BMW's galore!

[Mark]

Just been getting the track car ready for next Mondays retro car evening at Brands Hatch. Because of the problems I have had with the inner rear tyre wall touching the lower spring platform I have decided to replace the Rota alloys with some crosspoke Melbers. They are both 7x15 but the Melbers are the correct offset so I can bin the spacers.





I was having a wail of a time and pushing quite hard in an effort to carry as much speed as I could through Paddock Hill bend. Literally 3 or 4 seconds max, from hitting the brakes, before turning in, the back of the car slewed to the left and I struggled to keep it under control. The reason for this was that the nearside rear tyre had let go in a major way.



At first I figured it was just a regular puncture or that I had just pulled the tyre beading from the rim. In fact, the reason for the blow-out was that the inner tyre wall had been rubbing, ever so slightly, on the lower spring platform. As the suspension compressed and negative camber increased, the tyre wall moved in with the obvious results.

You can clearly see where a groove has worn around the tyre wall circumference.



Gaz have been really quick to react and offer a solution.


I am also doing the ''Eagle Sprint'' at Goodwood on August 6th 2011. I've never driven the circuit at Goodwood so I'm watching as much You Tube footage as I can.

This is the entry list and there's a good mix of cars entered. It should be great fun.


www.brightonandhovemotorclub.co.uk/files/goodwood/gw2011entrylist.pdf


I also bought some second-hand but unused Wilwood calipers. The brakes were uprated to 323 spec and actually work pretty well with Red Stuff pads. Being so light they don't have to work too hard anyway. I use Wilwoods on MIB though and they are a vast improvement over stock. I'm unsure what pad to opt for though? I need something that works well from cold as obviously there's no time to generate any heat on sprint & hillclimb events.






I had hoped to fit these awesome Compomotive split-rims but the offset was all wrong and I would have to run huge arches. A real shame as they're an awesome looking rim. Anyway, I have sold them to a guy building a wide-arch 2002 so they've found a good home.

[Mark]

Brands Hatch last night. Great fun.

I had swapped the shiny Rotas for Melber of the same size, but correct offset, fitted with Silverstone RR tyres. Also fitted Wilwood calipers & EBC yellow stuff pads.

The brakes were so much better! It took a couple of laps to get used to just how much better they were and to stop scrubbing off too much speed. Combined with the tyres, which are super sticky, I was able to brake way later. I was also able to carry far more speed through the corners, especially going onto the pit straight where i was doing nearly 10mph more by the braking point and being much faster through Paddock Hill bend. My lap times (not that I was timing the laps cos you're not allowed ) were 5 seconds a lap quicker with a PB of 1.03.

Great fun with a Vauxhall Cavalier (black SRi ?) for last 20 mins. Good clean fun.

It was a really good event and good to see a couple of e21's out on track as Dave @ E21 Revival was also there.

I've got a few days to check things over before the Eagle Sprint at Goodwood on Saturday.





It was bloody hot at Brands yesterday but the tyres seemed to cope OK. Incredibly sticky and more like a cut slick than the Toyo 888's and Yokohamas I'd used before.











Full set here.

Anyone got any video footage?

[Mark]

Finally got to grips with MIB's electrical fault. It was the bloody brake light switch shorting everything out. Slotted a new one in and BINGO! all sorted.

Have spent the past week enjoying lots of crackle & pop on overrun and surprised faces at just how quick it is now.

I still need to sort a speed sensor for the ECU so have got a 5000rpm rev limit and the 2.5 inlet and remap is still to come. That should give me another 20 brake as well as let me hit the redline.

Anyway, tomorrow is the BMW show @ Gaydon so I gave it a wash'n'wax this afternoon.

I'm thinking of having the BBS centres painted orange too. I've had black centres and know they look good but fancy a change. You might notice something different about the rear too?

[tonybmw]

Oooh now that is super rare. looks new as well

[Mark]

You're thinking it's the Motorsport spoiler that's new aren't you Tony?

It's not that. I think that's been on there about 18 months. They are super rare though.

What I was referring to was the panel between the back lights that I've deleted. I like the way it looks but not sure if I like it more? It does change the whole look of the rear end though.

