Fuh Raze...

[Mtriple]

From the Urban Dictionary:

1. FUH RAZE- To modify your street car with go-fast race parts or other setups which hold little to no value to the driver, but is good for posing. This is especially popular in the BMW E30 community. Similar to rice, except trying to look like a track rat instead of a street racer.

btw, it can be used sarcastically by people who are actually upgrading their stuff for good reasons in jest towards the people who do it solely for looks.
Man I just deleted my high beams!!! And took out my passenger seat!

Dude, that's so FUH RAZE!!!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fuh+raze





I bought this car in October of last year from a fellow enthusiast from Chicago. Its a 1989 325is and I am only the third owner since the car was purchased new 19 years ago. Looking back at all of the maintenance receipts, this car only had 54,000 miles as of 1999. The car now has just shy of 120k on it and is in remarkable condition based on its age. The body on this car is in better condition than my S50 E30, but that car had original paint that was unbelievably nice for its age. This car has been repainted at some point but it was done very well. Here are a couple pictures of the car from the previous owner.



Next to the M3 that belonged to the brother of the previous owner:


I spent all of last winter collecting parts and formulating a plan on the direction I wanted to go with this car. The first thing that I knew I wanted to do on this car is swap all of the suspension components to E30 M3 spec. By doing this you gain a couple of things. Bigger brakes, 5-lug as opposed to 4-lug means a better wheel selection, and larger more robust wheel bearings.

The M3 suspension bits are highly coveted and expensive even if you can find a used set. I decided to order all new parts from the dealer and start fresh. I placed a large order back in February with blunt and here he is delivering the goods. Yes, it felt like Christmas...







And some more goodies that I collected over the winter:












Anyway, the car has been on jack stands since May and I just haven't been able to work on it all that much with my busy summer. Well, now I have the itch to do some fall driving and have been working more diligently...

Here's how she has looked in the garage since I sold the 4 lug wheels that came with the car in May:



I tinkered with it a little over the summer by adding MHW Red tails and a euro plate filler. I also added another trunk light and began to sound deaden the inside of the car.





For some reason BMW only provided one trunk light(on the left) on all US spec cars, even though there is a provision for a second light(on the right) Super easy mod and now there is much more light at night for the trunk area.

[Mtriple]

The car came with Ground Control coilovers and Koni SA's (from a Corrado to get the shortened length). Everything swapped over to the five lug strut tubes but they did need to modified. The tubes had to be shortened by an inch or so and the new perches were welded on as well as the sway bar reinforcements.

Here is what they looked like when they were 4-lug:



And here they are now after being cleaned up, rebuilt, and fitted into the E30 M3 strut tubes:






Also, here is a shot of the stock E30 front control arm (right) and the aluminum E30 M3 control arms. These were actually an upgrade from BMW Motorsport and were not O.E. on production cars.



And like I mentioned, going 5-lug opens up all sorts of possibilities for wheels. The E30 was the last of the 4-lug cars produced by BMW, everything since 1992 has been 5-lug. Here is a picture of some E38 (7-series) wheels that I picked up for track rubber. Made by BBS and 16x8 et 23, perfect offset for my car:



For the street, I picked up a set of staggered M-Contours which were found on E36 M3's from 1995 to 1999. 17x7.5 front/17x8.5 rear and et 38. The offset is a little off but I can take care of that with 12mm spacers.

My set is currently packed away in boxes but here they are on my old E36 M3 painted black:





And here is where I left off tonight. I bought the bake calipers used from an E30 M3 enthusiast and I'm in the process of stripping them down and rebuilding them. I bought the factory rebuild kit which includes all of the seals and gaskets, as well as purchasing the bronze bushing upgrade from Turner Motorsports. It's one of the best upgrades you can do to the stock calipers to prevent caliper twisting which is a common problem with the original rubber bushings. I'm stripping the silver paint off and will spray it with black duplicolor caliper paint.




And this arrived this afternoon. 2.93 LSD diff to replace the 3.73 LSD that's in the car right now. Anyone want to take a guess why I would swap in a 2.93???




More to come next week...

[Mtriple]

Here's the mod list to date. Of course most of it is sitting in the basement but it will get on the car eventually...

