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Thread: Vorshlag $2010 GRM Challenge car - BMW E30 V8

  1. #751
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    Updates? Read this all today, awesome build guys

    I know it's been awhile since you had it all together, but how were you bolting the VH45 to a manual trans? Looking at it as a possible swap into an E34

    It's really cool to see a car like this progress, and thank you for an excellent writeup!

  2. #752
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    Quote Originally Posted by Project Taxi View Post
    Updates? Read this all today, awesome build guys o a manual trans? Looking at it as a possible swap into an E34
    ...

    It's really cool to see a car like this progress, and thank you for an excellent writeup!
    Ahh, yes. I've got an update coming, but here's a tease...



    The E30 is apart today, but the new motor and trans are about to go in:



    After 6 weeks of looking we found the elusive, low mileage "L33" all aluminum 5.3L engine from a 2006 Silverado. 80 pounds lighter than the iron block 5.3L that came out. This motor is cleaned up now, has a new Camaro style balancer, new oil pan and front cover/seal gaskets, new plugs, and is only awaiting a new pilot bushing, then it goes back onto the car. Also on deck is a fresher 2000 Camaro T5. We're using less camshaft this time around to avoid the big torque hit that helps the axle hop issue shock load the transmissions.

    Car might be running this week or next, then it goes on sale soon after. Look for a post here with the eBay auction - we're going to try to break the record for a former GRM Challenge winner's auction amount.



    Of course we've added $2500 in AST/Hyperco suspension, $2500 CCWs, E36 M3 front spindles/brakes/geometry, and thousands more in the new motor/trans/other bits. It will be a lighter, faster, much better handling car than the thing we took to the GRM challenge!

    More soon,
    Terry Fair @ Vorshlag Motorsports

  3. #753
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fair View Post
    Of course we've added $2500 in AST/Hyperco suspension, $2500 CCWs, E36 M3 front spindles/brakes/geometry, and thousands more in the new motor/trans/other bits. It will be a lighter, faster, much better handling car than the thing we took to the GRM challenge!

    More soon,
    So why not get a production bellhousing (cheap) and spend a few more dollars on a TKO so that the car is the complete package and not hamstrung with a glass gearbox and peanut cam?

  4. #754
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    Quote Originally Posted by DarkSideofWill View Post
    So why not get a production bellhousing (cheap) and spend a few more dollars on a TKO so that the car is the complete package and not hamstrung with a glass gearbox and peanut cam?
    Because that would mean throwing out the added safety that the $580 SFI bellhousing allows us (and having seen a production cast aluminum T56 housing become ventilated by transmission parts, @ 160 mph I'm not keen on testing my luck further), plus re-making the headers (they are a tight fit around the current bellhousing + trans), changing the driveshaft length and input yoke, new shifter location + transmission tunnel work (we welded in a custom cover to the OEM tunnel opening), throwing out the hydraulic TOB assembly, existing clutch, and on and on. Too many changes for the added strength of a $2100 TKO vs the T5.

    Again, we've been buying and using bottom-of-the-barrel, used, old, high mileage T5s off of CraigsList and shopping purely on price. Because of the GRM Challenge budget restraints we had a $2011 budget and only $100 to spend on the trans, and we did that... 2 times. This time we found a much newer (2000 model year), lower mileage, fresher T5 that's going into the car. It cost me a good bit more than $100. It will be a better fit for this drivetrain and the new "non-budget".

    And of the T5 failures were directly the result of massive axle hop, when using CRAP shocks that I paid TEN DOLLARS for, on weird surfaces. Twice on a drag strip (once in the rain!), and once on the bumpiest section of road course in Texas (the small patch of track joining the 1.7 and 1.3 courses at MSR-Cresson - where half a dozen other racers have told me they blew up driveline parts themselves). When you have that much torque hopping up and down it shock loads things badly. The new ASTs already on the car will calm that wheel hop noise down quite a bit. We have also now added a weld-on rear alignment kit that took camber from -2.5° down to -1.8°, which should help the handling quite a bit. Couldn't afford that kit before, but now... not a problem.

    The L33 engine itself is gong to be plenty fast - this one has the LS6 heads and LQ9 camshaft profile (the 345 hp Cadillac 6.0L motor). And with 80 fewer pounds to lug around the car will likely not lose any performance over the old iron block 5.3L, and might just get a tick faster with the lower weight and less torque shock that the old cam produced - when it "came on the cam" it was a bit violent, and we were short-shifting it at autocross speeds just to keep the car pointing in the right direction. Also, with the nearly OEM L33 and the chassis just about to roll into 25 year "vintage" status, we could get an inspection sticker for this car with simply a "Safety check". No more emissions checks are required on 25 year old cars in Texas. Now that would be a hoot!

