Dlux BMW E21 build

[cgifool]

Yeah, its funny. I was thinking about all this a lot this last week.

...
Many small problems popped up and instead of enjoying the build, like I have in the last few months, my impatience got the best of me and I started getting anxious and not enjoying it. I think, at least for me, the secret is to slow down, act like you enjoy it (looking back, you will have enjoyed it) and let it get done when it gets done.

...

On this same note, this car will never leave my hands or if it does, it will be for a premium.

Amen brother! I'm several months into my differential rebuild because the scope kept growing and I only work on it for 30-60 minute stretches at a time - chipping away at it for short stretches but frequently, keeps it fun. as soon as I start pushing too hard to get it finished already is when I start feeling tempted to cut corners.

I definitely can't wait to be driving again, especially since hot weather isn't too far off, but keeping a good annual balance between doing the work and enjoying the results is really important to me.

Are you planning to disassemble the custom bits and pieces to get them painted/powdercoated? Maybe I missed that part. Would be a shame for all that delicious metalwork to get all rusty and gross.

[captain awesome]

Agreed. As soon as I stopped putting constraints or expectations on when something gets done the stress starts to lift. I had a plan of making the first available autocross event for mine, but it was too tight of a schedule to fit in holidays, vacations, and general life stuff. Wanting to work on something is worlds apart from having to.

I usually end up selling a project when I get distracted by what "looks" like more fun or gets you pumped to do stuff again, and not always for the better. Most of those end up break even though, because selling at a loss sucks. Then again time is money.

[Erik Dlux]

Yep, I think youre right. Balance in everything and be "in the moment" when youre doing it.

I was thinking it was a big mistake working thru the summer last summer. I still think it was. I would rather spend winters working on things and summers relaxing, if possible. At least this spring summer I should be enjoying this car.

Everything is painted. The things that look unpainted are just clear coat so they look like they are not painted.

[Erik Dlux]

I thought I would just keep things simple and run the stock valance. The more I thought about it, and looked at pictures, it was undeniable that the BBS front air dam looks way better. I couldnt go without so installed it went.









I also installed the front Euro bumper. I didnt want to use the Euro mounts though so I made mounts that go from the Euro bumper to the US location. I love how they turned out. Light and simple. I will be selling these soon along with my rear Euro bumper mounts, I just need to refine them a bit before they are good enough to send out to the public.














Found this engraved in my front bumper when I was cleaning it up. Kyle Schneider, you Schneiders are always thinking youre #1









I got a skid plate mounted up. I was not sure how I was going to feel about it. I didnt know how much protection it would offer. I decided to make a decent amount of space between the motor and plate to give me a good buffer. Yeah, it takes even more ground clearance away but it really makes me feel better knowing I have that room.

































- - - Updated - - -

Its a running and driving car at this point! I got it running on Saturday and I have spent as much time driving it as I can. The amount of pleasure is overwhelming.




I really couldnt be a bit more stoked over this car. I would say 95% of the time when I look forward to anything, its usually a let down or not as good as I imagine. Well, this car is nothing like it. I had HUGE expectations and it not only met them but it surpassed them! I have no idea why this car brings so much pleasure but it does. Its my dream car and I feel very lucky to have something like this in my life.




The car drives like a brand new car. The transmission and motor run amazing! I love how smooth the transmission shifts.




Its got a good amount of power for sure but its not super crazy. I feel like the power and light weight that this motor brings to this car is absolutely perfect. I am really satisfied with it and I cant explain how fun it is to drive. I would highly suggest this swap to anybody with a E21.




I am going to have to switch out to a 2.93 rear diff, like I first planned. The 3.23 that I have now are just too deep. I am at 3k rpm half way thru the stop light in first gear and when I am in 6th gear, I am about 3k at 80mph. Hopefully a 2.93 will be perfect. Now I just have to remember where I can get an LSD with that ratio... I forgot what they were found in...




The front suspension is amazing! This car drives so much better now! Before, I had to rely on my shock valving to stop some of the sway side to side. Now, I can soften up the valving a touch for a better ride and then stiffen up the sway bar. Huge improvement and I couldnt be happier with it. I look forward to having fun tuning it.




Oh, alternator problem was that I had to bring in switched 12v to the brown wire but I also complicated it because I didnt know you had to have your output hooked up to a 12v source also. I thought you would have output with nothing hooked up so I probably bought a brand new alternator for no reason. Bummer.

