E30 Zone

Good afternoon folks,

Seeing as the weather outside is frightful - with little of any use likely to happen today I thought I would introduce you to the start of a little track day inspired project that we (three) have decided to undertake.

It is based on the shell of an e30 BMW touring that I picked up a lttle while ago.



The aim is to drop the Saab 2.3 9000 engine in and, with a little fettling, have as close to 330 bhp as possible.

So far we have started stripping the car to get as close as possible to our target weight of 1 ton.









We have also sourced a late 2.3 9000 with fsh, 69000 miles.... and the TD04 turbo to donate its engine..



(it's the one with its bonnet up!)

Plans moving forward are to strip out any further weight that we can, make up engine mounts, source gearbox and put it all together!

Then we need to find a way of making it stop and go round corners..


Seems easy when you lump it all into one sentence!


The deadline for the challenge is Friday 16th of September.

Sounds great! Can you make a Touring weigh just a tonne just by removing what you have?

And whereabouts are you, as I could do with a pair of Saab 9000 seats!

great engine choice those saab engines are highly underrated, they can take stupid power with standard internals. What box are you planing to mate it to?

I would assume the Omega manual box will be the weapon of choice.

A lad on here called Oldroyd started doing this a couple of years ago, but he was doing things on a different level and got fed up and sold all the gear on.

There is a thread about it somewhere

Ah this is deviant, I love it.

Looks like a whole lotta fun...

(Really thought this was gonna be flamed when I started reading it though... Saab lump in an E30? )

Speedtouch wrote:Sounds great! Can you make a Touring weigh just a tonne just by removing what you have?

And whereabouts are you, as I could do with a pair of Saab 9000 seats!

Cheers! Well, Carfolio says that the Touring is 1230kg out of the box... with a serious diet I'm sure we can loose a lot of that weight! Whether we can get it down to 1 ton remains to be seen but it'll be fun trying..

I'm based in St.Albans Hertfordshire.

E30BeemerLad wrote:I would assume the Omega manual box will be the weapon of choice.

A lad on here called Oldroyd started doing this a couple of years ago, but he was doing things on a different level and got fed up and sold all the gear on.

There is a thread about it somewhere

Spot on, am planning on sourcing an Omega box for it..

Was Oldroyd the one with that gorgeous looking Candy Red touring?

Gortour wrote:
(Really thought this was gonna be flamed when I started reading it though... Saab lump in an E30? )

Why?

Only problem with the Scab engine is it's deficiency in the cylinder count,remember Ex-works Alfa engine thread?

Best of luck with the conversion,keep us posted!

Nice project, my mate has a manual box from a 2001 Omega 3.0 V6 - is that what you need?

Theo wrote:Nice project, my mate has a manual box from a 2001 Omega 3.0 V6 - is that what you need?

Thanks.

That gearbox may well be the one.. can I check and get back to you in the week?

daimlerman wrote:

Gortour wrote:
(Really thought this was gonna be flamed when I started reading it though... Saab lump in an E30? )

Why?

Only problem with the Scab engine is it's deficiency in the cylinder count,remember Ex-works Alfa engine thread?

True, forgotten the Alfa one, and there's also one with the Lexarse V8 in it...

Gortour wrote:

daimlerman wrote:

Gortour wrote:
(Really thought this was gonna be flamed when I started reading it though... Saab lump in an E30? )

Why?

Only problem with the Scab engine is it's deficiency in the cylinder count,remember Ex-works Alfa engine thread?

True, forgotten the Alfa one, and there's also one with the Lexarse V8 in it...

Most of us are petrolheads here,and it's good to see some-one 'thinking out of the box',rather than the never-ending 'how do I fit a 325i engine to my 320i?' threads that we tend to get regularly.
In this instance,it looks to me as if we can sit back and watch some-one else do it!

Thread may well be better off in the 'Engine Swaps' part of the zone,but the guy's a newbie,let's offer him the beniefit of the doubt and help where we can.

Seconded Malc...

(Moved to Engine Swaps too by the way )

MrMoonyMan wrote:

Theo wrote:Nice project, my mate has a manual box from a 2001 Omega 3.0 V6 - is that what you need?

Thanks.

That gearbox may well be the one.. can I check and get back to you in the week?

Of course!

Theo wrote:

MrMoonyMan wrote:

Theo wrote:Nice project, my mate has a manual box from a 2001 Omega 3.0 V6 - is that what you need?

Thanks.

That gearbox may well be the one.. can I check and get back to you in the week?

Of course!

Hi ya, think it might be!

Would you be so kind as to ask him if it is a R25-28 box?

Cheers

Oh - and thanks everyone for the warm welcome!

You're right, the Saab engine doesn't sound like a nice BMW six. It's a real shame to be pulling the engine out as it runs perfectly and sounds lovely.

