new to spec e30


#1

My name is Sean im located in Baltimore Maryland Trying 2 find some feed back on a possible car Im new 2 spec e30 and the car is a 1987 325is its setup for autocross trying 2 find out what it would cost me 2 make it a front running car I no the car has koni shocks 154000 miles ,exhaust but no roll cage but not sure what else its on the forum 4sale in ohio any feed back would be helpfull thanx so much P.S and please let me no what any1 thinks of the class and what the average field is


#2

here is the list of what the car has any feed back would be great
1987 325is 2.5 litre 6 5 speed Grey
~ Koni Single Adj struts
~ Ground Control Coil Overs
~ Ireland Engineering Camber Plates
~ Ireland Engineering Fr / Rr Strut braces
~ Headers into 2.5 inch exhaust
~ Power Slot Rotors
~ Hawk HP Pads
~ Chipped
~ Tuner FX race seats w/G Force belts
~ Borbet 16x9.5 wheels
~ 245/45/16 A6 Hoosiers in very good shape.
~ Newer clutch
~ Very good condition overall. Could use some minor body work and a good buffing. The sunroof panel is tack welded closed and the headliner is loose on the rear sail panels


#3

Welcome! You will need a cage first. Since you are in Ohio you have access to one of the best for the money, Mark McMahon who is in Akron, Ohio (330) 645-6368. Figure around $2500 for the cage. There are number of build threads on the forum that should give you an idea of what the rest will cost. Here are some of the things you will need with aprox cost off the top of my head so don’t take it as golden.

Spec Suspension around $1500 (camber plates, shocks, springs, sways)

Bushings - $400

Race seat - $700

Transponder - $350

Right side net and left side nets $300

Belts - $200

Fire system or fire bottle - $100

Race suit, Gloves and shoes - $800

Hans - $650

There is probably other stuff I’m missing but that should get you started. If you have any questions about our region in particular just let me know. We have 5 active spec E30 racers in OH/IN with a few more coming. I expect us to have 5 cars there in July if you want to come check it out. Nationals last year had 17 cars at Mid Ohio. I’m guessing we’ll be close to 25 this year.


#4

seanbeziat wrote:

[quote]here is the list of what the car has any feed back would be great
1987 325is 2.5 litre 6 5 speed Grey
[/quote]

Good it will have an LSD diff. Make sure the diff is still the stock 3.73.

seanbeziat wrote:

You’ll have to sell those and install the spec suspension.

seanbeziat wrote:

You can keep those they are legal

seanbeziat wrote:

Fine

seanbeziat wrote:

Headers must be stock and you will have to buy the spec exhaust which will be $175

seanbeziat wrote:

Fine, nearly everyone runs stock rotors.

seanbeziat wrote:

Won’t be up to track duty, you will want a hawk HT-10 or similiar track pad.

seanbeziat wrote:

We run the stock chip you can sell your chip.

seanbeziat wrote:

Not sure what seats they are but they should be fine. You will have to check expiration on the belts and they have to be I believe at least 5 point. You will want to check the GCR for this stuff.

seanbeziat wrote:

Not legal you will have to get some 15X7 wheels that are not lighter than 13lbs. There are a number of options and they will be around $130 a piece.

seanbeziat wrote:

We run a spec tire (Toyo R888). It is a 205/50/15 so you will have to get rid of the tires. A set will cost around $550.

seanbeziat wrote:

[quote]
~ Newer clutch
~ Very good condition overall. Could use some minor body work and a good buffing. The sunroof panel is tack welded closed and the headliner is loose on the rear sail panels[/quote]

That is fine the headliner can be removed and in fact should be removed before the cage is put in.

Hope that helps some.


#5

I almost forgot the most important part, the racing is great. You can do a search on google video for “Spec E30” and you will find plenty of in car action. Or goto Skeen’s page

http://www.mikeskeen.com/

and watch his vir video it is a cracker!


#6

also I forgot 2 mention Im located in Baltimore Maryland so if any1 is close and wouldnt mind talking or pointing me in the rite direction thanx again


#7

Steps you should take:

Print off the rules and read them until you can recite them. B)

Read the archives of this board.

Go to Summit for the next race and talk to the drivers and look at their cars. Everyone was very helpful to me when I did this.

Take your camera and photograph the heck out of several cars. A lot of the solutions to things like kill switches, seat mounting, cage design, etc will vary from car to car and you’ll see some clever ideas (and some not-so-clever ones).

Plan on spending around $8000 plus the price of a car if you do 90% of the work yourself. That is the MINIMUM, IMO.


#8

I live just south of Baltimore and I’m 90% done with my car if you’d like to come take a look.

Jason
443-306-3540


#9

I haven’t analyzed your list closely, but in general I don’t think it makes much economic sense to purchase a fairly modified car that hasn’t been built to SpecE30 rules. You’ll have to change out most of the stuff because it’s illegal, yet the current owner thinks it adds value to the purchase price.

Sasha


#10

Ex36 wrote:

[quote]I haven’t analyzed your list closely, but in general I don’t think it makes much economic sense to purchase a fairly modified car that hasn’t been built to SpecE30 rules. You’ll have to change out most of the stuff because it’s illegal, yet the current owner thinks it adds value to the purchase price.

Sasha[/quote]

Yes but they are all parts that you can sell. List that stuff on BF.c and it will be gone in a day.


#11

If you don’t have a NASA race license, then don’t worry. You can run the car almost as-is in HPDE and swap out parts as you can afford to.