1983 BMW E21 - France

[ollycarbs]

Thanks, i will see for some GAZ shocks!
did i see your build thread here? i can't remember, but i remember well about an E21 V8, it should not be 1000 in the world!

There is a beautiful "chateau" in Nantes for sure! it is not really on the straight way from Paris to UK, for sure!

I do not plan to go to Retromobile yet but now you talk to me about it, why not, i will check the dates and see if i can come..., each year i plan at the last second to go and i am ever too short with money, train is absolutely expensive for a so short distance to me, about $100 only for that...

I am so happy because i find back a link from a friend where they sell some manifolds for M10 (it is rare obviously), it's Fritzbits in UK, 375£ stainless manifolds, i am also considering that for the swap with the M10B20 and since my muffler is dead from some weeks... the exhaust will have to need some works... i will have to choose....
Enough blablbla for anything.

today was 299 000kms day!

[Matt Jones]

I have no idea how they perform, to be honest - the shell's only just been repaired and I'm off to fit the new engine (not a V8 this time, sadly) on Friday. I've had good experiences with them on other cars, mind.

And yep, I know Nantes (excellent freshwater fish and some good châteaux, if I recall). It might be a bit too much of a detour from Paris, though!

Going to Retromobile?

[ollycarbs]

Olly!

this is amazing!

keep it up!

Long time no speak!

Mex

Hey thanks, i did not expect you remember me from Wheel Whores!
i follow your adventures with attention!
I guess i saw you "from far" at E38 but i did not dare to come to say hello, there were a lot of people around you and all...
Next year perhaps!
thanks for the kind words!

Smashing stuff, Olly.

If you need some Gaz coils delivered, I'm in Paris around January (in my E21, which also has Gaz coils) and Haute-Marne in early Feb. I'll happily shove them in the boot and bung them in the nearest bureau de poste your side of the channel - it could save you a few Euros on postage.

Wow, what a great proposition, i will consider that seriously!
i will throw an email to Gaz company by the end of the week to know if the can sell only the rear shocks and if yes how long does it takes...

Are you fully happy with them?

I am in Nantes, about 300kms in the west of Paris, by the way if you go this way or near, it would be great to make a stop! i would gladly meet you!

Thank you again!

PS, i just remember that i will perhaps be in Paris in January but i do not know when exactly and there is almost no chance for me to be with the E21...

[Matt Jones]

Smashing stuff, Olly.

If you need some Gaz coils delivered, I'm in Paris around January (in my E21, which also has Gaz coils) and Haute-Marne in early Feb. I'll happily shove them in the boot and bung them in the nearest bureau de poste your side of the channel - it could save you a few Euros on postage.

[Mexican]

Olly!

this is amazing!

keep it up!

Long time no speak!

Mex

[ollycarbs]

Thanks,
you're right, white color forgive a lot of bad details! i take care to not show the bad side of the car on the pics too...
there are a lot of scratch and dings though, daily driven since 1983 so, i am pretty happy with the condition finally.

very nice, one thing i love about white, is almost no damage shows in pics lol

nice car man.

[ollycarbs]

Thanks for the support guys!

i had the chance to have another hub with good bearing so finally i just had to swap the hubs but i will replace all the bearings soon i guess...

I am very disappointed by the accident too, but it learned me a lot, it was entirely my fault, i was driving a bit too hard with a car not able to do so... at least i learned to do the work well first... on the bette note, i found all i need in the same exact color (Alpinweiss) really not far and for cheap (about 100$), i juste have to pick the parts up and do the massive front end replacement... TIG is on the way and i will have to exercise before doing this work.
I hope to do that next summer if my other project is done and good enough to use as a daily driver.

I was really not sure about the MIMs but i saw one car on bmwe21.net that suits them well, some minutes later, i found this set on our CL and a friend pick them up in the other side of France, awesome combo and Wheels+tires in the right size for cheap again, perfect for a daily driver!
Now, i love those wheels so much for a DD, not sexy enough for show though...
I did not know you have a set, Neek and God knows how many times i read your thread on BF.

