[Dizzeep]

Originally Posted by e30polak

Also a teaser of the seats I had made, using uber rare purple M-tech clotch inserts from Europe!



Oh and my Alcantara headliner (wont be using the shift and e-brake boots

wow those look like some high quality, unique pieces! Can't wait to see installed pics

[natty99]

wow! I can only imagine what the car feels like with the S54 in it. Awesome build, it's something I hope to do someday myself

[e30polak]

Originally Posted by natty99

wow! I can only imagine what the car feels like with the S54 in it. Awesome build, it's something I hope to do someday myself

It's pretty impressive, here's my kill story list so far, ALL BEFORE THE CSL STYLE AIRBOX AND THE ADJUSTED TUNE - ENJOY!


1. E39 540i/6 M-sport

I took the M3 for a longer drive the other night to make sure it was ready for the 300 mile round trip to San Diego the next day. On my way back from where I was going, a clean Alpine e39 540 M-sport comes up behind me in a hurry. After driving the car for about 30 mins and seeing what my M3 could do, I laughed to myself when I saw the e39!

Anyhow, the e39 gets next to me and the driver rolls his window down, giving me a thumbs up. At that point I realized the guy wasn't the typical douche from Glendale. I hear him down shift and stab the gas real quick, and I was thinking, "why not?"

I dropped it into 3rd at about 70 mph, which is around 6k rpms with my gearing and right in the fat of the s54's power band. Anyway, since my horn wasn't hooked up yet, I signaled him to do a 3-honk (he had no idea what was about to happen to him!)

He jumped a bit early on the 3rd honk, but it made no difference. I quickly made my way through the end of 3rd gear and shift at 8k, when I shift into 4th I'm over a car length ahead. After shifting into 4th, I walked away from him HARD! By the time I got to 120 I was probably 5-6 car lengths ahead of him!

I slow down for him and he rolls his window down asking the famous question - "What the hell do you have in that hing??!!!"

I yell out that it has an s54 from an e46 m3, and the guy's jaw almost hit the floor!

He gave me a huge thumbs up and said the car sounded amazing. Cool younger guy, that wasn't a sore loser.

2. Current Generation LS3 powered Camaro with exhaust

It must have been my lucky night, because about 5 mins after toying with the 540 I roll up on a new LS3 powered Camaro that was driving pretty fast!

He had either straight pipes or full exhaust, because the car was beyond loud!

It looked lowered, with blacked out wheels, with a douchebag, tatted up SoCal Bro sitting shotgun with the window down, and his tatted arm hanging out. I got on his A$$ real hard in 3rd gear and flashed him with my high beams. He immediately down shifts and nails it, we were doing about 80 before he punched it. He doesn't get any kind of pull on me, instead after shifting into 4th, I get into the right lane and slowly start inching across his car. I shut down at about 120 pretty much even with his car. He kept flooring it and probably let off at around 150!

I was pretty happy about this race, as my car still has some power left on the table and an LS3 powered Camaro is no slouch on the freeway!

So I also had some more kills yesterday at the M3 rally down to San Diego.

*** In all of the below kills I had my friend in the car who weighs about 250-260lbs, so let's just say I could've done better. ***

3. E90 M3 6 speed, with exhaust, with a 100-120lb passenger

There were a bunch of e90/2/3 m3s yesterday, along with some e46s, so I knew I could embarrass at least one of them!

Any how, I line up with one of them at about 65 in 3rd, which is about 3k rpms for me. The e90 did the 3 honk, and had a skinny teenager as a passenger. We stay about even through 3rd gear, when I shift into 4th I jump a fender ahead and start to pull on him till 120, where I was about 2 car lengths ahead!

The guy's expression was PRICELESS!

If my friend wasn't in the car and the guy lost his skinny passenger, I would've probably gotten at least another half car length on him.

4. E39 m5 with exhaust

So another car that was driving very "spiritedly" in our pack was a silver e39 m5 with exhaust. I knew he would be down to run, so I pulled up next to him. We were doing about 80, so I signal him to slow down a bit. I downshifted into 3rd at about 70 and signal him to do the 3 honk. On the 3rd honk we both go and I hold even with him till 4th. After shifting into 4th I put about a fender on him and slowly pull. I shut down at about 120 about 1.5 car lengths ahead. This was expected, as I know most e39 m5s are about even with e90/2 M3s, and he didn't have a passenger.

5. Bolt-on + tuned S50 swapped e30 , with a 150-160 lb passenger

So on my way back from San Diego with my friend Peter, we roll up on an S50 swapped e30 that we completed at the shop a few months back!