[cgifool]

Wow!!! Sounds glorious! And so much more satisfying than if you'd just plunked down a credit card for some brand new off-the-shelf badass car.

[Erik Dlux]

Yeah, I couldn't but this, I had to build it . Anytime you want something perfect and exactly the way you want it, you have to do it yourself IMO .

[Somjuan]

Running videos?

[Erik Dlux]

Running videos?

I will get some asap

[captain awesome]

Looking good! Any rubbing with that wheel combo?

[Erik Dlux]

Zero rubbing. Not sure how closely you followed the thread but I spent way too much time to make sure nothing would rub. Also, nothing as far as wheel placement will be standard as I made it all custom.

[Erik Dlux]

I wanted much better lights than the e21 sealed beams provide so I searched out for some E30 smiley Hella in smoked.




When searching the forums on how to fit these, I found that the middle mount goes right where it should on the E21 but the E30 left and right mounts are off. Looks like most either egg the holes out to get them to fit or make a bracket to get to the bracket.




While looking at the E30 lights, I figured that since the E30 has the same headlight spacing that the housings were the actual issue. What if I could swap the E30 lights into the E21 housings? Well, that wont work because there are too many differences so I did the next best thing. I took the E21 housings and drilled out the spot welds so I could get the ears off and then I did the same with the E30 housings. After I had the ears in hand, I figured out placing and welded the E21 ears onto the E30 housings. I dont think I am explaining this well so I hope pictures do the talking.




Both housings with the side mounting ears cut off









E21 ears in hand









Position the E30 housings on the car and get them aligned and then weld the ears onto the E30 housings.














All done. I love the smoked look! Great light output too!









The E30 lights have a "city light". This is basically a parking light inside the low beams. I dont really understand the point. I wanted to get fancy I suppose so I put black lights in there. LOL.











I also put LEDs in the turn signals. Its hard to get a good pic because they are so bright. They are like having another set of head lights and they are awesome in themselves because they light up the side of my car a ton and I can see everything before turning.

[BIMMERBOYZ]

Excellent and innovative work.

[Erik Dlux]

Excellent and innovative work.

Thank you!

Youre in Herriman? Does your 323 drive?

[Erik Dlux]

http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?102392-Dlux-BMW-E21-build




I was talked into the Zender rear valence a couple months ago. Before I bought one, I thought the rear looked "fine". It looked unfinished and a bit rough but I didnt think anything would really help it. I was wrong! This Zender rear valence really finishes the back end off especially with the euro rear bumper. I love it!



















I also went on a drive up the canyon and grabbed a couple of shots.





























Car is running really well, still trying to figure out the VSS and why I am not getting a signal. The VSS, a couple other mechanical issues and the rest should be cosmetic. Getting there though.

[cgifool]

That rear valance DOES look good! I agree that with the euro rear bumper it really comes together nicely.

I've never seen one without the side skirts before, and THOSE are what really don't work for me.

[BIMMERBOYZ]

Thank you!

Youre in Herriman? Does your 323 drive?

Yes in Herriman. Unfortunately none of them drive currently. I need to have them gone through as I simply don’t have the time right now.

Where did you source the Zender rear apron?

[Erik Dlux]

https://www.classiceuroparts.com/

I got the BBS front valence and the Zender rear valence from them. Just dont expect the pieces to be flexible like their pictures show....

[Erik Dlux]

I made up a new spare tire cover for the trunk as well as a rear strut bar. The trunk area is now nice and tidy...




Spare tire cover... I was lucky to have a torn up old one to use for a template so building this was not bad at all.














Rear strut bar turned out good as well. I didnt like many of the examples online where they bolt to the side of the strut housings. I wanted it to bolt on top just like the front struts so its easily removed and no modding to the car at all. It turned out really simple and really functional. And most important, it clears the amp/subwoofers really nice. LOL

[Erik Dlux]

Has anybody ever asked you which of the 5 senses you would choose to loose if you had a choice? Hearing, seeing, taste, feel or smell?


If it were me, I would choose hearing. Not that I dont like to hear, I just feel like I have similar hearing as a dog, everything seems amplified.


One huge problem with amplified hearing are rattles. Rattles drive me nuts! I cant stand them and they make me want to pull my hair out. I can hear the smallest rattle.