Anyway, I'm off to bed and looking forward to a bit of an e21 convoy to Gaydon in the morning.

[tonybmw]

Well thats 0 out of 10 for observation for me then

[Mark]

Went to Gaydon on Sunday for the BMW Festival. Considering just how few e21's usually attend, we had a good turn out with about 14 cars. Interest is certainly on the increase. It seems that the values of cars like the 2002tii has meant people are looking at cheaper alternatives when they want a proper ''shark front'' BMW.

MIB is awesome for motorway cruising since the M42 conversion. It'll happily sit at high speed although, being a 30 something year old car, it feels a hell of a lot faster! I think I need to play with the suspension settings in order to try and make things a bit more stable. Then again, it was never designed with these sorts of speeds in mind, so I may just have to adjust my driving to suit?

Hopefully, within the next week or two, I can get the more free flowing 2.5 inlet manifold fitted. Nas has also managed to locate some big bore throttle bodies. (every little helps!) Once they're on I want to get the air intake as close to the front grill as possible. I am still limited to 5000 rpm as the pulse that the ECU needs not to impose the limiter, just isn't being fooled by the feed from the tacho. The donor car had a speed sensor but e21's weren't blessed with such technology. I think I am going to have to find an alternative way of producing a signal with a 5 volt output. I'm sure this can't be too hard to do but I know nothing about electrics.

If anyone knows a solution maybe you could post it here?

I was thinking along the lines of the technology used in elecric ignition kits where a magnet could be maybe put on the prop with a sensor mounted close by? Does that seem feasible? I had hoped the output from the rev counter would have been enough?




I think we had 14 e21's there if you include the 2 in the 'for sale' section. A couple of nice 323i Baurs too!



This fully restored and absolutely mint 323i, with every option ever including air con, is for sale at £10 000. It has had a full nut & bolt restoration hence the price.



A good day! Thanks to all of you that made it and sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to you all.



OOF!




The track car has had a bit of fettling too. I've replaced the regular overdriven gearbox with a dog-leg close ratio one but I also wanted to fit an LSD with a lower ratio. Fortunately, I was offered a 4:1 Quaiffe that I bolted in yesterday. The top speed might well have come down a bit but the pay-off has been the way it now pulls out of the corners. It's a really good combination with the M42 engine too, as that thing just loves to rev!

I have also discovered a problem with one of the rear Gaz coilies. You can see in the pictures below, where the threaded section has pushed through the top mount and is striking the underside of the parcel shelf. I'm going to have to strip it all out today as I want to take this car to the R R gathering at Prescott Hill on Sunday.





I also picked up a new crank that will stroke the M42 engine from a 1.8 to a 2.1 as well as a set of bike carbs which at £12.50 seemed worth a punt.

[Mark]

Spent today searching for an electrical short that kept blowing the indicator & wiper fuse the moment I switched the ignition on. It's been a proper P.I.T.A since it first happened about 5 weeks ago. I know nothing about electrics anyway so this was a nightmare.

Anyway, after posting a plea for help in the tech' section I got a few pointers and decided to have a proper look for the problem. People seemed pretty confident that the fault laid within the wipers side of things and sure enough, when I checked the wiring loom where it passes through the bulkhead, there was a small section where the live feeds insulation had worn through. Spotting it was more luck than anything as it wasn't exactly obvious but after a bit of messing I was able to get some tape around the offending wire. I also cable tied the wires back out of harms way to stop the vibration causing the fault to re-occur further down the wires. So, it would seem the short is fixed and I now have wipers and indicators although it has been pointed out, that being a BMW, I probably don't need or use my indicators!

Also, after seeing just how many BMW's run BBS RM's etc, when I went to Gaydon, I have been looking around at alternative alloy wheels. If I'm honest, I also find the BBS a real chore to keep clean. Especially as I use my car every day come rain or shine. So, what do I replace them with?

