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The saga of my '82 320is
12 June 2003
picture of my 320is

This is an '82 320is that I bought in March 2003. I picked this car because the previous owner had done some upgrades that I would have done anyway so it saved me time and money.

Things like:

Eibach sport springs
'77 vented brakes
Stainless braided brake lines
Mild 272 degree duration cam
UUC short shifter
Battery moved to the trunk
Front strut brace
Free flow intake

I have owned an '83 320i and an '88 M5 previously so I am not new to BMW's. The original plan was for my teenage daughter to drive this car but my wife likes it so much no one can get it away from her!

Why do I own a BMW? Because I have hundreds of miles of roads like this surrounding my home! I live about 50 miles north of San Francisco. This picture is just west of where I live, along the Pacific Coast Highway. To the east is the northern California wine country with just as many great roads through the hills. Traffic can be a pain on weekends but is not bad during the week or on nice evenings.

What I have done to it so far:

Rebuilt the rear seat with new foam to replace the "horse hair" that was badly deteriorated. I was able to reuse the original upholstery. For the cost of some hog rings, foam and glue my seat is like new.
Rebuilt the center console to mount the stereo horizontally so I can see the face. I fabricated new sides from plywood and added some foam padding and black simulated leather. The "face" and "deck" of the new console are plywood overlayed with carbon fiber and epoxy. I used a leather e30 shift boot and a carbon fiber shift knob. I added an oil pressure gage, an air/fuel meter, and two power outlets-one for the radar detector and one for the power inverter used to keep my laptop computer charged to tune the programmable fuel injection. This picture does not show the aluminum trim piece at the rear, the air/fuel meter and "angle rings" used to tilt the gages for better viewing.
I turned a parking brake grip and button from some aluminum stock I had in the garage and fitted it to a 5 series parking brake handle. The 5 series brake handle has a bearing for a pivot so they don't wear out and get sloppy like 3 series brake handles do. Not all 5 series handles will fit, some have a wide pivot bearing, so measure before you buy one. For tunes, I installed a Pioneer CD player with new 4x6 speakers in the stock front location and 6x9 speakers in boxes on the rear package tray. This pic showes original console and the new parking brake handle.

Trans change to get a functional 3rd gear. The trans was purchased on Ebay. After installation I filled it with Valvoline synthetic gear oil, 2nd gear was very "notchy" until the trans was fully warmed up. After about 500 miles I drained the gear oil and replaced it with Redline MTL synthetic gear oil, what a remarkable difference!! The transmission shifts so well, and the short shifter with carbon knob are pure entertainment. While it was out I repaired the gear selector pivot on the trans to eliminate most of the shifter slop.
Radiator upgrade to a Volvo crossflow

Rear strut brace/battery mount. The PO had moved the battery to the trunk and had done a good job of wiring it but the battery was in a plastic box like those used on boats and was held in place with a plastic web strap. I built a strut brace/battery mount similar to those sold by TopEnd Performance, using about $12 worth of tubing I had in my garage. Retail price is about $170 so I am way ahead on this one. I personally don't see a need for a rear strut brace on any e21 unless it is a very strong race car with sticky tires. The rear seat frame ties the struts together well enough for all but the most extreme cars. I had the tubing and it seemed like a cool way to mount the battery so I did it anyway.

Front bumper tuck:

A/C removal. I pulled the compressor, condenser and hoses from the front of the car. It didn't work anyway and the weight off the nose makes a noticeable difference in handling. When I redid the console I removed the underdash parts to make room for the horizontal stereo.
14x6 "bottle cap" wheel upgrade:

Big exhaust system

Update 8 Feb. 2004: I just installed some prototype urethane sway bar to lower control arm bushings. They make a noticeable improvement in the effectiveness of the front sway bar and improve the feel of the car at speed. They do occasionally transmit some harshness from sharp edged bumps and potholes but it's not objectionable. They are now available through e21parts.net.

Update 25 June 2004: I installed new seats this spring. They are from Summit Racing and cost $200 ea. They are much more comfortable than the factory Recaro's and when I made the mounts I removed the factory seat mount humps so I could lower the seating position and gained about 1.5" of headroom. As you can see, they fit nicely, like they were designed for this car-even in the factory "door jam bulge".

I started the EFI install a couple of weeks ago and it is making progress. Check the EFI page under "Future Projects".

I have recently scored some MSW e21 specific basket weave wheels, a pair of 14x6 that I mounted some 195/60's on for the front and a pair of 15x7's that I installed 205/50's for the rear. I will continue watching for more 15x7's for the front. Both sets of wheels were pretty oxidized around the lips so I sanded them with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper to remove the crud, smooth some of the knicks and give them a "not quite polished" look. I repainted the centers a dark metalic grey, they look sweet!! Pics soon.