Finally- A thread for my car!

#1

The day has finally come ( well it came about 2 months ago, but I’m making a thread now ).

Since 2005 when I graduated HS I’ve been drooling over SE30. Told myself I’d work my ass off so I can race cars for the rest of my life. Been doing HPDE’s since '03, and now FINALLY starting the adventure that is my dream.

After 2 Years of City College, 2 Years at Film School- I landed a job, and decided to get myself ANOTHER (#4) E30.

I present to you, The Dragon V.4.SE30.

When I bought it:

She has 210k on her, 3 bullet holes, shitty electrical problems, and a sweetly maintained motor.

Suspension is shot, brakes are horrible, and I love the heck out of it.

As always, regardless of my goal with an E30: a proper detail was in order. Here is the result of a Wash, Claybar, Polish, and Wax. Gotta represent SoCal RED as best as possible!

The Bullet Holes: Basically, the previous owner’s GF (who owned the car before him) was driving the PO and 2 other friends, and after some annoyance by a car behind them they decided to tell them to f’ off. The group behind them was obviously not too pleased, so a drive by shooting commenced. Needless to say: The E30 (being bullet-proof and all) decided to not let any bullets penetrate, and all were okay.

It cracks me up, in amazement, that the bullet by the passenger door didn’t even make it all the way through the door: AWESOME. I love this thing.

So far I’ve got new HPS Pads, OEM Rotors, and SS Lines from Turner- I’ve just got confirmation that my FCPGroton 7-Piece suspension is on its way (Control Arms, Tie Rods, Sway Bar End Links, Offset CAB’s). Hoping to get all that on in one sitting over the weekend. We’ll see how that goes. $156 from Ebay!

I can’t tell you how absolutely PUMPED I am to finally be at this point. I’ve really been doing nothing but watching every SE30 video I could get my eyes on, and haven’t stopped since my discovery of the sport back in '05.

This car will be driven to and from the track, so stock exhaust will remain intact. I will install a kirk 4-pt until I can afford a proper cage.

My goal right now is to get the car safe, reliable, and ready for a competition license. I will most likely do Driving Concepts Competition School- then apply for my provisional.

Lastly, I’m shooting to have this beast ready to go by April 1st, and at the latest get my License and be READY for my first race by June 1st (pending on how availability is for the licensing school is and the whole process etc…).

All in all… I’m sure you already know how I feel- AMPED.

I will update things here with tons of pictures. Woot.

  • Dan B. #315

P.S.

My dad got jealous, and wanted to get his ass back in an E30, so he picked up this beauty. It’s in the 1-day-paint shop right now. Exact same color and specs as his last E30 325i. He already has his E30 M20 plates on it. (I had the same on my 1st E30, now they are back on his!). He plans on making it a clean OEM+ E30 with Style 10’s.

#2

Love the bullet holes, that interior looks great but it’ll look better on EBay. :wink:
I’ve got a 4pt Kirk bar for sale, email me at mattagaffer(at)gmail(dot)com if your interested.

#3

Definitely Interested. Probably won’t grab ituntil march when i have all the suspension sorted out. Thanks though!

#4

wow they are both great looking cars - bullet holes an’all!

#5

This thread reminds me that I need to make a priority of upgrading the downstairs pistol. As a wag once said, 9mm is a .45 set on stun.

#6

Ranger wrote:

[quote]This thread reminds me that I need to make a priority of upgrading the downstairs pistol. As a wag once said, 9mm is a .45 set on stun.[/quote]LOL… 38 Mag can be aimed though :wink:

#7

kgobey wrote:

[quote]Ranger wrote:

38 Mag?

kgobey, aren’t you required by CA state law to be defenseless? IIRC there’s serious penalties out there for being mean to home invaders. Thugs need understanding too.

#8

If you’re going down that road, I am also a Green Card holder!!!

Total IMMIGRANT DEVIL

#9

another goddamn furriner :slight_smile:

#10

Jeremy Sykes in SD is also joining the fray… You need push Martin into getting in on this, I need to beat up on him, he still thinks he’s faster!

#11

i’ll work on martin if you make it out to Mid Oh in Sep Kieran :slight_smile:

#12

Nice story… I am in the same boat. Been doing HPDE since 04 sharing cars with my father. Graduated highschool in 04, went to school, making a living now, and just bought my e30 about 1 month ago (no bullet holes though). I am also setting it up with just the bar for now, just got the Kirk 4pt today actually. Can’t wait to get it ready and start going to the track. Good luck with your build, and soon to be specE30 career!

#13

E30KDG wrote:

Awesome! Let’s see a thread on your car too! Where you located? You going to make it in time for this season?

#14

kishg wrote:

That’s funny right there!:laugh:

#15

I will make a thread once I get some good pics. Im in NY and I will be doing HPDE events this season with BMW CCA patroon, as my father is the cheif instructor. I got some nice stuff to intall so a few pictures are in order. Too bad the cars in the Northeast don’t stay as pretty as the ones in SoCal, mine isn’t as apealing but will get the job done!

