WIBIMMERS

Update

Today I will be receiving my Spal fan, control arms, a non Uro brand ICV hose and a couple other small bits. A silicone intake boot is on its way and Mitch has the fuel hoses under the intake that I need to get those connections finished.
What I have left to order is an new brake master cylinder (just because), and oil distribution block for my oil pressure sender, water temp gauge (to replace my vacant boost gauge spot), new front sway bar links since AFAIK they are original. I never upgraded them when I replaced the sway bars since I wanted to do it right with the correct length/adjustable links. I also plan on overhauling the brakes since these ones are on year 7 (a couple years of not driving of course  -___-)

aaaand last but not least, re-welding the shift linkage that I rotated the wrong direction, installing the driveshaft, welding in the skid plate and  finishing the exhaust system. This involves fitting a y-pipe with an o2 bung installed, adding a 2nd resonator, and finishing the connection over the subframe to the muffler. 

Thanksgiving weekend I will attempt first startup in all its open header oxygen sensorless glory. There's no reason it shouldn't just fire right up apart from the fact that the whole thing has been tampered with.

Early January still looks good for a maiden voyage so long as there is a day with dry roads not plastered with salt dust. 

PS: Don't "like" this post. there is nothing exciting about it.

Someone was obviously driving a 1975 Concrete Curb LX

Chapter One ended with some soul searching that lead to pulling the plug on a dream.

Chapter Two reignites the dream under a different guise.

If not readily apparent, I bought it from Jordan, who did an amazing job tending to all the maintenance ignored by the previous owner and adding some excellent mods to make it track-worthy. It is nice to finally buy a car from someone who has high standards.

I very nearly bought a similar car with mods from Arizona back in December but something inside just told me it wasnt the one and the seller was a total bro that wouldn't work with me on the price at all.

Overall this car is a natural evolution from my E30: Black, mechanically sorted, in good condition cosmetically but certainly not something that would be on the lot at EAG/not something that will ruin my year if it gets the inevitable ding or scratch.

Unlike the E30, this is bought, not built.

There are plenty of opportunities for slight cosmetic restoration on this car that such as paint correction and replacing trim or interior bits with fresher ones but there isn't much need for mechanical tinkering or spilling the guts of the car onto my garage floor for the winter.

Being able to focus on driving enjoyment is always my goal.

Updates to this thread will probably NOT be very interesting and I will refrain from posting too many photos of the car. There really are no bad angles on an E46 M3 and it is very photogenic.

Very much looking forward to doing car things with my bimmer buddies this year

Caveman - fire good

man cave - fire bad

Congrats on the successful revival!

Much better!

All is now well in the world once again

Gunmetalgrey sent some old coils with the parts I purchased from him and swapped out the one I tested that was bad

Did some more driving. Onramps can be taken a little faster than is possible in my van

Ah yeah, I see that van around sometimes. It has the best free candy!

Daggerty said:

When you do a compression test there is two possible results good or wibimmers.

A few photos for anyone that couldn’t attend.

Im very grateful for Tim Jason, TJ, Badger Bimmers, and all involved in making this happen each year. Cheers to you guys, I always look forward to it.

I got everything back together, charged the battery and went for a half-hour long test drive. The engine ran perfect despite the O2 still not being connected and now I have a different problem. The temp gauge reads too low

It sat steady at a tick under 180 or at 180 for the entire drive regardless of electrical load. FWIW I rewired so it no longer shares a power or ground with the other gauges.

if the mighty temp gun is to be trusted its about 15 degrees off. The top radiator hose reads 195 F.

I sat idling in the driveway for 5 minutes or so and the gauge only climbed to the 190 mark.

I will just play it safe and assume the gauge reads 20F too low and anything right of the 12:00 position will be the “shut er down” temperature. Consistently wrong is better than consistently moving around and I will see if I can make it more accurate another day.

See you at the picnic!

I bought a new oxygen sensor with the correct length of wire instead of the extension harness I had on a shorter one. The O2 sensor is fully functional now and does not cause the car to fall on its face in closed loop. The additional power from the correct mixtures can be felt all over. 

Sadly this was my last drive.

I went for one final rip before topping off the tank in preparation to pass the keys to a new owner. 

It sounds marvelous. It runs perfectly. It pulls properly. It may be humble in comparison with other builds and cars that are out there but I did my very best with the amount of time, money, and talent I had, and I am satisfied with my work.

I could list reasons of why I should keep the dream alive and an equal number of reasons why it needs to come to an end. To put it concisely, I love this car, but it doesn't fit well into my life right now. 

I tried hard to make a car hobby work with my current position in life, but it just isn't working out how id like it to.

I have owned this car for 8 years. it started life as a humble, neglected automatic purchased off ebay and shipped from Los Angeles and since then has been my  "creative outlet" and an amazing tool for me to expand my knowledge of automobiles and engineering. 

This car took me to college, It took me to work,  It took me to my first (and hopefully not last) track day,  it took family members on leisurely drives, it took me on adventures, it was my release, it was my refuge in the glorious way that personal automobile transportation is to us all.

I am grateful that I got to experience what some couple thousand BMW employees in the 1980's set out to produce: The Ultimate Driving Machine. 

At the end of the day it is merely a hunk of steel, glass, rubber, and plastic But it will be missed. 

There will hopefully be another day that I can build up a car as a hobby but for now it is time for someone else to enjoy it.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this dream.

Today was pure joy! I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in this track day. Everything was perfect!

Session #5 was a fantastic finish to the day.

Driving home was even kinda neat. The bluetooth connection on the car picked up a phone call from my wife as I had the frigid AC flowing and cruise control set. I know there are a lot of new cars that are capable on track, comfortable to drive, and still offer amenities, but it is a sweet experience to be able to “have it all” to an extent. Another surprise was the fuel economy. I didn’t even use 2/3 of a tank. Many were astonished

New headlight trim painted and installed. No more washer nozzle holes.

We're thinking about you, buddy.

https://www.gofundme.com/help-daggerty-avoid-ch-7

Congrats @suspenceful at dethroning @patsbimmer1 and claiming the title of “Fastest N54 in the World and Wisconsin“!

You have certainly done more than just a piggyback and FBO to get there. Kudos, would be cool to see single digits.

88 E30?

More like 88 MPH

You and Kaiser fall into the rare category where your significant other is into cars and you are not gay.

Blow the candles out. Sign the dotted lines. Roll the credits. My life is complete.

The next episode looks like this:

M52B28 from 1997 E39 528i 139k miles

OBD1 conversion with 413 red label DME and Sssquid Tuning stage 2 tune

S52 cams, M50 intake manifold, Supersprint replica long tube headers, single 3" exhaust 

Achillies upgraded oil pump shaft and oil pan baffle and every other reliability upgrade I can find

E30 G260, lightened single mass flywheel, South Bend stage 3 street clutch disc, Sachs 918 pressure plate, Z3 shifter with DSSR, S3.25 rear diff

All of the gaskets and seals are being replaced (except for the head gasket), I purchased brand new coilpacks, sensors, hoses, vanos rebuild kit, and a host of other refresh items.

So far I have pulled the exhaust manifold, removed all the exhaust manifold studs, started pulling the intake manifold, began the tedious process of scrubbing the block for a fresh coat of paint, and have cleaned up the injectors, and sent them off to Injector Rehab for some cleaning and testing.

Underneath the valve cover, nothing out of the ordinary, the cam lobes are in great shape which helps re-affirm that this engine was maintained to some extent.

I can't help but sit here counting all of the valves and wonder how I got to this point in my life.

tempgun.exe