For BMW owners and enthusiasts
323i
I also bought a very rare BMW e3 2500 from the editor of Practical Classics magazine with a view to making some modifications. Sympathetic ones of course. However, the car was in such lovely condition it would have been a shame to change things so I sold it on instead. The best thing about the deal was that Cancer Research recieved a sizeable donation.
So the search was on for a new car and obviously it had to be a BMW. If I'm honest, I did look around at some Porsche 944's as I have always liked them but they are just a bit too run of the mill for me. I also started looking at e30's. My all time favourite car is the e30 M3 and I still hope to own one some day. Right now though my budget would probably only have stretched to a personal import basket case needing extensive work. I then looked at some ads for 318is and one car in particular seemed very good value at just over £2K. It was silver with a black leather Recaro interior and remained standard apart from 17'' Alpina alloys. Very nice. A final scan of the cars available on an internet auction site resulted in me spotting exactly what I wanted. A freshly restored e21 323i which had been modified with fast road use and track days in mind. Perfect.
I had seen this car advertised before but good e21 323's are getting rare and their values are starting to reflect this. There was a mobile number in the advert but even better, it was only 3 miles away. Some things are just meant to be aren't they? A couple of hours later the vendor had called and I was on my way to view the car hoping that it would turn out to be as good as I hoped it would be. As you can see from the photos the colour is not exactly subtle but it suits the styling and age of the e21 perfectly. The bodyshell has been extensively restored to a high standard and the engine and injection converted with a 2.5 from an e30. The suspension and brakes have also been replaced and uprated. The whole car was just what I wanted and left just enough modifications being needed for me to put my own personal touches on the car. A full independent inspection confirmed that the car was indeed 'a good'un'.
I have had the car for a couple of months now and, despite it's age, it has been used as my daily driver. The performance is a real step up from the levels of a standard 323i and handling is great thanks to Spax all round, an LSD and the fitting of slightly wider 15'' alloys from Fondmetal.
When I consider that my whole car probably didn't cost much more than some people spend on tyre in 2 years the e21 is an absolute steal. I hankered after one of these when I first got a driving licence and they were a current model. I might consider swapping for an e30 M3 but then again?
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Comment by Sam (Southern Region Rep) on January 18, 2010 at 5:41pm - One word..... AWESOME! What a fantastic build and amazing finished product. Maximum respect to the builders, they are obviously a very skilled bunch of people to be able to produce that work of art :-)
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Comment by RICHARD on December 9, 2009 at 9:37am - That is unbelievable...
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Comment by Mark Brown - RetroBeemer on December 9, 2009 at 8:20am -
I came across this build. Awesome car and makes the V8 M3 look like a 318.
http://www.lancerregister.com/showthread.php?t=279732
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS5yDet6ngI
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Comment by Mark Brown - RetroBeemer on October 14, 2009 at 8:43am
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Well I am without my car and refuse to get on a bus, so guess I'm going to be stuck here till Friday.
My car has finally gone to have a bespoke exhaust system fitted so hopefully it'll come back sounding a sight fruitier than it did. I'm also hoping the centre box will no longer hit every lump and bump in the road and I can drive straight home rather than taking the route with the least amount of speed humps!
Birds UK are also going to take a look and see if they can come up with a single wiper conversion!
The leather Recaro seats are in and look awesome even if I do say so myself. Nothing like a bit of leather.
Anyway, more pictures to follow come Friday - all being well of course.
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Comment by Mark Brown - RetroBeemer on October 2, 2009 at 8:38am
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Well I have finally found a company who are prepared to build me a bespoke stainless sports exhaust. They usually do stuff in for race teams but they are going to build a system for my e21 next week. It should all be done and the car be back home in time for the magazine photo shoot with Performance BMW. The company that are doing it are www.christullettexhausts.com so if your in the market for an exhaust I would definately suggest you check them out. I'll post some pictures once my car is done.
I have also managed to track down a full leather Recaro interior. It has already been offered to someone else but they have yet to confirm they actually want it or actually handed over any cash. Hopefully, it will be mine.
Apart from that my car continues to run well without any mechanical issues - touch wood! The handle for the sunroof has snapped though so if anyone has a manual sunroof handle from an 80's car please get in tough.
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Comment by Mark Brown - RetroBeemer on September 19, 2009 at 1:02pm
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I thought I would post some details of my car.
1981 BMW 323i (e21 model)
Bodyshell recently restored including new sills etc
Engine transplant from e30 325i sport
(transplant meant moving battery to the boot and inclusion of Motronic injection system)
Suspension lowered by 60mm and fitted with Spax adjustable shocks & inserts.
Brakes uprated with grooved vented discs. Combined with EBC Greenstuff pads and braided hoses.
Alloy wheels replaced with 15x7J Fondmetal rims. 195/45x15 tyres all round.
Front alloy strut brace - self made.
Re-chipped ECU and cone filter fitted.
25% LSD
Genuine e21 Recaro seats
Plans for the future include a full exhaust system being supplied and built by Janspeed UK and a full leather retrim.
The modifications made, whilst not particularly expensive, have totally transformed the cars performance.
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