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New daily driver project- 1989 bmw 325i sedan w/ M50 swap

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    #16
    Ah, OK. I see where I got confused. I forgot the e34 came with m20 in early and m50 in later models. So it sounds like I have a later model e34 1993 m50 with an earlier model e34 M20 G260 tranny (are the e30 and e34 g260 the same)? If that is the case then can't I use either M50 or M20 flywheel and clutch? Sorry for my ignorance, I'm still learning about all the m50 swap variations. This is where I got the basics from:



    Of course I could wait until I drop the tranny and figure it out from there but trying to get parts beforehand to decrease down time.

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      #17
      BTW, goal is not max HP (definitely under 250bhp) so just trying to get a solid set up that will last a while.

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        #18
        Car has turned out be a solid little daily driver. I've had a lot of 80's bimmers but I'm more of an M guy and it's been maybe ten years since I had a non M E30. Seems to have all the right bits and parts for all the interchanged parts, just needs to be de-stanced a bit. Low suspension and low offset wheels with skinny stretched tires does not look or perform good IMO.

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          #19
          For the BAR sticker you are just required to have the parameters listed on the sticker. CEL was one of mine and there was a green CEL light integrated into cluster. Tried to read any codes on Peake but nothing showed up, and it worked to reset inspection and oil lights. The car runs and drives great (with the exception of clutch slip), it just smells real rich, and slightly more unburned petrol smell than normal (it smells worse than some straight pipe cars I have). It has the shorty headers integrated into an oem mid pipe, so I'm wondering if maybe the cats were hollowed out and just for looks.

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            #20
            Been whipping the car into shape. Updated questions in #2 post. Any suggestions?

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              #21
              I think I might have gotten lucky and might not have to do the clutch right now. From the get go it did not feel like a normal slipping clutch. Normally when a clutch slips it can occur in any gear with enough throttle, and although you can baby it for a while, it gets progressively worse. This car only slipped when giving it lots of throttle in the higher gears. For the last week or two I would give it a kind of Italian tune up at different intervals. I would basically drive it and give it lots of throttle and rev it out, and let it slip and catch on it's own, then modulate the throttle to just below slipping, then a cool down period. My thoughts were that either I would burn out the clutch and have to replace it anyway, or maybe there are deposits on flywheel or friction surface that affect grip (maybe from not being driven hard enough). Last few days it seems to have really improved clutch, and I can notice a definite difference. At 3000 rpm in all gears I can bury the right pedal and rev all the way out to 7k without slipping. I'm gonna give it a drive around this weekend and make sure I can replicate this consistently, I might have gotten lucky on this one. This might be the one time out of a hundred that one of my cars fixes itself.

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                #22
                It seems like my instincts were correct about the clutch. The rear tranny seal has a slow leak, so flushed and filled it and clutch holds with WOT to redline. Can that rear tranny seal be replaced by just pulling driveshaft and accessing it that way? On a side note, the car has E21 tranny mounts, and one of them has separated. People have been saying for years that the E21 is supposed to be a heavy duty mount but I never believed that and never used them. It is not a bolt through design, and it's not higher durometer rubber. Gonna use a poly bolt through mount with enforcer cups this time.

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                  #23
                  I've been slowly working on some things on the car and planning a full suspension refresh. I sold the sport seats that were in it so ended up mounting a Recaro Speed seat in it. The PO had a few random stickers stuck to the inside of the trunk so I continued with that theme and threw a bunch of stickers from my collection on, mostly with a Cali theme. I also got the rally light bar sold here on r3v and I would highly recommend it. I have some vintage Cluteroche rally lights that will end up mounted on it. I might consider selling this car if it sounds like what you are looking for. I'm not actively selling it, so otherwise just gonna keep messing around with it.

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                    #24
                    Originally posted by CMG View Post
                    It seems like my instincts were correct about the clutch. The rear tranny seal has a slow leak, so flushed and filled it and clutch holds with WOT to redline. Can that rear tranny seal be replaced by just pulling driveshaft and accessing it that way? On a side note, the car has E21 tranny mounts, and one of them has separated. People have been saying for years that the E21 is supposed to be a heavy duty mount but I never believed that and never used them. It is not a bolt through design, and it's not higher durometer rubber. Gonna use a poly bolt through mount with enforcer cups this time.
                    Seems a bit lonely in this thread!

