New to BMW's

what year taurus are those skirts off of?

Originally Posted by noexceptions325

what year taurus are those skirts off of?

98 I think. They were too long and had to shorten them a bit, paid $11.80 each for them and bought the 3M bumper repair (I used 8223 for the quicker drying, but you can also use 8115).

they dont quite look like the side skirts that were on my taurus and mine was a 97 lol but then again it was a SHO

Been a while since this was updated lol.

Well got the body work on the side skirts done, ready for final sand and paint, then just last week I pulled too close to a curb after lowering the car and broke the valence again

Repaired it (again), got it installed today and the rear valence mocked-up.

Coil over conversion...



and walk around pics today...









Still have the spare head I will be putting on soon as I take time to mail out all these cam cores for re-grinds

needs wheel spacers...

looking good so far. needs rear bumper tuck, and maybe the front too (undecided)

with all the time u spent you could have just facelifted it.. thats what i would have done... wait.... thats what i did

Originally Posted by kamotors

needs wheel spacers...

Nah. Just looking for the perfect set of wheels.

Originally Posted by Ethrty

looking good so far. needs rear bumper tuck, and maybe the front too (undecided)

No way! The only time diving board and tuck should be in the same sentence, is when talking about gainers :P

Originally Posted by noexceptions325

with all the time u spent you could have just facelifted it.. thats what i would have done... wait.... thats what i did

I like the old school look, and the fact that my car doesn't look like all the others when we have local meets

should have gone for euro pfl chrome bumpers then. tell me how your car looks any different from any other E30s with diving boards..?

Originally Posted by Ethrty

should have gone for euro pfl chrome bumpers then. tell me how your car looks any different from any other E30s with diving boards..?

I would love to have euro bumpers! Too bad they are hard to find

It looks different from all the locals because they all do the plastic bumper conversion - none of them even have tucked diving boards, never mind untucked.

Still have some finishing touches to do. I want to paint all the chrome satin black, I have a spoiler from a different car that wraps the quarter panels, but has the same exact shape as the stocker.

Also am considering doing a power conversion on the pop-out rear windows.

Hella fog lights are on the list, along with relocating the front directional signals to the slots below the fog lights.

my car does not look like any other facelift e30 i've seen

might not look like every other enthusiests, but it does look like any other stock E30. if i lived in the US id be importing chrome euros, i dont think ive seen a US car with them. Its your choice though. DBs dont do wonders for the E30s shape and look like the afterthought they are imo

To each his own. I like my diving boards

Euro bumpers is where it's at, but until I get them for a reasonable price, I'll stick with my DB's.






Update:


Well, I found the perfect wheels!



15mm offset all around...




3/4" spacers on the rear...




Think I will do 15mm offset in the front, zero rear, these rubbed a bit on the rear with 3/4" spacers (19mm)

Now I have to either talk my buddy out of these we tested with (and get spacers), or buy them for myself



Glad the shadow trim never got painted, like the way it looks with the polished lip on the wheels. If the shadow trim stays shiney, perhaps the polishing the big-arse bumpers might make more of a statement?

there is no statement you can make with diving boards, there is nothing unique about them. EVERY e30 from 84-88 in the US had them. you can polish them, paint them black, body color, tuck them .. whatever you want. its been done thousands of times .. literally.

from the looks of it both you and your wife need to take driving lessons.

why did you buy coils and leave the car at a level thats higher then non-adjustable suspension ?

Originally Posted by Ethrty

if i lived in the US id be importing chrome euros, i dont think ive seen a US car with them.

finding good condition chrome euros is like finding gold .. every set we get here is pretty destroyed and needs to be re-chromed or painted. there is a decent amount of US cars with euros. you just might not think those cars are from the US. its cheaper to get them from the dealer new .. at around $800

Originally Posted by fcsteve

there is no statement you can make with diving boards, there is nothing unique about them. EVERY e30 from 84-88 in the US had them. you can polish them, paint them black, body color, tuck them .. whatever you want. its been done thousands of times .. literally.

from the looks of it both you and your wife need to take driving lessons.

why did you buy coils and leave the car at a level thats higher then non-adjustable suspension ?



finding good condition chrome euros is like finding gold .. every set we get here is pretty destroyed and needs to be re-chromed or painted. there is a decent amount of US cars with euros. you just might not think those cars are from the US. its cheaper to get them from the dealer new .. at around $800

What?

