BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

I started a new project in this week. This is a original 325i and I'm going to restore whole car and I want more horsepower to this engine. Here are a few pictures on the restoration before and when I also started to detach parts of it.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Here are a few points what I need to fix at least.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Hi Ilkka! I usually don't read these projects but I was excited to see this listed for Mr. Finland. It already looks like a nice car but obviously has some areas that need to be fixed. This will be fun to watch. Happy holidays to you and your family!

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Hi LT7A! Thank you very much for your kind words. This project will probably take longer than our Chevy took, because I will have to restore this car alone. But this car doesn't have as much repair as Chevy had. Have a nice holiday for you and your family too.:)

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Here are a few more pictures of rust.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Today we lifted the engine out of the car. My brother was a big help and a big thank you to him.

The engine was not original because the block is year 1986.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Not usually my kind of car but I like it . Are body parts available new or will you source them from a salvage yard ? What are your engine plans ?

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Thank you Flashed! New parts are still available and I already ordered the part below the windscreen. Front fenders I have to buy new or repair old ones. Many people say that aftermarket fenders don't fit well. Other rust repairs I'm probably doing straight sheet metal.

For this engine, which by the way is the M20B25 (2.5L 12-valve), I intend to install a 2.8L 24-valve (M52B28) crankshaft and pistons. The compression ratio is to be raised higher. The cylinder head is being modified. The camshaft becomes better. Exhaust manifolds will be better. Exhaust pipe bigger. Fuel injectors bigger. Adjustable motor control is very likely to occur. Lighter flywheel. Of course, all bearings etc. will be new.
I want the engine to look original but more powerful than new. I don't want to install a turbo even if it gets a lot of horsepower. For example, here's a YouTube link from a car in the same city as me. The owner of this car is a really skilled Tuner !!!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...2U-zbLcJZKJ1zh

I am happy if I can get to my car around 220-230 horsepower because the car is pretty light weight (1200 kg). New to this car have been 170 horsepower.

My English is pretty weak but hopefully you got it! ;)

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Your English and explanation are perfect , waiting for more .

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

A few days ago I removed the cylinder head. There were deep scratches in the block. I have another block, but I'm not sure about its condition. I also have other pistons (lower) ready for the new crankshaft but they are standard size. So hopefully that second block is better.

Today I cleaned the gearbox and removed the valves from the cylinder head. I made my own tool for removing the valves.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Cool project. It looks like Heikki Lunta has been a little hard on it, but not too bad for thirty years worth. Thanks for posting!

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Thanks a lot KShortell! Ha ha, Heikki Lunta has really been here, but hopefully I'll get the car repaired in the wake of his visit.:lol:

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Now both engines are disassembled. And both engine blocks were bad, so I have to buy oversize pistons and drill the blocks bigger. I have tried to look for oversize pistons but quite difficult to find at least Europe. Ireland engineering Motorsport and Top end performance (both in California) and Metric Mechanic (also in USA) sell pistons but are very far from here. There is one company in Sweden where I can get the right pistons, maybe???

Here are a few pictures when the blocks are disassembled. One picture shows the "new" crankshaft (in the plastic bag) that comes into use. Only the "ring" shown in the illustration must be fitted to the front of the crankshaft first. The original crankshaft have a 75mm long stroke and this "new" has an 84mm long stroke.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

The first time in my life I did the cylinder head porting. Hope I didn't spoil it!?! Exhaust ports I polished, but intake ports I did not polished. Last picture before porting.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

I tried a little polishing the valves. These are the original valves and are reported to be of better quality than the aftermarket valves. New originals are really expensive and that's why I'm trying to get them refurbished.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Here is some photos of parts of what I have bought. For example, Schrick 272 camshaft, Schrick valve springs, 135mm Maxpeedinsrods connecting rods, stainless steel exhaust manifold, connecting rod bearings, gaskets, etc.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

The engine is now being drilled by a professional, so I started repairing the rust spots on the car. The last picture shows what it looks like when it's new. So there's a lot of work to do because I want to fix it like the original.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

New Wiseco pistons (84.5mm) have arrived. The pistons are 0.5mm oversized. The piston pins come from another manufacturer because the wiseco pins are too hard.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Here are some pictures of slow progress in rust repair.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

I've been following along from the start. I had a BMW myself once and had to do some engine work on it too, but not as much as you are doing. Your rust repairs are looking good.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Thank you so much Russell Ashley! Was your BMW also an E30 body model? Rust repair is really slow because I want it to look completely original and I haven’t bought ready-made repair pieces.
By the way. The engine specialist announced yesterday that the engine is now ready. I'm going today to get the engine home.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

The engine is now pre-assembled. Only the block needs to be painted yet. The camshaft was different from what I had ordered from ebay. I ordered 272/272, but I had been sent a 284/272 degree camshaft. Hopefully I can get the emission measurement approved on that tighter camshaft.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

The front right corner is now welded.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

I started to fix the left front corner.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Still following along. You are doing nice work. We don't have snow here so it was never driven in salt, so I never had to contend with any rust thankfully. My BMW was a 528E, I'm not sure if that was a E30 model as I never heard it referred to by that number. Keep up the good work.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

For a long time a little update.
We had to build an extra garage for Chevy where we can store it for the winters. At the same time, we built more storage space.

I haven’t had time to do anything for BMW in about seven months because all the time went into the garage expansion. My hands were also so painful that I had to heal them.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Yesterday I went to the garage a bit to continue welding BMW for a long time.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Thank you so much Russell Ashley! That your BMW 528E has probably been an E28 model. It's a great car!

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

A few weeks ago I bought another BMW E30 -90. This is 318is (16 valves) and it has been standing for about 5 years. Here is also the original sport interior and sunroof. The engine is a bit tuned and has 162 hp. I’m supposed to make this look completely original from the outside.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

It’s been a long time since I last posted anything here. Restoring my own BMW 325i stopped for about a year when I restored my wife’s BMW 318 iS car. Here are some project images from the 318 iS.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

More BMW 318iS project pictures...

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

More BMW 318iS project pictures...

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

More BMW 318iS project pictures...

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

More BMW 318iS project pictures...

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

More BMW 318iS pictures...

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

You sir have some great fab skills! Nice transformation!

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Nice work.
I took the easy way out adding power to my 99 E-36. I swapped in a LS/T56 combo. It was a great project.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Mr. Finland! Good to see you back Ilkka! You did a nice job on your garage addition. Glad to see you get started on your next car. I wonder about the story though. Did your wife see it and like it so much that she wanted one? And because you are a smart man, you built hers first? Haha. There is a 318is in my neighborhood that has been sitting since 2007. I have stopped by and let my neighbor know that if they want to free up their driveway, that I would be happy to help them by buying that car. It is black like yours, but just the 318 sport. I will be following along and glad to see that you can get back to your 325e. I really like your plan of putting a longer crankshaft in there. And with those forged pistons you should be able to run a high compression ratio. I like turbo cars, but large displacement naturally aspirated ones have instantaneous power which is also fun. Welcome back. I hope that you and your family have been doing okay with this worldwide crazy pandemic.

Re: BMW 325i 1989 restoration
 

Thank you very much LEEVON! I’m just trying to do my best and I hope that’s enough. :)

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Thank you very much LS short box!
Wow! Great BMW E36 for you! Was it hard to get the LS engine to fit? How much horsepower and torque is there? I have also had several E36 body styles and those are good to drive, especially the coupe was really good and stable to drive on the track.