Kinda crazy, mid engine tdi e30

[M635dude]

So I'm not really sure how people will respond to this idea, but hopefully I can get some input from here. I work for a alternative fuel's company which converts diesel's to run on waste vegetable oil. The problem for me with the whole thing is that it's so hard to find a fun diesel in the states. I purchased an 05' cummins because of the sheer power, and a 2 door g-wagen diesel for the unique/rare factor, but now I want a sports car.

I have a 91' 318is, solid car that needs a little body work. It's got over 250k on it but the motor has never been opened up!!!! although it ticks a good bit, it actually still runs pretty good haha, and it was free. Anyways, I was looking into putting a diesel in the car. First thought was 524td motor swap. This has been done before, and is pretty easy to do. The thing though is I want something that hasn't been done, and technically to be legal the motor has to be newer then the chassis. So I started looking around online and I found an old vw caddy (mk1 pickup) that had a tdi swap put into the bed of it and at that point was rwd. Once I saw this the gears started turning in my head.

I'm basically wondering if anyone has ever seen a mid engine e30 before, or any bmw for that matter besides an m1. The goal here is to make a car which can be a company show car, a daily driver, and occasional track car. The biggest thing I'm worried about will be the handling. I think though once it's together all it will take is some playing around with springs shocks and sway bars (hopefully).

But basically I'd just take a tdi driveline (fwd) and place it in the back seat / trunk. I wouldn't start this project for a while, but I'm just wondering if people think it would be possible. Any input would be awesome. Thanks

- Adam West

[StereoInstaller1]

What would you do for the rear suspension, go to struts?

[Danny]

Why don't you just use the motor as a RWD motor?

[M635dude]

Yeah probably struts tied into the cage or maybe a custom bag setup. Making it a show car and decent driver on the street is more important by a lot then a track car though.

Why don't you just use the motor as a RWD motor?

Bc that wouldn't be as exciting!!! haha. I'm a welder so making a full cage and everything would be a lot more fun for me, plus unique. And I actually don't think the cost would really be much more at all.

[E30Kaiser]

I would love to see this, but I think a Rabbit or Golf hatchback would be easier to do, or a Mini Classic would be interesting.

[ethree]

Convert a 'rocco to rwd?

[M635dude]

I've thought about this, but I actually already have a vw golf. The mini would be fun, but it's a pretty small car, and I feel like that would be a lot of weight in the back of one of those. I'm a true bmw fan at heart and just love the idea of a flat black bmw running on grease with green veggie stickers haha. It's an idea that may or may not happen, but something is going to happen soon and hopefully it'll be something crazy and will involve a bmw. I've sold my M3 and I'm going crazy not having a fun e30 to blast around in.

Everyone loves pics so here's part of the current lineup.

[StereoInstaller1]

eh, I say M51 with boost and french fries and propane

600 ft.lbs. or die

[kylekrueger]

You know what would be kind of interesting if you had time and money you could take either an audi a3 or a4 tdi and essentially just take all of the drive line and suspension components then flip it around and weld on the e30 body.

Another option would be use the same a3/a4 components then make a space frame for them to bolt onto then put the e30 body on the space frame. then you have an incredible show car/track car.

One last option that I have been thinking about for quite some time is to chop an e30 into thirds, take the cockpit/ cabin third then integrate a space frame design on the front and back of it to make it one third unibody construction and two thirds space frame. This way (with a lot of strengthening) you could have the ease of putting in any engine and driveline where ever you wanted but still have a car that is bearable in normal driving.

All of these would require massive amounts of custom fabrication and time but if you say you are a welder then it probably would be a fun project.

thats my 2 cents.

[Wh33lhop]

Something's just not right about opening the long reverse-hinged hood of an E30 and putting groceries in there.

[quickervicar]

If it were my car and money I would try to source an Audi TDI engine, since many were setup for longitudinal layout. I'm thinking A6 V6. There was a guy over on Fred's TDIClub that took a VW Passat & swapped it completely to European Audi TDI spec, including 6-sp. Quattro. I saw the car myself and it looked completely factory, since everything WAS factory.

Just remember that the more modern a TDI is the more difficult it will be to make the swap. A 1.9L out of an A3/B4 chassis is FAR easier to swap than an A4/B5. The latter require the instrument cluster from the donor car in order to run. There may be a way around it now but that is how it was when I left the scene. If anybody would know it would be Jeff @ RocketChip. He's a couple of hours from you, in York Co., but is well worth the drive. He can make a TDI run hard.

Whatever you do it will be a fun ride. An E30 chassis and TDI torque will always be a great combination.

[weaksauce]

what is that merc?

[quickervicar]

Gelandewagen. 2-door. Diesel. Must. Have.

[M635dude]

If it were my car and money I would try to source an Audi TDI engine, since many were setup for longitudinal layout. I'm thinking A6 V6. There was a guy over on Fred's TDIClub that took a VW Passat & swapped it completely to European Audi TDI spec, including 6-sp. Quattro. I saw the car myself and it looked completely factory, since everything WAS factory.

Just remember that the more modern a TDI is the more difficult it will be to make the swap. A 1.9L out of an A3/B4 chassis is FAR easier to swap than an A4/B5. The latter require the instrument cluster from the donor car in order to run. There may be a way around it now but that is how it was when I left the scene. If anybody would know it would be Jeff @ RocketChip. He's a couple of hours from you, in York Co., but is well worth the drive. He can make a TDI run hard.

Whatever you do it will be a fun ride. An E30 chassis and TDI torque will always be a great combination.

Thanks for your input on the matter. I did know that you needed the cluster to make the motor run, and as far as I know, you still need it. Although I'm sure someone has come up with a solution. I figured a custom dash would be part of the install as well so making the cluster fit wouldn't be a problem.

If I could get an AWD 6 speed diesel driveline over here for not that much money, then I'd be really tempted to go that route into a golf or passat wagon. The problem is just the cost of it. I think that could add about $7-10k on top of the current alloted budget. Although maybe it wouldn't be that much if I could get a cheap car to put it in and it was a chassis that was made with an awd diesel somewhere else in this world. Again thanks for your thoughts.

Gelandewagen. 2-door. Diesel. Must. Have.

It's for sale ;)

[quickervicar]

Thanks for your input on the matter. I did know that you needed the cluster to make the motor run, and as far as I know, you still need it. Although I'm sure someone has come up with a solution. I figured a custom dash would be part of the install as well so making the cluster fit wouldn't be a problem.

If I could get an AWD 6 speed diesel driveline over here for not that much money, then I'd be really tempted to go that route into a golf or passat wagon. The problem is just the cost of it. I think that could add about $7-10k on top of the current alloted budget. Although maybe it wouldn't be that much if I could get a cheap car to put it in and it was a chassis that was made with an awd diesel somewhere else in this world. Again thanks for your thoughts.

The older TDIs (1Z, AHU) don't need the cluster swap, but the power potential isn't quite as great as the newer engines (ALH, PD--stay away from the PDs!). Still, my 1Z Passat was a nearly-quick car when I was done with it. It would never beat a Type-R or a 5.0, but I did beat a Honda Odyssey in a drag (not much to brag about, but 240hp is still a lot of power no matter what it's wrapped in) and the midrange torque was HUGE. Burning vegoil while doing it was just icing on the cake. For weight & simplicity I would stick with a 1Z motor (Rocketchip, GT15/17 hybrid, Kerma injectors, ARP studs) and fab up an adaptor to the Getrag 260. A nice Greasel kit in the spare tire well, but keep the rest of the car as a clean sleeper.

It's for sale ;)

I only barter. Do you take kidneys?