Larry's '89 Zinno E30 M3 build

[DER E30]

SICK!!! E30 M's are awesome! Congrats!

[MrViicc]

so beautiful i couldn't possibly express to you how jealous i am! in for more, totally subbed nice find!

[f50nut]

Suspension. One of the toughest parts of this build has been sourcing suspension parts. I was lucky to find the strut mounts. Like any E30, you have to cut down the tubes and remove the spring perch.

Since E30 M3's are 5 lug, they require special wheel bearings. The original M3 parts are rare and about $300. I was able to use M5 bearings instead. Way cheaper at around $70 plus they weren't backordered. The only trouble is the ABS rings are different, so you have two options.

1 - Take the ABS rings from the original bearings, which would destroy the bearing during removal

2 - Find used bearings and take the ABS rings from those (impossible to find)

3 - Find custom 48 tooth ABS rings.



Luckily, other people before me have figured this out. These rings were made in small runs by Ultimate Garage and I bought one of the very last sets. Sent the M5 bearings, ABS rings and housings to Vorshlag for the build.

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In the meantime, starting to think about wheels.

I have a rare set of ACS Type 1 Rennsports. Original specs 18x8.5 et13 and 18x9.5 et21. The lips and barrels were toast so I took them apart and had the centers refinished by Paul (Ehrlich Wheel Works). They're "black chrome" powder with custom made ACS aluminum caps. Here's the result:









But I really want to run turbofans on this car. I've never seen another E30 M3 with turbofans.



Talked to BBS about having some E50s made. If I build E50s, they need to fit modern LM caps and be drilled and tapped for fans. They can make a new drawing, but I won't see the wheels for 6 months.



Maybe figure out how to attach M System Turbines?

[Minuki]

Wow, this is SO clean. Can't wait to see what you have planned wheel wise

[Topazkd]

Lovely! Gorgeous e30!

ps: I still need to talk to Asim about the lips/barrels for equips

[Verdigrie]

The quality of work on this is amazing, certainly heading in the right direction. I cant wait for more.

[Tuna]

Gorgeous.

[dillon7]

Those wheels!!! Going to look sooo good with the AC's on it. And I have to agree with the clear turn signals, that was the first "mod" I did to my e30 along with euro grills.

[f50nut]

Thanks everyone.

[f50nut]

When the Evo 3 rear spoiler (genuine BMW spoiler with adjustable flap) arrived, I couldn't be more excited to open the box.

Then I found this

One side:



That's the adjustable flap in the background.



The other side:





The seller agreed to take this one back, but since they're so rare I decided to wait for a new one to arrive before shipping this away. Worst case I'll have this fixed. If I could get a perfect one, I'd rather just do that.

When this happened, there were 2 on their way to the states, so I was just hoping those didn't also show up damaged. BMW didn't do a good job packing these. No styrofoam or packing around the sharp corners.

[f50nut]

Also around this time, ordered an Evo 2 spoiler from Turner. Two weeks later they called and informed me they're out of stock. Actually, for anyone here who might know someone who knows someone, there are 5 Evo 2 spoilers in lockdown at a US warehouse that BMW refuses to sell to US customers. Not only is that hugely frustrating, but it messes with inventory lists at retailers like Turner.

[DER E30]

Those wheels!!! Going to look sooo good with the AC's on it. And I have to agree with the clear turn signals, that was the first "mod" I did to my e30 along with euro grills.

Yeah! Those ACS are money!


Sucks about the spoiler

[f50nut]

Gave up on Turner and the Evo 2 spoiler, and got an Evo 3 undertray and splitter

I LOVE the look of this spoiler. To me it completes the front of these cars.



Also decided to run a carbon splitter instead of the OEM fiberglass one.



Installation:



Taking pics of everything so I remember to put it back in the same place

Turn signal bulbs



Fog light harness.



Tucking everything to the side.



Surprised to find an Evo intake trumpet was already installed.



The tray is just a giant piece of plastic. There's a channel along the front edge where you install a rubber gasket. This seals the undertray against the bumper.



I'm hoping this means it's real.



The gasket is just a compression fit, held in by these ribs.



Mocking up the undertray on the bumper with painter's tape.



Test fitting the carbon splitter.



These holes up front secure the front edge of the undertray to the bumper. I'm holding it on with these bolts for now, but they are eventually replaced by semi-permanent plastic pins that are hammered into place.



Undertray installed.



Just drilled through an original E30 M3 bumper. Have some whiskey.

[Nuts]

What an awesome find bud!!!. Love what you have done so far.

[f50nut]

What an awesome find bud!!!. Love what you have done so far.

Thanks!

Decided to change directions and build a set of RSs to run turbofans.

With Bimmerfest coming, I was lucky to find this set of RS 212s. They needed a serious rebuild. New waffles, caps were shot. Lips and barrels were shot. Had them shipped directly to Paul Ehrlich for the rebuild.



This is around the time Asim and I decided to manufacture our own turbofans. This will be a large part of what we're doing with our new company, Livery Wheel. See my sig for details.

Using these as our inspiration, we started modeling our own fans, making adjustments where the original BBS fans fell short in terms of fitment. We're also seriously modifying the back side to accommodate big lips and our manufacturing process.













Things got extra exciting when this showed up



Carbon flap for the rear Evo 3 spoiler. It'll have to be drilled to fit, along with the carbon front splitter that showed up.

Since I don't have an original splitter handy, I had to create my own template using the highest quality materials available...printer paper







Test fitting the bumper back on. That gasket on the hood is an Evo 3 one-piece bumper gasket. Also not pictured is attaching the rear end of the undertray to the original S14 splash guard.



...and here's the result. I chose to set the splitter to "nurburging" as per BMW's original ad for the Evo.









All I can say is wow. This is how M3s should look. Completes the front end in my opinion and I swear the nose feels planted. Going over hills at speed the car no longer floats, but dives on the way down.

Adding this uneven hood line to my to-do list.



More updates soon.