Hey guys, so I know it's been done before but I'm going to start a thread for my s52 E30 build. I'm going to cover a lot of things that have already been covered in other posts but I want to have a record of how i lost my mind. I keep finding out that more often than not that the pictures and technical documents you see online nowadays are getting pulled down. Especially with the way that e30 Tech has gone dark I think it's time for a change. Hopefully it comes back online but for right now I can't really wait. So without further Ado this is my time constrained E30 s52 build.
Only time will tell if I've gotten in over my head but let's start with a little background. I first discovered gods chariot around the mid 2000s while in high school and iv been hooked ever since . It was a friends first car and we all seemed to pal around in the little sedan for 2 years while we all caught up in age. That lil BMW was a blast and it was quick enough to do something stupid in and have a little fun at the same time. Since then iv been sold. Now that I've gotten older and a semi decent job I've found I have some spare time on my hands and I'm looking for something to do that doesn't require a crap ton of money (huh what a joke right). It's time to have a little side project fun. So for now I'll tell you what I've got and where im going with this.
So far what have acquired is a 1989 BMW 325i manual coup that cost me about $400 and some serious effort to get it back from Tennessee. Oh by the way did I forget to mention that I'm in Texas? Anyway long story short he said the tranny was pretty much shot and everything else was decent. So I took a look around and saw It wasnt all that bad. I had seen much worse and some have had a ton of rust. I foolishly decided to pull the trigger on it. I get it back from Tennessee and let it sit for about six months in my garage. During that time I ended up moving into a new home and finally started to get down and dirty with it.
So I started with preventive maintenance water pump, timing belt, and that sort of thing. Lo and behold first time getting into it and trying to put it all back together I broke off of water pump bolt in the block. So that left me to buy various quality torque wrenches instead of the Happy Harbor Freight ones I had. Hard lesson to learn but im glad i learned it. Unfortunately I tried to fix it and broke an easy Out tool off in there as well. So that basically forced me sit down and take a minute to think about my project while my tap and die set came in the mail. I knew I wanted more power so went about finding a effective way to make it. I researched turbo builds and motor swaps just to kinda get an idea of what I was in for. I'm not going to be that guy and say a turbo is not the way to go. However I knew what I wanted to do with the car and it was going to be a little different from the normal turbo build. Trying to balance the nice BMW engineering with my lust for speed was going to be a challenge.
So in the end i knew if I started pushing some serious power I was going to need a 5 lug swap. That train of thought led me into 5 lug swap threads. There are a lot of different options and it looks like I could do a couple different things via the E30 M3 or the E36 M3 along with those other more customized z builds. So in the end my problems were solved. I went ahead and settled on picking up an E36 M3 Doner & parts car that would give me my motor and a 5 lug swap (most of it anyway). So then I started my search for an e36 M3 now mind you this is all taking place while my tap and die set is in the mail. Of course it being shipped through eBay this gave me plenty of time to look. I happened upon an 98 e36m3 that recently had a blown motor and had a new one swaped in. Basically it was the right price for what I wanted and it also came with BC coilovers that I could directly swap into the E30 is well. Not sure if i mention earlier that the earlier E30 is on cut springs for some janky lowering. So in the end it looked like a win-win. It was cheap as hell and at least 1000 cheaper than E36 s52 motor I could find local. So I went and picked it up and here I sit in some terrible Houston traffic getting ready to embark on probably what's going to be a very long and frustrating journey.
I've been a lurker on Rev for a long time so I figured yall deserved the exclusive. Pictures will follow this is just my traffic update so to speak.
For now im looking for any and all tips and tricks to make this bad boy any easier.
So here's where I'm at:
I've got both cars together.
I have not ordered any swap parts yet.
Basically I've broken down the E30 took off the fenders took out and stripped the interior. Right now I'm actually discovering that there might be some frame damage. It might have gotten rear-ended at some point in the back right side. I took some basic measurements to tell if the frame was bent but it seems like it's within good tolerances. But still before I put time love energy probably a lot of frustration in to this car I want to double-check and make sure it's right or at least straight. Eventually this will be some sort of show car or at least something that looks half decent but for right now I'm okay with it looking like a sleeper.