    More soon,
    Terry Fair @ Vorshlag Motorsports

  5. #755
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    Terry, what cam did you run in the old 5.3L again? As for the L33, I would at least put a LS6 or car related cam in there. I am currently running the stock truck cam in my 5.3L and it dies pretty quickly up top. The cam is more focused around pushing 5000+ and towing around.

    As for the L33, don't forget about the LM4.
    Last edited by Robstah; 12-30-2011 at 08:17 PM.

    Rob - 2000 BMW Z3 M Roadster | 1986 Porsche 944 5.3L LM4

  6. #756
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fair View Post
    Because that would mean throwing out the added safety that the $580 SFI bellhousing allows us (and having seen a production cast aluminum T56 housing become ventilated by transmission parts, @ 160 mph I'm not keen on testing my luck further), plus re-making the headers (they are a tight fit around the current bellhousing + trans), changing the driveshaft length and input yoke, new shifter location + transmission tunnel work (we welded in a custom cover to the OEM tunnel opening), throwing out the hydraulic TOB assembly, existing clutch, and on and on. Too many changes for the added strength of a $2100 TKO vs the T5.
    The TKO's made to be basically a bolt-in replacement for the T5... I'm sure you could get another bellhousing from the same manufacturer that would allow you to retain your throw out bearing and headers. The spread bolt pattern that most T5's and TKO's have is a lot more common than the top-loader pattern you already have. Parts are available to put the TKO shifter anywhere a T-5 shifter will go, etc.

    I don't know the car, but I don't see it as being a huge job if you order the transmission in the right configuration to begin with. I know you're smart enough to do your research up front.
    Last edited by DarkSideofWill; 12-30-2011 at 09:46 PM.

  7. #757
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    Say....I got an email about the upcoming issue of GRM...

    That car on the cover looks VERAH FAMILIAR!!!!







    Costas
    cars and such...

    ~I don't always drive BMWs, but when I do, I get them on magazine covers. Stay in the gas my friends...

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  9. #759
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shortcutsleepin View Post

    ~I don't always drive BMWs, but when I do, I get them on magazine covers. Stay in the gas my friends...
    I actually laughed out loud at that. If this was teh sandbox, that would be in the quotes. In fact that, I think I'll put it there anyway.

    Congrats!

  10. #760
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    I come into work early most days I'm here by myself for the first hour. So I was reading my email the other day and that GRM cover preview popped up... spewed Diet Coke all over my keyboard as I yelled out "HELL YES"!

    Seeing our little scrap yard E30 on the cover was a nice surprise, to say the least. Another big thanks to our volunteer crew who built this little monster, and to Costas for driving the wheels off of it.
    Last edited by Fair; 01-26-2012 at 10:51 AM.
    Terry Fair @ Vorshlag Motorsports

  11. #761
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    Project Update for May 16, 2012: Long time no update, right?! Well a lot has happened with our $2011 GRM Challenge winner over the past few months and now I am going to try to catch up the build thread with reality. There will be a few update installments as we are still wrapping up some final things this week. Something YOU can potentially be involved with is happening NEXT week! First thing this morning I got my June issue of GRM Magazine and what do I see on page 150? This ad (below left) for the $2012 GRM Challenge...



    Left: Page 150 of June 2012 GRM issue. Right: Cover of April 2012 GRM

    Not to mention the cover of the April issue, shown above right. That art car look is very photogenic! You can click on either picture above to see a full sized version. Now this April cover was the early artwork that they had before they photoshopped out the Vorshlag banner. Long story - stuff happens and it's mostly our own fault. Kumho deserves the space, as they ponied up the $$ for the event... and for the set of 315/35/18 Kumho V710s we won for taking the $2011 GRM Challenge. Amy and I have had a blast racing these Kuhmo's on our 2011 Mustang in both autocross and road course events!


    The fat loot from winning the GRM Challenge! Kumho V710s in 315/35/18 size being used on the front and rear of the Vorshlag Mustang

    After we got back from the GRM Challenge event last October, we had planned on several "upgrades" to the Scrap-E30. Since then we kind of got carried away and replaced a LOT of the junkyard parts we had used for the magazine shootout. Now that we are not restricted to a $2012 budget, there were so many things we wanted to fix, replace, or upgrade. We have replaced major components like the engine, transmission, wheels, shocks, springs, brakes, interior, camber plates, and more. It still looks similar on the outside, but so much of it is new and improved.



