The Black Iron Racing Bavarian Brougham v2.0

or How to Build a Crappy Race Car out of a $200 BMW and an LM7

by CFlo

With all of the V8 swapped oddballs we like to feature here on DT, we had to eventually start practicing what we preach. This build was over 3 years in the making, and we finally ran it this October in its maiden 24 Hours of Lemons endurance race at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in California's dusty Central Valley. Time to share!

The story started in 2012 with the first incarnation of our newest build for the 24 Hours of Lemons. It was a 1993 BMW 325i (E36) 4-door that old friend Dan (Listener Dan of DT Radio fame) had bought back in Michigan about 10 years earlier. Needless to say, there was rust. At the time, there weren’t any other E36s in Lemons that we knew of, so we figured the rust would help our cause in convincing the judges this was a $500 car. In California you’d be hard pressed to find someone to pay $250 for this thing except as a parts car.

Turbocharged 5.3 V8: 1980 Chevrolet Malibu

The term sleeper gets tossed around automotive circles so much that the average car guy is going to assume that the ugly car is faster than the nice one.  So, how do you build a sleeper when everybody expects the ratty cars to be fast?  Easy -- you build a car that looks like a show'er, but is actually a go'er.  Find this 1980 Chevy Malibu with turbo 5.3 V8 offered for $12,800 in Reseda, CA via craigslist. Tip from Mike.

10k: LM744: 1985.5 Porsche 944; Chevy LM7 V8 Swap

The Porsche 944 was an experiment in the front-engine rear drive coupe format from Porsche and followed after the lowly 924 and lofty 928.  The 944 was only available with inline-4 cylinder engines and the turbocharged version was quick, but lacked the immediate oomph provided by a big lump of V8.  One easy way to fix that is...swap in the most plentiful modern small-block available. Find this 1985.5 Porsche 944 w/Chevy LM7 V8 for sale in Detroit, MI for $12,000 via craigslist.

5k: 1972 Mercedes 280SE W108; LM7 V8 Swap = 530SE

The Mercedes-Benz W108 Sonderklasse is a stately sedan, designed to be driven with extended pinky and Bach on the Becker Mexico radio.  It is therefore the perfect car to shove a modern fuel injected American V8 into the front of (most of it, some will stick out of the hole in the hood), toss out the Bach for some Wagner and extend another finger to everyone else on the road.  This 1971 Mercedes Benz 280SE W108 with LM7 swap is for sale in Atlanta, GA for $6000 via craigslist.