KFJs "God's Chariot" e30

[—tsingson—]

Not at all. Maybe when I visit in September.

[— kung fu jesus —]

BMWs are great cars. They really are. Sometimes hyped way too much, though. There is unique, intrinsic value in them as a driver's car with nice luxury features. You have to be prepared to deal with a few oddities or be more vigilant with maintenance. If you prefer something less consuming, the Japanese luxury cars are fantastic, too.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Been looking at long-term goals. I had a chance to speak with a few BMW enthusiasts local to me whom I respect for their knowledge and maturity. I was discussing building my current engine versus swapping in a more modern DOHC engine. There are a plethora of engine swaps in these chassis and the level of execution is as equally varied. I have set my sights on two engines at the moment, again this is a ways down the road.

The first is as mentioned above, the s52 from a '96-99 M3. It is 240hp/235tq and a well-documented swap with many pieces available to make it truly "plug and play". This engine has great driving characteristic and vast aftermarket development and support. Bolt ons can put me at around 275hp (cams, ECU reflash, injectors, etc). THAT is a lot of nice power in a 2900# car while still retaining A/C, CC, etc.

The second is choice is less popular, less refined by aftermarket. That is to say, not a lot of people have done it. It is the s54 from the e46 M3 (00-06). It is another 3.2 L6 motor with ITBs from the factory. It put down 333hp stock. The engine is a little more sensitive, but as a friend told me,"it's like an inline 6 cylinder Ferrari motor." It costs a considerably more, but the results are pretty awesome:



Power to weight ration puts the car at 12:1 with the s52 (stock) and 8.7:1 with the s54. An upgraded s52 would be around 10.5:1. Putting that in perspective, that is roughly equal to these cars stock:

12:1
S2000

8.7:1
Audi RS4

10.5:1
Lotus Elise

[—tsingson—]

Have there been any LS motors swapped in or kits produced for the E30? I was just curious as the LS seems to be damn near every enthusiasts dream motor.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Yup. There are LSx swap kits for the e30 and e36 chassis. I know someone in NZ with a built LS in an e34 (90s 5 series). I don't want an LSx. There are far more sporting options from BMW that fit with arguably less work. I have even seen twin turbo V-12s swapped in from late-model 7 series.

[—tsingson—]

Oh ok. Just curious as I know that sometimes getting into some swaps cost more than just doing the LSx swap into different cars.

[The Driver]

S52. The expense involved in getting a balanced E-30 w an S54, is just not worth it.

[— kung fu jesus —]

It is tricky, for sure. The S52 is very straight forward.

[— kung fu jesus —]

just a small update...

I drove the e30 to Miatas at the Gap ths year. I led a caravan of 4 cars total. One NA8, two NB1s. A few obvservations:

Despite the amount of gear I brought, I still had room to carry the gear from the other three cars, if needed.

• The torque is amazing. When we hit the hills, I left my cruise control engaged, AC on, in 5th gear, and I would pull away from the Miatas.
• The sport seats lack good lumbar support (I had a solution).
• The car handles well, but isn't a Miata. I took it very easy on most of the roads that were tight with rapid turns. It shined on roads with sweepers and elevation changes.
• The exhaust note is glorious echoing through the mountains and trees.
• The e30 feels larger on these roads that I am accustomed to in a Miata, but that was expected.
• The Performance Friction pads require you to keep heat in them and dust like mad.
• The stereo system with bluetooth made travelling awesome. I overworked the amp and it switched off to save itself. I knew I was pushing it (volume and settings for such a long period), it switched back on after I restarted the car at the next stop.
• People gawk at the car when I rolled through the Miata vendor section at the Fontana.
• It is a GREAT freeway blitzer. Flash-to-pass seems to intimidate more people than I figured. Made the 300 mile trip back solo in about 5 hours.
• Averaged about 27mpg on the free way
• Despite being the oldest, heaviest, highest-mileage car in our group, it ran FLAWLESSLY. It didn't use a drop of oil or give me any hint of trouble.
• The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3s are AMAZING tires! For allseasons with a wear rating of 500, they handle like a performance summer tire. I am VERY impressed.

Here are some pics, some I have posted elsewhere, others are retouched...

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I hope to have some video soon, too!

[— kung fu jesus —]

10 minute, free lumbar "retrofit"

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Used a retired handtowel, rolled it up. took the back off the seat, stuffed it in front of the spring located at the lumbar section. I reinstalled the seat cover, done. I now have a true additinal lumbar support of 25-35mm. Feels nice!

[— Agent☣Orange —]

I love this project and the ad-hoc lumbar support is brilliant, heh heh. I don't know much about Bimmers but this would be the one I'd want.

[— kung fu jesus —]

might be hard to see, but the picture with both seat in it, the right seat has the lumbar, the left does not.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Fitted new clips on my rack and installed it on the car.
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[—tsingson—]

Now that's a mod that the VW/Honda guys would die for.

[JamieH]

With the roof rack it's something the hipsters would droll over... not that they would show it.

Seriously, the amount of stuff on the inside of an e30 to look and gawk at is nutty. The thing that blew me away the most is the measured fuel display. I thought it was weird when he said he had X number of litres left in the tank when we stopped for gas on the way to Deal's Gap. Then I saw the read out that was sensitive enough to pick up on fuel sloshing back and forth in the tank.

I think the e30 got more attention than any of our Miatas while there.