BMW E30 M-Tech cabrio, V8

[oze30]

Jonsku wrote:
"There's barely 2mm between oilpan and front axle, so it's really really close. And yes, i use spacers. Hopefully it won't be too low. "


Looks great, but won't there be problems if the V8 rocks on its mounts a little, with such little clearance between sump and crossmember and rocker boxes and strut brace?

yes, You will hot the rocker boxes if you don't lower the engien. mine have a nice wear mark across one corner. Agree, 2mm is a bit low, but it's ok. Hard mount the engine and you'll be fine. (hockey pucks anyone? )

If you drop the subframe, you might want to watch out for the alignment to the rear of the box. It will move and point wayward if you drop it too much. It's supposed to be a straight line from diff, centre bearing, diff face. ie: straight l;ine running from layshaft through to the diff. Get this wrong and you chew guibos.

A pedal box will also work (what I would have gone for if I didn't get my twin M/C setup)

Exhaust will be a bitch.. but mine might be up for sale. (with manifolds... Not pretty ones, but workable ones)

Cooling wise, get teh biggest multicore rad you can. You'll regret it if you don't! (Trust me, I went through 3 rads with my V8!)

[Karan]

wow looking good, lots of linkage there

i will need to do this when i get my ls7/2jz OR i may just bite the bullet and get a pedal box setup

great work though and great car

[Jonsku]

Ah i couldnt find them as was looking in the engine mount section 99 euro's blooming heck,

i've yet to track down the master cylinder from a five series but once i do i'm sure i'll have some more inane questions

Yeah they are quite expensive, but this is no cheap swap anyways

Feel free to ask anything that crosses your mind, but first check www.e30.de / 340i, there's basically all you need to know ;)

[Jonsku]

yes, You will hot the rocker boxes if you don't lower the engien. mine have a nice wear mark across one corner. Agree, 2mm is a bit low, but it's ok. Hard mount the engine and you'll be fine. (hockey pucks anyone? )

Yes it's quite close, but i've understood that the engine is quite "not-moving", so it shouldn't be a problem. If it's, then i just add some little spacers to get it higher

If you drop the subframe, you might want to watch out for the alignment to the rear of the box. It will move and point wayward if you drop it too much. It's supposed to be a straight line from diff, centre bearing, diff face. ie: straight l;ine running from layshaft through to the diff. Get this wrong and you chew guibos.

Yeah, that's true but i think that the line is more straight now than it would've been if the front axle hadn't been dropped..

Cooling wise, get teh biggest multicore rad you can. You'll regret it if you don't! (Trust me, I went through 3 rads with my V8!)

Heh, gotta keep that in mind. The radiator i now have (E28 535) is almost identical in size compared to E34 540 rad, so it should be ok. I've to find a BIG fan, though.
If those won't keep temperatures down, i've to buy all-aluminium rad, but damn they are expensive (like this one http://www.pure-pf.com/webshop/ppf_webs ... hp?pID=470 )


As for the exhaust manifolds, they can be made In next couple of weeks i'll go to buy some bits for manifolds and then we'll see how it goes. I've quite good idea how to make them.

[GrindCulture]

Awesome build here, V8 E30s are the shizzle! I want one

[Alex]

looking great, nice work

[oze30]

Karan,

LS7 is a smaller engine by tons. Not as wide. you should be able to fit one in without messing about with the brakes. Or pedal box it. You drove mine with the twin M/C.. What did you think?

[citizensnips]

what car is the master cylinder and frame out of? on that german site it says the e34 v8's have the brakes at the front but i cant see the master cylinder when i look at photo's i can see what appears to be some sort of manifold block

my local breakers has an old 730, would this be usefull for brake bits or is it only the five series ?

[Jonsku]

what car is the master cylinder and frame out of? on that german site it says the e34 v8's have the brakes at the front but i cant see the master cylinder when i look at photo's i can see what appears to be some sort of manifold block

my local breakers has an old 730, would this be usefull for brake bits or is it only the five series ?