    Above left is the T5 that gave its life on the wet dragstrip at the GRM Challenge. The unit above right is a fresh T5 from a 2000 V6 Camaro in conjunction with a new T56 hydraulic throw-out bearing assembly (the old V6 unit still worked, but since we had it out we replaced it). Then we replaced the junkyard LS1 Camaro clutch and flywheel with fresh LS7 Corvette parts.



    The iron block 5.3L "LM7" we had used for 2 years of GRM competition was a bit of a heavy lump, and it had a nasty camshaft that made it a bit of an on-off switch. I had wanted to replace this with an aluminum LSx motor, so we swapped them once we had a replacement motor lined up. After a couple of months of looking we found a low mileage "L33" engine locally, which is an all-aluminum 5.3L used in a small number of GM trucks to save weight. We wanted it for the same reason - to lose 80 pounds off the nose of the car. It looked like this L33 engine spent most of its life in Oklahoma due to the red dirt "staining" on the bare aluminum, which is common in that region.



    After sealing up all of the ports, the block was pressure washed and scrubbed clean, and the red staining was mostly removed. Short of a full-on high temp acid bath, it's as clean as it's going to get. The insides of ports and heads looked clean with the intake and valve covers off, too.



    We swapped over the modified GTO oil pan, a Camaro LS1 intake manifold, and the truck coil packs from the iron LM7 onto the aluminum L33. We replaced all of the gaskets with new FelPro parts, installed a new PowerBond balancer + OEM crank bolt (which took a positively massive torque wrench - that was fun!), new NGK spark plugs, new serpentine belt, and some Castrol GTX oil for the first oil change flush (I always go with a quick 50 mile oil change after opening up any motor). It fired up on the first crank and runs like a champ - I have driven it around several times and now that it has street tires, it will be getting some street use (more on that in a bit). The stock L33 heads and cam are darned good, and I suspect it makes pretty close to the horsepower numbers it made before (which was 355 whp). The car has lost weight too (I'll take a corner weight picture of it tomorrow), so it should be as quick, if not quicker than before.



    This extremely budget restricted car has had numerous leaks, and each time it was moved we had to clean up coolant, diff fluid, power steering fluid, and sometimes fuel. When there's no money left to replace seals and gaskets, you do what you gotta do. Now that we are done with the $20XX budget event I wanted the guys here at Vorshlag (and yes, my own shop techs can finally work on this car on the clock, which is a huge relief! No more need for all-volunteer work effort) to get this thing "leak free".



    First up was the diff side and pinion seals, which were all replaced with new seals from BMW. Since the halfshafts had to be popped out to remove the diff, the sketchy looking CV joints and boots were replaced with a pair of new halfshafts - just because we can. The very used E36 steering rack in this car leaked ever so slightly for the past 2 years, but then a month ago it started puking fluid each time it was started (internal seal blew). We found a rebuilt E36 rack for under $300 and it went in this week (that was fun). We still need to chase down the slight fuel leak, which just started on Monday - the car is going on the rack tonight for a look. So now the little E30 is almost 100% house-trained. One more leak fix and no more "potty pads" or unwanted puddles.

    I will cover another gaggle of updates (brakes, seats, belts, coilovers, camber plates, CCW wheels/tires, lights, gauges, and state inspection?!) in my next project update, later this week. Why am I covering all of this now? Well... we need room in the shop for some upcoming V8 swap projects so we're going to sell this "$2011" beast. Just like the Vorshlag E36 LS1 "Alpha" car, this one is going to have an eBay auction, and all proceeds will go to the charitable foundation titled "Vorshlag LS1 Swap Addiction" (money from the sale of this car will fund our next LS1 swaps!). I will talk more about the upcoming auction in my next update.

    More soon,
    Terry Fair @ Vorshlag Motorsports

  12. #762
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    Project Update for July 17, 2012: We are nearing the end of this project thread, as we've done the last tweaks to the E30 before it goes for sale. Here is what has gone down in the past two weeks on this little beast.


    Front Splitter Work Finalized

    The front splitter I showed in the last installment was not quite finished. There was a nearly 2" gap between the top of new splitter and the bottom of bumper cover. To effectively keep the air from going under the car or from pouring into the engine bay like a parachute above it, an "air dam" needed to be built to seal the splitter surface from the front bumper cover.



