E30 Zone

After spending hours reading build threads I have decided to make one myself, I'm slowly getting to grips with the mechanical side of things however help may be needed from more experienced people as I go through this build.

It is my first thread so it may be a bit rough around the edges..

Right, I've started my project of engine swapping my 316i laguna green touring. I've gotten well stuck in with it and I want to document it somehow for reference.

So, the story goes:

September 2014, age 18, I bought this:



Yes, it was bought because of the numberplate..

With a good poke I soon started to find rust, but hey ho, old cars and that:



So a couple years go by, I started buying new interior bits and body panels to replace my beaten up ones:







Then July 2016 I got the car resprayed:







Everything was going well and then one morning December 2016 I didn't see a speed bump..





I tried to fix it however the upper sump was cracked pretty badly too and I didn't really want to spend money on an engine that I really wanted to later upgrade.

So I took it off the road whilst I decided what the future held for her, then this happened:





I've always been a big fan of the m30's, I was hoping to get a donor car but they were getting so expensive.

With this I was able to start work on my car. First thing, get that little 4 pot out so I spend a couple nights removing what I can:



With the help of 3 other mates we was able to pull the engine out with no engine crane:





Then, due to storage issues, I had to get the engine up to my very handy friend Ant's (dirtee-herbert) place where he could hold it for me whilst I sort my place out.

So the strip down begun, unfortunately the engine was in worse condition than hoped, many blocked coolant ports, a few creamy head bolts and some internal rusting. My plan was to give the engine a quick once over and get her in, but for reliability sake and with the help of Ant I decided to go with a full strip down:







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His project kind of got me started with the whole thing, the amount of attention to detail that has been added is insane:



Due to him living about 3 hours away, it is not so easy for me to get up there so for now I have started work on the car, I am wanting to get as clean of an engine bay as possible, this will mean relocating battery, washer bottle, fuse box and removing abs.

So the challenge of removing every single plug from the car began, got the engine bay clear and I'm currently on the interior:



After removing the front carpet, I found something I did not want to see, a couple years ago when I got my car mot'd, it failed on front jacking points, being a novice I let them do it for ï¿a100 just so I could carry on driving. Turns out, it wasn't the best job, they literally just welded a plate over the rust holes.



Due to me being an young apprentice and living on my own, the financial side of things are going to be the reason why this will take so long. So far, I'm happy to keep picking away at anything I can do that is free/cheap whilst I save up for engine parts etc.

I do have future plans, for the engine; preparing it to a standard where it can be turbo'd in the future, but making the engine much more how I want it to be i.e. make a custom plenum:



Let's see what the future holds.

If anyone wants some more e30 stuff: http://www.instagram.com/_le96

That brown tourin looks delightful.
Has he a build thread??

So far so good!

Thanks for sharing.

dirtee-herbert wrote:That brown tourin looks delightful.
Has he a build thread??

dude, you need to make one.

pierce wrote:So far so good!

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks pierce, I will try update this as much as possible. Fun times ahead!

Nice project, look forward to the updates

Nice

Very good choice of engine (but i would say that lol) You will not regret it!

Only prob is you will need a well paying job to be able to afford the fuel as these lumps drink like an alcoholic

I look forward to the updates

Cypriotgeeza wrote:Nice

Very good choice of engine (but i would say that lol) You will not regret it!

Only prob is you will need a well paying job to be able to afford the fuel as these lumps drink like an alcoholic

I look forward to the updates

Thanks! I have read through your thread a couple times now, can't beat a love hate relationship!

I'm hoping the car is good enough for me to not need to worry about the stupidly high fuel consumption. Anyway, I'll cross that bridge when it comes haha

lellis wrote:

Cypriotgeeza wrote:Nice

Very good choice of engine (but i would say that lol) You will not regret it!

Only prob is you will need a well paying job to be able to afford the fuel as these lumps drink like an alcoholic

I look forward to the updates

Thanks! I have read through your thread a couple times now, can't beat a love hate relationship!

I'm hoping the car is good enough for me to not need to worry about the stupidly high fuel consumption. Anyway, I'll cross that bridge when it comes haha

Thanks for taking the time to read my thread!

Oh trust me there is ALWAYS smiles for miles! I did £55 in one night recently and didn't even think twice about it lol

Great engine in an E30!

Wow Great project to see! The touring and the M30 are a good, maybe the best, combination thinkable. Don't know why BMW didn't make it as an option from the factory... Got another subscriber!

Well done! Always great to see someone getting involved. Have never been in a M30 powered E30 but it pulls nicely in a E34 so im guessing it will be pretty epic in a smaller chassis.

P.s that number plate is cool! The L'bad wagon! a˜Ž

Great stuff here!

Ajsingh wrote:P.s that number plate is cool! The L'bad wagon! a˜Ž

This was seriously the main reason I bought the car..


Thanks for all the comments guys

First update, only a small one. I have been very busy () at the moment and nice weather usually means i'm out on my bike. However I finally got a free weekend and weather was perfect for more stripping!

