Vorshlag $2010 GRM Challenge car - BMW E30 V8

[Farbin Kaiber]

It keeps readers coming back for more.

[KennyT]

It keeps readers coming back for more.

This.

I can't wait to see this engine package...I hope it doesn't go boom on you.

[ForcedFirebird]

It keeps readers coming back for more.

Yup. Only reason.

I was just throwing stones. Mr. Vorshlag seemed nervous in front of the camera and said the car's not drivable because the brakes and throwout bearing hasn't been bled yet lol.

[Fair!]

Yup. Only reason.

I was just throwing stones. Mr. Vorshlag seemed nervous in front of the camera and said the car's not drivable because the brakes and throwout bearing hasn't been bled yet lol.

LOL! So hilarious! ;)

Look, the car wasn't drivable without working brakes or a clutch. This car - like many others - has a hydraulic throw out bearing / slave cylinder combo. Which... Has fluid and had to be bled. It's called a hydraulic TOB in many circles. :)

Before I left for the Solo Nationals we finally got a working brake MC and replacement caliper bled and working. TOB/Slave is still giving us grief but was halfway working.

More soon,

[Evan Fullerton]

Yep, hydraulic throw out bearings are a pain in the butt to bleed. My race car has a Sachs one on it (car has a 997 GT3 Cup 5.5" triple plate clutch) and it took forever. Fantastic build (as is everything you guys do) and I look froward to seeing some videos when it is completed.

[Danny]

I wonder if its a v8 from a police cruiser.

[camaroz1985]

Definitely a 5.0

[ForcedFirebird]

LOL! So hilarious! ;)

Look, the car wasn't drivable without working brakes or a clutch. This car - like many others - has a hydraulic throw out bearing / slave cylinder combo. Which... Has fluid and had to be bled. It's called a hydraulic TOB in many circles. :)

I keep forgetting this is a non-BMW swapped car lol.

[Fair!]

Update for Sept 16, 2010: It runs! It Drives! Nothing caught fire or fell off! Hot damn! :D

I've worked every day and night since this past Sunday, after returning from the sound drumming I took at the Solo Nationals. Thanks to everyone that has come by and helped this past week. We've had a LOT of frustrating work days fighting with bad brake master cylinders, a bad clutch master, and wiring woes. Chris got the wiring ALL sorted out - the "unloader relays" are in and functional and he's started on the ABS wiring harness. McCall, Costas, Matt, and Paul M have also pitched in in the past week, in the final push to get it driveable.

Without further ado, here's the first drive video and engine reveal...


edit: Vorshlag E30 V8 - First Drive Video

Some of the hydraulic failures could have been avoided by NOT using used hydraulic parts. Lesson learned. This insanely low budget has led us to make mistakes in judgment. Sometimes there's a fine line separating "cheap" and "stupid".



The 3 massive fuel leaks are all finally fixed, with 3 separate repair jobs done to the fuel rail alone!



So after the 3rd fuel rail fix I had the car back together and did a quick test drive around 6:30 pm last night. Amy took the video for the "reveal video" (she had not used this vidcam yet so its a bit shaky). The "walk around" video is below. I talk about some of the aspects on the motor that we've not shared over the past 11 months.


Click this for "walk-around video"

Briefly, I'll fill in some blanks on what we've got: this car has a 2004 Chevy Silverado 1500 truck engine called the LM7, as many of you correctly guessed. Iron block, aluminum heads, 5.3L of displacement, made in the hundreds of thousands each year so they are abundant and cheap. In the trucks they make 315hp but we've taken off the uber-tall truck intake manifold and gone with a lower profile (not some say lower flowing) 5.7L Camaro intake manifold and throttle body.

The LM7 is a "Gen III" engine like the LS1, so all of the sensors and layouts are identical - except the LM7 has an electronic throttle body. We lost that with the truck intake so it now has a cable operated Camaro throttle body. The original and massive truck accessories were sold to recoup budget room to pay for used Camaro accessories, which package shorter in length and narrower in width - to better fit the small engine bay of the E30 better. A used, modified GTO oilpan was used to clear the subframe. We built motor mounts and a trans crossmember similar in style to what we use on our E36 LS1 kit, but they were of course completely different. The Camaro driveshaft was shortened to fit the car.



The uniqueness of this swap is that it was built for $2010, as well as being coupled to the the unloved V6 Camaro T5, which we used no only for budget reasons but also for low weight (we had mocked it up with the V8 Camaro T5 originally but they are fairly pricey). The T5s are much lighter than the T56 normally used behind an LSx, and it paid off with a very lower total weight for our car. The V6 T5 has a Ford front bellhousing mounting pattern, so we used a scattershield made for an LS1 to use a Ford Toploader trans, and that made it all work. Scattershields are an allowed safety expense and the one we used doesn't ding our GRM Challenge budget.



I'm sorry if some of you are disappointed that we didn't use something more exotic or silly, like a Northstar V8 or a Ford Mod Motor, but ALL of the DOHC layout V8s are massively huge and won't fit without major surgery. And they don't make good power when you have a budget this tight. The LSx engines are compact, inexpensive, powerful, reliable, and supported better in the aftermarket than any other modern V8. We're pretty happy with the finished engine install, and we have had really good results with LS1 powered BMWs in the past. We still have a lot of work to do to the car, like building flares, dialing in the suspension, and testing it it on a dragstrip. The car has driven under its own power for about 1000 feet, and we have a week to go before the GRM Challenge. (facepalm)



We're under the gun on time, I'm dead tired and busy as hell with regular Vorshlag work, so I'll post up more details soon.

[einstein57]

Awesome. Are you guys going to produce the motor mounts?

[JoeyBones]

well, i'll admit i was KINDA wrong. I knew if it was a chevy it was a truck motor... anyways a few questions:

1. Weight vs an LSx?
2. Any idea of HP output?
3. When will you have an LS/LM swap kit for the e30 ready? :)
4. When do I get to drive it?!

[Jonny Cash]

oh, nice. great job guys!

[Gnarles]

Nice! Good luck with the final preparations this week!

[pawi30]

I think I love it! How do I put this in my iX?!?

[imwhyteyo]

bravo.