New to the forum but have been lurking for some time.
I picked up a zinnoberrot 1989 318i with 180,000 km, manual, p/s, a/c etc off a customer of mine for a few hundred dollars (pistons number 2 now lives in the sump) and plan to use this to replace my current daily driver (supercharged LS1 Monaro) with something smaller but still as fun.
I know most people who are into Euro cars hate Jap engine swaps but in Australia even and M40 goes for absolutely stupid money!
So the plan is clean stockish outside with a clean comfortable interior but in an period style. The wheels i am having alot of issues with the wheels atm but i am quite sold on some BBS's like every other man and his dog. Handling and brakes are a must for me too, but not race car stuff here.
The driveline is on its way from Japan currently and is from a low kay Toyota Altezza. If you are unfamiliar with this car the engine is a Black top "beams" 2 litre 4 cylinder that makes 210hp naturally aspirated and is fitted with a 6 speed manual gearbox.
Combined with the purchase price of the car i am still under a few grand with this project.
A close friend of mine has fitted this same engine into many cars locally (none BMW's) but we are confident it will be quite straight forward in terms of the swap. My only concern atm is finding a high enough diff ratio. Standard the Altezza used 4.1 and 4.3 in later models.
An S14 would have been great (he rebuilt one recently) but it was very cost prohibitive.
The body is clean in terms of dents, no rust etc but it was a nice shade of pink when i first purchased it. After a slight detail i think it's looking good enough not to need a respray.
Will update when the engine arrives and the real work begins!
Some pictures of the E30:-
After a good wash and a clay bar
After the polishing
I picked up a zinnoberrot 1989 318i with 180,000 km, manual, p/s, a/c etc off a customer of mine for a few hundred dollars (pistons number 2 now lives in the sump) and plan to use this to replace my current daily driver (supercharged LS1 Monaro) with something smaller but still as fun.
I know most people who are into Euro cars hate Jap engine swaps but in Australia even and M40 goes for absolutely stupid money!
So the plan is clean stockish outside with a clean comfortable interior but in an period style. The wheels i am having alot of issues with the wheels atm but i am quite sold on some BBS's like every other man and his dog. Handling and brakes are a must for me too, but not race car stuff here.
The driveline is on its way from Japan currently and is from a low kay Toyota Altezza. If you are unfamiliar with this car the engine is a Black top "beams" 2 litre 4 cylinder that makes 210hp naturally aspirated and is fitted with a 6 speed manual gearbox.
Combined with the purchase price of the car i am still under a few grand with this project.
A close friend of mine has fitted this same engine into many cars locally (none BMW's) but we are confident it will be quite straight forward in terms of the swap. My only concern atm is finding a high enough diff ratio. Standard the Altezza used 4.1 and 4.3 in later models.
An S14 would have been great (he rebuilt one recently) but it was very cost prohibitive.
The body is clean in terms of dents, no rust etc but it was a nice shade of pink when i first purchased it. After a slight detail i think it's looking good enough not to need a respray.
Will update when the engine arrives and the real work begins!
Some pictures of the E30:-
After a good wash and a clay bar
After the polishing
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