I had driven the car when it was complete and, it was a very strong S50. His car was running our short ram intake + airbox, s52 exhaust manifolds. full custom 2.5" exhaust we built for him, our custom tune for the set-up, coupled with a ZF 5speed and 2.93 gears.

We both say hi to each other and he was really excited to finally see my car on the road. He had a passenger that I met as well that had to be around 150-160lbs. Anyway I downshift to 3rd and show him what the car could do!

He comes after me and I quickly slow down. This was the real test for me, I had to gauge how much faster the s54 was then my old s52 swapped car (his s50 pulled almost the same as my s52 did). I knew I was quite a bit faster, but I'm wasn't sure by how much. Anyhow I downshift to 3rd at about 70. I knew our gearing would be very similar as he had slightly longer 2.93s, but I had a rev limit that was about 700 rpms higher.

He does the 3 honk and we take off. He holds even with me till he has to shift into 4th right before me, after that it was all over!

I hold it till about 125 in 4th and I end up 4 car lengths ahead!!!

I slow down and both of them were laughing and put their hands over their heads in disbelief!


Anyhow, I'm very happy with the performance of the s54! I can't wait for the CSL style airbox and a tune adjustment, so I can make a bit more power. After driving for so long, I also realized I will be switching to 2.93 gears. While the 3.23 is nice and torquey, it revs too high for me on the freeway. The 2.93 will also be more usable for me, as i will be able to downshift to 3rd at 80, and have an extra 10 mph to pull someone before having to shift into 4th. The 2.93s will also make 1st and 2nd gear even more fun!

[e30polak]

Cool pic my friend took of the 14" bottlecaps + tires he destroyed at Streets of Willow in our shop's (Castro Motorsport) E30 Lemons car, with my M3 in the back ground.




So I took the M3 for it's first track day ever at Streets of Willow and had the time of my life! I had the opportunity to auto-x the M3 4 times with the s14 before swapping it out, but never took it on the race track because I didn't want anything to happen to the freshly rebuilt s14 I was about to sell. Well I definitely regret not starting out with a less powerful set-up in the m3 for track use!

The s54 is a pure animal on a tighter, technical course like Streets! Going back to back between my car and Chris Castro's s14 powered e30 M3 was a world of difference! While my suspension is very similar, better handling actually then Chris' based on my evaluation along with Chris' and a track instructor's, the power is the huge factor in my car!

With the s14, knowing this already from auto-xing my m3, you can and are able to carry the car with much higher speed and momentum into a turn, while also throttling through. Well the s54 is a whole different ball game!!!

While the added weight of the s54 can be felt in the turns, it wasn't really detrimental to the overall handling of the care compared to Chris's similarly set-up s14 M3. The key factor was the power, and the extremely sensitive throttle coming into the turns!

Carrying the same amount of momentum into the same turns was fine, but I couldn't throttle through the turn without the back-end coming out on me. After having my friend Kalon, who is an instructor and races our E30 Lemons car, drive the car, I realized that with the current set-up I had to drift the turns in order to drive the car at its limit. The pretty used 235/40/17 Nitto NT01s weren't holding the power too well after the first session, where I really babied the car. I definitely would've done better with some fresh NT01s in the same size, but I think running a staggered set of 235s up front and 245s out back would help immensely. I need to promote some understeer in the car that I can afford to throttle out of.

I also realized that I WILL NOT be putting a supercharger on the car as initially anticipated. First I absolutely LOVE the way my car sounds in every way! With the exhaust I came up with, and our CSL "style" intake, I can honestly say I have one of the best sounding s54 powered cars around. If I put the supercharger on, it will sound good, but I will lose that wonderful induction roar of the air box. Second, the car has more then enough power for me, and it's very controllable, especially on the streets. If I put the supercharger on, it will be much too hard to control. Finally, I'd rather spend the money on track time and becoming a MUCH better driver!

[OGGM3]

Nice Journal. The S54 is the last of the inline 6 engines & IMO the best. You've combined the classic looks of the E30 with the brute power of the S54. Can this swap be made into a DIY for the average enthusiast?

[MSpeedAddict]

Subscribed for updates.
Beautiful E30 M3!

[e30polak]

A sick pic that my friend took of my buddy Kalon doin' work in my M3 at Streets of Willow with Shift S3ctor!!!

[0-60Motorsports]

Originally Posted by e30polak

A sick pic that my friend took of my buddy Kalon doin' work in my M3 at Streets of Willow with Shift S3ctor!!!

Wicked pic

[e30polak]

Originally Posted by 0-60Motorsports

Wicked pic

Ya, i can't wait to get the high resolution version so i can crop it and make it a poster!

[natty99]

this is now my desktop pic