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New to the world of BMW

2K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  chknhwk 
#1 ·
In an effort to increase my speeds at the track I decided to get rid of my antiquated sports car and buy an even older BMW. A 1986 325es, in fact.
So, since I've never owned a BMW before, I'm here to learn about these cars, find out what makes them go fast(er) reliably, and find the best places to find said parts.
The car is need of several parts and I've listed them on my site: /bmw/about.html
:eek:
Like I said, I'm new and I'm looking for as much information as possible. Racing season has already started and I've done nothing since purchasing the car. I'd love to get it track ready by June but I don't see that happening... :(


JOHN
 
#2 ·
Welcome to bimmerwerkz.

325es is a great car, but it was built for economy, not speed ... as such, I doubt it's ever going to be a track star unless you do a s50 swap etc. They handle great, but the power is lacking in order for it to be fast.

Anyway, why didn't you get a 325is ? 50 hp more, LSD, sports seats, ... the whole 9 yards, stock.
 
#3 ·
welcome dude,

i checked ur site, so i dont get exactly what ur looking for...

i noticed u need brakes and rotors though, they have a great deal at www.performancepartsstore.com

for the brake lines, ebay

for the bushings, check www.bimmerworld.com


basically for everything else, check turnermotorsports.com, uucmotorwerkes.com, activeautowerkes.com,bimmerworld.com,bimmerzone.com

forgive me if i forgot anysites...
 
#5 ·
I have an '86 325es too. Like everyone said, it's not exactly a track star. Until you put an S50 in it. I hope to do that soon. $$ is the big factor right now. Post some pics of your car! if you have any specific questions feel free to ask.
www.bavauto.com and www.pelicanparts.com are nice too. There isn't too much that you can't get from one of those two sites. Good thing we still have a good following for E30's!
later!:D

p.s. cool website!
 
#9 · (Edited)
Thanks everyone and thanks for the props on my site. It's my general design but it's not done yet and I didn't write the code, a buddy of mine did. Just can't seem to get the hang of HTML. :confused:
Anyway, I thought the es was the car to have, not the is?? Where can I find a technical breakdown of the differences between the two? I picked the car up for $1100 and I don't plan on leaving the engine alone so all in all I think it is a better starting point than where I was (1998 Mustang Cobra that had gobs of torque but couldn't turn and a 1998 SVT Contour that had gobs of torque, cornered like a maniac but broke down CONSTANTLY). :lol:
Pretty much everything listed on my site is everything I need to be able to track the car reliably that I know of. If these cars have any issues that I don't know of I'll find out. What types of things warrant keeping an eye on? I know this is a pretty broad question but I really don't know where else to start. Search terms I've been using are 'E30' and '325es'. I don't really know how else to classify it...

EDIT: PS>What is the S50 engine and where can I find a breakdown of all the engine codes?
 
#10 ·
Look at this: http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/enumber.html << It has a chart for most of the E and M (engine) numbers. The s50 is the engine from a e36 m3 -- a very popular swap.

325es was a 2.7 liter version of the m20 that the 325is got ... it had a lot of torque but little horsepower and as you know it redlines at 4500 rpm ... it was built for economy. The 325is got the 2.5 liter version of the engine with 170 hp, etc. I'm sure the link I posted will give you some info on e30s and es/is differences if you click the e30 page.
 
#14 ·
Torque said:
Look at this: http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/enumber.html << It has a chart for most of the E and M (engine) numbers. The s50 is the engine from a e36 m3 -- a very popular swap.

325es was a 2.7 liter version of the m20 that the 325is got ... it had a lot of torque but little horsepower and as you know it redlines at 4500 rpm ... it was built for economy. The 325is got the 2.5 liter version of the engine with 170 hp, etc. I'm sure the link I posted will give you some info on e30s and es/is differences if you click the e30 page.
So what do you guys think about an S52 engine sold here on the forums?
 
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