    We had looked at three different methods to fill this air gap: 1) With an air dam of sheet steel that attached to both the bumper and splitter, 2) A piece of metal that attached to just the bumper cover and laid on the splitter, or 3) Just a cosmetic plastic piece that sort of sealed the gap. After messing around with some materials and failed attempts at making a "quick and dirty" air dam, we went with a better, more time consuming option: a strong, free-standing structure of aluminum that bolts to the splitter and pushes snugly against the lower/front face of the bumper cover - for a rigid, nearly air tight seal. This air dam would not attach to the bumper cover, which should make splitter removal quicker.



    Vorshlag's fab man Ryan B. made a template of the bottom mounting face of the bumper cover in corrugated cardboard. Then the air dam itself was shaped around this template from a piece of 2" x 2" x 1/16" thick aluminum angle that was cut/bent/formed/welded into the matching shape. This took a couple of hours of shaping, fitting, and TIG-welding back together. The final result shown below is a strong, structural piece that weighed less than a pound.



    Once the shape was finalized and test fit several times, it was painted black and bolted to the splitter. It is shown below with clamps and Clecos holding it in place while the holes in the plywood were drilled. Pan-head 10-32 bolts were installed from the bottom with nuts and washers on the top of the aluminum, which are hidden out of sight.

    The aluminum was painted black and bolted to the splitter, then the final splitter/air dam assembly was bolted to the car and the four front support struts were attached (these bolt to the chassis behind the bumper cover). The entire splitter can be unbolted in a matter of minutes, with two bolts at the rear/subframe and the four splitter support struts up front.



    I test drove the car aroung the shop a few days later and the splitter worked fine on the street, as long as speed bumps and steep driveway inclines were "managed". It's a track and street-worthy splitter that is a bit more durable than most, and covers much more of the underside of the car than many splitters (it extends back to the bellhousing flange). Very happy with the final result, and we will likely build another like it for a dedicated track car soon.


    State Registration, Various License Plates, and More



    I had some novelty "euro" plates made up for this car and another project car we're building in house (we had a similar "VoRSHLAG" euro plate on the E36 Alpha car years ago) and I might add the "GRM 2011" plate to the front of this car, but not with any drilled fasteners. Like a lot of Euro plates, we'll just use some double-sided tape to secure it to the front bumper. Then again, I might leave it off and let the next buyer handle that, in case they don't like the idea. This car will also be sold with a mounted and framed copy of the 4-page October 2011 GRM article, a NASA log book, and a bunch of spares.



    The last formality for this car's "paperwork" was getting current registration completed and the car finally re-titled. I went to the local tax office to get new tags and the state sticker, and by my 2nd trip I had all of the right forms and signatures. Now this car is nominally "street legal". It has zero emissions equipment, so street legality will depend greatly on your local laws. Since the car has turned 25 years old, it's exempt from all emissions checks in the State of Texas, and just has to pass an annual safety inspection - your own laws may vary. We did add LED turn signals, fixed the horn, replaced + rewired the windshield wiper motor/arms/blades, and fixed several other exterior lights to make it pass the safety check. The electric windows still work, which is a plus - the car can be driven in the rain, but I wouldn't recommend doing so on the bald Hoosier A6s which are on the car (we swapped on some 285/30/18 Yokohama AD08s from another BMW we have to pass the safety check).


    Test Drive, Interior Clean-up, and "For Sale" Pictures

    Amy and I drove the car around Plano last Saturday to test the new spring rates, the cooling capability of the new electric fan, the splitter's streetability, and to find a good spot to shoot some pictures. The ride is phenomenally better on 450#/in front and 550#/in rears with the AST 4100s than it was on $10 shocks and 800/900# springs we used for competition in the $2011 GRM Challenge! The engine temps never went north of 185°F on this hot day, so that fan is working great.



    The guys at our shop also mounted a fire bottle to the roll bar and cleaned up the interior. Lots of vacuuming, detailing, and finish work was knocked out last week and the interior pictures came out great. The dash pad, door panels, and steering wheel are in near perfect shape - surprising given what this little car has been through. The fact that this was always a Texas car and the interior's condition was why I bought this car in the first place. The new "knee pad" panel added under the steering column was a nice addition, covering up the factory wiring and under-dash area, thanks to an eBay find.



    Several little dash opening "block off" panels were made in our shop out of aluminum, painted, and then bolted into place. The auxiliary gauges added before the 2011 GRM Challenge event are also visible here. Nice and tidy in there, but it's still no show car - more of a "clean race car look". The 4-point roll bar that we had powder coated in crinkle-black finish looks pretty darn good, and makes for a nice in-car camera mount and a place to hang the G-Force harnesses.



