My E30 M3 Project - Part 1

[lockolose]

Well i'm about to start my M3 Project. First i bought a 318is with a full s50 swap done to it. The car's body is in bad shape, plenty of rust. I decided to swap out the drivetrain to another car. My choice for the swap was an 88 M3. I was able to pick one up with a salvage tilte for $5K. The owner did'nt care for the car well so the project begins. I had the S14 drivetrain removed, sold it for $2500. Also sold the driveshaft and rear diff. After everything is said and done the rolling Chassis will have cost me $2K. I dropped the car off at Acevedo Motorsport in New Jersey. I have seen many swaps into this style car and for the money they are hands down the best. The swap is super clean with most wiring being custom done. Looks better than stock. They will sandblast the engine bay and repaint it before installing the motor. A sparco strut brace will be color coded to the car and also installed. I also have an Active Autowerks stage 2 turbo that i was going to install on my 95 M3. I have decided to use it on this project instead. The Turbo intercooler will have to be modified to fit also all the plumbing will have to be made custom.
I have purchased and Active exhaust manifold which has been ported and polished. The exhaust will be a 3" with no cat also custom done. I have not decided how i will upgrade the brakes as of yet. I'd also like to pick up some nice rims with a euro look but have not yet deciced on those. As the project stands i will not be doing any motor work as i want a nice runner not a beast. I'm only planning on running 8lbs of boost. If the car puts 375hp to the wheels that is more than enough for me. I ran into a guy with a similar swap herein the Bronx. He was running an S50 that was supercharged. The car was putting down 375hp he says. I don't think i'll have a problem attaining these numbers.

[NRZ]

Nice start!! What color is the car (your picks didnt work)?? BBS Rs wheels tend to be favorites for period correct with lots of dish!! Brakes, check out s14.net and look up LeeVoung hes selling brakes kits with some good performance and retaining the ability to use correct offset wheels and what not!! A buddy of mine as a s50 swapped gt35r putting down 500+ rwhp. I hope to see it soon for some picture taking!

[lockolose]

[quote=NRZ;1725529]Nice start!! What color is the car (your picks didnt work)?? BBS Rs wheels tend to be favorites for period correct with lots of dish!! Brakes, check out s14.net and look up LeeVoung hes selling brakes kits with some good performance and retaining the ability to use correct offset wheels and what not!! A buddy of mine as a s50 swapped gt35r putting down 500+ rwhp. I hope to see it soon for some picture taking!

Your friend, what Brakes is he using? The car is Silver. I'll see if i can get some more pics up.

Thanks
Mike

[lockolose]

[NRZ]

Hes running stock brakes now, but he just got the car moving a week ago, so some other things are being addressed. I'll update this as he progess'. Looks good, have fun with that monster.

[lockolose]

The engine bay has been sanded and is almost ready for paint.

[s1mm01485]

What kind of chassis reinforcement are you looking into?

[lockolose]

`I saw a set of front shock tower reinforcers. These older car are prone to crack. I'd like to make sure that doesnt happen with the power output.

[///M3augy]

Good luck, this sounds like an awesome project.

[lockolose]

My Project hit a brick wall two weeks back. After two months in his shop Ruii at Acevedo tells me my Active Turbo kit will not work for the E30.
I didnt want to finish the car without Turbo so i keep looking for another option. While looking a came across a E30 M3 82K original miles Alpine White in near mint condition for 10K.. I jumped at the car and now my Turbo project will be put on hold while i take the summer to enjoy my new M3.
Hopefully i'll start this project back up in the Fall.

Mike

[shanghai]

hey lockolose how the project working out for you??

[bergie_318is]

well any news or anything at all man?

[lockolose]

Well it's been awhile since my last post. The project is back on track and the engine bay has been repainted for the second time and the motor is now in th car. Dropping the car off at Acevedo motorwork turned out to be a nightmare. The car was at his shop for two and a half months with no real progress. After he told me my Active Autowerke kit would not work in the car i told him i was going to hold off on the project. He handed me a bill for a whopping $4200 and the car left his shop as a rolling shell. And to top it all off my injectors from my turbo kit were stole at his shop, my exhaust manifold was throw away and my brand new stock fender was damaged.
Since then i found a new mechanic and have started the project anew. I'll try and keep this post up to date as the work progresses.

[bergie_318is]

thats complete bullshit!!!

id tell him to get fucked for that! what a shit mechanic!! im getting pissed of writing this, i couldnt imagin how pissed off you were!

good luck in the future!

[shanghai]

did you hook the wires up to the engine ????