BMW USED CARS

Shahe Bagerdjian When most people look at the E30 BMW family they see heritage. The and racing heritage runs thick through the blood of one particular type of an E30, the M3. The M3 was the most successful touring car ever. The car was practically a factory race car that you could by at your local BMW dealership. The lines of the car are finely drawn; The sculpture of the wide body lures many like a seductive mistress; The overall shape is so aggressive yet so adhesive to ones heart. However the M3 is not all about the looks. The car itself is a unrefined street machine. Built with one purpose in mind, to dominate the touring car circuit. The car standing still looks like a beast in hibernation. Only when the key is turned, the S-14 is revved, and the tires take off spinning, this car comes to life. This is one car that must be drive and driven to the extreme for one to truly understand why this car holds a special place in many peoples’ hearts.

Around July/August of 2001, I decided to attempt the "big six" AFM swap. People often spoke of this swap, but no one that I talked to seemed to have actually done it, or had specific information on what was involved. I decided to go through with the swap, documenting both the procedure as well as the results. This way people would know exactly what is involved in the swap, as well as what they should expect as far as performance gains.

This is a list of things that are necessary to get real performance out of the M42 engine, mainly for street use, and the best part is - it will not burn a hole in your pocket. You may see items such as 4-throttle intakes, $3,000 stroker kits, and wild cams out there, but most of this stuff does not do much on a street motor (either that or it will cost too much), though they may give you some top-end on all out race motors. If you want your 318iS to really fly on the street, these are the things you need to do:

There used to be a rumor that the differential cover from the new M-Roadster/Coupe would bolt on to an E30 M3 differential housing. Jimmy Pettinato was the first enthusiast to actually go out and tackle the install. I have since followed suit, as have some other list members. This write-up is a combination of the experiences gained by Jimmy and I during our install procedures. You may be wondering; "Why the heck would I want all those fins hanging down under my rear end?" Well if you track your E30 then that limited-slip clutch pack will generate some serious heat. And the ultimate enemy of any clutch is heat. The fins on the M-coupe diff' cover reach down into the air flow underneath the car and should therefore help bring about lower operational diff' temperatures. Furthermore, since the diff' cover only costs about $140 and can be ordered right from the dealer, I cannot see any reason not to do it - this mod should be on every E30 owner's "to-do" list.

One of the easiest and best bang-for-the-buck suspension modifications to do on an E30 is a strut/stress bar install. There are many different companies that make strut bars such as BMP Design, Racing Dynamics, Ireland Engineering, Sparco, and many more. For our project car we chose to use the Sparco strut bar, which we purchased from Evosport. It's the simplest design out in the market and is constructed of steel, unlike most other strut bars which are made out of aluminum. Another thing that we liked about this particular bar is that it's a solid design that isn't hinged or adjustable design (such as BMP's bar). This gives the Sparco bar an advantage over the other bars by doing what its supposed to keep the strut towers stable. Testimony of users is that there is no bar better than the Spacro bar. It's the most popular bar in the E30 world, and it also fits the Ground-Control's front camber correction plates, which is the new favorite along with Ground-Control's coil-overs for E30 fans on tracks everywhere. Now that you know what we picked and why we picked it, lets see how the heck to put it on.

It seems to me that blacking out the chrome like trim around the windows of our beloved e30's has become the thing to do. Quite a few people, whom will go unnamed have been known to have carried out this mod without removing the trim. Sure this can be done this way, but for proper paint adhesion you really must thoroughly sand the surface of the trim, which is easier said then done with glass, and painted panels directly adjacent to said trim. My solution was to remove the trim altogether, which is no real surprise to anyone that is following my e30 project cars progress. Removal of the trim is not all that hard, but be warned it can and will be involving, mildly time consuming, and most of all... tedious.

If you're one of those guys who bought a 325 (or a two-door 325i) with the basic 6-button clock, then you're probably envious of all the other guys who are always bragging about knowing their average miles per gallon over a long trip, or knowing how much longer they can go without filling up. Well, now you too can be a bragger! Retrofitting an OBC onto your car is a pretty simple task, but it's just a little time consuming.

(For you 318i guys, I tested a 325e OBC with an M10 318i instrument cluster and all the readings seem accurate. If your car has an OBC relay and an ambient temperature sensor, then I believe this conversion will work for you.)

1. If it has been determined that your 325/325e needs a new thermostat, you're in for an easy and quick job.

2. To remove the housing, you'll first need to remove the hose exiting the thermostat housing and going to the lower part of the radiator. Have the shallow tray below the car to catch any spilled coolant. Move the hose to the side.