Quick Release Hood/ Bonnet

Benefits of this modification are easy and quick detachment of the bonnet without needing to re-align it when reinstalling.

***The following content is not my own.***

***It is an exact reproduction of a post on the Facebook Page, E30 Squad.***

***All credit is due to the original poster, Michael Hack***

DIY GUIDE FOR MAKING QUICK RELEASE HOOD PINS:

DISCLAIMER: I am providing this DIY to be used at your own risk. This modification may have unknown effects on how your car will react in an accident.


Tools needed:
Hack Saw
10mm open ended spanner
10mm 1/4 socket and ratchet
Drill
2mm Drill bits (Multiple incase you break one)
bench vice to make it easy
Marker
10mm bolts with at least 40mm smooth shaft, or something equivalent like steel rod or dowel
OR 10mm x 40mm Clevis Pin (skip steps 4-8)
A decent File
2x2mm Rclips or 2mm split pins or something similar

STEP 1. Remove hood by removing the pin on the hood strut, then removing the 6x 6mm bolts holding hood to brackets and then disconnecting the windscreen washer hose.

STEP 2. Rotate the brackets to expose the small factory hood bracket dowels

STEP 3. Take the hacksaw and chop those dowels in half from the centre, then pull them out releasing hood brackets from the hood popping mech.

STEP 4. just double checking the diameter of the bolts, must be no smaller than 10mm to not allow to much play in the hood and brackets.


STEP 5. Insert bolt into the bracket and mark where you need to cut, 40mm length should just about do it.


STEP 6. Use the vice to hold the bolt and cut at the marked line.


STEP 7. Test fit again and mark where you want to drill the hole for the R-clip. Allow about 3-5mm from the edge in order for ease of removal.


STEP 8. Get the drill with a 2mm drill bit and start drilling a hole the whole way through the end of the bolt. A 2mm hole should suffice and a 2mm R-clip should be a good fit.


STEP 9. Test fit the bolt and R-clip with the bracket onto the hood popper. If it fits, go ahead and re-install your hood. Align it up best you can and tighten the 6 bolts, reinstall the pin for the hood strut and re-attach the windscreen washer hose.


The next time you need to remove the hood, it is as simple as removing the pin for the hood strut, removing the R-clips and slipping out the two pins and you’re done.

EASIEST & CHEAPEST E30 Engine Swap

To start off, please be well aware that ANY engine swap is neither going to be "easy" nor "cheap". If it is, expect it to cost more money and cause headaches in the near future. If using a second hand engine, it should be fully reconditioned and have all wearing parts replaced before it goes into the car.

Of all the options, the M30 (B34 or B35 depending on which you can get your hands on) swap is the easiest and cheapest. Why? Absolutely every step of the swap is a bolt-in job.

Hartge and Alpina both built M30B35 based E30's (Hartge H35 and Alpina B6 3.5) Also, BMW released a limited number of M30B32 fitted E30s in the South African market (333i which was jointly developed by BMW and Alpina). That means that every part you need can be obtained from the said OEM suppliers. A wrecked E28 or early E34 535i or M535i would make an inexpensive donor.

The engines themselves are old technology, single-cam design. This makes working ON the engine much simpler than with more modern engines. Having been designed in an age where many things were "over-engineered" they are extremely tough and resilient. After a rebuild, very basic maintenance will have them running strong almost forever. They also handle forced induction well in their stock form.

The down-side of the older technology is that they won't be as fuel efficient as modern twin-cam engines. No matter how it's tuned, the torque curve will never be as broad as that of a twin-cam engine. Speaking of torque, this thing will pour out bucket-loads of it as soon as you touch the go-pedal.

The power figures of this engine will be less than impressive, but that's not what it's about. It's TORQUE and at the end of the day, it's what matters. Torque is the turning force exerted at the engine flywheel on the drive-train, which is what is actually driving the wheels.

Sources on the internet estimate these stats:


0-100km/h: 6.7 sec


Top speed: 240 km / h


10-13.5 Liter / 100km

If I were to do a swap on an E30 and wanted the least hassle, where every step was just a case of turning a wrench, the M30 is the way I'd go.

The Best Car EVER Built

If you could only own 1 car for your entire life, what would it be?

For me, the answer will always be a Manual Touring BMW E30 (With an M30B35). Only a few of these were made for the South African market.

