New to the E9 forum

Area51Werks

Area51Werks

Member
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Location
Frozen Northern MN
I thought it would be appropriate to introduce myself. I have a renewed interest in the E9. I don't own one yet but I am working on it. I have had several BMW's I currently drive a 99 535I T as a DD. I am totally into Porsche 914's and have several including the Alien. See my link in my signature space to a video my son and his friends did back in 2004.

Here is a couple photos of my past cars. Ya, I'm a sick puppy..
 

Attachments

  • 2002f.jpg
    2002f.jpg
    11.8 KB · Views: 147
  • 2002.jpg
    2002.jpg
    18.3 KB · Views: 148
  • post-2-1122166235.jpg
    post-2-1122166235.jpg
    20 KB · Views: 145
  • 530I-03.jpg
    530I-03.jpg
    41.4 KB · Views: 120
Welcome Rick

This is a great forum- lots of good folks and some of them can help you find an e9 and avoid lots of pitfalls. Use them- they're invaluable!

Good luck!
 
Actually, what I'm kind of looking for is a body with title. I'm not going to use the engine, trans, front suspension or diff. My plan is to use all M3 suspension and diff and a 12 cylinder from a 750I. Good glass and trim would be nice but I think a guy could aquire that stuff over time. I owned a body shop for 20 years. Rust doesn't scare me. I have a Celette chassis bench for chassis repairs. I've rebuilt many rusty cars from the chassis up with all new factory parts including some 2002's. Currently have a 280 Pagoda down to the bare floor, cowl and rails getting all factory sheet metal.

Couple of newb questions:

Are body panels available?

After market sheet metal Available?

Any recommended sources?
 
Area51Werks said:
Actually, what I'm kind of looking for is a body with title. I'm not going to use the engine, trans, front suspension or diff. My plan is to use all M3 suspension and diff and a 12 cylinder from a 750I. Good glass and trim would be nice but I think a guy could aquire that stuff over time. I owned a body shop for 20 years. Rust doesn't scare me. I have a Celette chassis bench for chassis repairs. I've rebuilt many rusty cars from the chassis up with all new factory parts including some 2002's. Currently have a 280 Pagoda down to the bare floor, cowl and rails getting all factory sheet metal.

Couple of newb questions:

Are body panels available?

After market sheet metal Available?

Any recommended sources?
Click to expand...

You can certainly find a lot of barely-running bodies, but unfortunately most of the expensive parts (body pieces, some of which are going to be tough to repair no matter skill level, and certainly interior parts) are the ones that tend to be bad. There have been a few $2-3k cars that might be decent candidates advertised in the past couple of months - check the for sale section regularly.

One of the hardest things in my project at the end of the day (meaning throwing money at the problem wasn't going to necessarily fix it) has been getting the power windows to run right, so if you find one with working windows I'd probably prefer that over another one. Also, if you're serious about making high HP with a V12 or other option, I'd probably look at a non-sunroof coupe as those tend to flex less - and I'd make sure to reinforce the shell when it was fully apart per coupe king's suggestions and/or my or similar projects.

Note that early M5/5 series and M6/6 series running gear tends to work better with this car than M3/3 series stuff just due to provenance. I considered taking a wrecked E46 M3's running gear for my car but ultimately decided that there would be a lot of challenges involved and it wasn't worth it - but I'd love to see that project done, so if you do go ahead please post lots of updates!
 
Thanks for the links. Didn't mean to offend by not using the search function. Just sometimes guys are eager to post their good purchase experiences and save a new guy a bunch of time hunting.

Nothing like building a car from the chassis up. You get to do so many nice little changes. Thanks for the chassis stiffening suggestion. I'll search it out.
 
An M70 or M73 in a coupe- that's an ambitious project! Is there even enough depth in the engine bay? I have an 850ci and would be surprised if it would fit, even more surprised if the appropriate tranny would fit. More power to you if you can make it work!
 
glenn in encinitas said:
An M70 or M73 in a coupe- that's an ambitious project! Is there even enough depth in the engine bay? I have an 850ci and would be surprised if it would fit, even more surprised if the appropriate tranny would fit. More power to you if you can make it work!
Click to expand...

Sure, It's just a big 6 with an extra cylinder head. One of the reasons I'm want to start with someones basket case. There will likely be cutting involved.

I put this engine in the Alien. We call the second photo the Money shot. Check the reflection in the lid.
 

