Thrifty S50’s 92’ 318i vert build

[clarkitect]

Looks great man, good job. Sure am jealous of your weather out there.

[superj]

Great finish post for the updates on the car

[clarkitect]

Great finish post for the updates on the car

But is it ever really finished??

[superj]

Ha ha ha

[Thrifty S50]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the kind words. I hate when fixing one thing, turns into a whole other problem, but Im glad it sorted itself out. And yeah, we are definitely spoiled down here in terms of weather; It hit 60 the other day and I was forced to wear a jacket. (LOL!)

ANyways I wanted to circle back and touch on the "Mess under the intake Delete", as I realize I didnt really do so before. Its definitely something I would recommend all M42 owners to do, not only because of how it cleans things up, but also because of how it simplifies alot of the routing, and cuts down on the number of connection points you have overall.

In terms of the cooling system, the coolant pipe that comes off the block has 3 outlets. One that shoots off to the drivers side that connects to the hose that runs to the expansion tank, one that comes straight out the back and runs along the firewall for the heater core connection, and lastly the one that youll wan to pay attention to, is the one pointed up, that typically routes up to the throttle body warm up plate. If you are OK with deleting the hoses to the warm up plate, you simply re-route the outlet pointed "up" directly back into the block. You can see an image of that here with that short little CAtuned hose (right near the yellow sensor and orange tape covering the fuel lines)



Next, on the VAC side of things, we need to route a dedicated hose for the crankcase, and then one for the Idle control valve. These typically join in the conglomerate of hoses that make up the Air/coolant junctions, as part of the above throttle body coolant plate assembly. For the Crankcase VAC hose, you can see it below on the left, and how you would just route it directly to the throttle body, via a little elbow connector. For the Idle control valve (on the right), it gets its own dedicated line that will route to the nipple on the underside of the intake elbow (not pictured).



and thats it! actually pretty simple, and you go from this nasty set up



to one thats a bit more manageable.



I hope that helps someone out there who was confused on what to delete, and how to route everything. Cheers!

[superj]

I never looked under the intake on my m42 car. I had read of that stuff but never had any trouble so I didn't want to jinx it by looking at it straight in the eye, ha ha ha

[Ape]

Impatiently waiting for 17 style 5 update..

Great work, really enjoyed reading all this.

Reminds me of all the same stuff I did so many years ago.
(Mess under mani, refinished style 5s, 40+ hours into my 1st detail job.. NEVER again lol)

I just started to dabble with my e30 again. I've been collecting parts for the last 8 years or so and now getting around to installing them. (Style5s 16/17s, M systems, adaptors, Nardi, etc.) Really looking forward to see how yours fit.

Do you have an Instagram so can see more pics?

[Thrifty S50]

I never looked under the intake on my m42 car. I had read of that stuff but never had any trouble so I didn't want to jinx it by looking at it straight in the eye, ha ha ha

HAH! That had me rolling! I unfortunately peered directly into the eye of the storm back when I had done my oil filter housing gasket. There was no hope for me! haha

Impatiently waiting for 17 style 5 update..

Great work, really enjoyed reading all this.

Reminds me of all the same stuff I did so many years ago.
(Mess under mani, refinished style 5s, 40+ hours into my 1st detail job.. NEVER again lol)

I just started to dabble with my e30 again. I've been collecting parts for the last 8 years or so and now getting around to installing them. (Style5s 16/17s, M systems, adaptors, Nardi, etc.) Really looking forward to see how yours fit.

Do you have an Instagram so can see more pics?

Hey thats awesome! IM glad youve enjoyed it so far! And most definitely, you can find me on instagram at jt_e30. PM me so I know its you so i can follow ya back. And man Im glad Im not the only one who went through that level of a detail job. lt was quite literally hell! Much respect to those who do it for a living. Also, im currently debating on going Nardi or M-tech for the wheel, THe M-techs always look proper, but a Deepcorn in black would match my interior so well.

Also, in regards to the style 5's, I do have one small update for ya

[Thrifty S50]

Wanted to check in since its been about 2 months since detailing the car. I washed the car the other day (first time since the detail actually) Color is still very deep, no sings of oxidation as of yet, and the ceramic coating is holding up well! Was able to dry the whole car with my leaf blower. Prior to the Cermaic coating I could blow dry the bulk of the water off, but still had to hit it will the "dry-rag" to finish it off. Now it rolls off effortlessly.

[superj]

Cool. Thtmats the ceramic coating keeps it good?

[Thrifty S50]

Cool. Thtmats the ceramic coating keeps it good?

In terms of the water repelling characteristic, yeah! Im sure its lasted longer since the car is garage kept; But even now it still is very hydrophobic


In other news, I know its been awhile, But I finally got around to finishing the 17" style 5's ! Tire selection was limited since I am working with teh 18mm adapters, fitment is really tight. I was hoping to get another 195x45, since the 16"x8" style 5 fit nicely with that. But I couldnt find a tire that i liked in that size. Ended up with a Yokohama Advan 205x40



I think the wheels came out great! Fit the car so well. Im glad I orderd brand new center caps but the BBS 3D Red/Gold centers wont be shipped until late may.. So ill just run the stock centers for now.

(I do realize the wheel is mounted on the wrong side in this picture (note tire tread direction) but it has been corrected)




Fitment is about spot on for what I wanted, Fenders are still untouched at this point (no pull or roll)







I did experiance some rubbing at its existing height, which was carried over from the 16" wheels; I made no adjustments to the ride height when throwing the 17"s on, so I guess that was to be expected (yes thats smoke)



Before correcting its height I lowered the rear of the car even more just to see what would happen.



it was definately way too low to drive, although it did look nice. I ended up I raising the car 1/4" all around from where it was originally, and it clears just fine now both front and rear. No rubbing in rear and I can get into and out of driveways without worrying about ruining my fenders.

[superj]

those looks really good on

[aaverhulst]

How do those wheels and tires do on rough reads? Man, I'd be afraid to put those low profile tires on my car, 89 325ic. The roads are so bad around here, I think I would shake the car apart. Stock tires, 195 x 65 x 14 are bad enough!

[Thrifty S50]

those looks really good on

Thanks Super! I am very pleased with how they came out. Obviously I was worried on them looking too big, which I think they are kind of riding that line very finely, but because they are OEM they suit the car well. Im sure if I stuffed a 17" aftermarket wheel it wouldnt look right. I couldnt imagine an E30 on anything larger.

How do those wheels and tires do on rough reads? Man, I'd be afraid to put those low profile tires on my car, 89 325ic. The roads are so bad around here, I think I would shake the car apart. Stock tires, 195 x 65 x 14 are bad enough!

Yes definitely not advised for somewhere with bad roads! These wheels are known for bending barrels, or cracking lips, when hitting severe potholes so I would probably stick with the 16's. You can polish the lip on those and run the silver faces and it would be a great look.

Anyhoo, not much to update yall with! I did find someone who makes replica Convertible Top Procedure cards, So i picked up one in German, and English



My original instruction card was in perfect condition when I bought the car, but stupid me, I tried to fish it out, and the print side stuck to the plastic liner and it ripped the illustration off. I was beyond happy to find these, cheap too! If anyone is interested you can find him in the North America E30 convertibles, or E30 Zone groups, on Facebook.

Also here are some photos Ive taken recently while taking the car out to some local meets

[clarkitect]

That looks awesome!

[sbizzle]

Love the build, wow!