M30 conversion manifold idea !!

[blingsta]

Guys, as a few of you are aware, one of the manifolds interfere with the steering coloumn, and a few of you have shortened the pipe and rotated the flange 90 degrees for it to miss... do you think it will be better/easier to use 2 of the front manifolds??? that wayit might be easier to make custom downpipes ! Just a thought.. i think i will try it

[Ziggy]

Wouldn't have thought it'd clear the bulkhead or end up anywhere useful, but let us know by all means! I found the E32 mani would have been a 'mare, but the E34 one just took a bit of trimming with the grinder. Fitting a solid steering guibo makes for more clearance too, or a custom steering coupling would probably be less effort than custom downpipes

[ric325i]

2 front mani's wont work. nice thinking but the front one runs right along the underside of the rear mani then drops down. so for that to work you would need to cut a hole in your bulk head and have part of the mani and the down pipe in the footwell with your feet.

be nice and warm for the winter though


i will see if i can get some pics over of mine. do like ziggy said and think about the flange being ground back etc.

if i kept my lump in position 2 i think with a manual rack set up, the knuckle is in a different position so i THINK it would have solved the clearance issue. but its a manual rack
position 3 starts that problem all over again.

[blingsta]

sorry guys.. i meant 2 rear mani's.. youve got 1 which has a half a downpipe and the other which is just the mani.. the one with the short downpipe goes closest to the rad... im thinking of ditching that one for another rear one?? does that make sense?

[ric325i]

much more sense i will take a look tonight but the best thing to do is put it in place and hav a look!

i think the problem would change then though. maybe it would point down at the sub frame? hum.

try it its the only way to find out! i like people trying new idea

[ric325i]

from my thread:

bit of a clean up and filled a few holes





now on the car:
really happy with this


love the bends




doesnt hang too low.




all that made me miss the pod this will do but if i have any probs with it i might take it to a place to use as a template and askthem to make me something pretty

[maxfield]

Didn't know Pigeons shat under cars

[ric325i]

its those ones that fly upside down, little blighters.

this is some good stuff the only bit


i fully admit i have no idea what im doing and my mask only covers my eyes so that weekend i burnt the hell out my nose.
wish i had a pic of that but my nose is too big to photograph, wont fit on a picture.

[maxfield]

We've all gotta start somewhere.

[Ziggy]

Blimey Ric - how long did that take you?!

I went for the option of dropping the car off, & picking it up a few hours later with a nice new stainless front section welded to the downpipes - mates to a standard fitting (supersprint) rear box that I already had.

Cost me about £170 IIRC - & considering how long I'd have had to spend on doing it myself, plust the cost of an M3 front section, flange etc...

[ric325i]

its the reason i missed the pod. took bloody ages! trial and error. ive never been good at leaving my car with garages.


me and jaffro (as always) made the m3 flange ages ago, it would have been much easier with a circular hole cutter and i should have made it from 8mm steel but its ok.

the m3 twin pipes are so far apart which caused a nightmare! still its done. i should have taken it somewhere but i couldnt drive it and towing was just too.....well i had jaffro's welder and an angle grinder


its painted with some red exhaust paint so it looks like it glows red, well thats what i made carl think, i didnt tell him it was painted red his face was a picture

[Ziggy]