Where to go now? HPDE + Reliability parts Inside

#1

Ok so I’ve had pretty much zero interest in my BMW and am probably going to end up stuck with it for another year (oh darn :)). Anyways, I think I’m going to continue working on it slowly to get it fully ready and reliable for track days.

Now here is where I need some help. Say I can get together $1000. Where is it best spent? Keep in mind the brakes are good to go and I’ll be getting new tires (probably Azenis or Star Specs since I’m just beginning).

I was thinking crank scraper (teflon), accusump, and then general BMW wear items.

Spark plug wires and plugs
Coolant temp sensor
Whatever else you guys come up with

Also, I’d like to eventually add oil temp, oil pressure, and water temp gauges. Are there any writeups on how to install them and what to buy? I don’t understand anything electric at all so I started looking into it and realized I have no idea where to put sensors and what to buy.

#2

It would be a help to know what’s already been done to the car.

For a DE car I’d want good:

Tie rods
Control arms
Control arm, trailing arm, and subframe bushings
Motor, transmission and differential mounts
Cooling system
Shifter bushings or SSK
Crank scraper
Oil pressure gauge

A secondary water temp gauge is good, but the OE gauge is okay. Oil temperatures usually aren’t a problem on an M20B25.

New ignition wires, distributor cap and rotor are good idea as what is on the car is probably 20 years old.

If you do the work your self you can probably do all of that for $1000.

#3

From what I saw while poking around under there the bushings look like they’ve recently been replaced since they’re in great shape. I agree with the shift bushing/SSK because my shifter feels pretty loose (although I’m comparing that against a 97 Integra).

I may also buy the Spec exhaust since mine is in rough shape and has a leak in it but that’s only $220 if I remember correctly.

Also, I am probably going to send my injectors to get cleaned and flow tested since one of them is messed up and I can’t figure out which one it is.

#4

I did the injector rehab thing on my car. Mechanic told me it had a couple of bad injectors. I think it cost about $100 w/ shipping. Came back with a page showing flow tests, etc. on each injector. Of course I have no way to know if that info is accurate or even to understand much of it, but the car seems to run well, so I call it money well spent.

I got a SSK from Carr industries and replaced the knuckle and rod with E36 parts. The shift feel is super solid, but I also fabbed a urethane bushing to replace the rubber one in the bracket where the rear of the shifter carrier bolts to the trans tunnel. I was told there is not aftermarket replacement for that bushing, and mine was mush. The urethane keeps the carrier from moving around, thus solidifying the lever.

#5

Can anyone offer any advice on the best way to hook up the Accusump? I know it may not be critical at this time but I’d really like all of the security I can get because if I blow up an engine it’ll probably set me back another year at least finally getting on track.

http://www.accusump.com/accusump.pdf/instructions.pdf

Those are the installation instructions.
There are 3 methods of mounting and only two really apply to the E30’s.

Applications with spin on filters
In systems that do not have any external oil pressure line but use a conventional spin on style oil filter the simplest
method of connecting an Accusump™ is with a sandwich adapter. These adapters fit between the oil filter and the
engine block lowering the filter and providing an input port for the Accusump™. We offer these adapters for most
applications.

and

Connecting directly into an engines oil passages
Many engines come standard with a threaded port into the oil gallery. Assistance from an engine builder familiar with
the engine block can be very helpful in determining if one exists in your engine.

I believe Ranger touched on the second method in one of his threads a while back but I can’t seem to find it right now. Does anyone know anyone who I can ask?

Thanks!