This evening i notice some noise from the right front suspension, i checked all the screws and nuts and all is well tightened, i guess my upper bearing is shot, i did not have the funds to replace them and they have the 298 000kms of the car, i guess the stiffer suspension and our bad roads made them die, another line on the "to-do" list... BMW will love me in a month.
I get a new job so i will have some spare money with leaving my current company...
I am considering to find some GAZ rear coilover if the can sell only the rear, or find some KW for Golf Rallye, they fit almost perfectly... Perhaps i will go a bit stiffer too.

What a novel...

Long story short:
Thanks for appreciate, it keeps me motivated even more!

[TheNeek]

I feel your pain about the wheel bearings. I have to do another one (found out last night when I got the car in the air). The bearings are sooo small on these cars that you'll eat um up if you don't pre-load them properly. Sucks about the accident coming back to bite you too. Really love the progress. I remember my MiMs, loved those wheels, they really do fit the look of the car.

Keep it up.

[projektzwo]

great thread, love the shocks work...

[conski]

Sick project, love old BMW's!

[BOXER83]

Very nice build. I like what you have done.

[ollycarbs]

a photoshoot from this weekend:

[ollycarbs]

Buuuuut...
Actually the front right strut was a little bent and the bearings i had to use were shots... so i had to do it again!
for the story i had to do 2 sets of threaded struts before for the same reason...BAd luck on this project!

October 25th
the right side, i was sure there was a problem, kinda difficult to show on a picture, but even my girl that is really not into carsor technical things asked me if there were something wrong.


Left for reference


some measurement
Left OK


Right Bad...


Almost 1cm of difference at the wheel...

i ordered another threaded sleeves to weld on my last strut that was originally on the car, i ordered two longer springs for the rear as was at it.

November 2nd or so...
rear spring swap



how close is the spring to the body (i **** the rear setup for a lot of little reasons)


November 6th

As the strut was bent and the bearing shots, the rotor was grinding the dust cover






i spent about 25min to come back to home under heavy rain at nght because my alignment was so bad that the car was almost undriveable, a real nightmare, 25minutes to do something like 5kms...

November 7th
Ghetto alignment time




It was the first time and it was funny. I did it well because the day after i went to an alignment shop and they had almost nothing to do, less than a degree to correct.

how it was sorted:


and with the last wheels




It is where i am at now.
Really happy with the handling, not totally happy with the stance for sure.
Really unhappy with the rear setup, i might buy some Gaz rear coilovers or do something else with shorter sleeves and Bilstein B6 designed for E21, or some Golf Rallye rear coilovers... don't know yet and unfortunatly i have to work on the motor now as it has a blown head gasket.
I have a 2,0L to put in it...
After that i will come back to fitment, 5 mm spacers front and 2cms lower, 15mm spacers rear.

I also get back from the machine shop and the powdercoating my PLS 3 pieces, i will have to do a test fit as soon as the weather become less bad.
Thanks for looking!

[ollycarbs]

Well, it is time for some updates as i worked a lot on the drive trains of the car lately.
I was not sure where i as going since i had so much troubles with the coilover conversion, mainly due to some bad parts.
As the car is the daily and winter is coming ihad to do a lot of maintenance because i do not have funds for a daily driver right now.

In the last month or so i do:

-steering rack boots
-steering ball joints
-front brake pads
-full coilover conversion
-Bilstein B6 from an E30 for the front and rallydesign 8" 300lbs springs
-Sachs M-Tech from an E30 for the rear with 8" 250lbs springs then 12" 250lbs (8" were way too short for my setup)
-threaded sleeves welded on the front struts
-7x15" MIM wheels with 195/50 tires, Goodyear Eagle F1 front and Falken Ziexx ZE912 rear

for the numbers, it is lowered by 8cms front and 4cms rear for now.

Pics of the work:

October 12th



October 14th



October 19th
For reference, the Bilstein next to the stock front shock


upper cups mods to allow enough clearance for the upper bolt








the springs are the 8"

October 23rd



mod i have to do but that i ***** to! it was way tooooooo low on the rear without that


modded on the left, without washers on the center and stock on the right...


adapting the E30 parts to the E21 frame



And "voila"



since i had my little accident, the tire was rubbing the bumper so as it is dead, i cut a bit of it



Then, on the road







Pretty happy at the moment...