Greetings from Finland to all of You BMW fans in this forum! We wanted to bring this project also into your attention as we believe that especially E30 and old school minded BMW enthusiasts would find the project interesting. Personally, I am a new face to this forum so please excuse any possible ”arookie mistakes”a in opening this thread
As this is a project thread I will try to aim for efficiency in terms of text amount. In brief, the idea hereunder is to swap a V8 engine into a 325iA E30 cabriolet (yearmodel 1987) which I purchased from Germany in Spring 2011. The whole car will be basically re-built with quality parts and ”aenough”a extras. The project call-name ”aGentleman Edition”a indicates automatic transmission, air conditioning, cruise control and original Recaro sport seats with electric adjustments, all genuine BMW parts of course. Visually the aim is to have a strong contrast: black exterior (Diamond Schwartz Metallic) combined with white leather interior. The rims are original 16”a from E28 M5. All in all we aim to a solid sleeper look, however equipped with a strong V8 heart and having everything executed by a neat prudent OEM+ mindset.
The project has commenced on Spring 2011 by purchasing the E30 cabrio along with miscellaneous parts. The actual stripping of E30 body began in Autumn 2011. There is a project ”apicture-book”a uploaded at http://v8cabrio.kuvat.fi. We are now phasing the joyful momentum of having the body being shipped to painter for complete respray. That positive milestone explains us setting up the project topic now.
The project is not an easy wholeness to put together, a special knowhow from various angles is a must requirement. Therefore I have gathered a special group of experts in Finland, each possessing a unique skill needed for this project. The key role of Project Manager and ”aChief Technical Architect”a in this V8 CABRIO project is played by Jonsku also known in this forum already earlier I believe. In my opinion, Jonsku has strong credits and a unique reference of implementing a factory-style V8 swap to an E30 body so having his talents and knowhow included here was a major kick-off for the whole project. In addition, Mr. Kai Paavola will paint the body of the car whereas a Finnish BMW enthusiast Rockford will cover the other painting related tasks. Leather interior is stitched by famous Khrelix Design www.kxd.fi and hifi+music turf is reserved for Simex www.simex.fi and Autostudio www.autostudio.fi. The car will equipped with a huge number of original parts, so naturally the part suppliers Toni and Mirva from Schmiedmann www.schmiedmann.fi play an important role hereunder. All in all, there are tough guys gathered into a tough team to conclude a tough project.
You all are warmly welcomed to visit the pictures and follow the progress of this V8 CABRIO project!
Re: E30 V8 CABRIO "GENTLEMAN EDITION"
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:28 pm
by Jonsku
Many thanks to Topi for the opening post. When asked by Topi if I’d like to step in to this project, I didn’t have to think for long - this is a rare chance to be able to implement most of my crazy (or silly? ) ideas from my earlier V8 swap into E30!
Anyway, putting long story short; as a start an BMW M60 combined with automatic transmission is somewhat challenging package to swap into E30 body, mostly because of the physical measures but also due to all the fiddling with auxiliaries. Especially the gearbox is quite a monster:
Also climate control causes some ”aextra fun”a in the engine bay, together with cruise control and other parts.. Well, everything is possible and after having seen a couple of examples in the world of automatic V8 E30, it seemed that this would be something that is actually doable. Well, what then has been done so far? Actually quite a lot I might say! The body has been totally stripped and we do agree that M60 really is bigger than M20:
As stated earlier, basically all parts that are put back on are either brand new or painted / fixed / upgraded. And as can be seen from the pictures, there really are ”aa few”a new parts The diff will be equipped with Z3M finned cover, as much as for the aesthetics as well as for the cooling effect. LSD with 2.93 ratio will be also put in.
The engine itself fits in the ”˜bay quite nicely, just like in my previous project. Though in this case the climate compressor and autobox required bit more space..
The engine itself is attached to the frame rails with original M60 engine mounts around 15cm forward compared to front subframe (this won’t be a track-car so weight-distribution isn’t #1). The gearbox mount is combined with the cabrio-only reinforcement-piece. As the coolant reservoir is not E34/E32 - unit, we were able to avoid dropping front subframe while still maintaining pretty horizontal alignment on the engine-gearbox.
The brake linkage / booster are done by modifying E34 V8 parts, which is actually pretty easy job and since this car is an automatic, the ”abrake linkage offset”a can be included in the brake pedal inside the cabin (as there is no clutch-pedal on the way).
One of the most common problems in these E30 V8 swaps are the exhaust manifolds. This time I solved the problem by using X5 manifolds; quite an easy task altogether as it took only two-three hours to modify them and one can actually put them into place when the engine is in its place. Now afterwards thinking, I could have made similar solution also with my previous cabrio project instead of doing completely one-off manifolds”¦ well, you live and you learn.
