Alpine e30 progress/build thread
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i think the benefits of ABS far outweigh 'i made my car 20lbs lighter' and 'its less stuff to break'
besides, the e30 system is the most placated system i've ever run into. it barely wants to intervene, even in snowy/icy conditions. my e34 system likes to go off if i'm braking and go over a bump in the road...
I agree that the safety benefits of properly functional ABS far outweigh the added complexity/weight, at least on a daily driver or regularly street driven car where things can be much more unpredictable. If my pump weren't toast I'd be repairing the crumbling wiring/straightening out the bent lines (pump got hit pretty hard when I hit the deer, bent all it's mounts and screwed up the lines going to the pump) and keeping it, but since the whole system is just so far gone removing it seems like the right way to go.
I suspect as I try out autocross this year that some of the more abrupt corners may lock up the inside a bit.
Hell yeah!
All 3 events I did last year were with completely disabled ABS and I didn't really have any major issues with locking up, even when things were wet. I think it only happened a handful of times, and just briefly. Only one time did it cause me to go way wide and that was way more my lack of skill than the lack of ABS.
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Making progress!
Oil pump reassembled with new pressure relief spring/o-ring and Achilles Motorsport hardened pump shaft kit. Primed the pump and reinstalled it to the block with the e38 pickup tube. With that all reinstalled I checked the clearance from the bottom of the pickup to the bottom of the pan, and it's darn near perfect. Around 1/8" and it lands right where the e34 m50 pickup would, so I ordered an Achilles pan baffle to install in the pan before I bolt it back on.
I also started mounting up the Bimmerworld oil distribution block. This one is meant for e36 engines, but I got it cheap so I'm making it work here. All I had to do was grind down a rib on the M54 oil filter housing and it fit perfectly. With this block I can keep the original pressure sensor and add senders for the oil temperature and pressure gauges in the console.
Got back into the engine bay work. Removed the brake master cylinder and booster, old clutch feed hose, the brake lines running from the master to the ABS pump, and the ABS pump itself. That sucker is surprisingly heavy. Next up is to remove the lines running to the calipers and the rear brake bias valve so I can start making the new ones. I also started cleaning the bay, but the brake lines were in the way so I stopped until they're all out of the way.
I removed a bunch of stuff and started cleaning the other side until I ran out of water and simple green. Starting to look much better! It won't be perfect, especially since I won't be painting the bay, but it will be good enough for now.
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The bay is looking nice! Cleaning up white E30 engine bays is not fun at all.
I'm really looking forward to seeing / hearing how this feels with the M54 compared to my familiarity of e30's with m5x/s5x.
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Thanks for mentioning that oil distribution block, I didn't know that one existed but I will definitely be buying that one!
Its a nice solution compared to mixing and matching fittings! My only concern is that with the way it's weighted, it is pulling in the direction of loosening the banjo bolt holding/sealing the whole assembly. I'm guessing it will be fine if I crank it down, but I may look into a way to either brace it or secure the banjo bolt with safety wire/etc.
Looking good! Apologies if I missed it above but what are you using for the new hard brake lines to the calipers and bias valve?
I had ordered a roll of PVF coated steel brake line, but it looks like I got sent the wrong thing and it's just the greenish colored steel line similar to OEM. If it gives me problems I'll probably switch to nicopp.
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Made some progress over the weekend:
Replaced the rear main seal with a genuine BMW seal:
I also removed the original baffle from the e34 oil pan to replace it with an Achilles Motorsport baffle. This baffle isn't designed to be used on an M54 but the e38 oil pickup lands in relatively the same spot as the e34 pickup, and after a little trial and error with notching the baffle to clear the bend in the tube I was able to get it to fit without issue. So that's ready to be welded up (and welding the pinhole I accidentally put in my oil pan removing the original baffle like an idiot) and then I can seal up the bottom end!
Oil distribution block and oil temp/pressure senders are mounted for good and ready to be wired up. E21 booster is cleaned and painted, with the e30 clevis swapped over and set to match the spacing of the old booster. Just need to re-route the brake line and clutch feed and that will be ready to install.
I also finished cleaning the passenger side of the engine bay, subframe/steering rack, and got part of the way on the driver's side before running out of water. Hoping to get that finished before the end of the week. It won't be pretty between the cosmoline and primer, but its a lot better than all that plus a thick layer of dirt.
