SoCal 8s October 2012 Car of the Month Issue

Transcription

1 8 Series international Owners SoCal 8s October 2012 Car of the Month Issue by: Fern Mora, Club President Greetings from Skjold, Norway Issue 8 1

2 SoCal 8s went to the ancient land of the Vikings to select this highly modified Supercharged Ci owned by Svein Egil Froyland from Skjold, Norway for this October 2012 Car of the Month On 8er.org The Story Begins: Svein who is 35 years old and has been an automotive painter since 1995, is a single father with a 14 year old daughter named Malin. She often tells her father that the boys at her school think his car is very cool you will soon see why. Havaing a cool car was not always the case. His first car was a 1972 Opel Manta A, which as he stated, was pretty rusted out from the harsh Norwegian winters. In fact, he had to weld it together just to keep it in one piece. Later he purchased another salvaged Manta A and between both cars, he was able to at least build one nicer one. It was truly a Frankenstein project. All in all, he owned four Opel Mantas. Must have loved them or been very inexpensive buys. Here is one examples of the type of Opel Manta A he owned showing the front lower spoiler 2

3 Tragedy or Fate? One day, he and his fiancé were on their way to buy an engagement ring in his first Frankenstein Manta when he lost control of the car and crashed. The car was a total wreck. Luckily there were no major injuries, but as it turned out they never got formally engaged after that incident. He presumed it was an ominous sign from above but he will never know for sure. Some used car dealers would like to have as many cars on their lots as Svein has owned. After the four Opel s, the next 2 cars were e21 s. Then he made a big-big change to a Ford Granada and what a change that was! Next was a Honda Accord before finally returning to BMW s with an e30 Alpina C1 2.3 and an e Coupe. Needles to say, he changes car more than most, but then cars are his hobby. His Alpina was a Champagne Color Manta A Svein also had Flare Fenders on his Manta A As he said, it had always been a dream to own an 8 series. He envisioned owning one for what seemed like an eternity. He contemplated getting one for a long time but it was extraordinarily costly at that time. Later as the price came within his reach he decided to at least take a glimpse at what was available. A bigger engine with lots of horsepower was his first preference, but after investigating and researching V12 issues, he opted out on that plan and looked for an 840Ci instead. The V12 repair cost is enormous in Norway. Consequently avoiding high maintenance costs was his first priority. e21 More examples of the 2 e21s he owned 1 black and the other green metallic 3

4 The Search for His 8 Begins Now that he had his criteria and knew exactly what he wanted, he could start the search. The requirements were, find a V8 with less than 150,000 km with good service records. He also wanted a 6- speed manual transmission and black interior with sport seats was a must. The search took him all over Norway without any success. The problem he encountered was BMW only sold 850s in Norway. It seems that an 840Ci V8 was simply not available anywhere in the country. He then expanded the search to Germany where he was able to locate the car he was looking for with one exception NO 6-speed manual transmission, but as he said It was sporting 18 M Parallel wheels. He contacted Tunge Transport in Norway who frequently transports cars to and from Germany and has been found to be very reliable and trustworthy. Svein sent Tunge Transport the information about the car and where it was located. Tunge then sent one of their mechanics in Germany to look at the car and test drive it. The mechanic also reviewed the maintenance history. Svein paid 600 to a German contact just to have him check out the car, test drive it, and make the purchase for him. The report after the test drive came back very positive. Finally on November 2005 after some negotiation, he made the purchase for 11,750. Svein s dream of owning an 8 now became a reality. However, the saga of owning his first 8 had just begun. Tunge Transport transported the car to Norway for 700 where it sat in the Norwegian Customs lot. Svein then had to pay a tax fee of 3,400 before he could register the car. Then at the customs office, the officer calculated charges and said damn, that s a lot of money for car that old! Then handed him the custom s fee slip for 21,000..Wow! When everything was said and done, the car ended up costing 37,450 in 2005 it s really unbelievable! As Terje Nordhus said in the August Car of the Month issue, It is extremely expensive to import an 8 series to Norway 4