More doors, more awesome!
The practicality of 4-doors is simply unbeatable. This isn't ONLY about carrying passengers. When you do your grocery shopping, it's so much easier to be able to just open the back door, put the items in the foot-well or on the backseat, than to walk around to the boot (trunk to you Americans).

If you have a family, you want the back seat to be easily accessible for mounting and taking out the baby seat, for your passengers to easily and quickly get in and out.

Ample Luggage space!
Fit absolutely anything you want in your car! Do track days? Take your entire tool kit and your spare wheels with you IN your track car.
Need to spend the night on the road? Put the back seats down and stretch yourself out in the trunk. Oh and it will carry your groceries in the back too.

A backseat that works!
Plenty of 2-door sports cars have back seats, it's just that the backseats are strictly meant to be used by people with no legs. If there's no leg room for the rear passenger, why even bother having a rear seat? An E30 can comfortably accommodate 4-5 average sized adults.

Featherweight Handling
It's a wagon that weighs under 3000lbs distributed front-rear at close to 50:50, with the lively character of an FR layout.

6cyl Power & Torque: more VROOM!
NEVER has there been a 4-door production car of any kind, let alone a wagon, with as much interior room, AND as little weight (less than 3000lbs), more powerful engine. There are plenty of other "sports" sedans and wagons you can compare to the E30 that have more powerful engines and do go faster in a straight line. Problem is that every single one of them is heavier and as a result, handles like a brick in comparison.


RWD = More FUN!
Need I explain?


It pains me to no end, that with all the advancements in engineering and technology, not a single car manufacturer has built a car that can tick the same boxes that this car from the 80's does.

If I could get myself a brand new 4-door E30 equivalent, I would in a heartbeat. If anyone makes an E30 replica kit, I'll be the one of the first to pre-order. It's ridiculous that cobra kits are all the craze when you could get a Mazda MX-5, swap a V8 into it and have a better car for less work and less money. Yet, nobody has bothered to make an E30 kit? E30 Tourer's are already rarer than rainbow fairy unicorns. Someone please do before these cars go completely extinct!

Best E30 Wheel + Tyre Combo

This is MY opinion on what is best and below is the justification for it.

15x7J ET13 with 205/50R15 Tyres.
The extremely sexy but rare MiM E30 wheels are of this size and fitment.

15" only? Why not bigger?
The only reason for bigger wheels is bigger brakes. E30's are super-light and don't need bigger brake discs. Aesthetically, 15" wheels beautifully compliment the E30's retro character, while still allowing plenty of performance tyre options. Yes, it's true that bigger wheels also allow lower profile tyres, but I will discuss that later on. For now, let me just say that bigger wheels add more unsprung weight. More weight in general can adversely affect acceleration, braking, handling, fuel economy.

7J? Why not wider?
When looking at your car, it's not very noticeable how wide your wheels are. If you want them to sit wide, you need only choose a lower offset. 7J wheels are the narrowest wheels that will ideally suit 205 width tyres (remember: wider wheels are heavier). You can go wider if you want wider tyres, but as discussed below, I don't think the E30 needs tyres wider than 205. 

ET13? Why not lower?
At 7J width, ET13 will sit very flush, and when the suspension compresses, they will JUST clear the guards. With 7J wheels, ET13 is the widest fitment that will clear the guards. If you go for a more aggressive stance, you'll need guard work done (more $$$).

205 only? Why not wider?
Unless your E30 is HEAVILY modified, 205's will provide all the traction you need. Wider tyres will give better traction but they'll also add more unsprung weight. Also keep in mind that with a RWD car, breaking traction every now and then = FUN.

/50? Why not lower profile?
Lower profile tyres will provide you with more responsive handling due to reduced side-wall flex. However, at 205 width, the lowest profile you can get to fit 15" wheels is 50. Good quality performance tyres will perform very well, and you need not worry about side-wall flex destroying your lap times. You're better off worrying about your driving skills. More importantly, I believe E30's are such a pleasure to drive that they SHOULD be daily driven. If there are lots of potholes in your area, lower profile tyres mean you're more likely to damage or bend your wheels which means more $$$. Higher profile will give you that extra cushion for your precious wheels.

Other useful info:
All major tyre companies offer performance tyres in the 205/50R15 size.
If you wish to use a different wheel size, use the above numbers as a guide and put in your planned sizes into http://www.willtheyfit.com/. This will help you work out the offset you need to get a similar fitment.

