Hello. My name is Dan, and today I doomsday prepped

[straight6pwr]

Car has a skid plate as of yesterday so free rides between now and snow!

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I've also started a small project to remove the HAI (hot air filter) already installed on the car.  I have another, more fun, idea in the works, but just wanted to get something on the car in the mean time. Ben had an extra m20 air box lying around, and I have seen a picture of this on an s50 swap car before so it shouldnt be too hard.

Currently, the car has no heatshield and a disintegrating Autozone cone filter

the box doesn't quite fit, but there is room for it. It hits the alternator and the power steering fluid res on the bottom, the throttle cable on the inside, and is pushing against the coolant hose.

Before anything, gotta make a circle peg fit a square hole. Got a basic placement from the mock up on the car and marked it with tape.

The box has a reinforcing metal plate molded into the face fore the original afm to bolt to. I figured to just cut through it, but it is pretty thick, relatively hard steel so after looking how it was assembled I decided I should be able to separate it first.  Apply a heat gun to the backside and you can slowly pry the metal plate from the plastic

With the plate removed, dremeling out the opening is cake.

The MAF itself needs one mounting tab cut off to fit on top of the box.

Boom! Tough actin' Tenactin

Also shown in this picture are the other mods to the box for fitment. The lower mount needs to be cut (left), the rubber/mounting stud near the MAF needs to be cut shorter (middle), and the vertical plastic mount for the original AFM was removed (right)

Got a good basic fit of the upper part of the box

Also got a start on the lower box. Here you can see some holes cut for clearance of the alternator and power steering res. The holes are from some PO who did the 'want more sound from my airbox mod'

All that's left is to seal up the lower box openings, seal the upper box holes near the MAF opening, and get a small duct to run behind the headlight to draw cold air.

The big question is whether the m20 filter is big enough to support the induction needs of the 3.0. Anyone have a clue on that? I'd guess from photos that the m20 filter is probably 75% the size of an s50 filter.

[Daggerty]

I don't think you really have a problem with the size of the filter. Even if it does restrict some how much power do you think you would loose? Mb 1-10 hp. Now if you use a "high flow" filter that flows "25%" better you are back to stock.

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it, think about it like driving at a higher altitude do you really feel a power loss? Unless you are in a high power, or fi car most likely not.

[Bassboy3313]

First in line for a ride along!

[straight6pwr]

Daggerty said:

I don't think you really have a problem with the size of the filter. Even if it does restrict some how much power do you think you would loose? Mb 1-10 hp. Now if you use a "high flow" filter that flows "25%" better you are back to stock.

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it, think about it like driving at a higher altitude do you really feel a power loss? Unless you are in a high power, or fi car most likely not.

Well, I'd like to lose 0 hp, just wondering how close BMW stock filter sizes are to bare minimum. I know I should gain back a tiny bit of power from not drawing hot air anymore. Anyone know if there is a calculator for filter size based on displacement or hp? Also the math would be if the m20 filter is 75% the size of the s50, and I bought a 25% better 'high flow' filter, I'd be at 93%.

Bassboy3313 said:

First in line for a ride along!

spot reserved

[KaiserRolls]

Hey Dan is this car chipped? I have a dinan chip hanging around that was originally in my s50 DME, but I replaced it with a sssquid tune

[Jdesign]

All that hot air will give you better MPGs though!!!!

[The Full Banana]

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/turbo/airfilter.html

Car is looking great!

[straight6pwr]

car is not chipped, supposedly. is the Dinan for a 413 dme? how come you changed to the sssquid?

thanks, tom, that link is just what I needed! I'm getting 58.8 sq in of filter needed. Will have to measure the m20 filter later today.

[B C]

Note: The pleated portions of the filter count as surface area (if you cut the filter out of its frame and spread out the gauze, flattening the pleats, this is approximately the surface area, minus any screen, rubber, metal, or other retaining materials

You take your sum of your cylinder volumes (3.0 Liters, convert to cubic feet) and rpm to calculate the CFM of air though the engine, use the throttle body cross-sectional area to calculate linear velocity from CFM then equate that to surface area.