The thing is, E21's have a weird offset with ET13 and I really don't like using spacers. I know I can get hubcentric ones but even so, I would much rather not have them in my life. So, I decided to go for something equally classic as the BBS but something seldom seen on e21 BMW's. I went for 7x15's up front and 8x15's on the rear. Hopefully, the factory will have made them by this time next week. Then I'll just need to mess about with tyres and get the widest ones possible on the rear but without a) rubbing and b) stretch. I'm guessing 205/50 & 215/50?



Anyway, with just 1 more day to go till the RR gathering at Prescott Hill, I have some cleaning and polishing to do. I also have a better induction kit to go on and I need to get the ECU fault codes cleared so that I can hit the limiter on the hill this Sunday.

[Mark]

Had a really good time @ the gathering and it was great to see people and catch up. It was even better to see so many of the cars from threads I've been reading over the past year or so. The Bedford HA van was indecently quick and the Berg Cup cars were pretty inspiring. I hope I can continue to develop my e21 track car and prepare it to a similarly high standard. In fact, it's now an ambition of mine to actually enter a round of the Berg Cup championship although I don't know how realistic that actually is? Maybe we could even just put a UK run together and go watch the season opener next Spring?



The VW Golf was beautifully put together and sounded great on the hill.







There was something I just really liked about this RX7.



Thanks to all who organized the event and to everyone who came and said hello.

[Mark]

[Mark]

Have started doing the final engine tweeks by fitting the inlet manifold from a 2.5 engine. For those of you who don't know BMW engines, the 2.5 inlet flows way better than the 2.8 and releases a sizable chunk of power. I have also got a larger bore throttle body although I'm not sure just how much of a difference that will make? I would have liked to fit US spec M3 camshafts but I am pretty happy with the engine as it is. Once it's been mapped I should have a solid 220 brake plus and I think I'm getting close to the maximum torque the standard LSD can cope with. The next step would be to fit an e12 M535 diff although I am thinking of doing a full 5 stud / hub conversion using e12 parts anyway.

Did a sprint at Brands Hatch last Saturday with Tunbridge Wells Motor Club. I must admit, I am loving the whole sprint thing and would really like to do a whole season next year. I'm only really competing against myself as the other cars in my class are way quicker, but it's great fun and that's what it's all about for me.
Much as I love the look of the single headlights, I want to achieve the full on County Race Championship look of the original TWR built 323's. This means re-fitting the original twin style headlights people usually associate with the 3 series. Luckily I had a good pair suirreled away and have even gone with the period black tape crosses! I'm not keen on the tape cross bits but they do look the part I guess.



I can't tell you how much better the car runs now that I have modified the Fritz bits ECU chip.



I knew that the engine felt more responsive but those feelings were confirmed by the stop watch where I knocked a whole second off my personal best time on Brands' indy circuit with a 1min:1.09sec. The gearing with the 4:1 Quaiffe LSD and the 323 close ratio gearbox is just about perfect for Brands Hatch. On the pit straight I can now pull well over 100mph before braking for Paddock Hill and I no longer bog down and lose momentum out of Graham Hill bend. Overall the car just feels so much more sorted. Don't get me wrong, I know 1 minute 2 secs, is nothing special but it's not too bad for an old 316 with an inexperienced driver. I'm no lightweight either! In fact, I am going on a diet in my quest to break into the sub 1 minute lap.

[Mark]

Much as I like BBS alloys there's no denying they can be a right royal PIA to keep clean. It does seem like everyone has them too! Anyway, I decided to sell mine and get a rim that I haven't seen on any other E21's in the UK. I know they're not to everyones tastes but I really do think they are going to work well on MIB and I cannot wait to get home and fit them next week.







Am away in Cornwall in the M3 and apart from a snapped fanbelt, on the way down last Sunday, it's been pretty faultless. One quick oversteer moment when we hit some diesel on the A30 was easily caught although the mrs wanted clean underwear!

Also saw a Cornish e21. Kudos to the 18 year old owner who pays £2k in insurance premium for the privilige of driving a cool car.

[Mark]

The BBS came off and I thought I'd try the minilites I got for the track car. I've always thought they were a lovely wheel and suit most cars from the 70's & 80's.





I'll be fitting the Borbet soon though as I don't want another winter on Toyo888r's.

As well as upping the spring rates on the track car, I now have an adjustable rear ARB and am going to double up on the front one as per the old TWR prepared County Race cars.





