WIBIMMERS

If my count is correct, it was over 10 years ago that I sold my previous e30 to @visian , so it was time to pick up another. 
 

It’s a 1987 325i 5 speed in schwarz over cardinal. My friend’s parents owned it for the last 10 years but only put 3,000 miles on it during that time, and it’s been stored out of the elements. 

We’ll see if this gets a thread or not. I’m not planning on going crazy with this car. This will be the simple, carefree summer cruiser to serve as a counterpart to the angry, money pit Volvo. 

I've been busy. Putting a 5 cyl volvo engine into my 242. 

Here's what's going on.

Boris3 said:

Noticed it's no longer listed, new project toy now in your garage?

Yep. I had too much fun driving it and couldn't say no. I'll probably post up here with some details in the next few days. Some questionable details (stripe) but very solid mechanically.

New daily driver. 2019 X3 M40i. Damn this thing is a great little car. 
 

Time to clean up the F10 and list it for sale.

I'll be there, but my only remaining BMW is currently unregistered (because emissions) so I might just show up with a bunch of BMW running gear bolted to another car.

It's all back together, and I drove it. OATOA engine feels happy. 

Only 15 miles in, but so far things are good. I'm running with engine break-in oil, keeping RPM varied <4k and throttle input <60%. Plan is to keep putting around in it like that, change the oil after 50 miles for another batch of break-in oil, and then change that batch of oil out at around 500 miles. 

Finally got around to replacing shocks and struts on my daily, and threw some H&R sport springs while I was at it. Ride height is pretty ideal now. 

Not sure if I’ve mentioned this car here, but it’s a 2011 535xi sport that I picked up a year and a half ago. 

Bassboy3313 said:

Please do explain!

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk

Snap said:

Yes Tom, 'splain this

New whip

A year later, and I'm just about to button up installing a fresh engine built with Wiseco pistons and h-beam rods in a painstakingly refinished engine bay. This car has been a real test of my patience and perseverance.  

Through my crappy headphones at work, it almost sounds like broken chunks of rod and piston being thrown around in the block (aka: STI at 40k miles)

Tasteful M3 replica at the Tosa village Pick n Save.

Long week and needed a mindless break. Just for fun. 

Still have this, and still really happy with it. I've done some preventative maintenance, repair, and minor upgrades over the past 9 months. 

I went through the suspension and replaced shocks, struts, mounts, swaybar endlinks, etc with new OE BMW sport package units. I replaced the front control arms and tension struts with the ones used on the M3 that use solid rubber bushings and sealed sphericals, plus a bit more negative camber. Also a few other boring things like hood and trunk struts, spark plugs, coils, filters, serpentine belt kit, brake fluid flush, trans fluid flush, etc. 

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

During the middle of winter, I developed a pretty significant leak under the engine, which looked a lot like blowby. I went ahead and geared up to replace all of the PCV components, and sure enough, that's what it was.

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

That led to a DISA valve replacement. The large valve was in a bad state. 

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

While I had the intake off, I also replaced the starter, given that it looked original and they are known to fail. That made a big difference with cranking speed. Sometime around here, it also got a new BMW battery. 

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

Immediately following the test drive after replacing all the PCV stuff, the top radiator hose broke. I decided it was time to replace all radiator hoses as well as the radiator just to be sure. The water pump appears to have been replaced in the not too distant past. I'll keep an eye on that.

Lastly, a couple weeks ago my fiancé accidentally backed into the car in our driveway. Turns out there are new painted bumper covers available on eBay for $240 shipped. Not bad at all, considering! I ordered one up and also got new grilles with black inserts to tone down the chrome a tad, while still keeping the black and chrome motif. I don't really want this to look like a modified car. 

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

While swapping everything over to the new bumper, I couldn't help but give the fog lights a quick polish. 

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

That's it for now! At some point I'll also drop in new engine mounts that I've had sitting around, but it's low on the list.

I haven't shared this here, but last year I bought @industrialsized's green e36 from him after it had been sitting for a number of years. Some of the OGs here may remember this car from some WIBimmers gatherings long ago. Took some work to get it running again, but I'm now starting to drive it more often while making improvements and tweaks to match my preferences. Also, as of late I've created a YouTube channel chronicling my garage tinkerings. Just posted a video on the e36 yesterday; check it out:

Looks like they've designed them to enhance snap oversteer for additional ditch trajectory.

Zach powdercoated just about everything in this engine bay:

IMG_2107 by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

I feel obligated to choose Volvo 242 turbo...

Well this is fucking awesome.