As for suspension setup we chose H&R Cup Kit with 35-35 drop. The front will be a bit lower due to engine weight so the stance will be suitable for this type of ”aGentleman Edition”a. As Topi stated, he wished to have the classic Style5 16”a rims (originally for E28 M5), and therefore we had to think a new setup for the bolt-pattern:
Brake parts are the courtesy of 9Products. He’ll be able to do the adapters quite quickly after this first ”aproto-set”a, in case you’re interested ;)
Finally, a few words about the engine. It is a basic M60B30 with updated intake manifold & MAF from the bigger brother along with the stronger ZF5HP30 gearbox. It will be interesting to see what type of numbers will be taken out with these modifications from this version in dyno after adjustments.
Well, what’s next? Upon completion of the painting by Christmas it is time to put the silky-gloves on and begin the enjoyable phase of putting it all together with new parts. First smokes are aimed to be taken during January and this V8 CABRIO will be presented in local ”aTuning / American Car Show”a around Easter-time in Helsinki in the beginning of April 2012.
More pictures at the same place; v8cabrio.kuvat.fi
Re: E30 V8 CABRIO "GENTLEMAN EDITION"
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:35 pm
by Jonsku
willnz wrote:Cruise is out of the e32, fitted an e36 steering column to the e30 so e32 cruise lever fits directly to it. Am using the m60 a/c pump mated to the rest of the e30 system converted to r134a gas.
Hmmmm, that sounds good also. I took E30-route, combined with V8 AC compressor. Let's see how it works out
Anyways, been fiddling with many small things but got the 'box finally mated to the engine;
Slow on updates but the work is going on all the time
Fuel supply is completed (btw, how the hell that tank works? There is not connecting pipe in the bottom and there's pump only on one side of the tank ... Enlighten me if you know )
Wiring is also in quite good stage already, almost all engine-compartment wires have been done. Still got to clean it up, but other than that all is good and well.
We encountered a very happy thing, as we found out that damn - the engine can be lifted on place from underneath without valve covers! There is only couple mm space on each side but that's enough
The project is almost stopped due to severe problems with getting all the small parts, bolts etc plated / coated. They were supposed to be ready already by Christmas but the whole thing has been fucked up very, very badly.... God knows when I get the parts to go on with this project..
Other than that, injectors have been cleaned / washed, driveshaft going to be rebuilt, suspension put together etc... More pictures of those can be found at: http://v8cabrio.kuvat.fi
Going on, though now I'm here in the UK for a work-trip so the project is on a short stand-still. Should get back to it by the end of next week, though.
Couple of new pictures @ v8cabrio.kuvat.fi
Re:
Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:17 pm
by Jonsku
Had a nice visit to Scotland couple weeks back.
Now back in business here in Finland, going forward with the project
Lots of things have been done as the small parts / bolts got finally coated. Assembled the engine room, got the exhaust & water pipes done etc etc.. Today we brought the cabrio to autohifi-place for subtle ICE-installation (no visible modifications).
I quite linking the pictures directly here, they can be found at v8cabrio.kuvat.fi
Been on work-trips etc but the show where this beauty should be ready is approaching fast (5 weeks time) so we really need to get this project forward!
Next weekend we should be able to bolt fenders etc on place after we've sourced couple small parts here and there...
Some small parts are missing here and there (chrome @ kidneys, window sills, intake pipe etc..) but mostly it's all done with regards to engine bay and body.
Next it's time to continue wiring and as soon as the interior is stitched together to bolt it back on. The show is on easter so not too much time..
Couple of additional pictures at v8cabrio.kuvat.fi
Re:
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:50 am
by PiLLLe
I am
Re:
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:26 pm
by chu346
Great build, looking to do something similar myself when I have the funds.
Why the M20 coolant tank instead of the M60 item?
What seats are being fitted? They look good.
Re:
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 11:30 am
by Jonsku
The coolant tank is the M20 item because otherwise we couldn't have used the "wiring harness cover" (and we are not using subframe spacers so the engine sits too high for M60 tank).
Now the interior is apart again, going to finish the wiring and fire her up!
Re:
Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:57 pm
by PiLLLe
F#ck yeah now that's something!
Re:
Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:33 am
by 318isPMK
that is simply stunning!
Re:
Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 5:39 pm
by Driftben
too much interior in it for me
wicked build though, very clean.
Re:
Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 7:14 pm
by Jonsku
Thank you!
The damn thing started on the first try on Saturday.
Still couple of small fixes here and there, then to a testdrive..
Re:
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 11:22 pm
by 200272
V Nice
Re:
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 8:35 am
by TR79
Hello Everyone,
To follow-up, this project has finally been completed. Unfortunately, due to essential delays with regards to time schedule and me missing the long awaited cabrio summer season 2012, I decided to sell this unique cabriolet.
As this car now belongs to another owner, I would kindly ask the moderators of this forum to lock / remove this project thread. It would not be fair towards the new owner to continue the discussions without his due consent.
Many thanks to all of you E30 fans for following this project in the spring and regards from Finland.
) ideas from my earlier V8 swap into E30!