Now Winter is coming, I am hoping these Yokohama will cope with poor weather but still give some good dry grip? Anyone tried them?

[Mark]

Well got the tyres on Borbets only to discover that the tyre inner wall fouls the spring so had to order some spacers. Still, they should be worth the wait and are certainly a bit different to just going with crosspokes of one design or another. Don't get me wrong, I do like BBS etc but everyone seems to be running them nowadays.



I also swapped the old K-mac top mounts for the RPM ones. I never realized just how grubby the strut brace had got!



I also finished getting the track car looking more like the old BMW County Racer which was what I'd been planning all along.

A 1979 original.



to a 2011 looky-likey



I'm at Lydden on Saturday to get some much needed practice for the final sprint event of the year on Oct 22nd. I'm increasing the front spring rates to 550lbs and dropping the ride height an inch or so more. I also have adjustable ARB's but they'll have to wait till Winter now. I'm going to try and fit a video camera for the weekend too.

[ade36]

Oct 8, 2011 9:31:45 GMT Mark said:

The BBS came off and I thought I'd try the minilites I got for the track car. I've always thought they were a lovely wheel and suit most cars from the 70's & 80's.

These are just epic... Fact.

[Mark]

Thanks - glad you likey!

Spent the afternoon swapping front springs and setting ride height on the track car in preparation for tomorrow. The fronts were way too soft before and the body roll would cause the front end to wash wide. I've gone up to 550lb and now it corners far more flatly with little or no body roll. It turns in really nicely and just feels so much nicer overall. I also brought the front ride height down by about 40mm. Any more than that and it starts throwing all the suspension geometry out and it'll handle like a sack of spuds.





I'm off to Lydden tomorrow and am planning to take a video camera. If I can hook it up properly I'll post some footage after the weekend.

[427]

The Borbets look very much at home under MIB. Do I spy a hot wheels sticker on the back too?

[welshpug]

euwww! Paradas aren't good for winter sorry, wet they are fair, but slimy winter conditions I have seen quite a few pugs written off not much good for anything I've heard though do have nice soft rubber and have fair grip, so are the sidewalls so they fold over! ok for the price I guess.

Can't go much wrong in a 195 50 15 and use the PE2, pretty cheap in that size for the performance and longevity.

[Mark]

@ 427 - Well spotted that man!

It was more a price ting' with the Yokies. The only draw back to the 2.8 conversion is that I get through rear tyres at quite a rate. I've heard they don't work too well with FWD but we'll see how they cope on MIB soon enough.

Anyway, finally got them all bolted on today.





Lydden. What an awesome circuit. It's relatively small but there's never a dull moment with plenty of quick corners and pretty short straights. My best lap was 54 seconds dead. I have no idea just how slow that is but I didn't seem to be getting in the way of anything. In fact, through one of the longer, faster right handers I was pulling away from a lot of newer, more expensive cars.

There was a great mix of cars there today, from Ford Anglias & Escorts, E36 M3's, Caterhams, Pug 205's & 206's and lots of Japanese drift cars. The whole day was done in 20 minute sessions for novice, intermediate and experienced with the drift cars having to have their own sessions. If I'm honest, they didn't do themselves any favours with their driving standards. Drifting past beached cars when red flags are being waved is never gonna go down well. Its a shame as today was Lydden first ''drift track day'' and may well be the last. Apart from that, they did put on a good show.

I am so glad I changed the front springs on my car. It was handling like a dream today and was probably the best its ever been. It felt so planted and predictable that I had the confidence to push way harder than usual. I only had one ''moment'', when I carried too much speed through the right hander at the bottom of the hill, that crosses the start line. I put the nearside rear wheel out on the circuit edge, lost grip and was lucky to save it. I'm sure it must have looked pretty heroic but it was pure luck that stopped me going off backwards into the gravel. Anyway, I'm feeling much more positive about next Saturdays sprint and fingers crossed it's as sunny as it was then!



You can see how flat it's cornering since the new springs were fitted. :thumbsup

[rob0r]

The borbets look great, one comment though, can you get flat caps for them?