Dlux BMW E21 build

[Erik D_lux]

I really like where this is going, nice work keep it up! I'm with you on Bimmerforums being a bunch of grumps. I'm banned there anyways, haven't been back in years haha.

Keep the updates coming, I feel like E21s are finally starting to get the spotlight they deserve. They just look so cool sitting low.

Thanks man!

Hopefully I fit in with this site too. I wont be dropping this car 1/2" off the ground but it will be low and custom for sure.

I think the e21 and e30 are tied for the best looking BMWs. I'd love to get my hands on a clean one...alas, I live in Michigan's North Pole.

There has been an e21 for sale for months here in Ut for $900. Its pretty clean from what I can see. It has some damage to the front fender but I have front fender I could give the buyer.

[Erik D_lux]

I now have the control arms and shocks all mocked up. I hope I didnt miss anything.

[Erik D_lux]

I got a set of rotors for $12 shipped from Amazon. Yeah, $12, and that includes shipping. How is that possible? Is it too good to be true? Well, it might be. LOL.

They put the retaining screw in the wrong spot. LOL. Or did they? I would have guessed that you would put that retaining screw in the middle of the two lug holes, but I guess BMW had a different idea to off set that screw hole. Weird.

[Erik D_lux]

I was concerned about how much weight I would be gaining with all this heavy duty stuff so I weighed it.

E21 setup was 34lb
E28 setup was 39.5lb

5.5lb for a way better setup per side? Thats a no brainer! I am glad its that little.

[Erik D_lux]

Sometimes I ask myself WTF I am doing. I never really come up with a good answer.

I look at all the E21 guys that are replacing all their rusty panels and I dont know whether to admire them or have pitty on them. I think its great that they go thru the effort but it looks like a horrible time.

Well, its my turn. I looked at my front end for a good while. I tried to justify its condition. The front was cut up pretty good to fit the turbo/intercooler etc and looks like this car was in an accident.

The accident pushed in the drivers side a good 3/8". This made it so the hood did not shut correct and it rubbed on the door, no matter how much I tried to adjust the hood.

I could not handle it so I decided to cut the front end off. The plan is to cut the front end off the donor car that I got and weld it onto this one.

Wish me luck! Sometimes I feel like watching TV would be a much better hobby than the things I put myself thru.

[Erik D_lux]

So, the plan to replace the front end went a little like:
Make perfect measurements
Make perfect lines
Take a TON of time cutting exactly on those lines
Place new front end up against cut up front end
Weld together


I figured I would need to do some light grinding here and there to get a perfect fit. It didnt really happen this way though. LOL

I did everything best I could. When I was cutting the donor car, I found some welds really close to where I was cutting. Somebody had the same idea I did with the donor car. Luckily, they were further back in the engine bay so I didnt actually cut out much of that part. I placed the donor piece against the car, and found the passenger side matched up for the most part, just like planned. The drivers side was a different story. LOL. I think some things changed from 1978 to 1983 in the sheet metal. Not much lined up very well. Needless to say, I had to make everything work with some filler sheet metal and a rubber mallet. This is not exactly the way I like to make things but I guess it is what it is.

The fabrication part is done. Everything lines up, the fenders go back on and the hood finally goes on the way it should so I think I am good to go?

[Erik D_lux]

Too busy to do updates! Here is one, I will post some more cool stuff hopefully in the next couple of days.
I spent some time on the engine compartment. I threw some bondo down over my welds/seams, pulled everything out of the bay, painted and then put everything back in. Now awaiting the new motor.

[Erik D_lux]

I had to redo the front end. It feels like I took 10 steps back and 30 forward.

Stephen Gobbi was nice enough to put in some constructive criticism when he saw the control arms I built. He asked why I would fix most problems but not all. I dont know enough about these cars so I didnt have a good answer.

After he gave me a link to a guy who had done a much better setup (https://store.vacmotorsports.com/vac...ace-fro…), I knew I had to redo everything I had done as it was obvious this is a much better setup.

I am much happier with this setup. I cant imagine making the front of this car much better and keeping the car mostly original.
Benefits:
Infinitely adjustable sway bar (HUGE)
Sway bar ties the front of the car together making it much stronger
Removes all rubber bushings from the OEM setup, no more shimmy/play/etc
Adjustable wheelbase, adjustable track width
Here is the overall shots. I will continue to post the individual parts next.