On my E brake, my handle, specifically the knob in the middle will rattle and hit the side of the handle and rattle. I couldnt stand it any longer so I made a new handle. I dont have this perfected just yet but it reduced the rattle quite a bit. I will either enlarge the hole so much that the knob cant rattle on it or I will make a new center that is so tight that it cant rattle. Either way, I like how it matches my shifter. Its made from 7075 as it needs to be really really strong. LOL

[EauRouge2002]

Very nice build. The engine in your car now is the GM 3.6VVT with 320hp? Curious if your tires handle that much power? In scenarios such as being in 2nd or 3rd at 3K rpm, do you get wheel spin if you floor it?

[Erik Dlux]

Thanks!

Yeah, 3.6L, its supposed to have 330hp at the crank, most dyno for stock cars come in around 260hp to the wheels and with a tune they can get up to 300hp at the wheels. Since mine is not tuned, I am guessing I am around that 260ish mark? Running small diameter tires I should have more torque than most though and I am running somewhat lowered geared than those guys too.

Its funny you bring that up, spinning the tires. When I first told people I was going to put this motor in and 330hp, they all said the same thing "whats the point, you will just burn up tires, they cant hold that much hp". I hesitate to say this but I am a pretty transparent person so I dont really care, LOL. The tires hold all the traction, I dont have any issues with slippage. If I step on the gas, no matter the gear or RPM, it just sits you back in your seat and it will snap your head back. Zero issues with running out of traction so far.

As I said above, maybe I am not getting all the HP? That would seem weird though as the car is really fast and it gets up and goes really well so I dont see how that could be... Maybe my tires are really sticky? Maybe I got lucky with my suspension setup and it gets a lot of traction? Maybe I cant drive worth a crap? Who knows, I feel like I could use another 100-200hp with no issue and it would still be in control.

The LSD locks up super hard and does not let a independent tire spin. If I spin, they both spin.

I dont do clutch drops from 0mph, I just dont want to treat the car that way. I am sure I could break them loose that way if I wanted.

If the road gets wet from rain, its pretty easy to floor it and get sideways around corners.

[EauRouge2002]

That's not a bad thing. Better than having power that is useless due to wheel spin. I'm still a long way away from building my engine to (hopefully) a similar power level as yours so good to know it won't be useless!

Thanks again.

[Erik Dlux]

waaaa waaaaaaaaa




I have not posted anything about this car in awhile because I have been fine tuning and mostly just in pure bliss enjoying it.

I was tuning the motor/computer and doing some wide open passes and I heard a knock... uh oh.

Upon inspection, all my rod bearing caps were loose and there was 1 that the bearing and crank were in not so good shape. So, rather than mess with a rebuild, I have a new motor that has 17k on its way. Should be able to pick up today.







Sure am glad I picked a cheap motor to replace! They have gone up since I did this build though. Used to be around $800 and now they are closer to $1100. Maybe all of us doing LFX swaps should keep our mouths shut? LOL.

If you have been watching this build, you might remember my video that I made on the first start up. At the end of that video, you hear me say that I dont know if I am getting oil pressure so I shut it down. I think I caught the no oil pressure issue just a bit too late and thats what caused all of this. Live and learn...

[cgifool]

arghhh!

[Erik Dlux]

Skid plate has been doing work for sure! I will have to redo the bend when I put it back in. I had about 1/2" between it and the pan and now its riding against the pan. I will have to stiffen up the front shocks too to prevent this from happening so quick in the future.









Removing the motor sucks, for sue. Not all is bad though as I get to fix a couple of things that were not perfect.




Engine bay got scratched up pretty good from removing and installing the motor so many times. I get to repaint that now.




Since I didnt weld the inside of the oil pan, there was some oil leaking thru in some pin holes. I covered those up with RTV on the outside and didnt like the hack fix. Now I laid down some JB weld on the inside so leaks should be no longer.




I re made the remote oil filter plate again. First round I tapped the holes for the 1/2 NPT too deep so the fittings bottomed out and didnt tighten as much as I liked. I also went to a more stock style passage with the fittings in the same spots as stock along with the pressure sender teed into the return line. The way I had it before, it was just too hard to work on. I couldnt get a wrench or socket on the fittings and the pressure sender was so close that I broke it getting the other fittings off.



















Talk about a clean 1 owner engine! I got this with 17k miles on it and it looks like new! Oil looks like it was either just changed or the motor is running really clean also.




I took a chance on the motor based on the picture on ebay. The car was painted a horrible pink. I thought.. either this person is a dumb ass (totally possible) or its just some girl who spends extra on her car. Either way, I am glad to have a car from a lolly gagging girl.




The old motor was not bad at all but the aluminum had corrosion on it even though it only had 33k on it. This one is primo!