Yes it's out of E34 V8 model, they all have the "remote brake booster & cylinder", just try looking some pictures on internet and you'll see it.
My brake linkage is partly modified 540 setup with some selfmade bits.

[Frenchguy]

Is it an E39 M5 gearbox you're using? If so, did you have to hammer the transmission tunnel to fit the gearbox?

Thanks and good luck with your project!

[Jonsku]

Is it an E39 M5 gearbox you're using? If so, did you have to hammer the transmission tunnel to fit the gearbox?

Thanks and good luck with your project!

Yes it's out of E39 M5. Only thing i did to the tunnel was to cut away the little "bolts" which hold the sound deadening on place. Otherwise it fits perfectly

[Frenchguy]

Yes it's out of E39 M5. Only thing i did to the tunnel was to cut away the little "bolts" which hold the sound deadening on place. Otherwise it fits perfectly

Thanks for the information!
With such little modification to the tunnel, is the engine still far back enough to keep a decent weight distribution?

[213]

What a cool build... Looking forward to seeing it finished..! Well done..

[Chase007]

Thats a monster

[ric325i]

the 4.4 V8 that was at the tatton park show had a great mani. it wrapped around the steering mech it looked great and worked a treat, maybe its an option to think about?

it also had TVR back boxes

i wish i took a picture sorry.

[Jonsku]

Thanks for the information!
With such little modification to the tunnel, is the engine still far back enough to keep a decent weight distribution?

Yea well, the M30 i had earlier was almost 10cm further front and weighted few kg's more so from that point of view the weight distribution will only get better.
I didn't have any problems with weight earlier, though this one isn't a track car so it doesn't matter so much..

[Jonsku]

.. got some bits and bolts back yesterday



Rebuilt E34 540 brake calipers:



Brake linkage looks good now too



And more pictures here.

[Frenchguy]

Wow, just wow! That looks really good.

Did you have to modify the firewall ? This German guy says he had to:
http://schrauber.jimdo.com/was_wird_benoetigt.php


Keep up the good work!

[Jonsku]

Wow, just wow! That looks really good.

Did you have to modify the firewall ? This German guy says he had to:
http://schrauber.jimdo.com/was_wird_benoetigt.php


Keep up the good work!

Thanks, and also thanks for the link, interesting project that one also

At this stage i haven't modified the firewall at all, but next when i'm starting to fabricate the exhaust manifolds there may be some hammering.
Friend of mine did this conversion couple of years ago and he didn't bang the firewall at all. And little hammering isn't bad anymore so it really doesn't matter

[Baz666]

dude you must really know your stuff, credit to you nice work.

[Frenchguy]

At this stage i haven't modified the firewall at all, but next when i'm starting to fabricate the exhaust manifolds there may be some hammering.

Or you could go the easy route and fit X5 V8 manifolds, which apparently bolt straight on and avoid clearance issues. These manifolds sold for about € 200 on German Ebay last time I checked.

[oze30]

At this stage i haven't modified the firewall at all, but next when i'm starting to fabricate the exhaust manifolds there may be some hammering.

Or you could go the easy route and fit X5 V8 manifolds, which apparently bolt straight on and avoid clearance issues. These manifolds sold for about € 200 on German Ebay last time I checked.

Is that for LHD or RHD?

[robbo86]

Wish I had the technical know how, the space and the money to do this..... ohwell, back to my m42 conversion

[Jonsku]

At this stage i haven't modified the firewall at all, but next when i'm starting to fabricate the exhaust manifolds there may be some hammering.

Or you could go the easy route and fit X5 V8 manifolds, which apparently bolt straight on and avoid clearance issues. These manifolds sold for about € 200 on German Ebay last time I checked.

Is that for LHD or RHD?

I'd guess LHD.

Anyways, i think i'm going to make the exhaust manifolds myself. Original manifolds are quite crappy and when i make them myself i can route the pipes however i want. I may be cursing this decision many times but we'll see

I got the engine bolted together today, still missing some stuff (waterpump, clutch etc).

[oze30]

Your oil filter housing may occupy the same space as the top hose of the rad. I had to relocate mine to the car, where the ABS pump was.