5 Question: What makes the 8 special for you? Answer: Where I live there is know one else who has an 8 series. I just love the look of the 8. It has been good to me and never broken down. Being an automotive painter with many inspirations, you can imagine the color ideas he thought of for his car. One day he decided that a body color change was needed. The original color, Diamond Black Metallic (paint code 181), was too common so he picked a color no one had then painted the car yellow metallic. Wow! Did that color ever pop as shown in this picture. It could stand out in pitch-black darkness. What A Transformation Side Skirts Is that a ticket on the windshield or a love note After a few years he tired of the yellow metallic and his inspiration took over again. He decided to repaint it two tones with the top half light blue, and lower half copper. However in his opinion it was a big mistake and we would tend to agree with him. Although the top color looks nice. Running 22 Wheels I am however, a little bias to the blue 5

6 Bumper Modifications T he blue and copper color was not around very long before taking it back to the paint shop and changing the color one more time. But before repainting it, he made other modifications to the front and rear bumpers. He purchased an MK Motorsport front lower spoiler and modified then changed the location where the license plate originally sat by lowering it for a cleaner look. MK Motorsports Before After A rear bumper modification was also made. Using a Rieger e39 lower valance, he used fiberglass to mold the Rieger valance to the OEM bumper making it a single piece. The rear taillights have also been slightly modified. Both reverse and turn signal lenses were painted clear red. Color Transformation A t last, the final product was produced by painting the car white pearl with center section of the hood and roof in the original Diamond Black Metallic paint scheme you see here. He is extremely happy with this combination and how it turned out. 6

7 Some Exterior Changes T he car also had Rieger side skirts as seen on page 5, but he later removed them. He feels the car has a cleaner look with the OEM side skirts. T he FTP assemblies were also changed to the newer Euro yellow lens color which he feels looks great with the white body color. A rear window roof spoiler from Zeemax was added later 7

8 Suspension Upgrades Most of us have had to contend with worn and crumbling suspension support bushings. This 840 being 19 years old was no exception. All bushings were replaced and while he was in the process, he added Cobra lowering springs, Bilstein shocks, new brake discs and pads. He painted the calipers white which he wrote was another mistake, since they never stay clean. BMW 8 SERIES (Typ:E31) COUPE 840 I/CI Years: Cobra Springs gives improved handling in fast cornering, acceleration and breaking. The progressive coiling gives an excellent low speed comfort. Cobra Springs offer a customized extra lowering for your needs. These springs are ISO 9000 / TUV / GOCA certified / approved. They are made from Chrome-Silicon Steel and are coated in Phosphate and Epoxy. The springs will be covered with a 5-year warranty. BMW E31 8 Series Engineered specifically for use with lowering sport springs. Years ago, sport shocks had a reputation for providing a harsh ride. That s not the case with the new generation of Bilstein sport shocks. Patented digressive valving delivers exceptional road handling and cornering stability with sport springs without the harsh ride. They also reduce wear and tear on steering and suspension components and increase tire life by matching their dampening rates to the increased firmness of sport springs. Add superior design, precision manufacturing and attention to quality and it s easy to see why Bilstein s high-pressure gas sport shocks are known as the world's top-performing sport shocks 8

9 I Major Performance Improvement Was Made n of 2011, he decided to buy a Supercharger kit from ESS Tuning in Norway. The M60B40 system centered on a Vortech V3 supercharger. Here is an example of what the supercharger kit consists of. C M60 Parts Kit onsidering that this car is a daily driver, the system works exceptionally well even in traffic. The installation was pretty straight forward, with one exception which you will soon read. It was a very tight fit for this e31 9

10 I All About The he M60B40 system is based upon a Vortech V3 main supercharger unit which gives exceptional power gains, with civilized everyday driveability.the system maintains all diagnostic functions and is 49 State Emissions Legal. It is backed by a comprehensive 2 year, unlimited mileage warranty. The system installs in hours using normal hand tools and no irreversible modifications to the car is necessary. The Kit Consisted of: -411HP (7PSI). -CNC aluminum crank pulley. -8 Larger Bosch fuel injectors. -New ECU chip for fully optimized fuel/ignition control. -Vortech V3Si Supercharger unit. -CNC hard anodized 20mm certal brackets and hardware. -Fully automatic belt tensioning system. -K&N air filter. -Discharge and intake assemblies. -Installation instructions. -Long-life serpentine drive belt. -Oil breather assembly designed for boost. -CNC machined, anodized fan spacer. -100% maintenance free operation. -2yr./unlimited mileage warranty. Part number: Boost pressure: 7 PSI Horsepower: 405 SAE/411 DIN Torque: 401 lb-ft/545 Nm Installation time : hours Application intended for: E34 540i M , E38 740i M