Have you seriously read the thread, or jumped to the last post?

My center of rim to apex of fender is 12" all the way round, go measure yours (remember my car has high arches)

Let me make a fast-forward for you...

Post #1...







Scroll up to see the last post.

If you don't like my car, constructive criticism is welcome, juvenile comments aren't welcome.

i read through it before posting.

which part was "juvenile" ?

Originally Posted by fcsteve

i read through it before posting.

which part was "juvenile" ?

Originally Posted by fcsteve

there is no statement you can make with diving boards, there is nothing unique about them. EVERY e30 from 84-88 in the US had them. you can polish them, paint them black, body color, tuck them .. whatever you want. its been done thousands of times .. literally.

from the looks of it both you and your wife need to take driving lessons.

why did you buy coils and leave the car at a level thats higher then non-adjustable suspension ?

OK, so all this has been done to the DB bumpers EXCEPT!!!: Leave them alone

Go ahead and make me feel insignificant on the internet, but I am the one who is fixing the timing belt slippage/breakage on cars from owners who don't know the difference between an m20b27 and an m20b25, or an '885 head or a '200 head, I have just collected the 6th stock camshaft from an m20b25 and will be sending them over to my grinder for modification. I am just the guy that sits back and watches 'yall, and just so happens to own a flow bench, powdercoating equipment, ceramic coating equipment, chamber-measurement devices, lift, sandblaster, 300 amp welder etc etc etc. The Mazda was the 7th turbo kit built in my place, and the fastest small-displacement engine just so happens to be a 12 second 1994 Chevy Corsica who also pulls a 2.2 60' while still managing a 113mph (he was turbo kit #4).

You know what? You are right, I have no idea what's going on! Maybe I should take my Zender apron, stock valence and the coil-overs fabricated in my shop, and go elsewhere.

Originally Posted by ForcedFirebird

OK, so all this has been done to the DB bumpers EXCEPT!!!: Leave them alone

leaving them alone would be more common then ANY of the above mentioned routes.

and naming tools/equipment on the internet is on par with telling everyone you knocked out Brock Lesnar.

if you owned all this stuff and are flowin in the dough .. you wouldnt have thrown on taurus skirts and considered buying the cheapest fake split rims ever made. you'd be considering much better mods.

when your in an e30 section of a BMW forum your e30 is what you bring to the table. you could own 4 planes, 6 helicopters, be Bill Gates rich and have a Jay Leno sized/filled garage .. and it doesnt matter if you post up a car that looks like a community college student is building.

Originally Posted by fcsteve

leaving them alone would be more common then ANY of the above mentioned routes.

and naming tools/equipment on the internet is on par with telling everyone you knocked out Brock Lesnar.

if you owned all this stuff and are flowin in the dough .. you wouldnt have thrown on taurus skirts and considered buying the cheapest fake split rims ever made. you'd be considering much better mods.

when your in an e30 section of a BMW forum your e30 is what you bring to the table. you could own 4 planes, 6 helicopters, be Bill Gates rich and have a Jay Leno sized/filled garage .. and it doesnt matter if you post up a car that looks like a community college student is building.

You're right. My car sucks, so why you keep looking at it? You came in my thread telling me my wife and I need to learn to drive and that you don't like my car.

And yes, I do own some equipment and no, not raking in the dough - just like any other business owner in this economy. Just trying to keep food on the table for the wife and four children.

if you owned all this stuff and are flowin in the dough .. you wouldnt have thrown on taurus skirts and considered buying the cheapest fake split rims ever made. you'd be considering much better mods.

Here's the shop, even has my car parked in it for some of the pics...

http://s448.photobucket.com/albums/q...hop/?start=all

How much something cost that goes on my car has nothing to do with why it went on.

Phuckin E30 owners you guys are hilariously retarded.

IMO I liked the Taurus side skirts the first time I saw it done on E30tech. I would have done them on my 89E30M50 if I kept it. Firebird don't let the kiddos bother ya too much. Haters gonna hate.

Originally Posted by SWISS

Phuckin E30 owners you guys are hilariously retarded.

IMO I liked the Taurus side skirts the first time I saw it done on E30tech. I would have done them on my 89E30M50 if I kept it. Firebird don't let the kiddos bother ya too much. Haters gonna hate.

