Convince me

#1

Whats up fellas. My name is Damion Moses and I need you guys to convince me that Spec e30 is the place to be. After selling my IP e36 m3 Money pit I have started looking at cheaper options to go racing. I’ve looked at Spec Miata, Spec racer Ford and now spec e30. This is definelty the cheaper way to go of the three and I really would like to keep racing a bimmer. I’m coming from a pretty fast car so is a Spec e30’s performance going to be a dissapointment for me? How many cars typically show up now for mid atl and southeast events? Lets see if we have any saleman out there.

having the chance to beat up on Mel Myers and Robert Patton is a major motivating factor though :stuck_out_tongue:

#2

i think alot of us came from faster cars. Me and my father came from a 240z with a 3.0l vintage race engine, so the bimmer doesn’t have the same straight line grunt. The thing i personally like about the e30, and i’ve only been driving one since the last event at VIR (february), is the fact that the car is very predictable and balanced. You can get the car to do what you want. It’s not straight line screamer but you still have somewhat of a scare factor at around 125mph. But basically a car this fun to drive is a blast by itself, in competition it is just awsome. This class will not dissapoint you, everyone is really nice and talented as well. The competition is close and the cars are even closer.

Post edited by: MikeD, at: 2006/03/22 19:29

#3

DMoses wrote:

[quote]Whats up fellas. My name is Damion Moses and I need you guys to convince me that Spec e30 is the place to be. After selling my IP e36 m3 Money pit I have started looking at cheaper options to go racing. I’ve looked at Spec Miata, Spec racer Ford and now spec e30. This is definelty the cheaper way to go of the three and I really would like to keep racing a bimmer. I’m coming from a pretty fast car so is a Spec e30’s performance going to be a dissapointment for me? How many cars typically show up now for mid atl and southeast events? Lets see if we have any saleman out there.

having the chance to beat up on Mel Myers and Robert Patton is a major motivating factor though :P[/quote]The mid atlantic region has about 12 Built Spec E30 cars. the cars are fun, tough and very close in performance to each other. The rules prevent winning by wallet. All the racers hang out together and all have a great time.

Post edited by: nasaregistrar, at: 2006/03/23 08:45

#4

Damion, Damion, Damion, spec e30 is a great place to race!You’ll have to adjust to going slow on the straightaways and adjust to spending less money. I’d welcome the opportunity to talk to you about the series. Call at 770-886-2500 or 404-226-6678. Regards, Robert Patton PS the southeast is looking to grow this year with the fulltime participation of David Cullen, Chuck Taylor , Kelly Childress and , perhaps, Laura Patton…And Damion Moses,yeah, call me. Robert

Post edited by: patton, at: 2006/03/23 08:57

#5

just look at the entry list for CMP, even though it is a POS track, you have 8 guys going.

The only downside to spec e30 I can see is you have to be prepared to work on the engine more. It seems to have more problems than the m50 type engines, especially in the valvetrain. It could be just that they are older engines, or maybe just not as reliable design.

on the upsside, you don’t have to play with spring rates, shock settings, or much swaybar settings on these cars.

oh yeah, the other downside is that if you aren’t as good a driver, it will expose more of your weaknesses becuase you can’t make it up with power. On the positive side, it WILL make you a better driver. But that is probably the same with spec Miata or SRF.

Don’t think that the lack of power makes these cars boring either, when my tires went away at RA, I had to think hard to not back out of the throttle in T12, something I never had to worry about in my E36.

#6

More than a few SpecE30 racers have ditched E36 M3s (like me), although I’m not certain if any were race cars. They were certainly used on the track, though. I’m eagerly building a car, so I haven’t raced yet, but I have really enjoyed getting to know the participants through this forum and at the track. All I think that really needs to be said is that at the enduro in February at VIR, James Clay, Matt Richmond, and Chip Stabler were all piloting SpecE30s around the track at some point. Why? Because they were having great fun. It doesn’t matter that they are used to driving far more powerful cars on a regular basis. As Chip (national champion of Corvette Challenge a couple of years ago and now e36 racer) said to me, he’s driven just about everything you’ve seen on the track with 500 hp or less, and he’s always smiling when he gets out of a SpecE30.

Sasha

#7

Well after talking to Patton a little more yesterday this seem like a good way for me to go. I have my eye for good donor cars. I’ll also be at CMP in May to check out the show. I am for hire if you need a CMP hotshoe and I’m cheap too :wink: seriously, I look forward to getting out there and running with you guys at some point this season. We’ll see how it plays out. My wife thought I was done when I sold my last race car so I’m trying to figure out how to break the news and let her know I’m going to build another one :ohmy:

BTW what does it take to convert a 318is into a 325is. I know i need an M20, and a 3.73, but what about the tranny and the ECU/wire harness? I can get a really good deal on this car but don’t want to end spending a ton of money to convert it to 6 cylinder car.

Post edited by: dmoses, at: 2006/03/24 10:22

#8

I guess it depends if it is an early or late 318. The early cars would not be a good candidate because they have drum brakes, small strut housings and probably some other stuff that would need to be changed out.

I am not sure about the transmission, but google can probably tell you if it is the same or not 4-cyl to 6-cyl. Definitely you will need a 3.73. The wiring harness and ECU will be a necessity, but the inst. cluster may work if you just pull out the coding plug on the back to tell the tach you have 6-cyl vs. 4.

I think the 318 body was lighter, so that could be a possitive, but you still have to make weight. The radiator and associated things might be different for the 2 engines as well…

#9

well its a 318is and I believe they were only around 1990-1991. Thanks for the info melville

#10

Damion:

I would definitely try to find a 325i. I had a good Spec E30 325E race car and had planned to swap engines. However, it turned-out to be easier in my situation, to swap everything else over to the i car.