    There is a pair of I/O port seat back braces bolted to the cross bar as well, for more on-track safety. The left side seat still has a slider and the seat back brace can be re-drilled for each driver's position. The trunk lid is lightened and held in place by three 1/4-turn Dzus fasteners. The hood is similarly lightened and held on by 4 hood pins. So yeah, it is more of a race car that can be street driven.



    The ride height is a tad low, so I will have the guys raise it up another 3/4" all around later this week. Makes for stance-y looking pics, but not a very realistic street ride. For track use it is fine though.



    That's all I have for now. Next up - gotta write the ad for the online auction. As soon as that is live, I will post up again and let you all know. It should be within the next couple of days, and I will let the auction go for at least a week.

    Get ready... I will update this thread soon with a link to the auction!
    Terry Fair @ Vorshlag Motorsports

  13. #763
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    Well it has come to that time in the life of one of our long term project cars to let someone else have fun with it for a change. We've run out of upgrades and tweaks to do to this BMW, and we need room for the next project build at the Vorshlag shop.



    This is the eBay Auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Vorsh...-/320949941838 - Opening bid starts at $2011. Happy bidding!


    The car that is being auctioned here is our $2011 GRM Challenge winning BMW E30. If you are interested in this car PLEASE go read that build thread linked above. This car has had upwards of 1000 man hours of custom fabrication work done to it over the last 3 years - all of which are shown, step by step. I bought this car in late 2009, worked with an all volunteer crew of about 15 folks and we put together a V8 powered, lightweight, wide-body beast that we took to the 2010 running of the Grassroots Motorsports magazine "$20XX Challenge". Each year the budget goes up by one dollar, to match the year ($2011 in 2011). This is a magazine sponsored event where teams build a car for roughly $2000 in parts (minus safety gear and some other items) and compete in three events - an autocross, a drag race, and a judged car show. We managed to finish our car minutes before we left for the 2010 event, and had no testing whatsoever under our belts.


    Left: Paul Costas driving to 7th place finish in the GRM Challenge auto-x in 2010. Right: Costas driving to 1st place at the 2011 GRM autox!

    As you might expect, completing the car hours before the 2010 event was is not the plan, especially when none of us had been to or knew what to expect at this event. We went there hoping to do well but only managed to place 7th out of ~50 in the autocross, did "OK" in the concours judging, but not so well in the drag race portion. We had rushed a number of "finish items" and needed to regroup for the next year.

    By the 2011 running of this same event we had done a bit of finish work, improved items that didn't work in 2010, added a new "BMW Art Car" livery (an homage to the 2010 Le Mans competition E92 M3 race car, with the "rainbow explosion" theme designed by Jeff Koons), and most importantly had done extensive track and autocross testing. We went back in October 2011 to try this Challenge again. With a much better handling car we won the autocross portion of the event and did well enough in the concours to win the overall crown. This winning car has now been featured in a GRM magazine article, on their cover, and even in their ad promoting the $2012 Challenge event.



    Left: Ad from June 2012 GRM issue. Center Left: Cover of April 2012 GRM. Center Right: 4 page article, Oct 2010. Right: NASA TT event May 2011

    After our car won the GRM Challenge event in its second year we had done what we set out to do. Then I made the decision to retire this E30 from this severely budget-restricted shoot-out and prepare it for track and street use with some more sensible parts, a number of upgrades, and a lot of detail work. Since there was no longer a strict dollar limit on parts and we could use our regular paid Vorshlag staff to prepare it, update to some higher end parts, and 8 months later we have gone a little overboard. Off came the $10 used shocks and homemade coilover conversion and on went AST 4100 coilovers. $200 worth of circle track steel 15x10" wheels were removed in favor of $2500 worth of CCW 3-piece 18x11" wheels with 285 Hoosier race tires. The front E36 325i brakes and spindles left to make way for E36 M3 hardware.


    Left: Fresh T-5 going onto the QuickTime scattershield. Right: Low mileage "L33" 5.3L aluminum V8 being cleaned up for installation May 2012

    The old engine was an iron block/aluminum headed 5.3L "LM7" engine, which was a truck variant of the popular Chevrolet LS1 engine family. With stock internals + a big camshaft it made 355 whp, which was plenty of grunt to motivate this 2580 pound car. We've run it on a road course at a NASA Time Trial event and it was quick enough in early 2011 to run with TTS cars. In early 2012 we pulled the heavier iron block LM7 and replaced it with an all-aluminum "L33" 5.3L V8, for an 80 pound weight savings, which has all stock internals and the original camshaft. This engine sits in an engine bay that has been coated with grey POR-15.



