Featured Rides

Joe’s Bagged B7 with 2.7L Twin Turbo Swap

Photo Credit: @kieranbuttrick

You may have seen Joe’s B7 on Instagram (@jg_iii_) or at East Coast car shows like First Class Fitment and H2Oi, but what always interests me in major builds like this one is not just how they look, but the story of how the car got to where it is, and what inspired the owner to invest all of the time & money to get there. There seems to be a common theme emerging in the B7 crowd where catastrophic engine failure has inspired ambitious engine swaps, which was the case for Joe as well as the previous featured ride on my site, Daniel’s B7 RS4 Avant conversion. Sometimes you have to take one step back before you can take two steps forward.

Photo Credit: @kieranbuttrick

Rather than going for a V8 swap, Joe chose to go for the less reliable (but arguably way more fun!) 2.7L twin turbo V6 engine that is most commonly found in B5 S4s. The fun thing about these motors is that upgrading the turbos can result in massive power increases, making 500+ horsepower relatively easy to achieve. Joe knew he wanted to one-day swap the 2.7L engine in his B7 after driving a friend’s B7 that had the same engine swap done. This short test drive planted the itch, and about a year and a half later Joe’s factory 2.0T engine seized, turning that itch into a need. Joe turned to that same friend, Agron of Driver Supply, to complete the swap once again. The build didn’t stop at just swapping the engine, and also included upgrading the turbos to Borg Warner K04s and a handful of other performance mods listed below to increase power and improve reliability by addressing some of the known failure points of the 2.7L engine.

Photo Credit: @kieranbuttrick

When Joe bought the car, it already had some custom body work done to it, most notably widened fenders and a full respray in Crimson Red Metallic, as well as air bags. You can see the before & after of when Joe bought it versus now in this Instagram post. It was a great start to an even more ambitious build that Joe had in mind, and since Joe had owned another B7 previously he knew what to look for in finding a clean B7. To put the finishing touches on the body work the previous owner had started with, he added the DTM front & rear bumpers, two of my favorite OEM body mods, that were color matched by his friend Rob to the existing custom color. He also added fog lights to the DTM bumper, a mod that is a lot of extra work but gives a great (and OEM) look when complete, and did a single frame grille that removes the center filler plate. Lastly, Joe then had his friend Andrew do a ton of custom carbon fiber work to give the car a truly one-off appearance, while still maintaining an OEM-like look.

Photo Credit: @kieranbuttrick

Last but not least, wheels always make or break the build…Agron at Driver Supply worked with Rotiform to commission some custom built wheels to fill out the widened fenders, fitting a massive 18×10 front and 18×11 rear wheels under the fenders. To give you context, I struggled to fit 9″ wide wheels on my S4…so 10-11″ width is  massive for a B7. The look may be a bit too stancey for some, but an extreme build deserves an extreme set of shoes and the widened fenders seem to gobble them up nicely.

Photo Credit: @kieranbuttrick

Interior Mods:
– Black Leather B6S4 Recaro Seats
– Audi Ring Puddle Lights
– Full LED Interior lights
– Black Suede Wrapped Headliner
– Podi Boost Gauge
– Carbon Fiber Trim
– Carbon Fiber Oh-S#!t handles
– Carbon Fiber Sunroof Grab Handle
– Custom Trunk Setup

Photo Credit: @kieranbuttrick

Exterior Mods:
– DTM Front Bumper
– RS6 Modded Grille
– CF Grille Trim
– CF Grille Rings
– DTM/RS4 Modded Fog Light Grilles
– Replica DTM CF Splitter
– Relak CF Side Skirts
– ECS CF Duck Bill
– BaloghBoxyWorx Custom Rear Bumper Spats
– CF B Pillars
– CF Mirrors
– S-Line Trunk Lid
– 20% Window Tint sides, 50% windshield tint
– CF Rear Bumper Trim
– CF Diffuser Overlay
– 25th Anniversary DTM Rear Bumper

Photo Credit: @kieranbuttrick

Performance Mods:
– 2.7t Swap
– Borg Warner K04 Turbos
– 4 Inch Hitachi MAF
– 550cc Bosch Injectors
– Forge 007 Diverter Valves
– Evolution Racewerks Side Mount Intercoolers
– SS Auto Chrome downpipes modded to fit
– OEM B7 S4 Exhaust w/ Magnaflow Mufflers
– Southbend Stage 3 Daily Clutch
– 034 Motorsports Lightweight Flywheel
– Various 034 Motorsports Silicon Hoses
– 034 Motorsports Coil Pack Conversion
– 034 Motorsports X34 CF Intake
– ECS Poly Motor Mounts
– 034 Motorsports Poly Snub Mount
– 034 Motorsports Density Line Transmission Mount
– 034 Motorsports Rear Differential Bushings
– JHM Trio Shifter Kit

Photo Credit: @kieranbuttrick

Suspension Mods:
– Airlift Performance Front and Rear bags
– Bilistein shocks
– Airlift Autopilot V2 Management
– Viair Dual 444c Compressors w/ Isolators

Photo Credit: @kieranbuttrick

Wheels:
– Rotiform CCV
– Front: 18×10 et 12, Nitto NeoGen 235/40
– Rear: 18×11 et 10, Nitto NeoGen 245/40

Photo Credit: @kieranbuttrick

Joe would like to give a special shout out to Agron Coma at Driver Supply for ordering the wheels, as well as completing the engine swap, along with Rob Minroe for painting both bumpers as well as the trunk lid, Joe Balogh at BaloghBodyWorx for making the 1 of 1 rear spats, and Andrew Lavanture for making copious amounts of custom carbon fiber bits. Last but not least, a shout-out to Kieran Buttrick for the photos, and Tom Nisco of Briliant Motorworks for the posters.

Photo Credit: @kieranbuttrick

If you’re digging on Joe’s build, you can follow him on Instagram here, or buy a print of his car here.

Nick Roshon

Nick has been an Audi owner and fanatic for the last 10 years, and started Nick's Car Blog in 2009 to share DIYs and pictures of his A4. Currently he drives a 2012 Audi TT-RS, and has previously owned a B7 S4, B7 A4, and an 82 Audi Coupe (GT) LeMons race car. In his day job, Nick is a digital marketer and lives in San Diego, CA, USA.

2 Comments

  1. I have a question about the engine swap. Joe swap the engine with the transmission, automatic Transmission or 6 speeds manual?

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