|
|
|
|
|
Ok, it's about time the bmw got a thread of it's own!  My mate kiwi decided he needed a new toy to play with, it had to be fast, v8, and rear wheel drive. We looked at a few options but nothing off the shelf really stood out as "fun", so then we looked into engine swaps into various cars. Eventually we decided a bmw e30 with a v8 swap would be a perfect starting point for a project, being light and rear wheel drive. But what engine to fit? Kiwi would have been happy with a tuned rover v8, but I think a German car should have a German engine, and since Mercedes don't have a v8 with a manual gearbox that just left bmw e34 5 series within our budget. As luck would have it this turned up on ebay the following week:      A 1996 e34 540i touring with a 6 speed manual, perfect! After an interesting test drive by the seller without the traction control on, a deal was struck at 1200 cash and we headed home. So now we had the engine donnor, we needed a car to fit it in. The next few months were spent driving up and down the m40 looking at every "rust free" e30 we could find, unfortunately rust free they were not! Then we went to look at a 320 in deepest Essex... |
| |
Last Edit: May 5, 2014 15:14:23 GMT by rmad
1988 Mercedes w124 superturbo diesel 508hp
1996 Mercedes s124 e300 diesel wagon
1990 BMW E30 V8 M60 powered!
1999 BMW E46 323ci project car
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Last Edit: Apr 10, 2014 0:40:36 GMT by carat 3.6
1988 Mercedes w124 superturbo diesel 508hp
1996 Mercedes s124 e300 diesel wagon
1990 BMW E30 V8 M60 powered!
1999 BMW E46 323ci project car
|
|
mhuk
Part of things
Posts: 124
|
|
Apr 10, 2014 10:55:15 GMT
|
|
Very nice. I loved my e30 325i.
|
| |
Spitfire with a mx5 turbo engine
Merc W210 on veg oil running water injection.
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 10, 2014 11:09:59 GMT
|
|
Great project!
|
| |
96 E320 W210 Wafter - on 18" split Mono's - Sold :-(
10 Kia Ceed Sportwagon - Our new daily
03 Import Forester STi - Sold
98 W140 CL500 AMG - Brutal weekend bruiser! Sold :-(
99 E240 S210 Barge - Now sold
02 Accord 2.0SE - wife's old daily - gone in PX
88 P100 2.9efi Custom - Sold
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks guys. So it was time to gut the 540i of everything usable for the project, and sell off everything we didn't need. First up was the engine and box, it dos'nt look that big when it's still in the 540i  But when it's out you see just how big the gearbox is.  Left a big hole in here.  The rear axle was next to come out, the engine crane made things easy here.   Then the inside of the car was completely striped out.     Gutted!  |
| |
Last Edit: May 4, 2014 21:27:57 GMT by carat 3.6
1988 Mercedes w124 superturbo diesel 508hp
1996 Mercedes s124 e300 diesel wagon
1990 BMW E30 V8 M60 powered!
1999 BMW E46 323ci project car
|
|
rodney
Posted a lot
https://www.facebook.com/RD-vehicle-transport-and-recovery-services-525622614268010/
Posts: 1,677
|
|
|
|
oooooowwwwww ill be watching this  ,. |
| |
facebook: rodney dean / rd transport  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I would have been tempted to keep both. That wagon would have been fun, and the red 3 series looked like it was worth keeping the way it was.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I would have been tempted to keep both. That wagon would have been fun, and the red 3 series looked like it was worth keeping the way it was. The wagon was fun to hoon around in, but a combination of rust, abuse, and a slipping clutch sealed it's fate. It was always bought with a veiw to being a donnor car though. Now the red car did have me wondering if we were doing the right thing, it was such a clean original car I did think of just sorting out the stupidly low suspension and rims, and keeping it. ( not that I don't love lowness, but this just drove like sh!t  ) But it took alot of searching to find a rust free car, and the little 2 liter engine was never going to cut it in the long run. |
| |
1988 Mercedes w124 superturbo diesel 508hp
1996 Mercedes s124 e300 diesel wagon
1990 BMW E30 V8 M60 powered!
1999 BMW E46 323ci project car
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
So the old shell went of to the scrapyard, which gave me some room to work with  The e30 was reversed into the shed for the silliness to start, poor little car didn't know what was coming...  The front end was striped down, bonnet and bumpers removed  The old m20 engine getting ready to come out.  And out she comes...   That's better  Old airbox brackets, and brake servo removed. This is a must as the servo is always in the way when dropping a larger engine into an e30.  |
| |
1988 Mercedes w124 superturbo diesel 508hp
1996 Mercedes s124 e300 diesel wagon
1990 BMW E30 V8 M60 powered!
1999 BMW E46 323ci project car
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
any updates?
|
| |
`99 BMW 528i auto - current `01 Merc C320 - Gone `01 Forester S-Turbo - Sold `89 BMW 320i Convertible - Sold(shoulda kept it  ) `88 Toyota MR2 T-Bar - Sold `89 BMW 325i touring - Sold `89 BMW 535i - Let her go too early `85 BMW 320i 2 door - Rust = character `00 Subaru Impreza Turbo wagon - Sold (engine failure) `93 BMW 325i - Sold |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Big update coming soon...
