bmwe21.net forums

Alright. Here we go. Been itching to start a build thread for a long time and finally got my hands on a clean(ish) 83 320i. So far, I ripped out the old tired m10, getrag 5 speed, almost all of the interior minus the dash pad , steering wheel, and pedals. Plans are to go with e46 front subframe and suspension, rear e28 subframe and suspension with e30 diff, Volvo whiteblock inline 5 turbo with a zf5 bmw transmission. That’s the plan at least but tracking down a whiteblock is easier said than done. Eventually the car will get a group 2 replica widebody as well. Apologies in advance , this is not going to be an overnight build and anyone following will be waiting for my motivation and wallet to line up lol

Looking forward to this build! Please share as many pics as you can

bare with me as i learn how to upload images lol. so, to start with a back story. this car was a running, driving 120k mile grocery getter about 2 years before i acquired it. the car lost fuel pump and the fuel system was filled with rust and gunk so the car sat for about 25 months. i picked her up may of this year (2025) with full intentions of building a spin off of the group 2 car. this was the day i brought her home. clean, very very little rust little 320i

so immediately upon arrival to my house, the car was pushed off the trailer and the gutting process began. carpet, sound deadening, heat tape, heater core, carpet, speakers, the whole 9 was tore out with the exception of the dash, pedals, and steering column and wheel. i failed to take pictures while it was cleaned up inside but ill see what i can get in current condition.

couple of days passed, found motivation to pull the old m10 out and start measuring and brainstorming on engine/trans combos that would be unique and lightweight with good power output. motor came out ridiculously easy!

Last week i was finally able to get my lost cause project out of the shop and get ol hot dog pushed into her home for the next few months. immediately went to work and ripped out the entire factory fuel system and all of the lines and hoses the engineers had to offer. poured about half a gallon of varnished rusty fuel on my chest so that was fun to explain when i came in for the night during the process of the fuel system removal, my e46 front subframe arrived in the mail so i removed the e21 assembly as a whole (will be for sale in illinois (6/10/25)) and started mocking up how im going to tackle mounting it as its about 3 inches wider than the e21 mounting points under the frame rail.

SO. since the plan is group 2 widebody, ive accepted that the wide track width of the e46 subframe paired with e36 wishbones is not at all an issue. i now have my hands on the IRP e46 adjustable lollipops as well so its go time to get this thing mounted. i started by setting the subframe on jack stands up against the frame rail and mounting wishbones and the spindles to get an idea at where the centerpoint will be. i found that the lowest point on the fender that i can take a parallel measurement gave me 27 inches across so while keeping proper angles on the upright, i fine tuned and made my marks. on the e21 frame rails, theres a bit of a pinch seam that protrudes below the outside of the frame so that needed removing in order to flat mount the plates that i will be building in order to outboard and solid mount this subframe. i started on the passenger side last night and so far so good. not to get more steel and finish the other side tonight!