Exterior:
-Euro smiley's (clear)
-4500k HID
-MHW smoked turn signals
-MHW Red tails
-Euro fog using all factory parts
-Euro bumper trim
-Euro plate filler
-Euro grilles
-OEM skidplate
-Ryan G splitter
-Lamin-X (headlights and fogs)
-DTM non-vented CF mirrors
-M-tech 1 wing
-M3 hood seals
-M3 bumper seals

Interior:
M-tech 2 wheel
M-tech Illuminated shift knob
Redline Leather shift and e-brake boots
E34 leather e-brake handle
M3 cluster
Rear headrests
Rear fold down armrest/skipass
UUC carbon fiber pedals
Euro check panel
GG dimming module

Engine:
Stock M20
M3 harness covers
Turner /Conforti software
BMP intake
Stromung exhaust
IE 8mm wires

Driveline:
E30 M3 Calipers f+r
Brembo cross drilled rotors
Axxis Ultimate pads
ATE Super Blue fluid
Turner SS lines
Turner caliper guide bushings f+r
Z3 1.9 SSK
M-Coupe finned diff cover
IE tranny mounts

Suspension:
E30 M3 5-lug conversion
Shortened and reinforced front strut housings
Koni SA's (VW Corrado)
Gound Control Coilovers (450/650)
Ground Control Camber Plates
Ground Control swaybar links
Ground Control RSM's
Suspension Technique sway bars
IE Rear sway bar reinforcement
Turner Rear sway bar tab reinforcements
Sparco front strut bar
Powerflex offset LCAB's
Powerflex RTAB's
Powerflex subframe bushings
E36 M-Contours 17x7.5/8.5
E38 16x8's
Vorshlag studs and spacers

Audio:
Alpine 9855 w/Ipod interface
Precision Power A404.2 amplifier
ADS 320is seperates
(1) JL Audio 10W1
Alpine SEC-150R alarm

[Die Frau]

Holy smokes man, quite the build... I had no idea... keep us all posted, looks great!

[EWAustin]

<snip>Anyone want to take a guess why I would swap in a 2.93???<snip>

3 guesses,
a) you got an über-short tranny
b) you're putting in an engine with massive low end torque (maybe LS1)
c) you're putting on a big turbo and top-speed is your goal.

I'm kinda hoping for number B

Either way though, beautiful car. I hope to see it in person some day.

[SLK]

I'm kinda hoping for number B

I dont know why but i hate it when people do that. I guess its the purist in me. If i wanted a car like that i guess i would just go buy a camaro instead of swapping it into a german car.

[tattoo24v]

coop, call me when you want a hand in the garage, lol..

[flippinvw]

My car wishes it had your bank account to support it....

And btw, both white e30's are absolutely beautiful!

[EWAustin]

I dont know why but i hate it when people do that. I guess its the purist in me. If i wanted a car like that i guess i would just go buy a camaro instead of swapping it into a german car.

I used to think like that, but look at it this way. Double the HP, More than double the torque, and that's bone stock. A chip, a cam, a header, and an intake will give you 40+ more hp. All with only about 60lbs more than an M20, while still maintaining a good weight distribution.

As far as buying a Camaro, the only really-good thing about them is the engine. The steering is boring, the visibility sucks, not to mention they're pretty big cars. All the downsides are the e30's upsides.


Afterthought: letter d) I s'pose it could be a turbo M30 too...

[Digital K]

bob, looks awesome. love the black license plate tub It really sets it off. I look forward to more updates

[Sherpa]

Bob, you're building another great car.

I still have those Smiley's you gave me. Want them back? That Ben Carufel douche sold almost every extra part that I pain-stakingly sent to him. Glad I didn't send him the Smiley's.

[Digital K]

oh man thats weak.... if that guy sucks maybe I wont go shoot the car...

[Mtriple]

3 guesses,
a) you got an über-short tranny
b) you're putting in an engine with massive low end torque (maybe LS1)
c) you're putting on a big turbo and top-speed is your goal.

I'm kinda hoping for number B

Either way though, beautiful car. I hope to see it in person some day.

Good guesses, its getting a TCD stage 2 turbo over the winter...

I dont know why but i hate it when people do that. I guess its the purist in me. If i wanted a car like that i guess i would just go buy a camaro instead of swapping it into a german car.

I tend to agree, although I'm still fascinated by the swap.

coop, call me when you want a hand in the garage, lol..

Anytime, I still have your squee-gee by the way.

My car wishes it had your bank account to support it....

And btw, both white e30's are absolutely beautiful!

Thanks and I know what you mean. I have a good part time gig that allows me to pay for this stuff.

bob, looks awesome. love the black license plate tub It really sets it off. I look forward to more updates

Thanks Chris, I think I'm going to order the US version filler to see which one I like best.

Bob, you're building another great car.

I still have those Smiley's you gave me. Want them back? That Ben Carufel douche sold almost every extra part that I pain-stakingly sent to him. Glad I didn't send him the Smiley's.

Thanks Matt, Hold them for me if you would. We will hook up one of these days.

I know how you fell about Ben. I've been biting my lip watching him sell everything off that was extra with the car. Some of that stuff was pretty hard to come by and unique, its hard to watch it go...

[ShowCar]

That Ben Carufel douche sold almost every extra part that I pain-stakingly sent to him. Glad I didn't send him the Smiley's.

Nice build! Keep us updated!

[Janasty]

I think butterbean would approve of this build

Hope everything goes smoothly!