Nice V8 project

[e21-Mark]

I like what you've done with the back lights....reminds me of Z8 lights? I've thought about angel eye headlamps myself and plan to look at one of the kits to see if the standard headlights can be modified / updated?

The guages are a bit TVR for me but its certainly unique!

[340i]

Wow! Another kiwi.. but your e21 puts mine to shame..

Where were you based? Wellington? My e21 is in hawkes bay, waiting on a new head, trying to find a cambelt, radiator hoses etc while I'm studying down in dunedin.

Man would I ever love to see this thing in action.

Check out bimmersport.co.nz if you ever feel like showing off your car when you get back. So they can appreciate what an e21 can be (rather than mine just sitting in a shed)

hey FiveStar, yeah car is based in welly. Awesome you're in dunnas, that place is wicked for students.
i joined bimmersport a while back but found them to be a bit stuck up in general, like heaps thought they were cool or vip just cos they drove a bmw. theres heapsa good dudes on the site, but it just wasnt for me.
good luck with your car, i know how it is being away at uni and working on it in the holidays while getting minimum wage, i did it for six years! lol.
post some pics when you get work done on yours, e21's are getting rare in nz, and are becoming the forgotten bmw i think, so its good to see them out there.

[340i]

I like what you've done with the back lights....reminds me of Z8 lights? I've thought about angel eye headlamps myself and plan to look at one of the kits to see if the standard headlights can be modified / updated?

The guages are a bit TVR for me but its certainly unique!

cheers re the taillights, they're not everyones cup of tea, but look sweet i think in the flesh, and i was rapt just to get them working, to be honest (they need 12 relays and two special flashers to work )
the gauges were all up about half the price of one autometer gauge, so no complaints from me there, and the cluster was just to be a bit different. it looks a lot better with my custom dash fitted which covers all the wires etc.
cheers

340i

[FiveStar]

hey FiveStar, yeah car is based in welly. Awesome you're in dunnas, that place is wicked for students.
i joined bimmersport a while back but found them to be a bit stuck up in general, like heaps thought they were cool or vip just cos they drove a bmw. theres heapsa good dudes on the site, but it just wasnt for me.
good luck with your car, i know how it is being away at uni and working on it in the holidays while getting minimum wage, i did it for six years! lol.
post some pics when you get work done on yours, e21's are getting rare in nz, and are becoming the forgotten bmw i think, so its good to see them out there.

Yeah, the antartic temperatures aren't the best though! Bimmersport just banned some SLAG's(slow, low and..), the rest of them have been helpful.. although not too knowledgable about e21's. And I know exactly what you mean about working on the car in the holidays with minimum wage, was far worse as I got the car when I was 16/17 and minimum wage back then was a joke. All the best in australia, I'm sure your car will miss you!

[340i]

So...
i havnt even seen my e21 since the beginning of march, but am headin home this weekend for two days, and will be taking the old girl for a spin (if it still runs ). this is a bit of a non-post, other than for me to vent my excitement and anticipation.
i plan on heading to a small 'drift track' called Slipway, which is in my hometown of wellington (search it on youtube for a look). it should be good times. im planning on taking some video of the action, and will post it up if my driving skills arent too embarrasing (iv driven about a dozen times this year, mostly in a 70hp civic, so i may be a tad rusty... )

[micke21]

Hi, What 5 stud hubs were used on the 340? i have wanted to convert an e21 for ages!

[340i]

they were custom made for me. any engineer with a lathe and some verniers should be able to knock some up. only thing to add would be that i opted to have wheel studs (toyota thread) instead of using bolts.

[340i]

well iv finally got round to putting a little video together of my day doing skids. As i didnt build the car for drifting, it wasnt really a surprise that the suspension and diff were not remotely up to the job.

i spent most of the time with ALOT of body roll, which unloaded the inside wheel and made it difficult to get the car loose (the LSD was transferring next to nothing to the outside wheel).

Plan of attack for next time is to upgrade the rear sway bar, put new bushes in (its currently still running the original 1979 rubber bushes...), and weld up the diff (or shim it).

Anyway, i had alot of fun just doing some o's and big dirty burnouts!

[VerDi]

Nice! THe first time I see your car complete. Don't you have any pictures of it, when all the stuff is on? Rimm's hood, ...

[sarp]

Difficult to say something about this project : CHEERS !
The acceleration must be like : TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE !

[340i]

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t218 ... uarter.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t218/340i/front.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t218 ... uarter.jpg

Verdi, the hood is a bit of a work in progress, like everything else. I may still just go back to a standard hood, or just not use one at all. Theres pictures of most of the rest of the car earlier in this thread.

sarp, you're right, the acceleration is very good. i havnt timed it, but assume it should do a flat 12 on the quarter.
with the 4.3:1 diff, the gears are very short. i couldnt even use first gear when doing the skids, it would just bounce of the rev limiter. so most of the time i was just dumping the clutch in second from standstill.

another few things probably worth mentioning is that i didnt have much prep time, so the car never even had a wheel alignment. i flew into town, partied with friends all night and got about 4 hours sleep before getting up to go to the track. all she needed was some fuel, a top up of oil, and a jump start, and it was all good

[BillSchroeder]

I got dizzy watching the video.

Super cool though... I can imagine just tapping the gas and having the rear break loose---EEooooww!

[340i]

I've decided I'm going to be living outside NZ for several years, so am considering options to either part with my car or break it down and start afresh with another one at my new home in Sydney.

I've priced up shipping to Australia and its not looking like a feasible option to keep it whole, and it would also be very difficult for me to get it registered too, so PM me if you're interested in making an offer on the car. All 'reasonable' offers will be considered, and I'd be willing to sell it as a rolling chassis if the buyer wants to drop a non-show car engine in there to save some money.

Failing this, I'm considering stripping the entire car and shipping all the mechanicals to Australia to drop into a locally registered shell. Therefore, the shell (and glass etc) would be up for offer. So please PM me if you're interested in this.

This has not been an easy decision to make, as I've poured a shitload of time and money into this project, and never really had a good chance to enjoy the fruits of my labour. I think though, that building a '340i v2' could be interesting, and maybe do a few things differently/better/higher spec...

cheers.

[FiveStar]

What price are you looking at, and what else needs to be done?

Gutted about the car, but good luck in aus.

[340i]

...just a quick update on the 340i...

i didnt end up selling it and i didnt end up staying overseas, so im going to get back into working on it in the upcoming months. top of the list is some suspension upgrades, shimming the diff or adding an aftermarket 2-way lsd centre, and maybe a paintjob if i still have time and money after getting it road legal (after 7 years off the road...).