    These factory rating on the "L33" V8 is 315 hp, through restrictive stock exhaust manifolds, so with the custom full length headers it should make roughly 320-330 whp. The engine is held in place by custom made engine mounts using polyurethane inserts, similar to those used in our popular E36 LS1 swap kits. The transmission is a Borg Warner T5 connected to the engine behind a ($580) Quick Time SFI-rated scattershield, with a C5 Z06 Corvette clutch and pressure plate. This scattershield allows for the use of any Ford T5 or the heavier duty Tremec 3550/TKO series of transmissions.



    The front suspension includes custom Vorshlag-based camber plates (redesigned in 2012 for less caster), E36 M3 lower control arms, and the aforementioned AST 4100 struts - made for an E36 M3. The rear suspension has beefed up E30 lower trailing arms, custom Nylon subframe and control arm bushings, aluminum AST 4100 shocks in the proper E30 length, and an adjustable camber and toe eccentric kit. We also ditched the stock "single ear" rear diff mount for the dual-ear E36 diff cover + a fabricated steel tubular structure to hang it from. The stock spare tire well sheet metal has removed and some .125" thick aluminum plate is in its place. Lots of fabrication work went into that. An Odyssey PC680 gell-style AGM battery resides in the stock location behind the right rear tire.



    Brakes on this car consist of a transplant fro the E36 chassis, like much of the suspension. The front brakes are (now) E36 M3 spindles and 12.5" diameter rotors, M3 calipers, and PFC-01 track brake pads. The rear consists of E36 3-series disc brakes transplanted to the E30 trailing arms, with new E36 rear wheel bearings and new E30 M3 rear halfshafts. The differential is a Limited Slip unit from an E30, but there is no parking brake.



    Fuel System updates in 2012 include a complete re-plumbing of the system using -6 AN fittings and stainless braided lines at all locations, all the way into the tank, P-clamped every couple of feet and routed cleanly under the car. Fire sleeve covers both the feed and return lines inside the engine bay and these connect to an LS1 fuel rail with AN fittings welded in place. A Russel billet fuel filter is used along with a new 255 lph Walbro in-tank fuel pump, feeding 21 #/hr LS1 Camaro injectors, a 3.5" MAF, and a custom tune on the GM based ECM. The intake manifold is a Camaro LS1 unit with a Camaro LS1 throttle body as well. A custom cold-air inlet with a big K&N open element air filter in a sealed heat shield completes the intake tract.



    Body modifications include a lightened hood and trunk, both of which are pinned on for maximum weight savings. The roof has a sunroof delete with a steel panel, covered in a vinyl Texas flag detail to hide the not-so-perfect welding up job there. The front and rear fenders were clearanced for the 18x11" wheels and custom all-steel, wide-body, box flares were made at each corner.



    This fender modification alone transformed the look of the car, even when it wore nothing more than a boring flat black paint job (as shown above in October 2010). With the art car theme + the 18x11" wheels + the new front splitter it really looks wild - you cannot drive 2 blocks without people trying to take the car's picture. Whoever buys this car should be prepared for impromptu car shows wherever you stop and get out!



    When we purchased this car it has a leak in the sunroof and trunk seals, so there was a tiny bit of rust in the floor pan and trunk. The rust was removed when we removed the spare tire well section, and properly patched with fresh steel in the floorboard area, them primed and painted. We also used steel tubing welded in from the firewall to the strut tower to reinforced the front upper frame arms - to deal with the grip of these monster race tires. BMW E36 generation front and rear bumper covers replace the frumpy old E30 covers and big chrome bumpers - there is no real "crash bumper" at either end, just so you know. The rest of the exterior is stock - with functional wipers, brake lights, head lights, custom LED front turn signals, all of the stock glass, and more. In July 2012 we added a custom front splitter and undertray, which can be seen under construction in this 1st splitter post and then the 2nd.

    The black interior of this 1986 325e started out in 2009 with a a still perfect dash and door panels, plus some aftermarket replacement carpet set the previous owner had installed. We removed the roof liner and A- & C-pillar upper plastic panels, as well as the back seat, but everything else is still there. The stock fuel level, speedometer and tachometer work, plus we've added aftermarket mechanical oil pressure + water temp gauges and a volt meter. There is a lighted switch for the aftermarket 2800 CFM electric fan, which runs through its own relay. The radio and "warning center" openings are covered with custom aluminum panels, and it looks nice and tidy inside. There is no air conditioning system in this car but the heater is still there, and it works.



