Yes, I name my cars most of the time. I don’t know why. Sometimes when I name them, there is some reasoning behind it. However, when I first saw this car in person the name “Elmer” came to mind so it stuck.
I’ve had too many cars over the years. Well, some may say that, but I would strongly disagree of course. In 37 years of owning cars, I’ve had 28. Simple math, that’s about one year and four months per car. In reality, I keep most cars two to three years and there have been few mistakes that I owned less than a year. One mistake was a Locost that I bought from an auction website. For years I dreamt of owning a Caterham and this was like a cheaper version of that. The mistake wasn’t buying it sight-unseen, which was risky of course. It was a mistake because I don’t even like driving a convertible. During my first drive of the Locost, I was driving down the road and there was a crazy amount of wind and wind noise. Then, as I was sitting at a stoplight, the wind noise stopped but I’m roasting in the sun. What was I thinking?! I think I put about 20 miles on that car before I sold it.
Let’s get back to Elmer. I’m honestly not 100% sure why I bought him. I guess I missed my 2016 328ix SportWagon that I sold last year. It could also be my love of a cheap project car. I’ve always been partial to the front end of an E28/E30/E34 with the classic round headlights and kidney grille. Even though Elmer had traveled 128,000 miles, the wear and tear seemed reasonable. I bought him sight-unseen and had him shipped. Upon arrival, I was pleasantly surprised to see the exterior’s condition was reasonably represented in the pictures from the ad. Elmer had lived an easy life in California and Texas (meaning little to no rust). The downside to a car being in California and Texas for 30 years, the sun had ‘baked’ the interior. Many things that the factory glued together were now pealing apart. Oh well, the give and take of southern living.
What are my plans for Elmer? He definitely needs a suspension refresh. While the struts/shocks had been replaced at some point, that’s about it. I plan to replace nearly every bushing, ball joint, tie rod, etc. Also, look at that side profile picture. The front sits up too high and the rear springs look like they have sagged. I’d like to lower the ride height a little without giving up too much ride comfort. This isn’t a sports car after all. I’ll also spend some time on fixing the issues with the interior and exterior. By no means do I want to perform a complete restoration. Think of it more as a preservation.
Most importantly, Elmer needs MO POWA BABY! The M50 2.5L engine made a whopping 189 horsepower when new. Paired with the four-speed automatic, the 0-60 time is … eventually. I don’t necessarily need Elmer to be fast. I think I’d be happy with 300 HP/TQ to move his 3,800 lbs down the road. I also like those HP/TQ figures because I think the stock differential and axles can handle it. Cost is also a consideration as this is not a spare no expense project. With a 300 HP/TQ target, here are some options I’ve thought about:
- M60 4.0L V8 and 6-speed manual from a ’94-95 540i – This should be a direct swap, but finding a donor sedan with a manual transmission will very be difficult. I love the idea of a V8 in Elmer. The exhaust note would definitely enhance the driving experience.
- M60 4.0L V8 from a ’92-’96 540i/740i/840i and an 8-speed ZF automatic from just about any 2009+ BMW – Again, the engine should drop in, but the transmission option would require a custom engine/transmission adapter plate and some electronic wizardry.
- N55 3.0L I6 and an 8-speed ZF automatic from a 2009-17 1/2/3/5-Series – It’s tough to abandon the V8 engine, but this option would mean I’d only need one donor car. While the engine and transmission are meant to be together, tackling the electronics of the engine AND transmission seems a little daunting.
- Supercharger or Turbo on the current M50 2.5L I6, transmission TBD – A turbo wouldn’t add any torque off the line, which would be a disappointing driving experience. A positive displace supercharger would add torque from idle, but asking the engine to make 50% more HP/TQ would probably decrease its life expectancy.
- S52/54 3.2L I6 and 6-speed manual – I don’t think the high revving nature of this engine fits Elmer. It also doesn’t hit my torque target.
- Other ideas?
What do you think of my engine/transmission options? Do you have other options I haven’t considered? Let me know in the comments.