E30 Wheel Fitment Sizes:
PCD 4x100, centre bore 57.1mm and M12x1.5 bolt thread.

Some 7J Wheel Choices:

MiM's 15x7J ET13
Koya AE Tek 15x7J ET13
Work Meister S1 2P (O-Disk) 15x7J ET13 *Check Hub Bore

If you really want wider tyres, you can go 15x8J ET22 with 225/45R15 Tyres. Be aware that running any higher offset than ET22 with 8J wheels may not clear the front struts. And you may need to do some guard rolling for them not to rub.

Some 8J Wheel Choices:
Rota Flush 15x8J ET20 *Check Hub Bore
Work Meister S1 2P (O-Disk) 15x8J ET22 *Check Hub Bore

Work Meister CR01 (A-Disk) 15x8J ET22 *Check Hub Bore

Removing & Replacing/Installing Sunroof (for Realignment)

RUST is a common problem with ALL car sunroofs. My car was no different. The rear right corner of the sunroof had rusted through so badly that it had been patched up with filler right up to the edge. A good area of about 20 square centimetres was all body filler.

I managed to get hold of a used sunroof panel for cheap. It's black while my car is white but I thought  what the heck - at least it's not all rusty and bogged. The replacement panel had some surface rust spots which I treated and repaired before putting it in.

The following is a guide to removing and re-installing the sunroof panel on BMW E30's. It should be the same method for other BMW models of the same generation as the E30.

Allow yourself about 90 minutes if you're doing it for the first time.


Tools & Materials Required:

• Torx (Star) keys/wrench set.
• Pliers
• Socket Driver
• Penetrating spray

NOTE: Pictures shown for manual crank operated sunroof. Method is the same for electric/power sunroof. If you are unable to crank the sunroof by power (eg: sunroof motor failed, flat battery, etc.), what you need to do is undo the trim for the sunroof motor, and then crank it manually. You'll need to use the Z shaped wrench in the boot toolkit or a hex wrench of the correct size. See your owners manual for detailed instructions and diagrams.

1. Wind back sunroof to expose the front edge of the panel. There are 6 trim clips that hold the inner lining to the sunroof panel at the front. You won't be able to see them but you can feel them with your hands. Use the images below as a reference to see where the fastening clips are. Carefully pull down on the front edge of the inner lining to disconnect it.

2. Wind forward the sunroof to expose the rear edge of the sunroof panel. Simply pull/push the inner lining backwards so that the rollers on the sunroof cranking mechanism are off the guides on the inner liner. The inner liner should just drop down and away from the sunroof panel.

Slide the inner lining backwards into the roof of the car to expose the under side of the sunroof panel.

3. Unscrew the sunroof panel. There are three torx bolts on each side of the sunroof panel that hold it to the cranking mechanism. NOTE: If you are only re-aligning the sunroof, you need only loosen the torx bolts enough to realign the sunroof panel. You DON'T have to completely remove them.

Use the appropriate size torx wrench/bit to undo them - the bolts in mine were T25 size but yours might be different. I had to use a pair of pliers to get enough leverage to break them loose as they were on extremely tight. It would be better to use a socket driver instead of the pliers for leverage. Some lubricant or penetrating spray would come in very handy.

4. Remove the sunroof panel. Once all the torx bolts are out, the sunroof panel should simply lift off the top of the car.

 5. Fit replacement sunroof panel into the cranking mechanism guides exactly where the old one was. Line up the holes where the torx bolts are supposed to go. Loosely thread the torx bolts back into the holes by hand. Remember to do it in this order: middle bolts first, then front ones, lastly the rear ones.

6. Align the sunroof. This is where you will greatly benefit from the help of a friend. First crank the sunroof to the closed position. Then, get your friend to hold the rear of the sunroof 1mm above the roof-line. While your friend is doing this, get inside and tighten up all the torx bolts.

7. Reinstall the sunroof inner lining. First crank the sunroof to the forward position. Slide the inner roof lining out and connect the rear part first. Pull it up and out towards the rear of the car and then slide the grooves on the lining piece over the rollers on each side of the sunroof cranking mechanism.

And lastly, push the trim clips along the front of the inner lining up into the corresponding holes at the front of the sunroof panel.

JOB DONE!!!