#16

Kevin I sent you a PM… Let me know if you’d like to join the SoCal SpecE30 mailing list :slight_smile:

Kieran

#17

so your dad is al dimisko? I should be there instructing at the June Glen event. hope to see you there.

#18

AW YEAH got some parts on order now:

HR Race Springs
Bilstein Sport Shocks
Bimmerworld 22/19 sways
Studs/Nuts
Upper Strut Mounts
Rear Shock Mounts

Already have:
HPS Pads
OEM Rotors
SS Lines
Tie Rods
CAB’s
Control Arms
Sway Bar End Links

So pumped. Going to have an epic E30 + BBQ + BEER extravaganza most likely next weekend with the GF and a few friends. We’ll crank this gear out in a day I’m hoping, otherwise it’ll have to be 2 days of drinking an E30’s.

Finally- I will have one of those pictures with all the parts laid out!

#19

I’ve been waiting for this moment since 2003 when I got my first E30 and found a website that sold aftermarket BMW parts. After reading through epic project threads seeing those sweet piles of car parts, has been an experience I’ve sought after for what seems like the LONGEST TIME EVER.

When I had my first E30 I was in HS and too broke to mod it, my second E30 already had EVERYTHING done to it, my 3rd was the same- and this one… BONE STOCK AWESOMENESS was the perfect candidate to put $ into.

Here she is prepping for the jack stands:

That one picture I’ve always been craving! There will be many more of these down the line.

So pumped!

The crew:

Ready to get it from all angles:

Now, I have done some wrenching before, but never really had the opportunity to do anything as serious as this. With the HUGE help from Nate(Wh33lhop) and 2 other good friends, Scott and Kegan, I was able to learn and work on my car.

Nate was massive help doing the front end work, and it let me get the busy-body work done (brakes).

Kegan helping out making sure I’m doing things properly.

Doing my first brake job, woot!

Control arm nut is a bitch, and even more of a pain on the passenger side with the headers still on.

The audience. My lady, schatzi, on the left. She’ll have an E30 in her hands pretty soon too.

I love clean springs, and even more pumped to see this thing down on the HR Races.

SS Brake lines ready for deployment.

I treated everyone to some Rusty’s Pizza. It was the pwn.

If it wasn’t for the help of Scott, and the mere fact that he stopped by, there is no way we would have gotten the control arm bushings pressed into the lollipops. Luckily, he was stopping by his shop mid-day and was able to use a press at work. PHEW.

“Naw, I cant press this in with my hands” - Me

This has to be the picture of the day. Scott doing the middle SS brake lines with a flash light in his mouth, which most likely has brake fluid on it. What a f*cking champion.

Yup, workin’.

Assembling the strut with new parts.

Huge props to Nate for the help, he was a big asset to this project. He took the time to show me how he was doing things, so I could do them in the future (or on the other side).

IS EVERYTHING DONE???

Oh… it is… time to lower this thing on the ground.

What’s left. I didn’t wanna do the rear sway bar that day because I knew it would be a PITA to drill the trunk, and it was already like 40 degrees out with rain and everyone was tired as hell. I’ll do it later.

Getting the last of the Bimmerworld Race Studs in.

Getting the car up, for the prime-time settling back on the ground to see how low it will be.

IT’S DONE. I’m so damn proud of this thing.

The team.

Uhhhh.

Full photo shoot coming soon ;). It’ll need a good cleaning this coming weekend, then better pictures shall be delivered.

What was installed:

  • Bimmerworld Front Sway Bar
  • HR Race Springs
  • Bilstein Sport Shocks
  • OEM Rotors
  • HPS Pads
  • SS Lines
  • Race Studs
  • Black Wheel Nuts
  • Tie Rods / Boots / Clamps
  • Control Arms
  • Control Arm Bushings
  • Brake Fluid

What I forgot to take pictures of:

  • Tie rod spinning in place because it was so loose and NOT good.
  • Control arm bushing completely blown and spinning around the control arm.

I wonder why my steering was so bad…

Next will be an oil change, coolant flush, and rear sway bar. I may stop by Ary @ DTM in Woodland Hills and have him finish the car off.

Thanks for your time, it was a freaking BLAST. It drives so amazing now. No massive wheel/steering shudder on braking, and the car actually responds when using the steering wheel- good thing, huh?

  • Dan
    #315 SE30 (soon to be).
#20

Dan,

Awesome build. This is what it’s all about, pile of parts plus friends miraculously turns into a race car. The pure essence of SpecE30. As much fun as the build is just wait until you’re on the track W2W.

Now that you’re getting number one moving along, I see some other faces in the pics that need to start their builds.

Cheers,
Chris