Road Trip...

[SpeicherBimmer]

So, on Friday I made my road trip with a friend to pick up my complete M30B35 swap from a guy who lives in Belm; about 4 hours away. Thankfully I didn't have to g to work that night and my friend was good enough to let me use his truck and come with me ( though I ended up getting him in trouble with his wife for not getting home until 0030). Anyhow, I won a complete M30B35 swap in German ebay; it came with everything . I mean EVERYTHING; ECU, already modded wiring harness, 3 gauge cluster with sensors, radiator, engine mounts, headers, custom built exhaust, transmission with new clutch, modded driveshaft, and cooling fan with custom mount and wiring relay. Here are some pics of the journey...
The beginning...






Pit stop...

Jaeger schnitzle with roasted potatoes; love German gas station food


Finally almost there..

[SpeicherBimmer]

We finally made it, here's everything that I got with the engine...


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That's Mathias, the guy I bought everything from. After some discussion and beer he told me I could strip anything I wanted off the car for an extra 50 Euro..done deal!! I got a ton of parts...


Rear disc upgrade for me...

[SpeicherBimmer]

Here's the operation continuing..we spent nearly 5 hours there..


New dash for me


Just a glimpse of what I got; koni dampers with H&R Race sprins all around, new control arms with new ball joints and M3 CABS, and much more...




And the end finally...


We got there around 1530 and didn't leave until 2045 and still have a 4 hour drive back..Needless to say we were exhausted but I think I got a pretty good deal. Everything you see in the pics was bought for 1000 Euro..Oh and I forgot to mention the engine had been freshened up with new timing set, new bearings, new water pump, new head gasket, re-worked head, and new cylinder hone with new rings; all documented. She has about 20,000 kms on the rebuild, I'd say good for another 250,000 kms at least. Now I just have to figure out when I can swap everything over in my tiny little apartment complex garage...

[Pantless Spency]

wow i didn't know the made pukegrun-rot for e30's ;)


all joking aside looks like a swell trip! congrats on the engine.

[SpeicherBimmer]

Yeah I asked him about the paint scheme...He's had the car for 17 years and is 38...It was apparently chrome/silver colored before he decided on the green/red scheme when he was 22...did it himself. Didn't do a bad job with the paint, just an ugly color for an E30...especially one with a M30B35 in it...

[trackjunkie21]

Don't complain about your gas station food, It's 5 star cuisine compared to what we have at gas stations. I was in awe when I was in Germany this past summer.

[Kevin_e30]

Can't wait to see how it ends. Good job

[Holland]

I have to say that is the first time I have seen a domestic truck in Germany.

[glucklich21]

I have to say that is the first time I have seen a domestic truck in Germany.

Them too I bet. I wouldn't want to have to fill that thing up over there.

[freeride53]

Whoa there is that a f150? What is this, America or something? :D

[TimKninja]

Good deal!!!

Why was he parting it?

[SpeicherBimmer]

Actually, the guy I picked the engine up from took 10-15 pics of his dirtbike in front of the truck....They were far more amazed by it I think than I was by my new M30...His mom spent 20 mins just sitting in the driver's seat.

Gas isn't too bad; we get it for half the price the Germans pay. I think it is at around $4/gallon...still cost me $110 in gas to get up there and back.

Now I need to go through the wiring harness and make sure things are up to spec, then decided if I want to keep the engine in position 1 like he had it. Not having to bang the firewall in is the goal. He had the driveshaft cut and rebalanced for the engine in position one and I would hate to have to re-accomplish that by moving back to position 2...I just can't seem to find a straight answer about drive shaft length on pos 1 versus 2 and whether 2 actually requires firewall massaging.

[SpeicherBimmer]

He told me he was parting it because it was time to move on..he had the car for 17 years or so and was starting a family...He could have kept the car or kept doing his motocross/hunting truck...He loved to hunt and it is ridiculously expensive in Germany..Obviously he chose motocross/hunting, and I reaped the benefit....

[M-technik-3]

As you are probably quite aware of E30.de and all the stuff for doing the conversion. There are some old hats that are BMW guys since they were new at the autoskills center.

There was a shop called MP technik in one of the F15 HAS house over on the former Bitburg flugplatz too. Not sure if Stephan is still running it as I heard he moved to Prum as he bought a dealership.

[el bimmer]

Wow, I wish I could find a deal like that in the states!