- Taking cars of years past,
and throwing current-day technology into them isn't new.
But doing so can strike a nerve with purists.
So, what do you do when you want to put a modern twist
on a classic BMW from the 80's, a BMW E30 M3?
Well, you go off and solicit the help
of a bunch of college kids who've never restored a car
in their life, of course.
And you tell them that there's a BMW's newest
S55 M3 motor's in it, of course.
And you tell them that they only have 11 months
to build the car, and when they're done,
they gotta drive it to Vegas for SEMA,
and be in the Battle of the Builds, of course.
Well, sit back and relax, you purist dogs
because we're going bumper to bumper on the first ever
S55-Swapped E30 M3!
(imitates trumpet)
(upbeat music)
The E30 M3 has been a hot commodity over the past few years.
And while there's always been a hardcore E30 loving
community out there, more collectors have recently
taken a liking to the 80's sports car.
Part of the reason for the E30 M3 craze is, well,
BMW never really made a ton of 'em.
And finding low mileage, unmodified versions
of the boxy Bimmer is rare.
But also car enthusiasts have come to realize
that the E30 M3 is the foundation
the M3 empire was built on.
It has historic significance.
A race car at it's core.
It's a homologation special build for group A racing.
BMW designed the race car first then modified it
to make it legal on the streets.
In fact, it's posted more track wins than any M car to date.
And that's saying something because the M stands for
Motorsport, i.e. racing!
(upbeat music)
So let's imagine that you got a 1988 E30 M3 at your disposal
and you're thinking about doing an engine swap.
You know the history behind the car,
the cult following it has and how opinionated
them vivarium car loving purists are.
But that didn't stop my boy, Cory Rowan, from throwing
BMW's latest and greatest engine into this 31 year old E30.
(upbeat music)
Back in 2016 Cory was approached by CRC to do a car build
as a means for a charity promotion.
At the time, Cory was already in the midst
of collecting parts to do a build on his '88 M3,
so he pitched an idea that he'd been toying with.
Swapping out the 109,000 mile S14 engine in his E30 M3
with an S55 motor from the current F80 generation
of M3/M4 Bimmers.
There have been a lot of different motors swaps
into the E30 Chassis over the years,
S50, S54, LS.
But there's one that had not been done, the S55 swap.
And to add a little bit of excitement to the mix
in true SEMA car fashion, he wanted to complete the car
on an impossible deadline, in less than a year,
to be built in his own one and a half car garage.
No problemo.
Cory wanted to find a way to engage some younger
car enthusiasts who wouldn't normally have the opportunity
to do a build of this scale.
Finding some hardworking students who would see the project
through it's entirety would be tough.
But, luckily, Cory also participates
in the World Racing League,
and knew some hardworking youngsters
who had volunteered on his WRL pit crew,
so he asked them, and they got on board.
Of course they did!
Practical learning experience at it's finest.
Over the course of the 11 moth build,
over 20 mentors helped out on the project.
From fabricators to suspension gurus.
A lot of auto love went into helping
these youngsters build this car.
So the project was set,
and the Honest Assembly Team was formed.
So where do you begin?
(upbeat music)
First thing's first.
Start breaking things down so you can build it back up.
Just like I do in the mirror every single morning.
The '88 M3 was disassembled down to the frame
with every nut and bolt categorized and cataloged.
With the car down to it's bare bones,
the team went to work on the body.
The original panels weren't in terrible shape,
but there were 108 dents that needed to be addressed.
Just knowing that number gives you a clue
into how these guys work.
The car was media blasted down to bare metal,
and finished off with this silky smooth white paint.
The underbody got the full treatment, too,
with all new panels and fasteners.
The livery is DTM inspired.
A throwback to the 80's when certain teams didn't have money
to do full livery so they just kept it simple
with the two-toned red and white color scheme.
I like it.
I like it a lot.
(upbeat music)
Every single plastic and rubber piece on the car
was replaced with a brand new equivalent,
including the door, trunk, and hood seals.
The M3 got a carbon fiber spoiler, and a gurney flap.
But keeping true to the original intention of the build,
no obnoxious fender flares or overdone bumpers
were put on the car.
When a car comes perfect from the factory,
there's no need to mess it up.
Any and all new old stock parts that could be found
were put on the car, including the Bosch headlights,
and Hella tail lights.
The tail lights came all the way from Egypt.
Now, I'm only assuming that they came out of a tomb,
next to a mummy.
Custom front and rear sub-frames were fabbed in SLR Speed
built custom arms specifically for this car.
Custom 18.85 inch Forgeline center lock wheels
were made for the build.
Why center lock?
Race cars need freakin' center locks.
Doy!
You don't have time to be undoing all kinds of bolts
when you're trying to win the race.
(upbeat music)
The frame itself was also modified
with hidden chassis reinforcements.
Where are they?
I don't know.
They're hidden.
Little, secret reinforcements all around the car.
Shh, don't tell anybody.
How about we go take a peak inside of this Bimmer?
You care to join me?
Please, after you.
(soft music)
Now, because this car was gonna be displayed at SEMA,
any and every piece of the interior was either
replaced or restored.
