Project e30: Entry #3

When we left off, there were a bunch of issues that had to be dealt with. One by one, here's how we fixed them:

1. Headlamp and fog lamp problems: The HID relay was water damaged, so I had to replace it. Unfortunately, Philips does not sell them individually, so I replaced everything with an new 6000k set sourced from C3 4x4, care of Sanny Sarcia. I also replaced the fog lamp bulb, and cleaned the contacts while I was at it. Now I have light! As for the fogged-up projectors, a simple hair dryer took car of this, and a quick check of the seals revealed no problems.

2. Door lock problems: Still working on this.

3. Brake problems, both electrical and mechanical: Still working on the electrical part of this. As far as the mechanical, we've bled the brakes, and while it improved a little bit, the feel still seems off. I've been reading up on a possible upgrade for the brake master cylinder, which is a stock e38 7-series unit. It makes brake travel a lot shorter, at the expense of a much harder pedal. It sounds interesting, and I went ahead and sourced the part. Also considering a complete caliper rebuild.

4. Idling problem: Cleaned out the fuel tank, using solvents and water. We also replaced the fuel pump with a higher-flow fuel pump. This was part of the original plan anyway - hence the fuel regulator. And, of course, we put in a new fuel filter.

5. Body damage: This is last on the list.

6. Stalling problem: Replaced the O2 sensor for the ICV, and that corrected the issue.

7. Aircon problem: This one hurt: had to replace both the compressor and expansion valve. Changed all the hoses while I was at it, as well.

8. Steering problem: The old steering rack needed a rebuild, but opted instead to upgrade to a remanufactured Z3 unit, which shortens the ratio from 4.1 to 2.7 turn to lock, meaning a much sharper response.

As for the engine, there were a few things that needed to be addressed. The block is pretty solid, but there is some surface corrosion. This will be addressed by milling the head just a little bit, which will also increase the compression ratio. There's also some pitting on the cylinder wall, but a port and polish job will correct this, as well as help with the airflow, thereby increasing power even more. A couple of intake and exhaust valves that are slightly bent, and a few have some pitting and corrosion on the ends. These will be replaced with new ones.

Since a lot of the problem areas were not just corrected, but improved upon, it made sense to maximize these upgrades. I have better steering, hopefully better braking, better fuel delivery, and (hopefully) better breathing for the engine. Bernard and I talked about further options to take advantage of what was already done, and in the end, I gave him a goal - I want 170hp at the rear wheels (approx 200hp at the crank, which is within e30 M3 range), and do it with NA tuning. That means no turbo, no supercharger, no nitrous - all motor. Verification will be done via rolling road in Speedlab. Why there? A few months before the car was flooded, I had taken it to Speedlab for a dyno run, to see where the engine was at. Peak hp was 129rwhp at 5700rpm, while peak torque was 129lb-ft at 4000rpm. That's my baseline, and I hope to see a good result.

With that agreed upon, we set about mapping out the other work to be done. First, 19lb injectors and an m30 MAF will be installed to increase air and fuel delivery. This takes advantage of the port and polish job as well as the fuel regulator and the high flow fuel pump. A new exhaust - from the manifold all the way back to the muffler - will also be fitted to be able to deal with increased exhaust gases from the increased combustion. And finally a Unichip piggyback ECU module to properly mate all the new components.

In the meantime, I got a set of Ireland Engineering strut brace, front and rear, and powdercoated them red. They should compliment the existing chassis upgrades, and spruce up the engine bay and trunk a bit. The engine bay in particular should look good - anything that could safely be powdercoated we done so in black. The fuel line attached to the fuel regulator and the spark plug wires are both red, so the red strut bar will continue the black-and-red theme.

The direction of the car was starting to veer off course, and into some uncharted waters for me. But this may just be the beginning...