So i started with removing the front panels, I am wanting to remove my slam panel so that I have a much better access when shaving my engine bay and when the day comes to fitting the anchor, it will be much easier than trying to bend it over the panel.

In progress.



With a good bit of poking around the sealant I found some more weight savings.





Completed.



Oh and to make sure I remember what car it is.



Then I started on removing the headlining, so I can get closer to removing all the wiring to relocate my fusebox to the glove
compartment, also it was as saggy as an 80 yr olds ..... you get the gist.



Luckily using the Wiki, this was actually much easier than I expected! I'll be getting fitting a new black fabric on this with some better glue than oem..



I apologise for the mess in my garage, i'm very limited for space until I build a workshop extension out the back of the garage, at the moment my big parts store is my spare room, it's looking pretty full already though.

I know not everyone likes this kind of look but this is what I am going for, I've seen a few like this and I really do prefer the look to a cluttered engine bay.



So that was it for me, next is to remove the dashboard to finally get the whole wiring loom out and then to get the grinder out and have some fun with the engine bay.

Have not updated this in a long while mainly due to not getting my a** into gear and getting this car sorted!

During this time I popped down to Santa Pod and had a gander around the mass of e30's there to really get me back on track with my own project, it turned out to be an awesome day with perfect weather too.



However, the progress since last has been that I finally got the wiring loom out, really hoping my tagging system and photos will be sufficient enough for me to understand where they all went!



After that I could start on the engine bay, due to the size of this engine I wanted to have a removable slam panel and with some ideas from other people I got to it





So this is so far, the poor thing has been sat in my garage for a long time now.

Whilst the weather has been dreadful I spent a few nights wasting my time creating this

Right, I've been pretty useless with my project over the winter due to other commitments and pretty horrible weather. However, I have been plodding on with little bits when I had chance so time for a little update.

I carried on chopping up the engine bay, doing a pretty bad job at it but I can sort that out later..



As I had said before, I had my engine in parts at my friends house up in Leeds due to not having enough space at mine. But I wanted something to tinker with so I cleared up what I can and drove up to collect it.



Turns out putting a BMW engine into a fiesta didn't make it faster, just made it very slow and wheelie everywhere..

With my new engine stand it just fitted in my already very tight garage!



And the rest of the engine parts went into my spare room



Not ideal, but I was happy to have everything now.

I could now start degreasing the engine block and stripping down some engine components for sand blasting and painting.







A great size comparison of a m30 rocker cover next to an m40 rocker cover.. crazy.



The winter nights were really taking it's toll meaning I couldn't do any work in the evenings so I decided to treat myself and make my own day light.



Then whilst researching prices on cylinder head refurbishments I decided not to spend £600 for someone else to do it and to have a go myself, just get the head dipped and skimmed and i'll reseat the valves and maybe give the ports a polish etc.

So the lounge table was taken over again.



After LOADS of photos and borrowing a few tools from my friends, in no time it was fully stripped!



Just need to find someone in East Mids to get it dipped along with my block and maybe a few other parts if anyone has any recommendations?

I organised a pile of what I want blasting and painting.



And most of these parts have now been sprayed, I will get some photo's and get them on here.

But for now that is it..

Cool project. Keep the updates coming.

Agreed

Love the Lego Touring.

looking good

Lovely to see all of this !!
Thats what spare rooms and tables are for (I think )

Mart.

So, a couple months back I decided to have an accident on my bike and tear a few ligaments in my knee, meaning I haven't been able to walk since but I've finally been given a new brace that supports me etc so I can now move about and start tinkering again.

I purchased a bunch of hazard and heated screen switches and have decided to convert them into voltmeter as these have seemed to be pretty popular but none are for sale currently.

Here is what I am aiming for.



I think they're a pretty neat addition to your centre console and lets you keep an extra eye on things.

All the parts are here for them but I just need to build them up.



They are very simple to install, no cutting or soldering needed. I will hope to produce an installation manual too, please message me if you're interested or if you want to find out more

Anyway, my project.. I have finally started work on the engine bay! It seemed to be a very daunting task but so far so good.

I had my friend round to assist me whilst I'm limping around and it was a massive help as he brought his welder and many other tools we needed for the day! We started by cutting the battery tray out, nice and simple warm up.





Then moved on to getting rid of all the surface rust in the chassis legs and cleaned them out ready for some weld proof primer.



We cut back the rust on the wheel well and it carried on for a while..



Then cut and shaped a replacement piece.



I am going for a smooth bay, so the next part was cutting one sheet out to fit on top of the leg. Not everyone's taste but I really like the look.

This turned out to be a much bigger challenge than predicted, a lot of card was used in the process, but we still ended up using the first cut piece after a few modifications and got it in place to weld.



And then once welded in and trimmed.



VERY happy with the outcome of the first side and I hope to get the other side done soon. Much more to do in the bay still, till next time

not a fan of the smoothed look but great work , and a decent read

Not much progress to add but I thought I'd show you my 'new' daily. Because of this knee injury I needed to get an auto and because I've had to sell my mountain bike I thought I'd treat myself and get another touring.

