Not Another Cheap V8 Swap... (Pic Heavy)

[E30Whore]

Not Another Cheap V8 Swap...

Back to sourcing parts. Now that I had time to do research on the swap, I see people advertise this can be done for 4-6k. If this is your budget, abort now because I can assure you, you will be upwards of 10k before you know it. General focus and direction of where you want your car to be will play a major role on budget however, doing it right still cost money. Sometimes I wish I just dug a hole in the yard and buried stupid amounts of cash in it. I probably would have spent less..

[E30Whore]

Not Another Cheap V8 Swap... (Pic Heavy)

I spent several months stalking these forums. No need to post, No need to ask questions...Just researching the build based off what others here have been doing. Once I felt I had a general grasp on what I was about to encounter, I solicit a buddy of mine who's well knows in the LS community. Ryan has several LS builds and has been invaluable to my project.



We start our parts list, Ryan's mission is to find a Motor and Transmission while I'm working on the rest of the build. I start putting a list together on paper that addresses Breaks, Suspension, Rear End, Body and Interior.



During this process (2-4 months) my real good friend Dan and I found a S52 swapped E30 in North Carolina. We took a break from our normal day to day "work life" to go check it out. Needless to say, we came home with it and now I officially have a E30 buddy here in Roanoke, VA! His car is the best I've seen personally. Here it is...

[E30Whore]

Not Another Cheap V8 Swap...

My first fill up. Although I was grinning from ear to ear, I had my wife follow me in the X5 incase I broke down lol :D

[E30Whore]

Not Another Cheap V8 Swap...

The interior...

[E30Whore]

Oh my, what have I gotten into? Only if i knew....

My love for BMW started back in 2009 when I read a Road&Track magazine about the E90 ///M3. In 2011 I purchased my first one, a 09 335i E92. It wasn't a ///M3 but I was happy, it's what I wanted! I was sold, loved it, modded it, drove it and so on. Then in 2013, I found Bimmerfest, this is where things get screwy for me. At Bimmerfest 2013 I came across several E30 platforms that just caught my eye. Never really appreciated the chassis but for some reason, I focused on the attention to detail on the builds. I found the car attractive yet masculine. The simplicity overwhelmed me, I was hooked!

Fast forward a year, a friend of mine purchased a clean E30 on Clist and brought it out to a local BBQ meet I was attending to show it off. Immediately, I had to check it out. Of course, I asked for a ride.... This day was the start of what I knew would be a long, stressful, financially poor decision making road to E30 bliss.

After a few months, I jumped the gun and purchased one of the first E30's I saw. Man, what a mistake that was. It was a pile of crap, piece of junk that wasn't worth the $800 I spent on it. I drove it for a couple of months then posted it up for sale on Facebook. I listed it at $1500 knowing someone would low-ball me only to be offered full price the very same day by a chick in NC. SOLD!

Roughly 4 months of searching passes, I found the one! A local college student that's in possession of a fairly clean, tight, low miles car that was given to her by her dad (original owner) and who didn't appreciate the E30. She wanted it gone because she "needed" a truck to haul her canoe. After a few text messages and a test drive, I offered her $1100 bucks. She agrees with a smile on her face and I just became a proud owner of a 1988 325es. That's it, I just found the E30 that started as a inline 6 and will ultimately become a reborn, tire shredding, street romping, wallet draining, V8 thumping killer... Okay, maybe that's too much but you get the point.

Well, what do you think? this is probably the cleanest shes going to look for while...