But I have no idea how to get the Beemer 6 to 300-400hp the way I can with the Saab engine!

Yeah it's a R25-R28 box.

PM'd !

E30BeemerLad wrote:I would assume the Omega manual box will be the weapon of choice.

A lad on here called Oldroyd started doing this a couple of years ago, but he was doing things on a different level and got fed up and sold all the gear on.

There is a thread about it somewhere

Evening gents,

I've still got the saab touring, but haven't really done anything for the last year and she has just sat under a cover in the garage.

I considered selling the engine and mounts etc but decided not to.

I may be persuaded though, (thinking SR20)

Heres the link -

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... light=saab

Its progressed a little since the last update,I now have a fabbed sump,exhaust manifold , inket manifold and induction set up.

I'll be interested to watch this, may help get motiv ated again.

Im looking to do a similar swap, but im using a b204l 2.0t from a ng900. Plans are to make it road regal here in sweden with the swap on paper, then turning up the boost and going for 260-270hp to start of with.

Got my donor car ready and the r25-r28 gearbox on its way but still no bmw.

I need a 325 else i wont be able to make it legal, so im currently looking for a suitable e30 to work with, thoughts have crossed my mind to buy a cheap 316 or 318 to build on then move over the complete package to a 325 when i find one.

Good luck with the build and post many pictures so i can steal ideas

lmao, you is the competition!!!!! i will miss this years event but have done the last two in a white e36 325i... i have a decent e30 now but due to wife having a due date of the same week i cannot play out

Yes you'll have to keep us updated with photos on this one!

bulletproofbob wrote:lmao, you is the competition!!!!! i will miss this years event but have done the last two in a white e36 325i... i have a decent e30 now but due to wife having a due date of the same week i cannot play out

my plan is an m50 conversion and or a turbo.... need help on a diy turbo though

Sooooo, any news?

Its been pointed out to me by more than a few people that I'm pretty slack at updating threads. This is a fair and true point so with my apologies; here is where we are up to..

Firstly, we pulled the old six out of the Bimma









Then we got a 9000 engine with specially fabricated engine mounts, sump and inlet manifold and carefully lowered it in...





And that is where we're at.

We still have a gargantuan amount of work and sourcing of bits to do before the 16th but intend to devote every night this week to getting it running. With next weeks evening being bookmarked for getting it to stop and go round corners.

On top of installing a remote oil filler kit, getting the prop to match up, making the engine run and accept speed signals so it'll boost we are hoping to drop it on some lowering springs, fit uprated pads, brake fluid and semi slicks.

The budget is still doing pretty well too thanks to lots of careful purchases and selling. I'm pretty worried about time now but still feeling hopeful..!

Mind sharing sump design and engine mounts? I got my car now and saab engine sitting in front of it but my gearbox hasen't arrived yet. My plan was to mount gearbox to engine and drop it in to line it up with the propshaft, from what i understand e30 shaft and omega gearbox will fit together nicely.

I found myself a decent 4door car with a zender body kit with the evo3 m3 copy on the trunk that im very happy with.

Good to see my conversion being put to good use
If this is finished by september 16th I will be absolutely amazed, but I wish you good luck.

Can I recommend you link the coolant pipes to the heater before you install the lump as I don't think it will be possible with it all bolted down.

Frahl- have a look at my thread for the process in making the sump.

Aaaannnddd, we're out.

Got everything we needed together today just in time, then when putting it all back together we found the remote oil filter kit has one connection that just will not fit.

We got the prop shaft built, the wiring right, the sump, the gearbox, made a flywheel guard, intercooler, injectors etc and yet I end up stumped by one small issue that we should have known about ages ago (had the supplier bothered to send it a week ago.. )

Anyhow, onwards and upwards. We shall be using Grahams 9000 tomorrow as it works out under a Grand. It's a shame but there ya go.

Also, a big big thanks to OldRoyd for the very useful parts, nige for the hours of help so far and Saabmatt for answering stupid questions!

Some pictures, ain't it evil?



New oil cooler vs. old





The loom (un-trimmed)





The lovely shiny new exhaust, 3"inch downpipe, stainless steel etc.



Subtle.





Imagine that last picture with a 9000 intercooler bolted to the front going in thru the inner lights..

just enter it next year!

wat are you planning on doing with the car now then ?

UweM3 wrote:just enter it next year!

I think it'll probably be there next year. The PPC challenge is a great day out with lots of really good petrolheads and a great atmosphere. Whether or not they'll let us compete I don't know as it'll be fairly improved by then!

RichIS wrote:wat are you planning on doing with the car now then ?

Tracking it! Hard.

Have got an all day open pass to Cadwell next weekend so am gonna give it a big push to get ready for then. I think with a bit of work we should have a very capable track / fast road tool on our hands.

Longer term plans will probably be to sell it next year once finished and build another one!