Hello everyone. I've been slowly but steadily working towards completion of my swap project. It's been a couple years now since I got started. During the spring of 2020, I was able to pick up an engine and 6sp. from a wrecked 33k mile 2007 Z4. Everything I've seen inside the engine seems to confirm it's 'age'. Looking forward to reaching a point where I'll be able to turn it over and hopefully get it started with minimal issues. We'll see...
One of the main goals for my swap was to not make any major modifications to the car, subframe, suspension, etc. In order to do this, I had to make an oil pan and some headers. Once they were done, I was able to build a new exhaust system using cats, a 135i resonator, and an X3 muffler. I've been a machinist for a couple decades now. The welding and fabrication is more of a new skills development thing. I've been around and worked with some great welder/fabricators over the years, but I haven't had much opportunity to get hands on, until now. Fortunately, my FIL had an 80's Miller TIG welder he hadn't used for years so that was a good start in the right direction.
The first thing that needed to be done was to place the engine. I wanted to try to match the final drive pinon angle which I measured at 2.6 degrees using a digital level. The engine needed to be centered, obviously, and have 30 degrees of tilt. There needs to be enough room for the oil pan over the subframe and enough space to close the lid. There was talk in a previous thread of moving the engine towards the firewall 'an inch'. I started in that direction and found that the firewall prevents an inch, so after taking everything else into consideration, I settled on 13mm. I created some adaptors that allow the use of Garagistic 80A poly engine mounts and the original aluminum Z4 engine mount arms that came with my engine. The adaptors bolt to the subframe from the bottom and utilize both the original hole and the slot. It took me a few revisions to get all the geometry 'correct'. So from the original position of the E30 subframe, the adaptors move the unmodified Z4 engine mount arms toward the firewall 13mm. The engine mounts are only part of the solution, I needed a transmission mount too. I have the 'long' 6sp, so I planned to use the rear trans mounting slots on the belly of the car. I took some measurements and ended up machining an aluminum mount. With some aluminum spacers and more poly bushings, I was able to match the pinion angle. So hopefully, no driveshaft issues down the road.
After I got everything bolted in, I realized that my transmission mount would make it tight for the exhaust in that area. So a quick redesign and another part made, gave more clearance for the exhaust to turn the corner in that location.
With the engine and transmission in their final location, the real work on making the oil pan started. I wanted it to hold 6-7 quarts, it needed to have clearance from the rack and pinion, while remaining as 'tucked' as possible. Having the engine placed made it possible to shift things 1/8" here or there to make best use of the space and get the maximum volume while being low profile. I planned to use 1/8" aluminum sheet and make parts that could be laser cut, bent, and then welded into the final assembly. The front of the pan gave the most problems as far as design was concerned. There are various angles that come together, and there also needs to be clearance to get the socket on the bolt in a couple spots. I tried several versions of bent sheet metal, but all had drawbacks. One day, I was in the right mood and I got crazy with designing a machined billet front piece. By doing it this way, I was able to solve the issues and add some functionality and maybe a little 'bling'. To say I'm proud of how it turned out would be an understatement. I did all the welding/machining myself, with the exception of the internal weld around the inside sealing the flange to the pan. I started to have some issues while tacking the pan and flange together so once they were joined, I took them into work and had my boss run a nice bead in there. I know some of the welds don't look the best and the tacks around the flange are just ugly, but it doesn't leak. Maybe the 'next one' will be better?
I'm going to leave it here for now. Next, headers....
One of the main goals for my swap was to not make any major modifications to the car, subframe, suspension, etc. In order to do this, I had to make an oil pan and some headers. Once they were done, I was able to build a new exhaust system using cats, a 135i resonator, and an X3 muffler. I've been a machinist for a couple decades now. The welding and fabrication is more of a new skills development thing. I've been around and worked with some great welder/fabricators over the years, but I haven't had much opportunity to get hands on, until now. Fortunately, my FIL had an 80's Miller TIG welder he hadn't used for years so that was a good start in the right direction.
The first thing that needed to be done was to place the engine. I wanted to try to match the final drive pinon angle which I measured at 2.6 degrees using a digital level. The engine needed to be centered, obviously, and have 30 degrees of tilt. There needs to be enough room for the oil pan over the subframe and enough space to close the lid. There was talk in a previous thread of moving the engine towards the firewall 'an inch'. I started in that direction and found that the firewall prevents an inch, so after taking everything else into consideration, I settled on 13mm. I created some adaptors that allow the use of Garagistic 80A poly engine mounts and the original aluminum Z4 engine mount arms that came with my engine. The adaptors bolt to the subframe from the bottom and utilize both the original hole and the slot. It took me a few revisions to get all the geometry 'correct'. So from the original position of the E30 subframe, the adaptors move the unmodified Z4 engine mount arms toward the firewall 13mm. The engine mounts are only part of the solution, I needed a transmission mount too. I have the 'long' 6sp, so I planned to use the rear trans mounting slots on the belly of the car. I took some measurements and ended up machining an aluminum mount. With some aluminum spacers and more poly bushings, I was able to match the pinion angle. So hopefully, no driveshaft issues down the road.
After I got everything bolted in, I realized that my transmission mount would make it tight for the exhaust in that area. So a quick redesign and another part made, gave more clearance for the exhaust to turn the corner in that location.
With the engine and transmission in their final location, the real work on making the oil pan started. I wanted it to hold 6-7 quarts, it needed to have clearance from the rack and pinion, while remaining as 'tucked' as possible. Having the engine placed made it possible to shift things 1/8" here or there to make best use of the space and get the maximum volume while being low profile. I planned to use 1/8" aluminum sheet and make parts that could be laser cut, bent, and then welded into the final assembly. The front of the pan gave the most problems as far as design was concerned. There are various angles that come together, and there also needs to be clearance to get the socket on the bolt in a couple spots. I tried several versions of bent sheet metal, but all had drawbacks. One day, I was in the right mood and I got crazy with designing a machined billet front piece. By doing it this way, I was able to solve the issues and add some functionality and maybe a little 'bling'. To say I'm proud of how it turned out would be an understatement. I did all the welding/machining myself, with the exception of the internal weld around the inside sealing the flange to the pan. I started to have some issues while tacking the pan and flange together so once they were joined, I took them into work and had my boss run a nice bead in there. I know some of the welds don't look the best and the tacks around the flange are just ugly, but it doesn't leak. Maybe the 'next one' will be better?
I'm going to leave it here for now. Next, headers....
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