Hi all,

I've had around 10 years experiance or so on and off with the E30 M3, but certainly over the past 4 years, I've been pretty involved with these cars with respect to R&D, tuning, repairing, maintaining and of course driving them.

For the past couple of years or so I've had the urge to build an S14 engine or a whole E30 M3 which is in need of some work and make it a minter as well as a stormer. But I guess money and time not being freely available has always put a stop to purchasing anymore cars. More recently I've been working more with Grant from Grant Motorsport who is much bigger in VW's. But his engine building capabilities and his approach to building race winning cars and engines re-lit my urge to build a pukka E30 M3. Recently he has built a few engines for me including a couple of S14's and they really have turned out to be very impressive and after some discussions and his enthusiasm for BMW's also, we decided to buy Simon's (thepits) early 195bhp M3.

The car certainly does drive very well. Although it feels a little vague on the front sometimes because of the incorrect standard E30 lollypop bushes fitted, but it's like putting on your favourite old slippers, it is a joy to drive.

Stock engine bay with the exception to a Sparco Strut Brace. I was pleased to see this as these cars do suffer from cracking around the front suspension top mounts and bulkhead if driven hard without the strut brace fitted. A good check around here saw there is no such issues. However, how long this engine bay will remain standard looking is anyones guess




And now the interior. Although the colour has grown on me over the past weeks of ownership, I think it does have to go, what do you guys think?



She isn't without its problems. A quick scoot round and there is already a long list of to do's:

Diff starting to get noisey - could be prop center bearing?
Clutch has seen better days,
Starter motor faulty,
3rd and 4th gears a bit nitchy and synchro's weak,
Wrong lollipop bushes have been fitted,
Front lower arm inner joints worn,Gear linkage very sloppy,
Radiator has slight leak,
List goes on... but I'll cover it all in future updates

Plans so far are a little sketchy, one part of me just wants to sort out all the issues it has and make it into a really nice car, the other part of me (and Grant) wants to modify it 300bhp+ and show what can be done to an S14. Either way, I'll be updating the journal with pictures during the transformation process

Paul.

So now you know where she went.

I was so sad  to let her go, but she needed TLC that I didn't have the time, money or facilities to give her.

Paul has, (well, 2 out of 3 at the moment ) and the enthusiasm - so good luck to you mate

p.s. leave the interior, it'll grow on you - honest 

Thanks people,

I've done some work on her already, but will update as soon as I get the pics loaded up onto my laptop.

Also, thanks to Simon for selling the car to me

Ok, here is what I've done so far...

The gear linkage was very sloppy and a quick look underneath showed that the rear linkage bush was worn and the rubber had become detatched from the mounting bracket:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/ShepsM3/m3d.jpg">

Fitted:

This bearing as BMW call it made the world of difference, but there is still too much play side to side, which is the front joint which connects to the linkage which goes into the gearbox. Inside this joint is also a rubbery foam spacer which dampens vibration from the gearbox. I would imagine all the "buzzing" gear lever threads would be cured pretty much just by replacing this spacer. Pics to follow when I get round to replacing the joint and spacer.

The radiator has seen much better days as you can see, but it had just started to leak. I was going to get it re-cored but the top radiator outlet came away with the hose, so a complete new radiator was required. Removing the radiator, the bottom rubber mounts came with it, so I refitted these with the correct plastic rivets. Also half the radiator was blocked with birds feathers!

Strange thing is, while the radiator was out, I steam cleaned around the lower front panel and undertray, also to clear out some remains of a dead bird , some water must have damaged the resistor for the cooling fan slow speed circuit as directly after this, that part of it stopped working. Also, I tested the high speed switch in the bottom of the radiator which proved it is also faulty, so new resistor and sensor are on order.

thepits wrote:  they can't last long - I'd already replaced all them bits!

Yeah, I do wonder sometimes about the quality of some of the "genuine" parts BMW sell these days.

thepits wrote: It was only a little bird thank g*d it wasn't a Eagle

One thing is for sure Simon, the bird was definately nude when it died

Hoover wrote: rest assured simon, it couldnt have gone to a better home mate

Yep, I know. That's why she went there as opposed to some unknown numbty.

And, as part of the deal I get first-goes in her reincarnation

dont know whether Paul told you but Grant has rebuilt my engineand Paul has unichipped it - now its run in we (grant is) changing the cams round a bit then Paul will do a propper map and then....whipeee!

i'm sure Paul has a few ideas for your one to!

Hoover wrote: .....sorry Simon, mine is an It

and always does what it is told?

HaHa - thought not

It's a She - trust me

thepits wrote: Hoover wrote: .....sorry Simon, mine is an It and always does what it is told?   HaHa - thought not   It's a She - trust me

I was calling it/she/her (whatever) a BI76H the other day!  In other words... 2 words came into my head... one was female and the other was dog!

Well, the M3 has been a pleasure to drive for the past week or so  The mid-range punch this M3 has got is addictive but the M3 is going to get a whole lot better in the not too distant future

thepits wrote: steven.seed wrote: Poor Simon, I feel for you losing the one you love

Oh come on Simon, she's only down the road

SHEPSM3 wrote: thepits wrote: steven.seed wrote: Poor Simon, I feel for you losing the one you love  Oh come on Simon, she's only down the road

yeah I know & in good hands - enjoy

M3Nally wrote: Good luck with the project Paul. Simon, how long did it take for the interior to grow on you? I think thats whats called oxblood, please correct me if I'm wrong, and I think it was fitted to alot of alpine white american M3's, so you would have no problem on ebay with it.

Thanks Kevin,

Every bit of luck wished is appreciated for this project.

The interior is infact "Cardinal", it is stated on the original build spec sheet from BMW although I think it should also have a red carpet. As the carpet is in great condition (albeit wet) I would imagine it has been replaced in the not too distant past.

The pictures do make the interior look more brown than it actually is.

Paul.

SHEPSM3 wrote: Thanks Kevin, Every bit of luck wished is appreciated for this project. The interior is in fact "Cardinal", it is stated on the original build spec sheet from BMW although I think it should also have a red carpet. As the carpet is in great condition (albeit wet) I would imagine it has been replaced in the not too distant past. The pictures do make the interior look more brown than it actually is. Paul.

"Red" seats, red door-cards, black carpets, black car.

Eamo wrote: Paul Theres a guy here in Ireland restoring an m3 - you should seriously have a look at this http://www.e30owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4446 - http://www.e30owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4446

Hi mate, thanks you, he is posting up on a few other forums, the exact same posts

E30 M3 still looks the nuts!

Did you buy the BMWCar M3 special last month,was pretty interesting?

Daz

Daz wrote: E30 M3 still looks the nuts! Did you buy the BMWCar M3 special last month,was pretty interesting? Daz

No I didn't get that, but I had a feature in Decembers BMWCar... 7 pages  Will have to get the "Special" though

kevin wrote: Also good article in BMW Car Club Straight Six which just dropped through the letter box the other day.

Still waiting for my copy, maybe a call will sort it?

UweM3 wrote: Nice one Paul! Looking forward to seeing the result and get rid of these red seats, will you......

Thanks Uwe... I just bought another S/H seat cover to re-trim the drivers seat and make it better. But if it is going to be more of a track car, obviously that interior will have to come out anyway.. watch this space.

Work's stopped for a bit.. having way too much fun in this snow

UweM3 wrote: don't damage the number plates!

I've kept 'those ones'