I purchased the car in the spring of 2002. It came into my possession from Port Washington as a stock Alpine white 1986 325es with 250-odd-thousand miles on it. It was replacing my wrecked '85 325e (The crash was a combination of a faulty AFM, a truck parked illegally, and poor judgment on my part). Despite the improvements of stepping from an e to es, I quickly began modifying the car.

Exterior:

Despite the boyish good looks of the e30, there are some particular areas I believe need improvement. I painted the rockerpanels to keep onlookers' eyes from being dragged up in the middle of the car, especially at night. I also added a Kamei X1 rear skirt, again to let your eyes flow across the bottom edge of the car. I then added e36 M3-look side mirrors (the factory mirrors needed replacing or painting, and this was just easier, not to mention more fun). Next, I tinted the windows (really just replaced the windows with the tinted ones from the '85), and added the Bavarian Autosport decal to the front windshield. The 15" 5-spoke wheels from my other car also came along, wrapped in 195/55/R15 Cooper Cobra GT's. The Zender rear wing with third brake light was left behind in the modifications because the es already had a third brake light, and I surely don't need 4. Also, the mounting points for the factory rear wing didn't line up with those of the Zender, and I was not in the mood to fill holes for such a frivolous add-on. I have also since removed the M badges the PO installed on the car.

Interior:

The es model included onboard computer, leather sport seats, M-Tech steering wheel, premium sound, and maybe some other interior things too. I don't like to sit on leather, plus it was blue and in poor condition, so I replaced the blue interior with the Pearl Beige leatherette sport seats  from the '85. The driver's seat is covered with a nice cloth seat cover, the rears have headrests and a center arm rest, and they are just in overall better condition, so I am happy with the trade. Removing and replacing the carpet in 17 year old cars in not an enviable task, I'll have you know. I also removed and sold the M-Tech wheel (for a handsome profit), as it was in perfect condition, and I didn't like it. I plan to install an M-Tech II when the budget permits, as of now the car uses the factory 3-Spoke sport wheel common to e30's. The interior color change did necessitate the painting of the rear parcel shelf, as it was blue, and the plastic cover over the third brake light, also blue. This car came with a Clarion in-dash CD player, and 6-disc changer in the trunk, mated to the stock premium speakers it sounds pretty good. I am happy with all of the other interior amenities, so no other notable interior mods were made.

Suspension/Brakes:

These parts were also pirated off of the '85. The es handled no different than the e, despite the suspension modifications inherent to an s model code, so the same suspension modifications were all but necessary. The car currently rides on Eibach Prokit lowering springs mated to Bilstein Sport shocks. This combination is my favorite. It adds "sportive lowering", with an impressive handling characteristic, and a none-too-harsh ride.  To lessen the mighty box's body role, I added Racing Dynamics Sway Bars (22mm front and 19 mm rear). Thanks to failing rear shock mounts and a great group buy through e30sport.net, I purchased and installed a rear strut tower brace. Still in the box and waiting for the engine to be finished, I have a set of BavAuto slotted rotors for front and rear, along with Pagid Sport pads. Stainless steel lines are on the Christmas list, but so too is heat in my apartment, we'll see which wins out.

Engine:

As stated earlier, the car began life as an '86 325es, however with 256-odd-thousand miles by this point, the clutch began to slip and the little 2.7L ETA M20 motor leaked some oil. Now, many people would advocate a new clutch and gasket, but that's no life for my Bimmer, so I promptly began working with Tino Trümer, of e30.de to come up with the perfect solution. It turns out I had found it 2 years prior, with my first trip to my mechanic's (Dinomotive of Wausau, WI), when I asked if the engine from a 535i/s could be installed in my little 3er. I was told no, and it took me 2 years to find out the answer was yes. Tino had pioneered the swap, and detailed all of the important bits specific to the engine (M30) and swap not inherent procedures to any engine conversion on his website. The trouble: he's German, and speaks only German, not a word of English. The solution: I am a Psychology and German major at the UW-Madison, and volunteered to translate the site for all humanity, in exchange for a set of the custom motor mounts required to fit the "Big Six" into my little 3. The translation took 2 months, as I was going to school fulltime and working part-time at that point, but I got it done. At this point I was able to do the swap in 2 languages, now all that remained was to see if I could do it in my garage.

I purchased a 1987 535i for a donor car. I got her on eBay for 500 bucks and went and picked her up in Green Bay on a weekend I was home from school. She sat the winter in my parents backyard (they were not too pleased by the way) until I came home for the summer. The motor mounts and 324td windshield washer fluid reservoir arrived from Germany, and the swap was under way. With hand tools, a rented engine hoist, the use of my parents' garage, and my trusty floor jack, I removed the M20 and installed the M30 in little more than a month, with the help of my 2 best friends (who can't tell the diff from the dipstick). I left the factory 2.93:1 LSD, because the car is going to see mostly highway time, commuting from Madison to Wausau, or time in the city, which also will not require low gearing. Some day, I do hope to fit a 3.25:1 or better yet a 3.73:1 rear end in though. The driveshaft was shortened and counterbalanced by Wausau Engine. They also did the machine shop work on the intake manifold (it had to be tapped and a fixture had to be installed to feed the negative pressure need of the brake master cylinder). Zionsville Autosport provided the e34 oil pan and oil pump. The exhaust will be done by a local shop (Master Muffler of Wausau, WI) as straight pipes back to a MagnaFlow rear silencer. I also modified a cold-air intake from an e34 530i to fit the application, and installed a Jim C chip. More performance mods are sure to come, but it'd be good to hear the car rumble to life before I worry about any of that. Everything went smoothly until I got to the radiator. The factory one did not fit, as it was supposed to. So, I bought a new one on eBay. The seller misrepresented the item, and it arrived 6-inches too long, and 4-inches too tall. So, I bought a new one, again on eBay. It was a bare racing radiator designed to be used with a surge tank (no idea what that is), so I had it tapped for the factory overflow tank, and had the factory temp sensors installed by Judd Radiator. Well, this time it was my fault, but the intake hose at the bottom of the radiator was directly lined up with the front subframe, and thus could not fit. As we speak (10/03) Judd Radiator is in the process of making a full custom radiator to fit within the front mask of my soon-to-be-rolling monster.

Sorry for the longwinded explanation of the car, but hey, I put a lot of work into this car, having done most to all of the work myself. I'm new to the BMW CCA and plan to be a long term active member. Thanks for the time and webspace.

Noel