Right off 325 BMW

[snapper]

Just followed a 325 BMW on the back of a tow truck to a yard after it had been stuck in a ditch on a straight bit of road by Chav-U-like, the reg was covered but it looked like a tidy 2 door probably around the P reg.
It wont be released until the insuranve has been dealt with but its a definate insurance right off.
Have i just found the ideal donor for my roadster project?
Do i use the whole powertrain and front hubs or is it a mix off sierra as well?

I think you could do either, I haven't done any detail work yet but several people are heading down this route.

The easiest way would be to use the engine and box with Sierra front uprights and rear axle.

The BMW front uprights could be used in this sort of way:-


The fabrication replaces the standard strut.

At the rear I think that the easiest way to use the rear axle is to place the differential in place and make plates to suit. I don't think the suspension is suitable (none of the links are parralel to the axle line or the centreline of the car and I think the best way to proceed would be to cut the bearing carrier from the trailing arm and weld this to an upright similar to the Sierra based Roadster.

I'm hoping that between us we can sort out a very good set-up

Cheers

Chris

[rmccomiskie]

I'm particularly interested in hubs from E30 or E36.

Bob.

[Chris_]

Wont a 6 pot be a little tight in the bay? Not to mention heavy. (117kgs)

Especially with it being quite wide due to the heave cant.

Oh and a problem with the diff could come about with the single 'ear' like load bearing mount. Will this throw off how the loads are transmitted through the chassis?

If you find ways around all the problems i would love to know as rusty E30's are sooo cheap now. And the mechanicals are easy to work with as well as being reliable.

Chris

[rmccomiskie]

Oops! I wasn't clear. I'm considering the 4 cylinder M42 engine and gearbox from a 318i. I've seen a couple of such builds on the Web.

Drawings of front upright adapters are encouraging. I'd like to use a single donor for most parts but I haven't seen how the diff mounts. Will have to evaluate the chassis loads if it's a strange mount. Rear uprights are still a question too. The BMW rears carriers don't look too promising.

[Chris_]

Ahh, M42 is a much simpler proposition. Profile gasket should be checked out while its out though and might as well do the cam chain tensioner. Cant help much more though, i'm a six pot boy

E30 diffs are the same across the range with regard to mounting.
They come as either small or medium case. Bigger obviously stronger and fitted to the larger engined cars.

Favourable ratios or LSD (for a 1000kg BM) are getting a bit pricey now up around £250-350 but i dont know what sort of ratio you need in a roadster (not started building yet)

Mount with four large bolts on top through the rear beam, and a large bushe mounted 'ear' to one side. (this can be replaced with a Z3 bush for stronger mounting)



Cheers
Chris