[Erik D_lux]

First part I worked on for the front end was the sway bar.

Part of switching over all the new stuff was how cool the sway bars were. You can get them in different diameters and different thicknesses. This should cover just about any amount of sway control that you could desire. I choose the 1.25" diameter 48 spline bar and its .095 wall so its super thin. Pretty sure I lost weight by moving to all this stuff too!






First I made some delrin bushings for the bar.







Second was to make the housing for the sway bar. I really could have, maybe should have just left it as a solid piece of DOM tube but for some reason, I had to put some holes in it. I just think it looks much cooler and therefore, much more satisfying. Yeah, its going to get water/rust inside, I will deal with that when the time comes I suppose.






Third was to make the arms adjustable. I am not sure what the plan was when the made the arms, looks like originally the guy just put the rod end at the end of the arm and called it good. I made a bunch of holes so it can be adjustable.

[Erik D_lux]

The control arms were pretty simple.

The control arm that controls the side to side has a bend to clear the sub frame so there is no contact there anymore and then there is a 3/4" rod end on the frame side and same 1 ton tie rod on the wheel side.




For the control arm that controls the front to back, I used a bent piece of tube again to clear the steering and then a 3/4" tie rod and a 3/4" clevis joint which will stop the previous referenced control arm from rolling. Note: only one fore/aft control arm is showing. I am still waiting on the other clevis joint to arrive so its not bolted up on one side.

I made a bracket where the OEM sway bar went so the new fore/aft control arm would have a place to mount. This bracket also doubled as the sway bar bracket.

[Erik D_lux]

Last part I had to do is a bit strange IMO. I didnt like where the mount for the sway bar was going to mount on the lower control arm. I didnt know if the sway bar would have enough leverage against the control arm, I wanted to mount it wider.

This bar is 1.25" diameter, which is A LOT bigger than the stock OEM bar. I guess my OEM bar was on the larger side of things at 24mm? Thats .944" so this bar is a good .306" in diameter bigger than what I had. To those who are not up on their sway bar tech... thats way, way stiffer.

The point I am making about the new bar being so much stiffer is that I have no idea what the new setup will do. It could have been good mounted so far in or it could be too soft when mounted in that far. I ended up making a double sheer extension on the arm so I can adjust it as soon as I can drive it and find out where it ideally needs to be. So, in the future, I may bend the arms out or just put the linkage back in narrow. We will see.
Here are some shots of the Mad Max looking sway bar extension and a couple more of the overall setup.

[Fruttolo]

Nice stuff here! What is the benefit in using e28 stuff? Just the sturdyness or more?
Your offroad background really shows haha

[Erik D_lux]

Nice stuff here! What is the benefit in using e28 stuff? Just the sturdyness or more?
Your offroad background really shows haha

The E21 stuff is 4 lug, non vented rotors and tiny parts such as bearings. Going to E28 will get me 5 lug, vented rotors and bigger parts in general. Dont know if you caught it but I am going E28 in the rear too so I had to find a way to get 5 lug in the front to match.

Yeah, its crazy to work on a car! I really dont know anything about them. I have always worked on trucks and 4x4 stuff. So, this might be a touch over built? LOL I am amazed at the size of materials that you can get away with on these cars. Its really nice to work on something that is light too. I had the rear subframe out the other day and just walked from one end of the shop to the other with it.

[Fruttolo]

The E21 stuff is 4 lug, non vented rotors and tiny parts such as bearings. Going to E28 will get me 5 lug, vented rotors and bigger parts in general. Dont know if you caught it but I am going E28 in the rear too so I had to find a way to get 5 lug in the front to match.

Yeah, its crazy to work on a car! I really dont know anything about them. I have always worked on trucks and 4x4 stuff. So, this might be a touch over built? LOL I am amazed at the size of materials that you can get away with on these cars. Its really nice to work on something that is light too. I had the rear subframe out the other day and just walked from one end of the shop to the other with it.

The swaybar may be the most overbuilt thing I've ever seen on a streetcar but that's cool LOL
Isn't it cool not having to deal with wheel/tyre combos that weight more than yourself? It's one thing I don't miss of my suzuki days haha

[DawsonLiri]

Well well, finally someone is working on E21 the right way!
Maybe I don't like your style, but I'm pretty envy of your skills.

That front looks a little bit overkill but so good!