My E30 M3 S85 V10 Swap
Moderator: martauto
Really looks like this is coming on really well. Great project!
E30 340i project in progress now 328 turbo
Breaking '97 728i Auto box, tubular manifolds and other morsels.
For sale E34 M50 sump, pick up and dip stick. PM for de
Breaking '97 728i Auto box, tubular manifolds and other morsels.
For sale E34 M50 sump, pick up and dip stick. PM for de
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glenn
- Engine Transplant Services

- Posts: 2198
- Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: blackwood, south wales
at last.......it's a runner
still loads to do.
i have a small coolant leak on the front of the engine somewhere, and a power steering fluid leak near the steering pulley, that i cant really see very well, so i'm going to have to take the radiator back off to investigate properly
i have a 'million' wires to tidy-up and hide.
i took a short vid of it, not the best quality, but here you go............
still loads to do.
i have a small coolant leak on the front of the engine somewhere, and a power steering fluid leak near the steering pulley, that i cant really see very well, so i'm going to have to take the radiator back off to investigate properly
i have a 'million' wires to tidy-up and hide.
i took a short vid of it, not the best quality, but here you go............
Great to see this running, but it sounds really'knocky' almost when you walk round the front, is it all ok?
This is gonna be 507bhp of madness when its done
This is gonna be 507bhp of madness when its done
'Assumption is the mother of all f**k ups'
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glenn
- Engine Transplant Services

- Posts: 2198
- Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: blackwood, south wales
engine is fine,tomislav wrote:Great to see this running, but it sounds really'knocky' almost when you walk round the front, is it all ok?
the video quality isn't the best.
v10 's do sound a little diesel'ish at tickover ?
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glenn
- Engine Transplant Services

- Posts: 2198
- Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: blackwood, south wales
well, as tomislav picked up on, the engine wasn't welljamlid wrote:
Any news since April?
and after just a few more starts and a few minutes running, it seized.
after speaking with jason @ fabs, he said come and get another engine off him, which i did. the 'new' engine came with a couple of parts missing, but he's let me keep the two engines here so that i have all the parts i need,
this is the old engine....


the main oil pump is chain driven......from the vanos pump.....which is gear diven from the crank.
after i removed the sump, i could see the chain that drives the main oil pump had snapped.

also, i could see that behind the vanos drive gear, a bearing had collapsed,
which i'm guessing probably had something to do with the chain snapping.




here you can see parts of the bearing / race lying on the end-cap / bedplate

and here is where i am at the moment........

basicly, i have the cooling parts left to refit, and reconnect the fuel line.
a couple of weekends should see it running again.........fingers crossed!
The engine looks quite monstrous in there! 
S85 (and S65) are quite problematic engines durability-wise, but damn they are great when working right!
S85 (and S65) are quite problematic engines durability-wise, but damn they are great when working right!
E30 Cabrio M-Tech, powered by V8
E34 M5 3.8 x 2
Alpina D10 Touring #33/93
E46 318i Touring
Toyota Hiace 4wd
E34 M5 3.8 x 2
Alpina D10 Touring #33/93
E46 318i Touring
Toyota Hiace 4wd
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davethegoat
- E30 Zone Regular

- Posts: 455
- Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2011 11:00 pm
The main bearing "caps" look interesting. All looks pretty rigid!
Not far away now then Glenn. Whoop!
Not far away now then Glenn. Whoop!
Fair play to FABs, i remember you said when you bought the first one it had come with a guarantee but still good of them to let you keep both, at the end of the day they've lost a good bit of profit from one of the biggest earners when they break a car you would imagine.
Probably a silly question but was there not a oil pressure gauge in the Car or a least a low oil pressure light, I know you know what your doing but just wondered.
Probably a silly question but was there not a oil pressure gauge in the Car or a least a low oil pressure light, I know you know what your doing but just wondered.