                    The e21 tranny mounts are heavier duty than the e30 ones (you only need to see them side by side for that to be clear). Given you have an oil leak, it's not that surprising they've failed as all rubber bushings will deteriorate fairly quickly if they get oily. If you're bothered about NVH at all, the poly trans mounts will transfer significantly more transmission noise into the cabin. New e21 mounts with enforcer cups is probably the best compromise on a daily if you want to limit fore / aft movement of the engine.

                    I have poly trans mounts, but am probably going to swap them back out at some point, as I'm pretty tired of the gearbox noise seeing as I daily drive my car too.

                    Sounds like the car is lots of fun! Good stuff overall.
                    My e30: OEM+ with M30B35

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                      #25
                      Unless I'm mistaken, the E21 mounts are not a bolt through design. For a normal street daily driver application they would be fine because the rubber middle would help buffer the nvh. My main concern with this car is having any play in the driveline that would cause the engine to shift forward causing a fan grenade. I have some good bolt thru poly mounts but I found some cheap plastic ones on ebay that I'm gonna try for fun. They were like $25 and made of UHMW, which is supposed to be more durable than delrin, and I'll use high grade hardware. Swapping out tranny mounts isn't hard so I figured I would experiment. We'll see how it goes, I personally think it will work fine for a couple years or so, but long term I think they would just fall apart. One question I still had was regarding the motor mounts. As far as I know the only option is E28 M5 mounts, and sometimes spacers to raise engine for clearance. Are there any other E30 M50 motor mount options?

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                        #26
                        I ended up doing a full suspension refresh and used oem bushings but tried some bolt thru delrin tranny bushings. They are definitely solid, and transmit tranny vibrations throughout the car...definitely gonna do like you did and switch back to stock. The only thing really left to do on the car now to make it 100% solid is the clutch. I'm kinda sorta tempted to do a ltw flywheel, but don't want the chatter or possible idle issues so if dual mass is good just gonna do straight clutch change. I'll report back once I get it done but the current symptoms on the clutch are: clutch pedal always vibrates whether engaged or not, no unusual sounds from tranny or TOB and smooth shifts, clutch holds thru full rpm in first and second, in third and above the higher the rpm the more the clutch slips. I think maybe the springs on the clutch disc are starting to go.

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                          #27
                          Good thread, I like the idea of asking questions in one thread rather than starting a ton of new ones. I'm currently in the process of a M50 swap so hopefully I can help.

                          Regarding M50 engine mounts, there are plenty of places that make them. Condor Speed Shop, RevShift, AKG and I think a few others. I know RevShift offers different durometer engine mounts. I mention that specifically because solid engine mounts cause a good amount of NVH. Not as much as solid trans mounts, but fairly close.

                          With the output shaft seal on your trans, you need to remove, driveshaft, exhaust (if it's in the way), and probably the output shaft itself. This diagram should help. https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=23_1101 The seal is number 13. You may want to look into replacing the guibo depending on condition.
                          Originally posted by Melon
                          Engine work takes patience and finesse.

                          Suspension work takes anger, a big fucking hammer, and a torch.

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                            #28
                            Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware there were multiple options for E30 M50 motor mounts. I'll be doing the clutch next week. I don't know whether I have an M50 or M20 clutch and flywheel so I'll have to wait until it's off to see what kind of clutch I need. I'm assuming I have the oem single or dual mass flywheel, and I know they are not machinable but wondering how to tell if it is too worn or possibly the source of the vibrations.
                            I'll have to check my exhaust for clearance I forgot about that. It was a solid one piece unit from headers to magnaflow but threw some flanges on the rear section when doing the suspension. Definitely wanna replace any seals while I'm in there, I know my giubo was good last time I checked.

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                              #29
                              Gotcha, yeah my M50 came with a dual mass flywheel that was pretty bad. Since I'm a broke college student and it apparently worked before it was pulled, I'm just gonna resurface my flywheel with a wire wheel. The actual clutch is the same thickness as brand new. Basically here's a comparison between a good and bad flywheel. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sV1NWPqS8kU/maxresdefault.jpg
                              Check for heat spots (tiny little blue/black circles) and cracks.
                              Yeah, I'd check the input shaft as well.
                              Originally posted by Melon
                              Engine work takes patience and finesse.

                              Suspension work takes anger, a big fucking hammer, and a torch.

                              Comment


                                #30
                                So pulled the tranny and it has the G260 with M20 clutch and flywheel. Had to pull intake manifold to get to starter bolts. Clutch surface was good but pressure plate had uneven center forks so I believe that was the source of the vibration and slipping. Resurfaced flywheel and replacing with stock sach clutch at $240 (wtf prices have gone up). The pivot pin was also worn so planning on replacing with the brass one.

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