E30 Zone

Hi there, Doing an m60 conversion on a rhd e30, can x5 v8 manifolds be used with minor modification?

Cheers Phil

i believe so phil,
but not had first hand experience of it.
i know someone who used X5 manifolds on an e30 m60 conversion, he told me they just needed some small 'tweaks'

thats good to hear, could you find any other information out?

Cheers Phil

think phil172 used x5 manifolds on his touring and from what i remember 'tweeks' is the right word nothing to complicated apparently

X5 is almost "bolt-on" to LHD E30, but I'd imagine the steering shaft will give you problems on a RHD car..

You can find pictures of X5 manifolds in E30 M60 build at v8cabrio.kuvat.fi

si- wrote:think phil172 used x5 manifolds on his touring and from what i remember 'tweeks' is the right word nothing to complicated apparently

Nope, They had no chance of fitting/bolting up with small tweeks. I used them amongst other manifolds (540/M5, which are pretty much the same too) all cut up and stuck together

I was told too that the X5 manifolds would need a few tweeks but it really was the opposite, there was so much work to do!!

Totally on a LHD car they really help and I can imagine they would pretty much bolt up straight off.

Basically the left hand manifold heads straight into the starter motor as on a rhd drive M60 the starter motor is on the LH side of the gearbox, on a lhd drive its on the right.

The right hand manifold near as dammit the steering column was right in the middle of it, so you can use the X5 manifolds to 'help' your situation but at the end of the day you still have to fanny about chopping and making them fit, I think we had ours in and out 6-7 times to ensure clearance. When i think about it now I dont know why I bothered, for the time/grief I should have just gone a bought some of the fabbed up ones already. For the cost of buying three different sets of manifolds to get my end result it would have been cheaper to buy the ready made set, They flow amazingly compared to a hacked up version of an already restrictive manifold.

Mine are coming off and I have bought some of the fabbed up ones of here.

This is a LH manifold, on a LHD conversion but it shows the issue

You can see where straight away you have major issues, there is no starter motor in photo, but you can see where it mounts too that the manifold wouldnt even sit on the block if one was there

This is the RH manifold, on a LHD conversion.

You can see here how much the lower part of the manifold has had to be adjusted to get the downpipe through. These havent got a steering column to round either. The way mine had to be fitted was one pipe either side of the steering column, as you still need to give enough clearance as when the engine moves you dont want it hitting the column and jamming the steering, like I know a few e30 v8s to do. There really isnt much space between the block and the body of the car so it can make things a bit tricky.

I cant express how much the manifolds were a pain in the arse, the rest of the conversion is simple and really quite surprisingly easier then expected

i must admit i completely agree with phill, i basicly have given up with modifing the x5 and original M60 manifolds as its a pain in the back side of a donkey and has taken more time that fitting the M60.

I used the 4 into 1 from the later E39 on my 02 works a treat .

this is the only pic i have of the drivers side

Wheres the rest of your transmission tunnel gone???!!

I did wonder that also!

Gotta make room for the gearbox so sumit had to give

MOT tomorrow

Ah on a 2002 not e30?

Yep http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... highlight=

what did you have to do to get the steering linkage side x5 manifold fit? The passenger side litterly bolts straight on.

my bad phil i thought thats what you'd used/said

prefabbed it is then

No worries, how is yours coming on?

Phil, so you have a x5 manifold on passenger side?? How dud you get past the starter motor?
You got a photo??

I used the x5 manifolds, cut the outta case off the manifolds then they actually break apart then from there I have modified them to clear the steering etc. I will take a few photos once it's all done, the passenger side litterly bolts on and just needs the flange angle changed slightly.

Hi guys, acer racer told me that if you put the alternator on the other side ie like they are in Germany you can use the x5 manifolds and just cut off the flange at the bottom and swing it round a touch. Can anyone confirm that is the case?
Cheers Chris.

padi wrote:Hi guys, acer racer told me that if you put the alternator on the other side ie like they are in Germany you can use the x5 manifolds and just cut off the flange at the bottom and swing it round a touch. Can anyone confirm that is the case?
Cheers Chris.

The alternator? Id be worried if the exhaust were going past the alternator!!!

If you mean starter motor, yes it would make fitting the X5 manifolds very easy on the lh bank, like I said above thats how the lhd drive cars are. But putting the starter motor on the rh bank would mean your not only having to get the manifolds round the steering column but you are also having to squeeze them past the starter motor aswell, in my thoughts causing a massive headache and making the job 10 times worse

Phill172 wrote:

padi wrote:Hi guys, acer racer told me that if you put the alternator on the other side ie like they are in Germany you can use the x5 manifolds and just cut off the flange at the bottom and swing it round a touch. Can anyone confirm that is the case?
Cheers Chris.

The alternator? Id be worried if the exhaust were going past the alternator!!!

If you mean starter motor, yes it would make fitting the X5 manifolds very easy on the lh bank, like I said above thats how the lhd drive cars are. But putting the starter motor on the rh bank would mean your not only having to get the manifolds round the steering column but you are also having to squeeze them past the starter motor aswell, in my thoughts causing a massive headache and making the job 10 times worse

Yap, keep the starter motor and steering linkage on opposite sides of the engine! It's quite tight fit anyways, no idea making it even worse by having those two on the same side

Yeah, sorry I meant the starter. That makes sense, just thought I'd asked as he mentioned it that's all. Thought I'd double check. It seemed to good to be true....

Cheers Chris.