    The back seat area has some black carpeting to cover the missing back seat. A bolt-in Kirk Racing 4-point roll bar made of 1.75" DOM steel tubing resides in back. It was powder coated with a custom black "crinkle finish", looks perfect, and has a 2.5 pound fire bottle attached. Two I/O port seat-back braces connect the roll bar to the backs of the aluminum UltraShield Rally Pro upholstered racing seats. A pair of new, red G-Force 6-point racing harnesses also attach to the roll bar, and wind their way through the shoulder slots in the front seats, attaching to the floor via G-Force clip-in loops, bolted to the floor with spreader plates. The driver's seat has a custom Sparco dual-locking slider for fore-aft adjustment while the passenger seat is bolted to the floor with a custom Vorshlag bracket. It is not a show-car interior, but it looks pretty clean and tidy for a race car.



    In 2012 this 1986 model year BMW turned 25, which means that in the state of Texas it is now exempt from annual emissions inspection. That's good because this car has zero emissions equipment - just long tube headers joined into a dual 3" into single 3" merge Y-pipe, feeding into a Flowmaster Series 50, 3-chamber, 3" in/out muffler out back. The entire system aft of the headers is made from 3" mandrel bent tubing. Making the custom full length headers took 30+ hours but they fit, work well, and make great power. The car sounds mean when opened up but is not at all ear splitting at speed (sub 100 dB). We had a state Safety Inspection performed in May 2012 and paid for new state registration in June 2012, with a clear Texas title. The car also comes with a NASA log book (classed in TTU) and a framed copy of the article in the October 2011 Grassroots Motorsports magazine 4-page spread.


    NASA Time Trial is a great place for this car to play!

    What should this car be used for? It can be street driven on a nice day - it has functional electric windows, turn signals, a horn, brake lights, headlights, and adequate cooling for a jaunt across town. The splitter makes speed bumps a thing of the past, and care should be taken on steep driveway inclines. The spring rates are now much more reasonable for street use as well. That said its not something you will want to drive daily, without A/C or heat, nor a radio. Maybe take it to a local car show for fun. Where it really shines is on a road course, where it will blast from corner to corner with that LSx V8 thrust! The brakes work well when warmed up and it makes monster grip on the 285 Hoosiers.


    With the interior in place, 2nd seat added, the larger 18x11" wheels, new splitter the E30 V8 weighs in at 2534 lbs

    The auction started 7/22/2012 at 12 PM CST (noon) with a $2011 opening bid, and will go for 7 days, unless someone grabs early with the "buy it now" price of $20,011. That option will disappear if the bidding gets close to it. We believe it could sell for close to $20,000, but it might go for more, or maybe less. Considering how much time and work we have put in this little car for the past 3 years, not to mention the list of updates and high end parts added in 2011-2012, that's a bargain. We would gladly build another one like this, but it would cost closer to $30,000. The E30 LS1 swap is DIFFICULT, which is why we encourage people to use our E36 LS1 kits instead (or our upcoming E46 LS1 swap kit). If you have questions that you cannot find answers to in this post or ad, or in the linked build thread, contact us at sales@vorshlag.com.

    Happy bidding!
    Last edited by Fair; 07-23-2012 at 02:37 PM.
    Terry Fair @ Vorshlag Motorsports

  14. #764
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    eBay link is wrong but the car is easily found by searching on Vorshlag!

  15. #765
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    Just a question: Why the de-caster'ed strut tower configurations? I was originally guessing that the wheel was not centered (too far forward) but then I noticed you have off-centered lollipops which adds caster, they could be rotated 180 to achieve the same affect. Then I thought maybe you were just trying to get maximum camber, but you could have shimmed the spindle if you were after that.

    Sorry if this topic was covered in the thread, my apologies. Good Luck with the sale, I think it will go for more than 20k. -Nate
    Regards, Nate.
    www.DriveFasterNow.com

  16. #766
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    modernbeat is offline Senior Member Supporting Vendor
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    The front had to be de-castered because the mix of front end parts to get the E36 spindles and struts on the car caused massive caster. The car was originally built with non-functioning camber plates that just positioned the struts in a decent position, but after the GRM event we rebuilt the towers to house real, functioning camber plates and positioned them in the best position possible.

