Sparky is back from Bimmer Haus, got an alignment done, and some recommendations for how to set up the suspension. While it was gone, I took the time to get rid of a bunch of junk in the garage, and build a newer, smaller work bench, so I can actually work around both sides of the car while it is in the third bay. It's still cramped, but at least functional now.
The tire clearance issues are substantially worse than I thought originally, however. The rear of the car is great. I pulled the springs out of the rear suspension, and jacked up the wheel to max travel to check fender clearance, and it looks great!
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After mild trimming of the bumper, and confirming clearance, I welded the inner fender liner to the outer skin, which ended up being extremely challenging for two reasons: I did not clean and prep nearly as well as I should have, and after some grinding, the steel on the inner fender was very much on the thin side for a monkey with a $300 mid welder to handle. But it got done. Judicial application of seam sealer and some riv nuts got us here:
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Following that I shot paint on all the bare metal, molded the ABS fenders to better follow the contour of the body, and trimmed them to clear the factory rubber trim, and I am extremely happy how the rear turned out!
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There is a little more trimming to do in the future, plus smoothing them out, painting, and adding welting, but the goal for now was just to get the car race ready. Here is where the problems begin:
Switching to the front, this is what I am looking at on the driver's side front, at full droop, steering locked to the right:
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This is looking at the rear of the wheel well. As you can see, I've already removed any fender liners and trim, and gone at the chassis a bit with a sledge hammer. There are so far no clearance issues in the front of the wheel well. I'm really starting to realize how huge these 255-40R17s are compared to the stock 185s or 195s these cars had. By turning the wheel back to the left, until it stops, and jacking up the wheel (already removed the spring), the problem is magnified. You can see just how little room there is in here.
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I'm already having concerns about hammering in that firewall too far, but to add to that problem, there is potential clearance problems above the wheel as well. I was strongly recommended by the tech at Bimmer Haus to shorten my bump stops, and further trim back the front fenders before attaching flares. I was onboard with this until I looked underneath and saw this:
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The main chassis rail that mounts to the strut tower and core support is fairly close above the tire, and appears to already have had some personal interference. Even worse, its only about 1/4" above the highest point I've cut in the fender. I'm getting very concerned about not being able to get clearance without modifying something structural. My only saving grace is that while racing, the problem areas theoretically shouldn't be an issue, because the suspension is off-load when the wheel is turned like that in a hard corner. But even at max droop, the tire still hits. I need to do more research, and see how other people have attacked this problem on E30s. Otherwise, any suggestions would be much appreciated! I'm still hoping to make it to the first autocross in two weeks, but I'm getting doubtful.
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I reached out to DIY AutoTune, hopefully will hear back tomorrow. Might also contact a local dyno shop and see if they have encountered anything similar.
