E30Rossi's Full Build - Overhaul - 5 Lug - Bay Shave - M54 Swap (Pic Heavy)

[E30Rossi]

CATuned Motorsport Floormats with OEM Clips



Protects the fully refreshed interior carpet



Fast forward to summer of 2021, I was offered a full custom exhaust from a buddy that had been welding for a while but wanted to learn how to do complete car exhausts
Couldn't turn this opportunity down! we planned out what I would need together and made an order at Vibrant Performance for all stainless parts!

Cut off the OEM exhaust line right after it comes down under the car because I knew I'd be swapping eventually and could match it easily there



Before



After all the work that went into the underneath of the car, this old rusty exhaust had to go!

[E30Rossi]

Order received!
Decided on full 2.5" stainless steel line front to back with pie-cuts and v-bands
Vibrant streetpower muffler and vibrant ultraquiet resonator
the y-pipe was returned and he made his own
the tips were returned because they felt WAY too big for E30 valence


Straight to work



Those colours :)


Planning on where to pass it for optimal clearance as the car is pretty low


V-band was an excellent choice!

[E30Rossi]

Here's some Welding p*rn for you guys!
His trade was welding radiators for a production line so exhaust were new but had the welding experience

[E30Rossi]

Perfect fitment everywhere!


Finishes off the rear end !


Love how this setup sounds! Never turn down an opportunity to downshift throught tunnels and underpasses to hear it sing



Well that was bound to happen... Took a year though , part of the game


Ouch :(

[E30Rossi]

Buddy building another E30 asked me to test fit his wheels to make sure they fit on the 5 Lug setup
Made me want to switch up the wheels and do something different!


the contrast is pretty cool


Got to drive this beast this summer as well! This sold me on swapping my car



That colour though!!



Ordered some smoked fogs off amazon to complete the dark look of the car, yellow wasn't doing it anymore

[E30Rossi]

Makes much more sense



Everything is matching now!


When I originally coated these, one side always had a little orange to it, so added more coats to even it out



Much much better

[E30Rossi]

Always had valve ajustment on my list of things to do, it was finally time to check it off, spring 2022 now


Ordered a red46 skidplate from DeltaParkAuto in Toronto a while ago, kept putting this off as well because the rad support was mangled and wasn't exactly bolt on


With the help of a friend, we managed to get the skidplate fitted so I can stress less when driving the car through Montreal's beautiful roads...



Decent clearance

[E30Rossi]

The cheap old tires I had on for 2 years had done their time, they were rock hard and I felt like the only weak point of the car after all the suspension work that was done


Time to swap them!


Gotta love NEW rubber!


Looks so good at sunset lighting

[E30Rossi]

So I had an electrical issues for over a year at this point..
It would drive me crazy because I couldn't figure it out
I could drive all day long and never had an issues, but when night came and I turned on the headlights, the car would randomly start running like shit, stalling, all kinds of things
Battery was new, I checked all the grounds, I checked headlight wiring, went through all the possibilities and came down to the alternator after some tests
I swapped in a used alternator and still had the same problem, so I opted for a rebuilt alternator instead





Fresh M20 Alternator seemed to have done the job (for now)
I was planning a trip to Wolfsgart in Vermont as my first long ride with the E30 so it had to be running smooth



Went through a complete compound, polish and sealant on the E30 before heading to Vermont


Mirror finish! It's not perfect but definitely doesn't look like a shitbox either!

[E30Rossi]

Off we went to Vermont for Wolfsgart! What an incredible experience! It was the first time I took the E30 on a long drive, first time crossing the border, first time camping with it, which I wanted to do since day one
Only had a few small hiccups, but overall went super smooth ! The car drove amazing on those US roads country roads
At some point on the weekend, I lost brakes and found the rear stainless brake hose somehow got squeezed between the trailing arm and axle, after 3 years of being in the right place
It was a scary feeling but could've ended a lot worse since we had gone on a spirited drive through the mountains with hundreds of cars earlier that day


Waking up to this beautiful view


When I entered the show, they asked if I would park the E30 inside the main building, I was honoured to have Olivia in such a prime spot for her first car show ever



Had some fun light painting at the campsite



Took the ferry across Lake Champlain to come back through New York and visit Ausable Chasm, awesome experience overall!

[Panici]

Did I read that right, you did all that initial restoration work in 6 months?!
So glad you took the time to fix all the chassis rust. You saved the car no cap.

I was in Montreal this summer on a roadtrip, seems like a nice place to live.
Following the thread for updates!

[E30Rossi]

Did I read that right, you did all that initial restoration work in 6 months?!
So glad you took the time to fix all the chassis rust. You saved the car no cap.

I was in Montreal this summer on a roadtrip, seems like a nice place to live.
Following the thread for updates!

That's exactly right! I had put it away for winter, but realized how much work and parts i'd need so i didn't touch it for 1 full year, and then got to work in fall 2019 to have it ready for spring. Honestly if covid didn't happen, i would've never done as much but I had so much time on my hands not working for a little while that I went full send!

Montreal has it's pros and cons. The roads are horrible anywhere near the city, thankfully I don't live in the city :p It's a fun place to be in the summer, lots going on ! If ever you come back and want to check out the car culture a little let me know! There's a few cool meets and shows worth checking out

[E30Rossi]

Let's carry on where I left off, I spent the rest of 2022 season enjoying the car, driving it as much as I could
Found some fun roads to rip around on, used the car as it was built
As I was planning on bringing the car to storage for the winter, same place as I built the car last time, which is a warehouse space that isn't really being used,
One of my friends sends me and ad for a M54B30 swap with all kinds of goodies for a reasonable price based on what it came with...
He tells me if I don't take it, he will 100%
I couldn't let this deal pass by as I've been looking at doing a 24V swap for a while now!


Started off by picking all the goodies that came with the swap!

E34 Oil Pan with VACMotorsport Baffle Welded in
SPAL 16" Pusher Fan
Active Autowerke Stainless Catless Headers
Castro Motorsport Intake Box (Sold)
New OEM Waterpump
Wiring Harness Adapter
S54 FPR Housing
MS43 ECU
Engine Mount Swap Arms
New Bosch Starter
CondorSpeedShop Fan Mounts
SAP Blockoff Plate / Gasket
E46 Electronic Pedal
Bosch Fuel Pump (external) - need to change this for an in tank\
New Meyle HD Guibo
Assortment of new hardware and exhaust gaskets


Saw a deal on a Garagistic chassis mount shifter locally and picked it up for a steal
Not sure if I'll like it yet, especially the height but they can be swapped for shorter so we'll see!



Picked up the M54 swap, there's no going back now!


E46 Engine Wiring, gotta sort through this


The motor, in need of MAJOR cleanup and maintenance!
For the price of the swap kit, I didn't mind this

[E30Rossi]

Years of leaky BMW Motor, Due for a cleanup!


Love the fact that it's aluminum block so minimal rust areas!



Time to tear it apart and clean everything up to match the rest of my build



Took about 3 hours with a few friends and a few beers to get motor/tranny out and ready for the new owner to pick it up


Room for activities!

[E30Rossi]

Fresh start for the E30 incoming


Out for possibly the first time in 33 years! Buyer was already on his way to pick it up so didn't even have time to look at it thorougly


Inspecting the engine bay after I've been dreaming of this day since I bought the car


I made those previous patches when I was working on the rust repair, but couldn't access this side with the motor there
Will make these repairs nicer now that I have the space


Time to remove EVERYTHING else