I had some time on my hands the other night, went out to the garage, and much to my surprise, there’s nothing left on my punch-list to do on the BMW. Sure there’s plenty left to do — just not much I can do myself. The new suspension components have started to arrive. Once the new brake calipers get here, I’ll throw on the rear springs and shocks and take it down to Dan Martin to install the front struts/springs; fix the leaky cam gear seal, and flush the brakes. The first CCA track weekend is in less than 3 weeks. I should be in a good position to base-line the car. I won’t do the full Spec E30 suspension right away. I’d rather get some seat-time and understand how the car handles with only minor changes before going with a full race set-up.

The wait is finally over. The F-22 turned 20 this month and can be registered as a “historic vehicle”. Since I purchased the car out of state, I would have had to go through the Maryland’s bureaucratic inspection goat-rope, aka the mechanics & bureaucrats work protection act. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for safety, but this process makes no sense. I actually got the car inspected so I’d have a punch-list of things to correct, but found the inspection checklist was of little value for sorting out the car. For example, here’s a list of things my car failed:

• No rear seat-belts (because there are no rear seats).
• Hole in fender (where the antenna used to be).
• Window tint uneven (on a rear passenger side window).
• Window won’t go up due to bad switch. (I can understand why not going down would be a safety issue, but up?…)

But what didn’t the inspection turn up? A cracked and crumbling flex-joint in the drive-line; one of two transmission mounts was sheared as well as both engine mounts (meaning that the lone remaining transmission mount was all that was holding the engine & transmission to the chassis). And the speedometer didn’t work at the time.

So rather than fixing things just to get registered and then turning around in the Spring and ripping them out when autocross season starts up again, I thought I’d just wait for historic eligibility and skip the State inspection process since I have to get a technical inspection before I can go out on the track anyway.

So here’s where I’m starting the year:

• Weight Reduction: Items removed so far — Cruise Control; AC Compressor, AC Condensor/Dryer, & Electric Fan; Mechanical Fan; fog lights; stereo, four speakers, & electric antenna; automatic locking system; trunk trim; rear seats and seat-belts.
• New Items: Adding some weight back — seat-covers; new electric fan.
• Repairs: Timing belt; fan belt; PS belt; valve cover gasket; coil, spark plugs & plug wires; water pump & thermostat; replaced all hoses; rear shocks; catalytic converter & muffler; instrument cluster; driver’s door lock; control arms, tie rods, control arm bushings; brakes, rotors, stainless steel brake lines.

I don’t have enough miles on the car yet to know anything about it’s reliability. My plan is to take it down to Dan Martin to get the Guibo fixed and get his assessment of what needs to be done to be track worthy by March. Depending on how that goes, I’ll start driving it more regularly and then prioritize what needs to be done to make it faster.

After several false starts, I finally managed to remove the old exhaust system on the 325is and install the new cat and muffler I’ve had since August. All of the DIY postings I’ve read on e30 exhausts have said the same three things: 1. Don’t try this without a lift; 2. This thing is long; and 3. It’s heavy. Right on all three. You can do it with the car on jack-stands, but be prepared for a lot of up and down work. It helps to have a couple of extra stands to support the exhaust; an extra jack to move it up into position; and a skateboard to help guide the exhaust under the car.

Bolted together, the old cat and muffler weighed in at 60 lbs. The new one came in slightly lighter at 55 lbs. The mufflers are essentially the same, but there have been some changes to the mid-pipe over the last 20 years. Catalytic converters are much more efficient and much smaller now. The old one also had an elaborate heat shield that rotted away.

The e30 exhaust system has basically three parts. A pair of very short exhaust headers (which I didn’t remove); a mid-pipe with the O2 sensor and cat; and a pipe and muffler section.

I’m not sure I understand the basic design principles involved though. The BMW 6 cylinder engine has two exhaust headers. The new pipe has an X-pipe at the O2 sensor, but then the two pipes continue to the cat. Before the cat, they go through a Y-pipe and enter a larger diaper tube into the cat. That larger pipe is perhaps 2 1/2 inches in diameter; the other pipes about 2 inches. Then there is another Y-pipe and back into two smaller diameter pipes to the muffler. Why not a Y-pipe at the O2 sensor, then a single pipe all the way back? That has to be a lighter design.

I guess I don’t have to understand it to appreciate it. The new system sounds great and seems to have a bit better throttle response, so the redesigned cat must be more free flowing. Also when I walk up to the car, I don’t have to look at the old crappy muffler any more. Yeah.