e30 318is, 4.0 v8, Wisefab Drift Project

[GB / John]

After selling the e36 328, I decided to do a "proper" build. Made a trip to Driftland in Scotland to buy an e34 540 with 6 speed gearbox. 2 weeks later bought a e30 318is. The build will be to BDC British Drift Championship Spec, so I can compete in a few rounds next year. Its being built my ME, and a mate who owns A.B. Motors.


Pics:-








The e30 is a little battered, with overspray all over it. But it is clean, very clean and hardly any rust at all.








So the stripping commences:-














Decided to remove the car wiring loom, so I can relocate the fuse box inside the car.
Forgot to label the connectors, gonna have fun putting all this back in.








Japspeed S14 radiator trial fit for size.






A few parts I have:-


In the above picture:-
32 litre fuel tank with sender unit
3 litre swirl pot
Fuel Gauge
APS Fuel Pump to feed Swirlpot
Walbro Fuel Pump after the swirlpot
3 x AN8 90 degree fittings
Plumbed in Fire Extinguisher
Bucket Seat Adjuster
OMP Seat Frames x 2
e36 328 Propshaft
FIA approved Battery Cut Off with Pull Handle
Wide Arches
Chizfab Hydro, Boss and Steering Wheel
PAS Cooler
Aerocatches x 2
Boot Springs
Japspeed 50mm S14 Radiator
2 x 12" Electric Fans
2 x TRS Tow Straps
Dashboard with mock up panel and switches

Not in pic
e36 Front Hubs, Discs, and Brake Calipers
e36 Compact Rear trailing arms


e36 compact BC Coilovers



*** update 31 July 2013 ***

I now have:-
e36 Front Hubs, Discs, and Brake Calipers
e36 Compact Rear trailing arms
e36 steering rack

Strongflex full e30 poly bush kit.


*** Update 1st August ***
Got another delivery today:-

2 x 4 point Harnesses
Fire Extinguisher
and dunno wtf that blue shit is ;)



Wisefab Lock Kit, e30 top mounts, rest of kit is e36.





*** update 2nd August ***

Driftworks delivery part 2.

2x Track Culture FIA bucket seats.



I have just about all the parts needed for the build now. Just waiting on hearing when I can get cage sorted.


*** update 3rd August ***

I had the e34 540 on rolling road today. Made decent power at 301.1 bhp and with 170k miles on it aswell. Cant wait to get this in the e30, I'm gonna be jizzing all over the place.




*** update 08 August ***

Its off for Roll Cage fitting on Mon 12 August. It currently looks like:-






Got bucket seats loosely fitted. Gonna have to either hammer shit out the floor to flatten it, or weld in some kind of box section with longer bolts.



*** update 29 August ***
Engine, Gearbox removed from 540.


Crank oil seal appears to be leaking, so made a tool to remove flywheel.


It worked, new seal ordered from BMW, thought might aswell replace the 2 gaskets there aswell.


**** update 9 October 2013 ****

6 point Roll Cage now done, with Harness bar and double door bars. We can now crack on with the build.

[Dj Buttchug]

sub'd

[JCarp90]

In.

[Peattie]

this is going to be awesome :pimp:

[Nick_S]

Wow do stock 540's really make 300whp? Awesome build, in for this.

[twism]

Wow do stock 540's really make 300whp? Awesome build, in for this.

Was gonna ask the same, is that stock whp?

[GB / John]

286bhp is stock I think, to get 301bhp I replaced the 484 ecu, which I changed for the non ews ecu 404, to make the wiring easier. I then got a performance chip, and had the rev limiter raised to 7k. Chip was bought from - http://endtuning.com/chips.html

[Vtec?lol]

I'm down for one of those chips!
15hp and 27ftlbs of torque

[JGood]

Awesome build! Lots of pretty parts :)

Was gonna ask the same, is that stock whp?

Wow do stock 540's really make 300whp? Awesome build, in for this.

It's not WHP, it's CHP. The dyno sheet specifies Shootout Mode ( shoot_8 ). It's probably making about 250whp, which is what you can expect from a higher mileage m60. In good shape with a good tune, I think the upper limit for a stock m60 is 270's.

I'm down for one of those chips!
15hp and 27ftlbs of torque

I don't think you'll see those gains realistically, at least not WHP, and definitely not for a broad range of the powerband. I have a Mark D chip, and really didn't notice a significant difference.

[GB / John]

No idea about whp/chp etc. I just know standard its 286bhp, and now its making 301bhp. The mileage is 170k, however in 2002 at 60k miles it had a new Alusil block from a BMW dealer, I assume it was down to the famous Nikasil issue. New block has done 110k in 11 years. The graph to me, shows the engine appears quite healthy, torque line not being much of a curve is quite impressive I think.

I'm hoping to get the car back early next week from the roll cage builders, then we can crack on with the build.

[DER E30]

In for awesomeness :pimp:

[JGood]

No idea about whp/chp etc. I just know standard its 286bhp, and now its making 301bhp. The mileage is 170k, however in 2002 at 60k miles it had a new Alusil block from a BMW dealer, I assume it was down to the famous Nikasil issue. New block has done 110k in 11 years. The graph to me, shows the engine appears quite healthy, torque line not being much of a curve is quite impressive I think.

I'm hoping to get the car back early next week from the roll cage builders, then we can crack on with the build.

Well, the factory rating of 286bhp (brake horse power, which refers to the engine with NO loads, such as belt driven accessories, driveline, etc...) is really just a marketing number, it's well known that m60's and especially m62's put out significantly more power the their marketed ratings.

Crank horsepower, which is what your dyno sheet is showing, is a computer-estimated power output of the engine at the crankshaft, as-is. It's actually measuring wheel horsepower, but then it multiplies by a preset factor to come up with an estimated crank power rating.

On top of that, Dyno Dynamics notoriously measure low (nicknamed the heartbreak dyno).

This is all a good example of why chassis dyno's are tuning tools, to be used in back-to-back testing, not comparing to a factory rated number, tested 20 years ago on an engine dyno.

In any case, yes, your engine is probably healthy and has a long life ahead of it You're going to love it in an e30 chassis.

[GB / John]

*** Update 13 September 2013 ***
Hoping to get the car back next week with the cage fitted/painted.

Its been away nearly 5 weeks now. Ordered parts from the BMW dealer from e30zone.

Then started painting up a few parts I have waiting to go on, and sort the BC Coilovers to fit the Wisefab top mount and lower adapter.



Had to cut about 5mm off the top coilover bearing and half the nut to get the top mounts on. Then found I'm gonna have a problem adjusting the damper settings on the coilovers, so think I'm gonna have to drill a hole in the e30 turret so I can adjust them.

The wisefab logo will only be visible when bolted to the turrets.

[Brezzi]

very cool project. theres a place across the pond called driftland? for realz? :roll:

[GB / John]

very cool project. theres a place across the pond called driftland? for realz? :roll:

Yes there is https://www.facebook.com/DriftlandScotland

Ryan Tuerck from Formula Drift has been over, and trashed an e36 there.

http://youtu.be/kX6vogS8p0w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUu-zPY8qTA