Thanks. Watr off a duck's back, if I was modifying the car for someone else, then I would do what THEY wanted, not what I like.

I didn't realize the wheels are that cheap, found them on ebay, but I am doing a HG job for an e30 with an m30 swap in exchange for the wheels and tires. Tried them on the car and liked them, who cares how much I paid/didn't pay for them!

Well back to finish this m50 swap in my friends 87 eta

-John

Man, even with the 2.93 diff, the m50 car is a hoot to drive!

Videos of me driving it...

in car
http://www.youtube.com/user/johnlcar.../2/lNNJ0Rx57qg

drive by
http://www.youtube.com/user/johnlcar.../0/moHZeqXr8XA



Update on my car:

Well, it looks like I am doing the 885 head swap sooner than expected due to a blown HG Was driving home last night and noticed the temp guage was a little high, does it all the time and have to tap the dash for it to go back where the actual temp is, but instead of going to the middle, it went to max! I was actually on my street when it happened, so I pulled in the road in front of the house and smoke was billowing from the hood. The fan belt broke and the battery light didn't light up, so I had no idea. Tried to start it this morning and it's acting like it has no compression - DOH!

Waiting on the tow truck now to have it pulled to my shop and will start the swap. Have to pick up a side-exit water pump, but have a new timing belt, tensioner, HG, fresh i top end, crank sensor, ECU/harness etc, but I will need to get a tach is all. This sucks because I have about 5 885 cams that I was going to send over to my grinder for a re-grind before I did this, but since I have yet another spare 885 head, I will just have to build it with the new cam and swap the head out later - right now I just want to get the car back on the road. The wife drives the Excursion (four kids), so I will have to drive the PT Cruiser in the meantime, it's a pce of crap and doesn't have A/C

I'll take some pics as the swap happens, just don't know how the stroker will act with the long rear gears, guess I'll start looking around for a better ratio sooner than expected. My friend said he would trade his 4.10lsd for my 2.93lsd, but don't think I want to go that high since I do drive on the highway often.

-John

Originally Posted by ForcedFirebird

Man, even with the 2.93 diff, the m50 car is a hoot to drive!

Great to hear, as I'm doing an m50 swap myself with an '86 eta

This thread is great for me because it gives me lots of ideas & inspiration, and like you I don't have access to the best stuff (ex. plastic bumpers/euro bumpers, a facelifted car, etc.)

So yeah looking forward to future updates

Originally Posted by octopus2007

Great to hear, as I'm doing an m50 swap myself with an '86 eta

This thread is great for me because it gives me lots of ideas & inspiration, and like you I don't have access to the best stuff (ex. plastic bumpers/euro bumpers, a facelifted car, etc.)

So yeah looking forward to future updates

Thanks!

I have access to enough parts, just like my aluminum bumpers. Only way I will change them is if I come across a deal on some euro bumpers for a reasonable price I'm just frugal, and like shiny bumpers lol.

Well I got her degreased...


Broken fan belt FTL...


Made in USA ROFL...


Amazingly clean internals (remember, she's only got 90k miles or so)...


Someone had a leaky cam seal


Best work bench EVER!


Timing belt was hanging by a thread (no pun intended lol)


Would have more done, but if anyone has changed a serp belt on a pro-charged Cobra, you would understand - instead of 15mins, it took me almost 1.5hrs! Had to unbolt the S/C, coolant hoses, coolant tank, and the cold pipes from the charger to get to it Still after 10hrs here at the shop I did the Cobra while my bud swapped out two e30 windscreens (his is cracked, parts car had a good one), then he had enough time to unbolt the mani, intake pipes and valve cover before he had to take off an hr later, as well as getting to a point to pull the head in the morn.

She looks good for having open-heart surgery!!! she's on the best investment I ever made - a $600 used lift!



and my bud "Silence" making a wind diverter for his roof rack (windscreen swap guy)

Well the head gasket is in perfect shape! Don't know why it wouldn't start after adding a little water, but when I was putting it in, I noticed it wasn't coming out of the bleeder. Maybe the t-stat was stuck, but it's getting replaced anyways. Should have put the compression tester on it, but hindsight is 20/20, and if it had started. I would be driving around with a timing belt about to go, so whatever, only bad thing about jumping the gun on the 885 head swap is that I didn't send the cams out to be re-ground

More pics in a bit.