|
| |
1988 Mercedes w124 superturbo diesel 508hp
1996 Mercedes s124 e300 diesel wagon
1990 BMW E30 V8 M60 powered!
1999 BMW E46 323ci project car
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
loving this!
|
| |
too many toys..too little time...and usually too little money.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
will take the black wheels off you if you want?
|
| |
`99 BMW 528i auto - current `01 Merc C320 - Gone `01 Forester S-Turbo - Sold `89 BMW 320i Convertible - Sold(shoulda kept it ) `88 Toyota MR2 T-Bar - Sold `89 BMW 325i touring - Sold `89 BMW 535i - Let her go too early `85 BMW 320i 2 door - Rust = character `00 Subaru Impreza Turbo wagon - Sold (engine failure) `93 BMW 325i - Sold |
|
|
|
|
May 28, 2014 10:06:54 GMT
|
will take the black wheels off you if you want? Sorry, sold those long ago. |
| |
1988 Mercedes w124 superturbo diesel 508hp
1996 Mercedes s124 e300 diesel wagon
1990 BMW E30 V8 M60 powered!
1999 BMW E46 323ci project car
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A bit of a wait but here we go... The brake vacuum servo was never going to fit with the v8 installed so something had to be done, luckiliy the 540 donnor car came with a hydraulic brake servo fed by power steering pressure.  This unit is alot smaller so I decided to mount it behind the passenger side headlight. First job was to move the mounting point for the old servo over a few inches, the bolt pattern had to be kept as the pedal linkage is attached to this.   Then a new bracket could be made to mount the 540 servo and master cylinder onto.  With that done, we had a trial fitting of the engine!    I sat the beast as far back as possible to help with the handling, and to give some room for a decent sized rad in front of the car.   |
| |
Last Edit: Jun 4, 2014 18:36:16 GMT by carat 3.6
1988 Mercedes w124 superturbo diesel 508hp
1996 Mercedes s124 e300 diesel wagon
1990 BMW E30 V8 M60 powered!
1999 BMW E46 323ci project car
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I like small saloons with big engines and the 540i makes sense to use as a donor in a e30. But somehow an estate e34 v8 with manual would be very temping for me to restore.
Nevertheless, this is still a cool project.
What are the plans for the brake upgrade?
|
| |
 Click picture for more |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Things looked good so I centered the engine up in the bay, then did some careful measuring for the new mountings. I bought a load of 8 and 10mm offcuts from the local steel fabricators, so I could weld these together.  They were tacked together in the car, then I removed the engine again so I could weld them properly with good access. While the lump was back out I had the rocker covers powder coated red to match the paintwork.   Then it was time to do something with the exhaust manifolds which didnt fit whatsoever in the e30, I didnt take many pics cos I did that bit at 2.30 in the morning! But I took these..  And once I had cut, welded, cursed, re-welded, cursed some more, then painted, they turned into these...  |
| |
1988 Mercedes w124 superturbo diesel 508hp
1996 Mercedes s124 e300 diesel wagon
1990 BMW E30 V8 M60 powered!
1999 BMW E46 323ci project car
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I like small saloons with big engines and the 540i makes sense to use as a donor in a e30. But somehow an estate e34 v8 with manual would be very temping for me to restore. Nevertheless, this is still a cool project. What are the plans for the brake upgrade? Thanks, the estate did make a perfect daily driver, it was just the condition that sealed it's fate. A 540i has various parts that are different from other e34's making quite an expensive car to restore properly. Brake wise, I'm running the 540i front calipers with e36 m3 evo 330mm discs. The rears are standard e36 compact discs and calipers. I'll cover those in thread shortly. |
| |
Last Edit: Jun 4, 2014 19:03:34 GMT by carat 3.6
1988 Mercedes w124 superturbo diesel 508hp
1996 Mercedes s124 e300 diesel wagon
1990 BMW E30 V8 M60 powered!
1999 BMW E46 323ci project car
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I like small saloons with big engines and the 540i makes sense to use as a donor in a e30. But somehow an estate e34 v8 with manual would be very temping for me to restore. Nevertheless, this is still a cool project. What are the plans for the brake upgrade? Thanks, the estate did make a perfect daily driver, it was just the condition that sealed it's fate. A 540i has various parts that are different from other e34's making quite an expensive car to restore properly. Engine and brakes, the rest is the same. The remainder of 540i/6Ts is so low, and the demand so high, that one would need to be seriously rotten before becoming non viable for repair. |
| |
|
|
|
|
The interior was in great condition, and the body had never seen a welders torch. We fell in love with it, so the deal was done and she came home with us.
) But it took alot of searching to find a rust free car, and the little 2 liter engine was never going to cut it in the long run. 
)
This unit is alot smaller so I decided to mount it behind the passenger side headlight.
