Building the E30 That Houses an S2000's Beating Heart
Yet another F20C-swapped BMW is in the works, and this time it's a beloved E30.
Worlds Collide
Swapping F20C and F22C1 powerplants into older BMWs is nothing new, as several builders have accomplished this feat in recent years. This blasphemous mashup of Japan and Europe makes some sense, given the reliable power Honda's S2000 powerplants provide, which is precisely why the folks at ENEOS are installing one in this vintage BMW E30 3-Series, a process that's being documented over at MotorTrend.
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Connecting the Dots
ENEOS ambassador Faruk Kugay admittedly has a soft spot for European cars, as well as drifting. So when he came across this E30 sitting at a friend's shop, the dots connected and he realized that he could build it into a pretty sweet track machine. "My friend really had no plans for it," Kugay said. "The car was just sitting there, stuck in the back of his shop, and it hadn't even run for at least 10 years."
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Exterior Plans
The E30 was in sad shape, with faded and peeling paint and no interior to speak of. But none of that mattered to Kugay, who planned on stripping the car down to its bare shell anyway. Kugay's plans for the exterior include the addition of a Pandem 1.5 kit and a carbon-fiber roof, but the big news is what's going on under the hood.
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Legal Issues
Originally, Kugay planned on swapping a K-Series powerplant into his vintage BMW, but he soon realized that wasn't going to be easy. "They just couldn't give me a straight answer on B.A.R. (Bureau of Automotive Repair) certification for a K24," Faruk said. "For example, they told me that you can modify an intake manifold … to an extent, but they wouldn't tell me to what extent until I did the swap and brought the car to them for testing (Modifying the intake manifold would be necessary in order to have the throttle body facing the front of the car). I said forget that. After having a couple of one-hour conversations with them, I just wasn't getting definitive answers, so we picked a rear-wheel-drive Honda engine that will fit with less modification and should be easier to B.A.R."
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Solid Second Choice
Luckily, the F20C makes for the perfect backup plan. "Track days are the main focus for this car," Faruk explained. "I love the idea of being able to drive the car on the street, go and do a track day, then drive it right back home without having to worry. Getting the swap done and the car's B.A.R. certification will make it perfect. The truth is, older cars just aren't that reliable, especially these, and that's why I'm going with a modern engine set up. I know the F20 won't make as much power as a K24, but it's still going to be so much fun revving to 9,000 rpm on the track."
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Many Considerations
Of course, this project hasn't been without its challenges, which isn't a surprise given the fact that this modern engine was never designed to go in the vintage BMW. The team had to not only make the I-4 fit but also had to ensure the oiling system functions perfectly, but luckily, the aftermarket has plenty of swap parts for this kind of job.
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Starting Fresh
At this point, the engine is in and the engine bay has been smoothed out and prepared for paint. "The main thing was to get rid of that 40-year-old wiring," Faruk said. "Starting fresh, Romey Hyppolite is building a custom mil-spec harness that will utilize the factory S2000 ECU and gauge cluster. After SEMA is done, we'll work on adding in the additional wiring to work with the engine's factory smog equipment so we can get the car B.A.R. certified."
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