A little guy from far far away

[IlovM42]

Hi everyone!

First of all, I want to thanks the persons who have created this forum, They are so much information available for our little beloved M42

So, you will understand very quicly for my bad writing, I'm not from England, USA or others English speaking country. I'm just a young French so I hope you have no difficulties to understand me:o

Let's speak a little of my life. I'm 24 years old, I live in Clermont ferrand, a small city in the middle of France, well known for having the head office of a great company, Michelin
I actually work for them as a mechanical technician since 2010

I own since February a 318is E30 and little by little i'm turning it into a "street race car"by this i mean, doing modifications and improvement to make it more efficient and fun to drive, staying street legal, and it's pretty hard in France because of the rules being very restrictive.

I have not a lot of money, so i'am focusing on the mechanic side for the moment and later on i'll do the esthetic part.

I will make a list of the mods and project later, and some pictures

See you

[keflaman]

Your English writing skills are very good and easy to understand, so don't be self-conscious about that.

My father in-law was a Firestone engineer for over thirty years and started up a plant in northern France back in the early 70s. My wife spent her early teenage years attending school in Paris and then Brussels. The family has many fond memories of living in France and still keep in contact with some of their friends.

We always enjoy seeing photos of other members cars, so post them up soon!:)

[DesktopDave]

Welcome to the club! Can't wait to see your pictures.  Your english is great BTW - no worries.  Wish I spoke a second or third language!  It'd really help out with my historical studies, that's for sure.  I've been over there as well - my wife and I toured a bit of northern France and stayed in Paris maybe ten years ago.  One day I hope to go back.

[Nick_318is]

Welcome to the site, you picked up a great little car.  Your English is good too, can't wait to see some pictures.

[IlovM42]

Thanks for the welcome

So here are some pics of my car, it's not very good looking, but it cost me about 650 euros so not so bad

The last owner strip the interior, cuz he wanted to turn it into a track car.
I didn't put it back cuz I want to make a funny light weight street legal car

So this is more or less how she was looking when i Bought it expect for the rear spoiler (was an hartge spoiler)











Mods that have been done:
-fiberglass hood
-new front suspension arm
-new bushes (polyurethane ones with M3 style front bushes)
-E36 steering rack
-MIM wheels with 205/50R15 Michelin Pilot Exalto 2
-2 sparco seat (real ones, not reclinable don't want rear passenger in my car :rolleyes:)
-new lights (white ones)


project
-new suspension (if money is available H&R -3.5mm and bilstein B6 or B8)
-front brake upgrade (porsche/brembo caliper with 285mm discs or more if it fit in the 15" MIM
- E36 G250 gearbox with S3.73 rear diff
-lightened flywheel? possibly

Lot of ideas for the engine but it's the more expensive to do...
-M3 E36 3l pistons (S50b30) on stock crankshaft and rod
-M3 E36 3l ITBs and MAF conversion.
-guess i'll need new camshaft for this
-remap for all this

I have an M47 cranksaft to build a 2.1litre stroker, but i prefer to stay simple and keep M42 cranshaft and rods (also keep price low...)

SO litle by little, i build this car and enjoy it in our french mountain road

[IlovM42]

You don't like my car/project
I know it's not very pretty for the moment but things are done little by little...

[keflaman]

It's a fine looking car and I'd love to see some pictures showing what you've done to it. I have the same rear spoiler that was on a car I bought in Italy and I took it off when I sold the car.

[DesktopDave]

You don't like my car/project
I know it's not very pretty for the moment but things are done little by little...

Not at all - I love cars that need some love.  The pretty ones are garage queens - who wants one of those?  Check out my thread - my car is ten shades of red ranging from pink to crimson.  Definitely not a prize-winner.

Your car has possibilities, and I'm jealous of all the great stuff you can get over there.  Not just the M47 crank, but the little things - Euro smiley headlights, front grilles, spoilers, opening rear windows, number plate filler, analog clock...and the kicker - that hounds tooth sport seat!

[IlovM42]

Well the car is not like this at the moment, but she still need a good wash inside.

I already change the front light for white one with smiley, and change grills for new ones.

I have change the whell too and I'm looking for a full Mtech 2 kit (already have the side parts and the spoiler, looking for the front and rear bumper soon

I also have one sport seat with IS fabric, but for the moment the car is more a race car than a show car

will post new pics soon, after wasing it a little, especially the inside :rolleyes:

[IlovM42]

Hello everyone!
So, except I have some issues with my car overheating when i'm on the road but doesn't when the car don't move, I have some new stuff for it.

Here are my wheels, i've been cleaning them and taking off the paint last week end with a friend, next time i'll sand blast them a little and polish some faces to make them shinny
Here is a little picture during the work



I love the look of the E30 with these wheels :cool:



You can also see on this pic my new rear Mtech 2 bumper, a real one in plastic, not a copy in fiberglass. Well there is a little work needed to make it look good. Don't know why the previous owner cut it like that near the fender...
 
Next pic is a rear view, need to put in the Mtech 2 spoiler too, and I definitely need to change my exhaust, cuz this single exhaust look horrible with the Mtech 2 bumper :eek: I'm thinking of swapping the whole exhaust line with one from a 323i or 325i starting form the M42 header and going twin tube exhaust to see if the sound is better :rolleyes: If someone have already done it


And now the front, with the futur bemper, on Mtech 2 one too, but this one need a looooooooot of love as you can see with the two big crack and there is more damage to repair :mad: good point i didn't pay too much for them.







And i also have the Mtech 2 sides waiting for me in my parents house, so i'll have a 318is with full Mtech 2 bodykit will see later for the colour but certainly i will go the alpinweiss route with some touch of black here and there :cool:

Hope you like the project

[IlovM42]

double post

[IlovM42]

some pictures taken with a friend's 316 M10





a little try with a picture to see how it looks, not a specialist, not the sweetest e30 but i'ts mine and i like it



here some other pics



the 316 that will soon be with Mtech1 front bumper and sideskirts



and here with a friend 316i M42 swapped, sadly i had lost my front bumper during the travel i had luck there is no damage



So the car as it sit now have:
- 15" Mim wheels that i need to finish with 205/50 R15 michelin PE2
- bilstein B8 with lowering springs
- polybushes with M3 wishbones bushes
- interior stripped out
- 2 sparco seat
- Mtech2 fiberglass front and rear bumper
- E36 steering rack
- front strut hartge style
- 3.73 LSD
- fiberglass hood
- electric fan

and what i'm planning to do:
- E36 gearbox with 3.45 LSD ans short shift
- original spoiler
- replace stock rear silencer
- find 15" wheels and buy 4 federal 595RS-R for track use
- find a second M42 to build a more powerful engine, looking for 170, 180 hp with S50b30 (euro) pistons, cams and some works on the head etc...

Feel free to give your opinion

See you  

[keflaman]

3.45 LSD? Kind of tall, isn't it?

[IlovM42]

not with an E36 gearbox it will be a little shorter than the stock E30 gearbox with a 4,10

[keflaman]

Ah, okay. Transmissions are one of those components I never really give much thought to. Thanks for the explanation.