Welcome to our BMW E30 based Marlin Sportster Build Site,

we hope you will find this documentation interesting and helpful.

The site has grown massively since its inception in 2005, I hope to one day soon improve the navigation as it's a bit overwhelming to start with. The main areas of interest to builders will be:

The rolling chassis build
Bodywork Fitting
SVA Issues
Final Assembly

If you would like read about the build in date order then have a look at his page.

It took 2.5 years to build the car and pass SVA and a lot longer to get to where it is now! To see the Sportster out on the road have a look at one of the videos here.

During 2008 we rebuilt the BMW engine from 2.5 to a 2.8 creating an M20B28 stroker engine. It uses the crankshaft from the later BMW M52B28 and the conrods from the M20B20. Not much more work is needed other than a clean up, slotting those bits together and a crank spacer. To read about the engine build click here (very picture heavy!)

Finally in March 2009 it was painted, a full set of images is here.

To read the whole build from the start click here.

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08/08/2005

Steering Rack

Doh! Steering rack is too big at either end and needs to go back to Marlin to be modified. Its about 2.5cm out one side and 5cm on the other. Major toe out!

05/08/2005

Parts!

Woohoo delivery from Marlin including the steering rack, track rod ends, electric fan, brake servo and master cylinder.
Electric was needed because the viscose fan wouldn't fit in with the radiator in place. The donor radiator was a bit too big as well so we are waiting for a new one those too.
Track rod ends are not part of the kit-in-a-box so those need to be ordered seprately.

27/07/2005

4 to 5 stud adapter

I've had a few questions on where I got the adapters from. I purchased them off eBay, however the original seller bought them off someone in the states who had them made by: http://www.motorsport-tech.com/

25/07/2005

4 to 5 stud adapter

Due to having a full set of E36/46 wheels sitting in the garage with almost new Bridgestone RE720 rubber it seemed a shame not use it. We've sourced a set of 4 to 5 stud adapters from eBay to allow fitment to the E30 hubs.


Click me

23/07/2005

Engine

Test fit of engine. Got bored waiting for steering rack so we thought we'd "chuck" the engine in and see how it fits - very nicely from the look of it. The gearbox mount bracket is a bit off so its being held up with a jack until that's bent in to the right shape and had one hole moved a bit.
Pictures here:


Click me

10/07/2005

LSD Restored and fitted

New pictures in the gallery showing the cleaned up and de-rusted limited slip differential fitted to the Sportster.

More new pictures of the front with the brake calliper and wheel test fitted: Click me

09/07/2005

LSD

Thank you to pacerpete on www.E30Zone.co.uk I now have a 3.91 ratio LSD for the Sportster! Went to collect it today. Now it needs to be cleaned - de rusted and painted ready to go in the car. - Anyone need a 3.91 open diff?

06/07/2005

Bits! and Front suspension

Excellent! I got big funny shaped box from Marlin today. Quite a lot more bits, specifically ball joints and shocks. Click me

Front suspension is together! Just need the steering rack now for final test fit. I've put pictures up of the progress. Also test fitted the front anti roll bar. I still need to fabricate brackets for them.Click me

05/07/2005

Brake Pipes

Don't have any pictures yet but after getting some male/male adapters I was finally able to get on with installing the rear brake pipes and hoses. Looks pretty good. I may invest in a pipe flaring tool to do it properly.

03/07/2005

Pedal Box

The pedal box is close to complete now. I decided to use the ball bearings from the donor car. This needed a bit of work on the pedals to make them fit. The tubes that they pivot on needed drilling out to 20mm to allow the BMW bearings to fit in. Got there in the end, pictures can be seen here:

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