Cardinal red, Napa leather all the way from Germany land
made its way onto the seats.
Black Nap leather was used to wrap the steering wheel,
console, pillars and dash.
Take a closer look at the stereo, and you'll see
a brand new old stock Nakamichi RD-460
because nothing's cooler than listening
to piano by candlelight in your S55 Swapped E30.
(soft piano music)
Everything in here is tasteful and simple,
keeping true to the original M3 design.
Even the upgrades make sense with the BMW Motorsport
golf ball shift knob.
I think it's a very nice touch.
It feels cool like a golf ball.
Going to the country club, it's 1988.
"Hey, where'd you get that future engine?"
Don't worry about it, Biff.
How about you work on your short game
'cause there's a charity golf scramble this weekend,
and I'm sick of carrying your ass.
(upbeat music)
Now, if you have a keen eye, you might be thinking,
"Hey, that cluster isn't a standard E30 M3 cluster."
Good eye, Biff.
It's not.
They decided to take the entire working F80 cluster,
and adapt it to the E30 dash.
They used the F80 cluster, F80 wiring assembly,
and, yes, the F80 M3 S55 B30 motor.
And now my favorite part of every episode
of Bumper to Bumper, I just wanna point out that
this is the key, and just like on a new M4,
you don't have to put it anywhere.
It's just gotta be in the car with you.
(starts engine)
Yeah.
I would drive this.
Ready to get into the meat and potatoes of this pupster?
Please, after you.
The F80 S55 motor you see before you was pulled
from a wrecked 2015 M3.
I can only assume that the driver was doing some hot,
bubbly stuff that he or she wasn't quite ready to do.
Know your limits.
The stock S55 is a 3 liter in line six that uses
two mono scroll turbos.
That's good for 425 hrsprs and 406 pound feet of twerks.
After some mods, which I'll talk about soon,
those numbers got bumped up a bit to 550 hrsprs
and 560 pound feet of twerk.
If you take a look at the available free space
in the engine bay, you'll quickly notice
that there isn't any.
Getting this motor in here was no easy feat.
To make sure the engine would fit, they needed a little
help from their friends, and by friends,
I mean a donor car.
This was a planned move done early on in the build
so that body and chassis work could get done
while they figured out engine mounds and stuff for the S55.
Not only were they able to work two problems at once,
if they happen to make any mistakes on a 325 donor,
it wouldn't be that big of a deal.
I mean, Max, the editor of this show, has an E30 and,
quite frankly, they're a dime a dozen, unlike great editors.
Max, I love you, buddy.
Before the motor got dropped in,
they first tackled the wiring.
Eugh, it just makes me nervous because swapping
a wiring harness from one car to another,
and making everything play nicely together
is really, really hard and very boring.
The F80 ECU needs to talk to a bunch of individual modules
from door sensors to the clutch safety switch,
so the team got a little help from BPM Sport
where they were able to hack into the ECU Jessie style,
and remove codes and any unnecessary censors.
Keeping this Twin Turbo six banger from overheating
are six different kinds of F80 coolers
with some custom piping.
Four rustless fans, and an after market controller.
CSF supply the charge cooler and heat exchanger,
and they painted it white to match the car.
It's nice.
The fit and finish is gorgeous.
The thing looks OAM, which is my favorite kind of build,
and I really appreciate that instead of going
with that blinged out look, they went with a more subtle,
wrinkled black finish.
(upbeat music)
After 11 months of work, the team made their way
from Denver to Las Vegas for SEMA, still working on the car
each time they had to stop for fuel.
And once they'd made it to SEMA,
only minutes before the first round of judging
for Battle of the Builds, the car was finished but untested.
And for a car to make it through competition,
it's got to run.
After a few late nights of literally sneaking into
the Convention Hall to work on the car,
the first time it fired up was literally on the red carpet
in the Convention Hall, to which someone quickly called out
over the Convention Center PA, "No cars are allowed"
"to be started in the hall."
Oops.
The car ended up placing in the top 12
in Battle of the Builds, top 3 in the young guns class.
A hug accomplishment for anyone,
let alone a group of booger nose college kids.
To be fair, I don't know if they have boogers.
You can't please everyone.
Trust me, I've tried.
But I think the honest assembly team
did the old school M3 right.
They didn't just pull off a sweet engine swap.
They did a full nut and bolt restoration.
Maybe the most gratifying success for the team
was winning Best Modified at Bimmerfest.
A sign that the build was excepted by the community
of E30 enthusiasts.
An if you remember, at the top of this,
outside of giving some college students
the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a SEMA car,
they built the car to bring awareness
to the Morgan Adams Foundation, a local Denver organization
that helps children affected with cancer.
A cool car built to help a great cause.
Thank, Cory of Visfire, for bringing the E30 out today.
To find a list of the 20 mentors and partners
that helped with this build, and learn how you can donate,
visit honestassembly.com,
or on Instagram @Honest Assembly.
(tires squeal)
Guys, thanks for watching this episode of Bumper to Bumper.
I'm Sexy James.
Bye.
That's what it says.
(upbeat music)