Hi all, this is just a quick note to say hello and thanks for adding me to the forum. I’ve been lurking for some time, but now that I have posting privileges I wanted to mention that I have become the caretaker for @Gary Knox’s “Lorelei.” I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank Gary for his excellent stewardship of Lorelei during his ownership, and for being such a pleasure to get to know a little over the course of the past few years. Looking forward seeing everyone online here on the forum!
New Member — Familiar Car
- Thread starter stuartb
- Start date
What a great photo. That color looks awesome in that light
Thanks! I always thought I wanted an E9 in Fjord Blue, but I have yet to find any light in which this color doesn’t look great (IMHO).
I'm very happy that Lorelei has such a committed and caring new owner. Keep up the good work Stuart.
Driving in the city itself is tedious but much less nerve-wracking than in, say, Manhattan. Parking is also a chore, so I don’t really use a car for day-to-day transportation within the city. There are a lot of great roads within a day’s drive, though, so a fun car can really be enjoyed on weekends.
I’ve recently discovered that this car does not compute for the local insurance companies (one was trying to determine the car’s value by starting with the purchase price in 2019 and depreciating it for each year since, despite all the evidence I provided of rising prices), but that is another story.
Jesus,
This was a bored and stroked OE e9 engine that was built by Metric Mechanic in the US in the early 1990's. They refer to it as a 3.8+. They also converted to fuel injection at that time. LOTS of torque, runs smoothly, and is a really great engine upgrade.
This was a bored and stroked OE e9 engine that was built by Metric Mechanic in the US in the early 1990's. They refer to it as a 3.8+. They also converted to fuel injection at that time. LOTS of torque, runs smoothly, and is a really great engine upgrade.
We had to do some additional research on the engine for purposes of importing the car to Japan. It turns out that MM built the engine using the block from a European 745i (it was originally a 3.4 liter turbo engine). The current displacement seems to be 4 liters; MM later lost their source for the stroker crankshafts, so their later builds went only to 3.8 liters.
The current fueling system can’t quite meet the needs of the engine at full load/high revs, so I’m pondering an eventual move to a modern stand-alone engine management system and higher capacity fuel injection. Still a fun engine as-is, though!
Stuart,
Thanks for the update on engine source info. I had a couple of phone chats with the owner of Metric Mechanic shortly after buying the car, but the 'source' of block did not come up. Nice to know how he arrived at the 4 liter, as I'd always assumed it was a bit over 3.8. Getting full fuel to those cylinders should really make power.
Cheers,
Gary
Thanks for the update on engine source info. I had a couple of phone chats with the owner of Metric Mechanic shortly after buying the car, but the 'source' of block did not come up. Nice to know how he arrived at the 4 liter, as I'd always assumed it was a bit over 3.8. Getting full fuel to those cylinders should really make power.
Cheers,
Gary
calspyderman
Active Member
Beautiful car and welcome! What's it like driving a left-hand drive on right hand roads? 
The only times it’s inconvenient are (1) at toll booths that don’t use electronic payment (since they are on the wrong side of the street) and (2) when curb parking (since there is not always much room to open the curb-side door).Beautiful car and welcome! What's it like driving a left-hand drive on right hand roads?
Having grown up with LHD, I find it much harder to get used to to shifting with my left hand in a RHD car (and often end up banging my right hand into the door when I want to shift), so I’m pretty happy with LHD in a manual transmission car.
Love the picture. Thanks for posting