Here is my E34 520i Touring:



Only 63,000 miles on her, full service history, recent respray and underseal and with a full tool kit, working glove box light and an unused first aid box.











Oh, and some nice tacky walnut stick on trim that's some how growing on me.



Runs like a dream and makes me enjoy driving again!

Hopefully one day I can actually have them side by side, but for now this is as close as I can get.

Great read here and quality work and I love the e34, very clean indeed.

Mart.
(I dooooo like the wood effect)

E34 Looks like a good tidy purchase. Love the tool box.

Subscribed

martauto wrote:Great read here and quality work and I love the e34, very clean indeed.

Mart.
(I dooooo like the wood effect)

Thanks!

Yeah, i'm slowing getting used to the trim.. I just need to not think about spending money on the e34 and get my e30 finished first!

However, it could do with the m50b25 engine to give it that extra umph that a car that size needs. maybe..

daily E34 wagon is such a good idea! the term 'Practical Classic' couldn't be more fitting.

Serious work on that e30 engine bay, good stuff

SeanOB wrote:daily E34 wagon is such a good idea! the term 'Practical Classic' couldn't be more fitting.

Serious work on that e30 engine bay, good stuff

I'm in love with the e34, an absolutely flawless car that I can finally enjoy to drive again! The MPG is pretty poor but it really makes up for it.

Thanks for the positive feedback, it's taking a long time and with it being my first restoration I still have a lot to learn.

A solid day on the bay today.

Everything is a bit tricky with my messed up knee as I don't have the movement or flexibility to get things done easily.

First task of the day was to start with removing the necessary seam sealer from the areas that I want to eventually smooth out, but also so I can look for hidden rust of which I found..



This is where the wiring loom went through to the fusebox, this will need tackling.



I cleaned out the chassis leg and checked for rust spots before coating it with a weld through primer.



And then cut out the other sheet to sit on top.



The arch needs cutting back and a plate fitting just like the other side and I'm aware it has a massive lip but I did that so I didn't have to accurately measure it out, it will be cut back once tacked in place.

The next task was to create so plates to carry on the shape of the bay behind the strut towers




This is the area, the brake lines will now run under the chassis legs to keep them hidden, I know it isn't to everyone's liking.

So after a lot of CAD (cardboard aided design) work I was able to cut a piece out and after few more modifications it was sat in well.



I will hopefully be able to add some shape to them but for now these are just mock ups.

Luckily this part of the bay is symmetrical, so then another piece cut out and modified and it fits.



I think it's a neat way to smooth out the bay and also remove a water trap at the same time!

I'm sure it will never get noticed once the lump is in but oh well.

CAD ???
Truley brilliant mate !!!

I love the look of the bay and also the work you are putting into this considering your injury.
It`s not until people have been there that they realise how dishabilating/shit things can affect you .
Dont push your self too much mate, It will be there next week.
Cool progress .

Mart.

martauto wrote:CAD ???
Truley brilliant mate !!!

I love the look of the bay and also the work you are putting into this considering your injury.
It`s not until people have been there that they realise how dishabilating/shit things can affect you .
Dont push your self too much mate, It will be there next week.
Cool progress .

Mart.

Appreciate the comments man

I'm just happy to finally get into the swing of things and starting to tick things off my list.

Good work it realy inspires me to go get stuck with my project, could you maybe post some pics where you made cuts to remove front slam panel and how you planing to attach it back? I want to make mine removable and after some ideas

pianist wrote:Good work it realy inspires me to go get stuck with my project, could you maybe post some pics where you made cuts to remove front slam panel and how you planing to attach it back? I want to make mine removable and after some ideas

Hi, I just found loads of pictures from various people and decided where to cut.

I was already looking to replace my slam panel as it was damaged at the bottom and it was pretty corroded so it wasn't removed carefully as such.

My future plan is to either buy a replacement or create a custom slam panel so I can fit a larger radiator and also create more room for the engine to sit as the m30 is pretty long.

I'll see what photos I have.

So, some bad news. Someone decided to miss their exit on a roundabout and cut straight over into my lane.







The rear quarter panel is slightly dented and the bumper is pretty scuffed. Yeah, it's not too bad, but it only happened due to some guy trying to rush.

In other news, I've completed the first few voltmeters.

It's been a long process and many prototypes made to get it as I want it.

This included stripping down the switch and removing what is not needed, cutting out the light part to fit the LED panel, modifying the panel to fit (as they were 1mm too big.), getting the panel wired up so it works as a switch just like it should do and then sanding and polishing the switch button to remove the decal.

This was the most satisfying part.







And the completed item!!







And here it is operating





They can be very easily spliced into the car using a 12v feed and a ground and I'll hopefully get to that very soon.

Due to my e30 being in a few pieces such as the car in the garage, the dash in the loft and the wiring loom in the spare room, my mate has offered to install one into his e30 so I can photo the process and create an installation guide.

I have a few all ready to go so please message me if you want any info on them.

Good work, I went for voltmeter in the dash where the check light should be with mine