This is the bare minimum filter size that will produce zero pressure drop in perfectly clean air. Add a safety factor on top of that filter size to account for the pressure drop due to the filtration media and contaminants and you will have a feel for the required size. To measure filter/airbox restriction, connect a pressure gauge downstream of the filter and compare the ambient pressure to the intake tube pressure at WOT

[KaiserRolls]

straight6pwr said:

car is not chipped, supposedly. is the Dinan for a 413 dme? how come you changed to the sssquid?

thanks, tom, that link is just what I needed! I'm getting 58.8 sq in of filter needed. Will have to measure the m20 filter later today.

The dinan was in the 413 silver label (came with engine) (red and silver 413s should be identical hardware wise)

I changed flywheels and added some silicone intake boot and silicone icv hoses. Sometimes can cause a "shudder" at idle, he bumped up the idle and changed the tune to accommodate the LWFW and removal of accessories.

I went with sssquid because he was very helpful and responsive.

At first I still was using a 413 red label. Had some intermittent issues with it so I changed to the 413 silver that came with the s50. When I made the change back to the 413 silver I made the chip change as well.

[straight6pwr]

from my research, it sounds like a chip from the 413 silver (EWS delete chip) might have issues in a 413 red so I'm going to pass.

anyhow, I wanted to wait for a chip until I've driven the car for a while and decide if I want to do some additional bolt-ons that may need tuning like yourself.

Snap said:

You take your sum of your cylinder volumes (3.0 Liters, convert to cubic feet) and rpm to calculate the CFM of air though the engine, use the throttle body cross-sectional area to calculate linear velocity from CFM then equate that to surface area.

I'm not an engineer, so this may be just lack of comprehension, but it seems for your equation to work I would need to know how many CFM automotive filters allow through (maximum CFM per Square Inch)

3.0liters = 183 cu in

max rpm = 6800

equate that to surface area? _____

The Full Banana said:

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/turbo/airfilter.html

Car is looking great!

if I follow the K&N equations, the m20 panel seems insufficient by about 13%

CFM Formulas for Filters Flat Panel: Length x Width x 6   ----------------- m20 panel = 9.5" x 5.5" x 6 = 313.6 CFM

CFM required for a 4 stroke motor = CID x Maximum RPM / 3456 ------------------- s50 = 183 (cu in) x 6800 (rpm) /3456 =  360 CFM

However, from my quick research this equation considers the volumetric efficiency to be 100%, where most sources say it would be 90% max for a gasoline combustion engine, which would put the CFMs at 324 which is pretty close to the m20 panel.

[KaiserRolls]

straight6pwr said:

anyhow, I wanted to wait for a chip until I've driven the car for a while and decide if I want to do some additional bolt-ons that may need tuning like yourself

+1

[straight6pwr]

the guys at kummrow automotive did a great job installing my skid plate this week.

for those unfamiliar, these are 'severe duty' skid plates for e30s made by HIK fabrication, and I highly recommend them.  http://hikfabrication.com/arvixe/Home.html

the 'hoop' bar gets welded to the frame to support the plate instead of relying on the core support.

[Bassboy3313]

Thats awesome! I need one for the e21 since the m20 oil pan sits pretty low.

[KaiserRolls]

That's more of a bash plate than a skid plate holy shit. I think if you hit something hard enough to need that, you have bigger problems!

Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it though!

[Boris3]

The HIK plate is a beast. Added benefit is that with the frame welds and the cross bar you can jack the car up by the plate.

[straight6pwr]

KaiserRolls said:

That's more of a bash plate than a skid plate holy shit. I think if you hit something hard enough to need that, you have bigger problems!

Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it though!

even if you have bigger problems, the skid plate still survives.  you may recall my last e30 leaving the freeway and finding a guard rail doing 75 and both the oil pan and the skid plate both surviving (even with a 100% f*d core support and bent frame rails)

[straight6pwr]

freaking great weather today. I putzed with the car and met a new local BMW guy - nice to meet you Mike! he is mkoepp here on the forums and has an awesome 535i that he is fixing up and a sweet alpine e39 touring daily.

joe was awesome and lent me a 4x100 spacer so I could test fit my new rollers before ordering adapters and tires. the front wheels are 16x7 et33 currently with a 205 tire, and with a 15mm spacer here is the clearance I got at the strut. i'm very pleased with this, I should be able to fit 225s with a final et18 offset. it will be almost an identical tire placement in the fender as a 16x8 et20/225 tire, which is common e30 setup.

rear will be no problem at all. 16x8 et38 with 15mm adapters with put me at et23, which is very close to the best e30 setup of 16x8 et25

here are the wheels in question. drove all the way to Minneapolis to get them. Seller was a nice guy who does automotive photography and daily drives a porsche cayman and a mini cooper.

and I think Earl must have accidentally ordered some parts for me. who doesn't love a bag full of new hardware?

I managed to get the coolant tank on (and flushed the system), got the washer tank and fuse cover on, installed a new trunk emblem and placed some of missing hardware bits around the car as well today.

[m42b32]

Thanks again for dropping that bleeder screw off at Mike's place! Those wheels are going to look absolutely perfect on there

[straight6pwr]

m42b32 said:

Thanks again for dropping that bleeder screw off at Mike's place! Those wheels are going to look absolutely perfect on there

No problem, and thanks!

Another great weather weekend (whats up with that?)

Finished another all red taillight DIY.

Previous e30s i've painted with the Testors model paint, but the e34 I used lamin-x with great results, so I'm doing that again with the e30.

It takes just 2x universal sheets 7"x8"

start at the inside and work around the corner, pushing out bubbles and making sure to leave no creases. some water and a credit card works well to push in edges

the lamin-x works around the edges really well. just keep forming it with the credit card

you have to work it between the groves on e30 taillights

then just trim all the excess around the edges

and done. the lamin-x has a great shine, just like the original taillight finish.

 

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then I replaced the sunroof crank.  it was broke and the return spring was long dead. pretty much falling off the car:

yup, broken frame

new parts. also, I love this thing. way more fun than pushing a button.

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3rd project: passenger side front seat was borked. it basically was leaning back against the rear bench and could not be reclined out of that position.  I found a guy in illinois who had a "fully working, just needs cleaning" set of black vinyl seats. well, like most people on Craigslist these days, he was either an idiot or just lied. drove all the way to some god-forsaken suburb (homer glen??) including $12 in tolls each way to find that the passenger seat was good, but the drivers seat was completely borked...well i needed the passenger seat, and he wouldn't sell it alone so I ended up with both seats plus another extra drivers seat bottom frame and mechanism. swapped the passenger seat in and decided to learn how to take apart e30 standard seats and see what was causing them all to be borked.

found mice nests in both seats...

mechanisms all seem fine, even on the non-functioning seats...

ahhh, jackpot. the seat bottom frame where the main pivot point of the mechanism is bolted is torn. not cracked, completely torn off.

so out of the 5 seats that i now have in my position, 3 (probably 4) are in the same state of broken. design flaw? i think so. at least I can save all the seat material which was in really good shape on all of these.

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Project Front lights.  when I bought the car only the low beams were working.  highs, turn signals, euro 'city' lights, and fogs are all inop.

Turn signals were just not plugged in. only good news of the day.

High beam bulbs were dead. easy fix with a run to NAPA KNOW HOW

City lights were never hooked up or even bulbs put in, so I made some harnesses which connect the city light holder to the e30 stock side marker plugs.

Top: harness that comes with Depo euro headlights for the 'city' light.  Bottom: bulb holder for stock e30 side marker

merged together for an eternity of happiness.

All lights now working! I do need to get better HIDs, these are generic crap 1,000,000k ebay ones that are very dim. Also seen in this picture - new BMW center grill and Abraham Motorports 'Kopi' euro grills and smoked turn signal lenses.

#5: i also wore down my rear tires a bit driving around today