Let's make an E30 M3! (M3 S14 cabrio clone project)

[IronJoe]

It's going to be a race to the Picnic!

I'm in the same boat! good luck man!

Just checked out your thread, pretty cool project you have going! Love the bolt-in rad support Good luck to you as well!

[delamaize]

It's going to be a race to the Picnic!

I'm in the same boat! good luck man!

[CorvallisBMW]

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say the M3 Cabrio battery sits higher because the vibration damper is still there, underneath the battery, necessitating its elevated position.

[IronJoe]

I want to come help once I get out there next week. Maybe working on some E30s will actually persuade myself to spend some cash on my own.

I'd welcome the help man!! :devil:

Have I spurred E46 M3 withdrawals yet?

Stop it.

[IronJoe]

I'm sure it's low on the priority list, but I'm interested in seeing if/how you relocate the battery. I know the m3 verts had the battery in the boot stock, but I've never seen pics. I just did mine, but using the coupe/sedan battery tray and battery cover/safety kit aren't optimal in a vert.

Hey Rob, I'd definitely be interested in seeing what you did for the mounting. The way the M3 cabrio battery mounts is different from the coupe. In my M3 coupe, the battery sits down in the boot with the top of the battery almost level with the "floor" of the trunk.

Not the case with the cabrio - the battery actually sits on top, level with the floor of the rest of the trunk.

Here's a photo that will illustrate, first a stock coupe battery mounting, tucked in the recessed area of the boot. The top of the battery is just about flush with the rest of the trunk floor, and there's a plastic molded piece that covers it.




Now here's two photos to illustrate what the E30 M3 cabrio boot/battery should look like, from the eBay auction.

As you can see, the battery actually sits up, with the battery bottom level with the trunk floor. There is a cover wrapped in upholstery that matches the rest of the trunk carpet which fastens over the battery.

My eventual goal will be to replicate this as best as I can. Hope that helps.

[Wschnitz]

I want to come help once I get out there next week. Maybe working on some E30s will actually persuade myself to spend some cash on my own.

[spiDmang]

Sorry we couldn't get more done, but lets try and shoot for another weekend full of wrenching :up:

Have I spurred E46 M3 withdrawals yet?

[jhaurimn]

Putting sideskirts on with all new hardware is oddly satisfying.

[IronJoe]

No huge updates, but fellow r3ver spiDmang helped me swap over the chassis from auto to manual. We ended up moving over the brake booster as well, which typically isn't done on a manual swap, but the master cylinder as well as the booster is different on the M3 so we had to bring it over.

The car now happily sits with three pedals :D Hopefully I'll find time to get the S14 in the car this week.




I also got a chance to pull the rear subframe from the M3. Thankfully, no detectable damage, although both rear subframe bushings were shot. I had anticipated this and purchased new ones, but haven't been able to get them out of the subframe yet. I'm going to try the "modified Harbor Freight Pitman arm puller" method tonight.

And here's what my garage looks like, I can barely walk in here. I've got boxes and boxes of parts piling up, and the countdown to the picnic has begun. 33 days and counting!

[robrez]

I'm sure it's low on the priority list, but I'm interested in seeing if/how you relocate the battery. I know the m3 verts had the battery in the boot stock, but I've never seen pics. I just did mine, but using the coupe/sedan battery tray and battery cover/safety kit aren't optimal in a vert.

[rzerob]

Subscribed.

[2mAn]

[*]Giubo

:thankyou:

[IronJoe]

I'm pretty excited for this weekend, I have had a ton of new OEM parts come in that I've been waiting on to finish the swap.

• Motor mounts, transmission mounts, subframe mounts
• Transmission support bracket
• Giubo
• Valve cover gasket
• Coolant tank
• M3 Rear bumper brackets/mounts
• M3 weld-in Front fender brackets
• Sport Evo two-piece rear bumper foam
• All new S14 maintenance items: belts, hoses, plugs, wires, etc

For my fellow M3 cabrio friends: I also found out that the sideskirts use some different mounting hardware than the coupes. Since I'm doing my best not to cut any corners, I made sure to document and order each piece. Hopefully this helps someone else. (photos are not mine)



First off, you need 6 of these clips, three per side (these are also used on the M3 coupe):
51711936517




Next, you'll need 8 of these clips, four per side, they are smaller and NOT interchangeable with the M3 coupe ones. They are also used on the Mtech 1 side skirts.
51711919149




Also you need 4 of the screw clips, two per side, these are identical to the M3 coupe ones. They each fasten using the standard 10mm plastic nuts.
Screw clip: 51711933719
Plastic nut: 16131176747





And four of these button-head plastic rivets, two per side, same as on the M3 coupe.
51161881149



Two standard hex-head screws are needed, one for the very front of each skirt. These are the ones BMW uses for everything.
07119916949





Lastly, these little buggers. They fasten the bottom of the skirt to the underbody of the car. They are just plastic press-in rivets, but they have a little extra rectangular surround. Apparently this makes them worth four dollars each They are used on the Mtech sideskirts as well. You'll need 12 of them, 6 per side. (I have not ordered these yet)

51111976050





This all might seem like overkill, but I'm determined to build this car as BMW would have. This level of detail may seem like overkill, but other builds have glossed over this aspect so I wanted to be explicit.

[spiDmang]

dude, I wish i could have made it out

but progress looks fantastic! Are you going to be at the Centennial??

[IronJoe]

I'm amazed all of the suspension survived intact!

Same here. It seems that I was really lucky - pretty much every rubber mounting component took the brunt of the impact.

I am getting the driveshaft balanced just to be on the safe side, but other than replacing rubber stuff, everything seems to be OK.