Hehehe, yup. The S52 car is being parted out as we speak. Still have the coilovers, 3.73LSD and complete drop-in swap besides the THR booster. I've also thought about building a kit car.
That was quick. I hope you're not planning on parting out the 318is. It sounds like a such a nice clean car. Erik Lind, a co-owner of Edge Motorworks, has a LS2 engine in his E36 race car. Might be a good resource. http://edgemotorworks.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=16&Itemid=42
I have to say you guys aren't making me feel very good talking about $. I bought my '89 iX a bit over a year ago for $1600 then converted the dead automatic to a 5 spd. I've gone through the car top to bottom: head, trans. (clutch obviously) axle boots, shocks/struts, seats, lights etc. Over $7.5k in parts, $2.5k in outside labor and a year of my spare time. Good thing I'm not planning to sell it anytime soon.
Yup, owning one of these cars isn't about putting your money into something that you expect to see again. It's about owning a cool, old car that makes you HAPPY. Which when the are running great, and the suspension is in good shape, they are fantastic to drive. Can't wait for the warm weather to get here. So I can slap some sticky tires on the 318.
+10000000. I'm enjoying every minute of my swap results. I still don't understand why you got rid of it. lol
I also really can wait for spring!!!!! I am so tired of the snow boots that are on my cars right now. E36 is running 225 blizzaks on all four corners and it really wants it's staggard summer set up back on. The ix is running 185 studs and I am really tired of those! Especially when we really haven't gotten any snow.
Because I went to crazy with it. I was running 550/750 springs on the coilovers, 22mm front bar, no rear bar. No P/S or A/C, no sound deadening, etc. And it was originally just supposed to be an M50 swap and stay my daily driver. And with taht much HP (it dyno'd at 235) I had the uncontrollable desire to flog the car everywhere. Nearly 300crank HP in an E30 is monsterous fun, as you know. The M42 is slow, and nothing will change that. So I don't feel the need to beat on it on the street, and driving a slow car fast is much more fun than driving a fast car slow.
Amen, brotha! Kind of wish I had another E30, preferably a diesel one, for daily driving. This way, I won't even bother mashing the pedal and will get excellent fuel economy to boot. lol
I'd like to get another E30 as well, to make a complete track rat and leave this one as a nice, fun to drive DD. However, now we that have a house and if I was going to get a track rat, I need a truck/small SUV to haul/tow stuff with. I'm hoping to find a deal on one this winter so the E30 won't have to be on the road for ice/salt/snow.
I think I see another engine swap in your future!!!! Modern 4 pot BMW diesel in an E30 would be amazing!!
not if you keep it street legal, as long as it's registered and insured, has all its lights a windshield and passes whatever emissions they have in your state you can just drive it to events
This is risky. If something happens to the racecar, how will he get home? Also, keeping the car street legal = no fun.
Like Botond said, having a hauler for a dedicated track car just makes sense. Any number of mechanical problems can prevent you making it home, not to mention if you put it in a tire wall. Plus a tow vehicle gives you something to drive there and back, that isn't low/stiff/loud, you don't have to worry about changing pads or wheel/tire combos. List goes on and on.........
just a thought to get him started, that way he can go to track events and just get a tow vehicle when funds allow it, I know quite a few people who auto-x their DD's or drive their street-legal track rats to events
Umm, he's a seasoned driver. lol Those kind tend to have professional equipment, such as tow vehicles.