And interestingly enough, one of our guys’ Spec E30 car got totalled so he bought my E tub and built it into a good 325i Spec E30 race car.

And regarding the reliability of the 325i engine, the only engine problem I know of is a couple of broken rocker arms. My car has 256,000 miles on it and it has run great since it’s first race in Oct. '04. But I will probably carry a couple of spare rocker arms to the track.

But don’t let this one thing scare you off. Rocker arms break more with cammed-cars (which is one reason we don’t allow aftermarket cams) and I never think about it when I’m at the track.

If you build a car and come racing with us, you’ll be pleased.

Carter

#11

early 318 refers to the 8 valve cars available in the early 80’s. Late 318 refers to the 16 valve cars available in 90-91.

#12

mmyers wrote:

[quote]

The only downside to spec e30 I can see is you have to be prepared to work on the engine more. It seems to have more problems than the m50 type engines, especially in the valvetrain. It could be just that they are older engines, or maybe just not as reliable design.[/quote]

I am not sure where this is coming from. Maybe if only in comparison to an M50? I for one would respectfully disagree.

Rocker arms shouldn’t be a huge issue with stock redlines. I mean they may still break on occasion. The newer ones do have a slightly better design and are legal.

I think that the spece30 engine (class?) could possible be the least amount of between race work of any race car I have ever heard about.

I certainly didn’t do much to mine between races.

Ric

#13

30SpecE30 wrote:

[quote]mmyers wrote:

[quote]

The only downside to spec e30 I can see is you have to be prepared to work on the engine more. It seems to have more problems than the m50 type engines, especially in the valvetrain. It could be just that they are older engines, or maybe just not as reliable design.[/quote]

I am not sure where this is coming from. Maybe if only in comparison to an M50? I for one would respectfully disagree.

Rocker arms shouldn’t be a huge issue with stock redlines. I mean they may still break on occasion. The newer ones do have a slightly better design and are legal.

I think that the spece30 engine (class?) could possible be the least amount of between race work of any race car I have ever heard about.

I certainly didn’t do much to mine between races.

Ric[/quote]
I agree with Ric,

Rockers break because they likely have well over 100K miles on them…
Vic…Don’t know what happened in your case…
timing belts ,oil changes, and valve adjustments are what these things need

#14

Yeah, it looks like I may have had my valves adjusted a little too loose. The rockers were probably taking a hammering, and SNAP!

In the future, I plan on using a little voodoo chant before each session to help prevent breakage. I think mine was an isolated case - these cars really are bulletproof.

-Vic
SO #325

#15

victorhall wrote:

[quote]Yeah, it looks like I may have had my valves adjusted a little too loose. The rockers were probably taking a hammering, and SNAP!

In the future, I plan on using a little voodoo chant before each session to help prevent breakage. I think mine was an isolated case - these cars really are bulletproof.

-Vic
SO #325[/quote]
You need one of these…

#16

what do you consider too loose - I did mine to 0.012 cold
thanks,
bruce

victorhall wrote:

[quote]Yeah, it looks like I may have had my valves adjusted a little too loose. The rockers were probably taking a hammering, and SNAP!

In the future, I plan on using a little voodoo chant before each session to help prevent breakage. I think mine was an isolated case - these cars really are bulletproof.

-Vic
SO #325[/quote]

#17

I don’t have the numbers in front of me - that sounds right (but I wouldn’t trust my memory to that one).

When I did my valve adjust (probably about a year ago) I think my cams were not 180 degrees out - I made the mistake of assuming that if the rocker was loose, that I could adjust - Dave Pallister pointed out that the cams need to be pointing away. He helped me adjust the valves (as well as lend a hand repairing the broken rocker at VIR) and everything is running smoothly now.

Next time I do an adjust, I’ll take some pics and put a little guide together. Kinda like I did for my M3 tranny rebuild project (which has stalled):
http://www.pbase.com/victorhall/trans_rebuild

-Vic
SO #325

#18

victorhall wrote:

[quote]I don’t have the numbers in front of me - that sounds right (but I wouldn’t trust my memory to that one).

When I did my valve adjust (probably about a year ago) I think my cams were not 180 degrees out - I made the mistake of assuming that if the rocker was loose, that I could adjust - Dave Pallister pointed out that the cams need to be pointing away. He helped me adjust the valves (as well as lend a hand repairing the broken rocker at VIR) and everything is running smoothly now.

Next time I do an adjust, I’ll take some pics and put a little guide together. Kinda like I did for my M3 tranny rebuild project (which has stalled):
http://www.pbase.com/victorhall/trans_rebuild

-Vic
SO #325[/quote] The Bentley Manual has the procedure down pretty good. You definitely need to make sure the cam lobe is pointing down and my experience has been that you should go thru them twice since it always seems that one or more need adjusted the second time. Also make sure the engine is stone cold…like sitting all night.The first time it is a pain but once you do it a few times, it gets quicker. An offset feeler guage helps a lot and so does having the right tool to fit in that little hole in the eccentric. Don’t forget to pull the plugs ( cold engine …remember…) and I have had luck using a 1/2" rachet on the crank bolt to turn the engone over…don’t forget to take the rachet off before you start it up LOL…

#19

There is a nice article on this at:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E30-Valve_Adjust/E30-Valve_Adjust.htm

The adj is 0.010 cold

#20

nasaregistrar wrote:

Yeah, an 18" breaker bar is no match for the engine turning over. Scared the hell out of me while ripping through the plastic cover over the back side of the headlight. Luckily there was no serious damage or injury. I now have a customized breaker bar perfect for hard to get to places that require a 70 degree angle.

Post edited by: screwynewy, at: 2006/03/29 10:07