Attachments

  • engine going in.jpg
    engine going in.jpg
    89.4 KB · Views: 125
  • WCC 04 13.jpg
    WCC 04 13.jpg
    71.1 KB · Views: 131
Is there any reason in particular you want to start with the M70? It isn't exactly known for being reliable or a great performer. Also, as others have mentioned, body flex is a serious problem once you get in the 250+ rwtq range. Coupeking has some excellent photos showing their chassis reinforcement work. You may want to look into it if you are going to start with a bare chassis.

Also, as others have stated, the E28 rear subframe bits fit great without a lot of work, giving you a wide range of ratios and tons of strength, as well as more OEM brake options.
 
Rick, sorry, my wasserpumpe knowledge is lacking, but is that a 4.7 928 motor you shoehorned in?!? holy crap, that thing must fly!
 
x_atlas0 said:
Is there any reason in particular you want to start with the M70? It isn't exactly known for being reliable or a great performer. Also, as others have mentioned, body flex is a serious problem once you get in the 250+ rwtq range. Coupeking has some excellent photos showing their chassis reinforcement work. You may want to look into it if you are going to start with a bare chassis.

Also, as others have stated, the E28 rear subframe bits fit great without a lot of work, giving you a wide range of ratios and tons of strength, as well as more OEM brake options.
Click to expand...

It's all about the cool factor for me. Mate one of the most elegent body stlyes BMW ever sold with one their 12 cylinder crowning jewel. It is a match BMw should have made.

I just spent an hour searching for Coupekings chassis stiffening thread to no avail. Can you help a brother out?

Thanks for the tip on the E28 stuff. I'll keep that in mind once I locate a shell.
 
kwyjibo said:
Rick, sorry, my wasserpumpe knowledge is lacking, but is that a 4.7 928 motor you shoehorned in?!? holy crap, that thing must fly!
Click to expand...

The engine started out as a 1980 euro spec "S" 4.7L 300hp. I broke a cam shaft and destroyed that lower end. I now have a 5.0 32 valve short block with the 16 valve euro spec top end. The 928 guys call this a hybrid. They are getting over 350hp to the rear wheels driving all accessories. (ac,,alt,ps,big blade fan,etc.) All I have is an alternator. I have driven this car across country many times. Cali several times, Alabama, Hershey. Just had a trip last fall from MN to Durango, back up through the black hills including a section of deserted two lane black top in WY where there may have been an Alien chasing down a new Caddy hot rod at tripple digets for 40 miles. She's a runner.
 

Attachments

  • Bath Time.jpg
    Bath Time.jpg
    99.1 KB · Views: 115
That is one bad a$$ mamba jamba!

Area51Werks said:
The engine started out as a 1980 euro spec "S" 4.7L 300hp. I broke a cam shaft and destroyed that lower end. I now have a 5.0 32 valve short block with the 16 valve euro spec top end. The 928 guys call this a hybrid. They are getting over 350hp to the rear wheels driving all accessories. (ac,,alt,ps,big blade fan,etc.) All I have is an alternator. I have driven this car across country many times. Cali several times, Alabama, Hershey. Just had a trip last fall from MN to Durango, back up through the black hills including a section of deserted two lane black top in WY where there may have been an Alien chasing down a new Caddy hot rod at tripple digets for 40 miles. She's a runner.
Click to expand...
 
Area51Werks said:
It's all about the cool factor for me. Mate one of the most elegent body stlyes BMW ever sold with one their 12 cylinder crowning jewel. It is a match BMw should have made.

I just spent an hour searching for Coupekings chassis stiffening thread to no avail. Can you help a brother out?

Thanks for the tip on the E28 stuff. I'll keep that in mind once I locate a shell.
Click to expand...

Are you going to run MegaSquirt or an equivalent setup? I would imagine so, given the significant complications stemming from the OEM Motronic system used on the M7X engines.
 
x_atlas0 said:
Are you going to run MegaSquirt or an equivalent setup? I would imagine so, given the significant complications stemming from the OEM Motronic system used on the M7X engines.
Click to expand...


Haven't thought that far forward yet but I have a 1959 Austin Healey Bugeye I installed a F.I. twin cam Suzuki Swift GTI engine into. I just made an exploded view of the wire harness, (like 3' X4' so I could actually see where the wires ran) and stripped everything off the Swift harness that wasn't F.I. stuff. I ended up with a very big pile of wiring I didn't need. So there is more than one way to get F.I. working. I may try this with the M7 as well as there are some cool things like twin drive by wire throttle motors that would be nice to keep. We shall see..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top