    I'm not sure we could flip the lollipops. There isn't much room there because of header clearance. Making all those parts work in that tiny space was one of the bigger challenges of the build.
    Jason McDaniel at Vorshlag

  17. #767
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    I guess I didn't mean Flip the lollipop, I just mean rotate the cylindrical bushing (inside the lollipop) to offset the opposite direction.

    Anyway, thank you Jason for the reply. Good Luck with the sale!
    Regards, Nate.
    www.DriveFasterNow.com

  18. #768
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    What's the verdict? Did it sell?

    Doug


    '97 M3/4

  19. #769
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    Sold for $18k. Going to live at Willow Springs.
    Jason McDaniel at Vorshlag

  20. #770
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    Nice!


    '97 M3/4

  21. #771
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    Fair is offline Senior Member Supporting Vendor
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    Project Update for July 31, 2012: The eBay auction ended last Sunday at noon, finally. It was a nerve wracking week of waiting (luckily we were insanely busy on another project, which kept us preoccupied), with over 6000 views of the auction, nearly 100 watchers, and 34 bids. When the dust cleared and seven days were up, the E30 had met reserve, selling for $18,000.



    To some of you that might seem like a lot for a "$2011" budget car, but in reality that's a fair price for what you get. It could have gone for more, but I'm not complaining. Remember, we had a LOT of labor hours in this car (say... a thousand+) and in 2012 upgraded major components that were originally purchased under the old $2011 budget, swapping them for proper parts that were well beyond that price cap. The new owner will be bombing around road courses in California soon, which is a perfect use for this car. Already paid for, title already sent out, transporter coming soon.



    The E30 has been sitting in our shop behind the Brianne Corn Racing 2005 Subaru STi Hill Climb car (under a car cover), waiting to be sold. We've been thrashing on this Subaru for two straight weeks doing way more work than should be possible in that time frame. You can read more about that project here.



    A couple of days before the auction ended I was surprised to see the eBay auction and a write-up on Bring-A-Trailer, where vintage and/or race car featured on their site. There were some funny comments on there, of course, like: "This thing looks like it just drove through a herd of My Pretty Ponies. And hit every single one." Cracked me up!


    Epic E30 Picture



    Here's a nice picture taken of the E30 today, that our new photo/media guy whipped up for fun during lunch. Wow. Yea, Brandon has skills (he took some of the most memorable pics of the E30 previously, like this one, and that one). We'll try to get him to take a few more shots of it before the car is gone. You can get a full sized copy of this picture above, if you want a desktop background. Great, great shot... was a composite image of 6 or so individual shots with unique spot lighting on each. Expect more amazing photographs on Vorshlag project builds, race event coverage, and product pictures than you've ever seen before. He's going to Pikes Peak for the week and we will have those photos to show later in August.

    Its going to be a sad day when this little E30 goes away - just like when we sold our silver STU-prepped 1997 M3 in February, or the E36 Alpha car in 2009. Having spent so much time working on this car, testing, tuning, upgrading, repairing - its always hard to let these long term, big effort projects go. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into this build. An extremely frustrating 2010 showing, then the amazing 2011 victory, and a rebirth with all new wheels/tires/brakes/suspension/drivetrain in 2012. I wanted to give a big thanks to everyone here who read the build thread, made suggestions + helped guide us through this project, who cheered us on, played "guess the engine" (you were good sports!), and to all of those that chipped in volunteer labor. We're going to have a party for the volunteers once this car is gone, too.

    Thanks!
    Last edited by Fair; 07-31-2012 at 11:49 PM.
    Terry Fair @ Vorshlag Motorsports

  22. #772
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    Very nice man. Glad you got a fair price.

    Does it still have a T5 in it? If so, would you suspect that new owner is going to replace it with something more stout?

    Doug


    '97 M3/4

  23. #773
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    Amazing job on the build guys, really great work.

  24. #774
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    Fair is offline Senior Member Supporting Vendor
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    Quote Originally Posted by douglee25 View Post
    Does it still have a T5 in it? If so, would you suspect that new owner is going to replace it with something more stout?

    Doug
    It has a T5 in it, yes. We put in a fresh one this Spring. The new owner knows the limitations of this trans and is talking about a move to a Jerico race trans.
    Terry Fair @ Vorshlag Motorsports

  25. #775
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    Wow, that was way too much to read in one sitting... Excuse me while I try to put my eye balls back in my head.

    Great thread, though. It's fun to go back and flip through these older threads, relive old memories...
    BMW 1995 E36 M3 Luxury Pkg. (Bostongruen Metallic 275)

    BMW 1999 E36 323is Sport Pkg. (Orientblau Metallic 317)

    iSociety

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