11 T he installation kit was made to be a bolt-on for the M60 engine but not for the e31. Rather it was for the e34, so some clearance modifications to the mounting bracket needed to be made in order to clear the AC compressor. He also needed to lower the SC in order to be able to close the hood/bonnet, so he made a depression on the inner wheel well wall to allow the piping and SC to sit lower. There were also two new holes drilled in the bracket for mounting purposes. Considering the SC kit was not made for the e31, it was not too difficult to adapt. The Tight Installation He could have used her help Not Much Room There! 11

12 This Installation Was Not Without An Issue A problem occurred with the automatic gearbox after the SC was installed. When the engine reached 6,500 rpm, the gearbox went over in a failsafe mode. After trying 3 or 4 new chips for the DME, he then installed a new DME but had the same results. He then bought a new EGS but again there was no change. He later doubled the normal resistance going to the EGS from 2,100ohms to 4,200ohms. The 4,200ohm resistor he installed stopped it from going into a fail safe mode. That was how he found out he had a defective MAF. The high signal from the MAF to the EGS was too high for the 2,100ohm. The 4,200ohm resistor he added dampen the high signal the MAF was producing. Eventually he bought a new MAF and the problem was solved. One thing leads to another: I f you make one modification there is always something else which then needs to be addressed and the differential was it. The power was not as good as anticipated and was not good off the line. So off he went again to purchase a e34 M LSD differential. After swapping the rear cover and input shaft, the installation was a straight bolt-on. The car then came alive and took off like a rocket. What a perfect swap proved to be, going from a standard 2.93 to the new 3.91 gear ratio Differential On the Lift Old New 12

13 Then Yet Another Improvement: He Was Still Looking for a Better Response So... In of 2012 he decided to fulfill his dream and bought a 6-speed manual transmission on ebay including the clutch, flywheel and shipping for 1,350. The tranny had 170,000 km on it but was a very good condition. He bought the remaining parts a little at a time until he had them all. I am willing to bet that most of us would like to have this in the palm of our hand He calculated that the OEM clutch would not support the SC. So his final purchase was a Stage 2 clutch kit to handle the 434lb-ft now produced with the SC. This was a major improvement towards the overall performance. AC Schnitzer Pedals 13

14 Minor Interior Changes Three spoke Steering Wheel Center Consol Carbon Fiber Film He manufactured a bracket and mounted the e46 armrest then installed it. E-brake handle & Door Pulls What No Cup Holder Aftermarket Don t even think about taking it Head Unit 14

15 Tiger s Paws On The Road Svein paid extra to get the M Parallel wheels along with the car when he bought it, but after a while he wanted a different look to go with the new color. He bought some 22" by 9.5" chrome wheels, with 255/30 tires. To get them to fit he had to raise the spring mount. And then mount a lower spring. The chrome was fine for a couple of years, and then it started to corrode do to harsh weather conditions in Norway. Later he bought new 22" by 9.5 wheels. After running them for two years, he looked at other cars online and realized that he did it all wrong. The car looked slim and high, NOT wide and low, as it should be! Finally the 4 th set of wheels on this 8 he bought were OZ Racing Futura, 18" by 9.5" front and 18" by 11.5"rear The OZ Man I Like this Wheel Futura The car now stands on 245/35/18 Front Tires and 285/30/18 Rears 15

16 e31 Strong-Strut Tower Brace Strong-Strut Phone us: Fax us Address 9777 E. Granite Peak Trail Scottsdale, Arizona Minor trim mod made under the hood: Engine covers painted the same color scheme as the car with a flat matte finish. 16

17 Just Another Rainy Day in Norway 17

18 A Sunny Day At Last 18

19 The End! SoCal 8s would like to congratulate Svein for making the October issue of Car of the Month 19