E30 v8 cabrio "gentleman edition" *finished and sold*

[Jonsku]

Many thanks to Topi for the opening post. When asked by Topi if I’d like to step in to this project, I didn’t have to think for long - this is a rare chance to be able to implement most of my crazy (or silly? :)) ideas from my earlier V8 swap into E30!

Anyway, putting long story short; as a start an BMW M60 combined with automatic transmission is somewhat challenging package to swap into E30 body, mostly because of the physical measures but also due to all the fiddling with auxiliaries. Especially the gearbox is quite a monster:




Also climate control causes some ”extra fun” in the engine bay, together with cruise control and other parts.. Well, everything is possible and after having seen a couple of examples in the world of automatic V8 E30, it seemed that this would be something that is actually doable. :)

Well, what then has been done so far? Actually quite a lot I might say! :) The body has been totally stripped and we do agree that M60 really is bigger than M20:






As stated earlier, basically all parts that are put back on are either brand new or painted / fixed / upgraded. And as can be seen from the pictures, there really are “a few” new parts. The diff will be equipped with Z3M finned cover, as much as for the aesthetics as well as for the cooling effect. LSD with 2.93 ratio will be also put in.






The engine itself fits in the ‘bay quite nicely, just like in my previous project. Though in this case the climate compressor and autobox required bit more space..

[Tr79]

Greetings from Finland to all of You BMW fans in this forum! We wanted to bring this project also into your attention as we believe that especially E30 and old school minded BMW enthusiasts would find the project interesting. Personally, I am a new face to this forum so please excuse any possible “rookie mistakes” in opening this thread :)

As this is a project thread I will try to aim for efficiency in terms of text amount. In brief, the idea hereunder is to swap a V8 engine into a 325iA E30 cabriolet (yearmodel 1987) which I purchased from Germany in Spring 2011. The whole car will be basically re-built with quality parts and “enough” extras. The project call-name “Gentleman Edition” indicates automatic transmission, air conditioning, cruise control and original Recaro sport seats with electric adjustments, all genuine BMW parts of course. Visually the aim is to have a strong contrast: black exterior (Diamond Schwartz Metallic) combined with white leather interior. The rims are original 16” from E28 M5. All in all we aim to a solid sleeper look, however equipped with a strong V8 heart and having everything executed by a neat prudent OEM+ mindset.
The project has commenced on Spring 2011 by purchasing the E30 cabrio along with miscellaneous parts. The actual stripping of E30 body began in Autumn 2011. There is a project “picture-book” uploaded at http://v8cabrio.kuvat.fi. We are now phasing the joyful momentum of having the body being shipped to painter for complete respray.
That positive milestone explains us setting up the project topic now.

The project is not an easy wholeness to put together, a special knowhow from various angles is a must requirement. Therefore I have gathered a special group of experts in Finland, each possessing a unique skill needed for this project. The key role of Project Manager and “Chief Technical Architect” in this V8 CABRIO project is played by the Jonsku, also known in this forum already earlier I believe. In my opinion, Jonsku has strong credits and a unique reference of implementing a factory-style V8 swap to an E30 body so having his talents and knowhow included here was a major kick-off for the whole project. In addition, Mr. Kai Paavola will paint the body of the car whereas a Finnish BMW enthusiast Rockford will cover the other painting related tasks. Leather interior is stitched by famous Khrelix Design www.kxd.fi and hifi+music turf is reserved for Simex www.simex.fi and Autostudio www.autostudio.fi. The car will equipped with a huge number of original parts, so naturally the part suppliers Toni and Mirva from Schmiedmann www.schmiedmann.fi play an important role hereunder. All in all, there are tough guys gathered into a tough team to conclude a tough project.

You all are warmly welcomed to visit the pictures and follow the progress of this V8 CABRIO project!