You are either very clever or you have too much time and money to burn!

I cant believe you are building nearly from scratch a hybrid m3 convertible type thingy with a whopping great big engine and a mixture of every single evolution m3 part ever made.

I am waiting for jeremy beadle to jump out in a minute

Good luck on your project

Evo2 and Evo3 do NOT share any spoilers.
Evo2 had the front attachment like yours and a additional little boot lip under the M3 wing.
Evo3 was fitted with the flat front splitter directly to the standard M3 bumper with a little straigt extension and a wing extension.

Evo5 is my own description when people just slap everything evo available on the car at the same time

I repeat my questions about the struts, have you shortened them? I have converted M3 struts and was unable to get the front DOWN. What Front top mounts are you going to use?
Nice ARB's BTW. Any idea what spring rates the rear springs have?