bmwe21.net forums

Are those lights from France? If so you will be dazzling on coming traffic?

Non, ils ne sont pas français. Ils sont seulement pour les spectacles de toute façon, quand j'espère obtenir quelques trophées.

MIB is still progressing. After chatting to Ben at Castle Combe on Saturday, I gave the guys at BWChiptune a call, as they're pretty local and offer a live re-map service.

Thinking of painting the wheels to contrast with LSB paintwork?



Gearlever arrived and is in.



Top mounts are in. (Thanks Matt)



Spun the new headlights 180* in their mounts.



Am hoping we'll be finished for the open day at Pristine, at the end of April.

Have been @ Pristine sorting bits for my car. Saw Aydin's diff etc and his car is really coming along nicely.







Decided to go with brushed aluminium finish on my rad etc. Have also got all new stainless bolts and hose clips etc + silicon hoses. Spent ages getting with wheels right, so that the fronts don't look wider than the rears. Just about there now and ride height pretty much how I want it. The rear arches have been pretty extensively re-worked. I was going to post a pic or 2 of the bodywork but decided to wait till it's finished. Should be done for next months open day though.

you need this

http://www.frost.co.uk/radiator-fin-tool.html

also that small 25mm bottom outlet isn't needed if you block the end that comes out the engine, you can weld it up and stick a tap on it to allow for easy draining?

Yeah, I bought one off fleabay last week. I'm actually having the outlets altered, so the stock e36 silicon hose kit fits. Currently going through any bolts and ordering stainless replacements.

Car is coming along nicely. Been working on the details with under bonnet wiring, so that lambda sensors remain hidden, along with injector wiring.

New top mounts are in and the 'to do' list is certainly getting shorter. Decided to get the seat mounts sorted today, which is going to mean removal of the original runner mounts. We sat the seat on some wooden blocks, so that I could try the seat and make sure the height is correct. I'd been worried that the seats may have been too wide, as they're larger than the stock e21 type Recaros, but they actually fit really well. They're also really comfortable, which is an added bonus, as I'm a bit of a lump.





Opted to buy a new electric fan. I also ordered a new thermo switch. I did think about trying waterless coolant, after I saw it used on an episode of Wheeler Dealers, but figured I would try and get some input from someone else running it first. It's pretty expensive but the claims are pretty good.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7-LITRE-EVANS ... 3a815eecbe



I also got the banded steels, which I'm thinking of doing in a dark gold colour, to contrast with the blue body colour. I also managed to get a shorter ratio CWP for my e12 sideloader LSD. It's a 3.45:1 so will help with acceleration.



Anyway, I'm looking forward to finally having an e21 to smoke around in again.

My Dad's running Evans coolant in his 2002 E39 530d. E39's as a whole are prone to high coolant system pressure and blowing hoses and rads, so a few litres of evans actually works out cheaper than a new radiator! You do need to run the flushing fluid first though, as that removes all the old coolant.

It is really freaky to have the engine running at normal operating temp and still be able to unscrew the cap on the reservoir.

Nice nice nice. The seats will be great I guess, I always find the original E21 examples somewhat narrow around the hips lol

Diff is out and off to have the shorter crown wheel and pinion fitted. I thought about increasing the % of lock-up, but it's already at 40%, so decided to leave it alone. Obviously it will get new oil seals etc, although it was only rebuilt about 3k miles ago.

Finally got a decent air filter and started throwing a few ideas around for an air box with cold feed. Have been looking at moving the AFM inside, to keep it and the wiring hidden, but also to shield it from heat.

The suspension is sorted now also. Gaz increased the thread for the spring perches and it can be wound down further, should I want to for shows. Mick has worked the rear arches and even with 9'' rims, there is no fouling at all.

There has been lots of little jobs done, like hiding the injector wiring and re-routing lambda sensor wiring. Hopefully all the engine bay wiring will be hidden, or most of it anyway. Once all the detail jobs are done, we're going to drop the engine out again, so that everything can be cleaned properly and all the new stainless bolts etc can be fitted. There's also a new belt tensioner, belts and silicon hose kit. It's really coming along now.

Same design as my seats, I'm not wide of hip, but they're very comfy, good choice! If the pic shows them at their final height, how are you going to do the runners?

Because I'm just over 6' 2'' I want the seats as low as I can get them, so the OE mounts are coming out and we're putting bars between the transmission tunnel and sill. There will still be runners, although as the car isn't ever being sold, solid mounts would have been fine. Fortunately the seat base on these is pretty low. In the past, other seats I've seen/used just sit too high and a) your thigh hits the steering wheel and b) you don't have any head room. I'm also fitting a snap-on steering wheel boss, to make getting in with my dodgy leg easier and added security. I did want to retain inertia seat belts, but because the cage is a good tight fit, there just isn't room. I've got some Safety Devices harnesses instead, which admittedly can be a PITA for daily driving. I guess I'll get used to it though.

I used water wetter in Butch in SA in the past (before rad upgrade) as I was worried by the SA 40c trackside heat.

During an engine strip down and rebuild in 2005 Kenny Coleman of EDA told me never to use the stuff again- lots of acid in Water wetter had damaged internals/seals.

Same EDA engine (2000 vintage) has had another rebuild in 2010 by Kenny- no problems at all since using normal coolant.

I only mention this - from experience- but I don't know how similar Water wetter is to the new waterless coolants....

They're very different products Tim. Water Wetter supposedly allows engines to run cooler? Waterless coolant, by virtue of not having water in it, has a much higher boiling point. It allows the engine to cool to the usual temperature, but doesn't boil and pressurise the system as a result.

If I were you I'd be asking the makers of WW for an explanation. If it's causing damage to your engine it is clearly not fit for purpose.

Spoke to Evans who confirmed that their product is very different to Water Wetter and they've promised there won't be any issues with internal corrosion etc. It's actually the lack of pressure in the system that most interests me, as the alloy rad is very efficient. I bought a new, 97 degree thermo switch and opted for a 14'' Kenlowe fan to replace the 12'' one.

http://www.evanscoolants.co.uk/

Also found some pics of an 02 in laguna seca. It even has same steering wheel and seats!