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Any groove on the crank from the old seal? Mine was pretty gnarly so I inset the new seal, so-far all is well.
Glad you got the baffle to fit. Are you moving the clutch feed line per my experiences or is it just tribal knowledge that it needs to be rerouted?There really wasn't anything noticeable on mine to be honest, at least I didn't feel anything significant running my finger over it. I used the genuine bmw replacement kit that has the seal pre-pressed into a new housing, so wherever BMW puts it is where mine is. It wasn't leaking or anything before, so I'm hoping its good to go.
And the clutch feed relocation is 80% per your experience, and 20% holding the booster up to the firewall and confirming exactly what you found. Did you have any interference with the brake line mounting clip behind there too?
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More things done!
I used some super strong epoxy to bond the gas pedal mounting bracket to the base of an old e30 gas pedal and completed the install of the e46 drive-by-wire gas pedal:
I also finished cleaning the engine bay and re-routed the clutch feed hose to make room for the e21 booster. Since I won't have a throttle cable coming through the firewall, I ran the hose through the hole and sealed it up with a grommet. I found that an M54 vanos screw plug worked perfectly for plugging the old hole behind the booster.
I also got about halfway done with the ABS delete. Because the brake master cylinder I'm using only has one port for the front brakes I had to join them with a tee fitting before running a single line to the master for both front and rear. I also adjusted the front right line to go around the outside of the booster as it was getting pinched.
With the brake lines routed I mounted the booster, e32 750il master cylinder, and a newer reservoir from the parts car
I then spent the next two hours trying to make the hard lines from the tee to the master. That line will be pretty short and turned out to be an absolute pain as I was using steel line, I gave up after a couple failed attempts. I will be picking up some nicopp line to try again as it seems to be much easier to work with. I will probably also re-do the line from the front right caliper to the tee as it could be cleaner.
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What kind of proportioning valve do you have there?
Make sure you do a good job on the ABS delete because I will probably demand details and follow your lead
Just the stock e30 proportioning valve. The e30 m3 uses the same part so no changes were needed when I swapped the suspension/brakes. I may eventually swap it for an adjustable one though as the larger single diameter MC will likely shift the bias slightly rearward.
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I then spent the next two hours trying to make the hard lines from the tee to the master. That line will be pretty short and turned out to be an absolute pain as I was using steel line, I gave up after a couple failed attempts. I will be picking up some nicopp line to try again as it seems to be much easier to work with. I will probably also re-do the line from the front right caliper to the tee as it could be cleaner.
I have probably 5-10 feet of line laying around so you can get this done for the picnic
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I have probably 5-10 feet of line laying around so you can get this done for the picnic
Unfortunately, the brake lines aren't in the way of making it to the picnic, it's the usual time/money/wanting to keep my sanity haha. Thanks though!
As far as the proportioning, I did some more research: I wasn't aware that late model e30's use a dual diameter brake master cylinder, so while the front brake bore is around 22mm, the rear is smaller, so when paired with the e30 m3 brakes it likely upset the bias a bit. The stock e30 m3 master is a single diameter 23.8mm and the 25.4mm master that I am using is a common upgrade for a firmer pedal on those cars. Because I have different shocks/springs/tires/brakes/bushings/weight distribution/etc compared to stock, it makes sense to just do the adjustable proportioning while I'm doing this work anyway. That way I can dial in the braking for the best performance, plus it's another adjustment to screw around with at an autocross.
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ABS delete and master swap complete!
I decided that an adjustable bias valve would be a good idea so I picked up a Wilwood part that has M10x1.0 bubble flare fittings. After a bunch of trial and error, I decided to mount it down where the original proportioning valve sat. Originally, I wanted to mount it up by the fuse box for easy access, but I didn't want to have lines running above the master so that got canned. I re-positioned the brake line running to the rear and made a bracket that connects to the stock proportioning valve mount and adapts it to the Wilwood part:
The nicopp lines are so much nicer to work with than the steel lines, though they did seem to be a little harder to get a nice flare compared to the steel. Using more oil on the bubble flare tool seemed to help with this, hopefully they all seal well. The lines aren't perfect, but don't look too bad! I have tool access to all the fittings and can install or remove any part without having to take everything else apart.
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ah yes,
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