[Jonsku]

Your oil filter housing may occupy the same space as the top hose of the rad. I had to relocate mine to the car, where the ABS pump was.

Yeah that's one problem i yet don't know how to solve.

Did you use original hoses? Where did you relocate the oil filter housing, any pictures?

This is one quite shiny option

[oze30]

You can kinda see it there. I cut the braiding off(hose was leaking anyway) got some oil pipe and made to length. Filter now sits on the inner wing, just behind the headlights. Just make sure the hoses don't go near the exhaust. You should be able to route them down and around the alternator, or thread them back up where they would normally go.

You can use one of the bolt holes to bolt to the ABS pump bracket, or use some angle to do it.

[oze30]

What rad are you using?

[Jonsku]

I'm usin E28 535 radiator.

Yea well, i've brake booster near left headlamp so there isn't any space. I think i'll have to make some pipes as in the picture i posted.

[twism]

Hello there Jonsku. I have been watching for your project on e30tech, but because you're not showing that much info over there, I started to keep an eye on this thread here. I would like to ask what bushings are you going to use for the engine? I bought the same engine owners from 300mm.de as you did, so I guess I can use the same bushings you're using. And also can you please give me a link or more photos of the blue e30 from the picture you posted? I have two pictures of it on my lap-top but don't remember where I got them from. Thank you, and I'm waiting for some update on this project here! Good luck with it, Alex.

[oze30]

Mounts depends on whether you've dropped the subframe or not. You can use E28 M5 mount ( can't remember if it is Os/Ns), stock e30 325 mounts, e36 damper mounts or hockey pucks.

[Jonsku]

Hello there Jonsku. I have been watching for your project on e30tech, but because you're not showing that much info over there, I started to keep an eye on this thread here. I would like to ask what bushings are you going to use for the engine? I bought the same engine owners from 300mm.de as you did, so I guess I can use the same bushings you're using. And also can you please give me a link or more photos of the blue e30 from the picture you posted? I have two pictures of it on my lap-top but don't remember where I got them from. Thank you, and I'm waiting for some update on this project here! Good luck with it, Alex.

Thanks
Sorry but i don't have more pictures of that blue E30, some may be found here if you've time to browse http://www.kumitkatuun.net/jos/index.ph ... &Itemid=26

That E30 328i turbo is also really cool on gallery

I'm going to use stock E34 V8 mounts, with these i've 2-3mm clearance to the front frame so it'd be good if the mounts were a bit higher. They're hydraulically dampened so there's definitely less vibration than with hockey pucks




Not much updates yet, i've lots of school stuff to do at the moment. Next i'm starting to build exhaust manifolds out of these;

[twism]

Jonsku and oze30 are you guys using engines with Alusil blocks, or Nikasil ones? I'm looking for an engine now, and I'm not sure if I wanna get one with Nikasil block, because of the problems that the early motors had, but I've seen people using them without problems. What would you recommend?

[Jonsku]

Jonsku and oze30 are you guys using engines with Alusil blocks, or Nikasil ones? I'm looking for an engine now, and I'm not sure if I wanna get one with Nikasil block, because of the problems that the early motors had, but I've seen people using them without problems. What would you recommend?

Nikasil is problem in USA, Russia and other un-developed countries where petrol is crappy.

No problems whatsoever in west-europe.

[oze30]

Mines a nikasil block, but still running strong. Luck of the draw really. I thought it was on the way out, losing oil, but i found it all. All over the front timing cover! All the gaskets need doing. Something I would recommend as the rockers are probably the only accessible gaskets you could get to. The exhaust are a pita, especially when they're modded and the nuts are in the wrong places (engine out to do the exhaust ones). Inlet is easy, but the sump, you'll need to do before you put the engine in. Not the easiest, unless you have dropped the subframe and raised the engine accordingly


Clearance between the strut tower and the heads


Clearance under the back of the sump



Clearance using spacers (which i still have if you need them) and pug mounts. (roughly 2 inches tall and damped!)