You should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity
M42 Supercharged 285bhp + M3 6speed box
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glenn
- Engine Transplant Services

- Posts: 2198
- Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: blackwood, south wales
no mattappletree wrote: Probably a silly question but was there not a oil pressure gauge in the Car or a least a low oil pressure light, I know you know what your doing but just wondered.
as you can see in the vid, i hadn't connected the instrument cluster up, because a lot of the signals need a little work to get them to work on the cluster. but when i start this next engine i'll have something sorted!
and yeh, top respect to fabs, for honouring their word.
i wouldn't spend my money anywhere else.
i just need to get the 'new' engine running now, so i can have a bit of a clearout here.....bits of v10 everywhere
- CRACKERS63
- E30 Zone Newbie

- Posts: 10
- Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:00 pm
Your project is nearly finish
Just caught back up to speed with this- major bummer with the other engine but glad you've got it sorted. Good of them to supply another!! 
You must have been gutted having to take the engine back out! How many hours has it taken you to swap everything back over?
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glenn
- Engine Transplant Services

- Posts: 2198
- Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: blackwood, south wales
yeh, to say i was gutted is a major understatement.
when it seized, i was like a rabbit caught in the headlights
after it seized, it took me a while to find the time to go and get another engine,
and then it was weeks before i could be bothered to start ripping the old engine out. the new engine came with a few parts stripped off it, so i had to remove and use some parts off the old engine, like the flywheel, clutch, one throttle motor was missing, and one plenum was damaged. so i had to remove the plenum and throttle bodies off the old engine to be able to get to the throttle motor.
once i put the engine back into the engine bay, i then refitted the crossmember, gearbox, gear linkage, propshaft.....
its only when i was refitting the exhaust manifolds that i noticed the sump had a hole in it
i decided not to take the engine back out, but removed the crossmember,
and changed the sump with the engine in situ.
left to refit is the radiator and coolant pipes.and a little bit of wiring to redo.
probably around another 2 hours would see it running again.
i suppose without the swapping of parts, i estimate to remove the old engine and get back to where i am now has taken around 10-12 hours.
when it seized, i was like a rabbit caught in the headlights
after it seized, it took me a while to find the time to go and get another engine,
and then it was weeks before i could be bothered to start ripping the old engine out. the new engine came with a few parts stripped off it, so i had to remove and use some parts off the old engine, like the flywheel, clutch, one throttle motor was missing, and one plenum was damaged. so i had to remove the plenum and throttle bodies off the old engine to be able to get to the throttle motor.
once i put the engine back into the engine bay, i then refitted the crossmember, gearbox, gear linkage, propshaft.....
its only when i was refitting the exhaust manifolds that i noticed the sump had a hole in it
i decided not to take the engine back out, but removed the crossmember,
and changed the sump with the engine in situ.
left to refit is the radiator and coolant pipes.and a little bit of wiring to redo.
probably around another 2 hours would see it running again.
i suppose without the swapping of parts, i estimate to remove the old engine and get back to where i am now has taken around 10-12 hours.
Quality mate, would take me 10-12 months!
Shame about the old engine seizing but fair play to FAB as many wouldn't entertain a guarantee after it being a while since you bought it.
On the bright side... You know have the makings of a seriously cool coffee table when you have everything else sorted
I want to use a V10 in my trackcar too but it's oil pump chain and things like that would make somebody hesitant... Worth it when I get to hear it though I reckon
On the bright side... You know have the makings of a seriously cool coffee table when you have everything else sorted
I want to use a V10 in my trackcar too but it's oil pump chain and things like that would make somebody hesitant... Worth it when I get to hear it though I reckon
M42 rightness above 6500rpm, nobody can hear you scream
Oh no, sorry to hear about the engine! That is a killer blow.. Awesome of the supplier helping you out! ...
Why did it break, was the engine out of a front impact car?
Mechanical Gauge during startup should be mandatory from now on. I still can't believe your bad luck. Scrapping a M20 on no oil pressure is one thing...S85... I would have a breakdown.
Did you get every part from the german ECU guy? Another guy gave up on him never comming through and went for Special Components Tornado II system, utilising active vanos. I belive they are even located in the UK..
Here is how his car turned out, a slightly different color.
And yes, It can be used as a wedding car...


Why did it break, was the engine out of a front impact car?
Mechanical Gauge during startup should be mandatory from now on. I still can't believe your bad luck. Scrapping a M20 on no oil pressure is one thing...S85... I would have a breakdown.
Did you get every part from the german ECU guy? Another guy gave up on him never comming through and went for Special Components Tornado II system, utilising active vanos. I belive they are even located in the UK..
Here is how his car turned out, a slightly different color.
And yes, It can be used as a wedding car...