While figure that out my main focus is getting that s52 started and running before I swap it. I know I'll catch some Flack for not getting a running one but hey it was cheap. So I've been in touch with desert BMW who is going to handle my reflash and ews 2 delete along with a simple tune.
My goal this weekend is to take pictures and post on the Forum. Im also going to try and drop the rear subframe and get that cleaned up.
Also if anybody knows what parts off at E36 M3 are worth anything let me know. (Apart from the seats motor suspension.) Also I've been looking around the forms to see if I could even swap the differential in. I also know that the E36 M3 rear end does not link up to the E30 Subframe. My question is could I Use the BC coilovers that are on it in with a 318 TIRear end? I'm going to email BC today to find out that answer as well, But I figured I'd ask since you all are all geniuses.;D
Anyway that's all for now, More to come.
By the way if I missed some typos or grammatical errors blame my voice converter on the S7. I doubt it was even designed for something like this.
Only time will tell if I've gotten in over my head but let's start with a little background. I first discovered gods chariot around the mid 2000s while in high school and iv been hooked ever since . It was a friends first car and we all seemed to pal around in the little sedan for 2 years while we all caught up in age. That lil BMW was a blast and it was quick enough to do something stupid in and have a little fun at the same time. Since then iv been sold. Now that I've gotten older and a semi decent job I've found I have some spare time on my hands and I'm looking for something to do that doesn't require a crap ton of money (huh what a joke right). It's time to have a little side project fun. So for now I'll tell you what I've got and where im going with this.
So far what have acquired is a 1989 BMW 325i manual coup that cost me about $400 and some serious effort to get it back from Tennessee. Oh by the way did I forget to mention that I'm in Texas? Anyway long story short he said the tranny was pretty much shot and everything else was decent. So I took a look around and saw It wasnt all that bad. I had seen much worse and some have had a ton of rust. I foolishly decided to pull the trigger on it. I get it back from Tennessee and let it sit for about six months in my garage. During that time I ended up moving into a new home and finally started to get down and dirty with it.
So I started with preventive maintenance water pump, timing belt, and that sort of thing. Lo and behold first time getting into it and trying to put it all back together I broke off of water pump bolt in the block. So that left me to buy various quality torque wrenches instead of the Happy Harbor Freight ones I had. Hard lesson to learn but im glad i learned it. Unfortunately I tried to fix it and broke an easy Out tool off in there as well. So that basically forced me sit down and take a minute to think about my project while my tap and die set came in the mail. I knew I wanted more power so went about finding a effective way to make it. I researched turbo builds and motor swaps just to kinda get an idea of what I was in for. I'm not going to be that guy and say a turbo is not the way to go. However I knew what I wanted to do with the car and it was going to be a little different from the normal turbo build. Trying to balance the nice BMW engineering with my lust for speed was going to be a challenge.
So in the end i knew if I started pushing some serious power I was going to need a 5 lug swap. That train of thought led me into 5 lug swap threads. There are a lot of different options and it looks like I could do a couple different things via the E30 M3 or the E36 M3 along with those other more customized z builds. So in the end my problems were solved. I went ahead and settled on picking up an E36 M3 Doner & parts car that would give me my motor and a 5 lug swap (most of it anyway). So then I started my search for an e36 M3 now mind you this is all taking place while my tap and die set is in the mail. Of course it being shipped through eBay this gave me plenty of time to look. I happened upon an 98 e36m3 that recently had a blown motor and had a new one swaped in. Basically it was the right price for what I wanted and it also came with BC coilovers that I could directly swap into the E30 is well. Not sure if i mention earlier that the earlier E30 is on cut springs for some janky lowering. So in the end it looked like a win-win. It was cheap as hell and at least 1000 cheaper than E36 s52 motor I could find local. So I went and picked it up and here I sit in some terrible Houston traffic getting ready to embark on probably what's going to be a very long and frustrating journey.
I've been a lurker on Rev for a long time so I figured yall deserved the exclusive. Pictures will follow this is just my traffic update so to speak.
For now im looking for any and all tips and tricks to make this bad boy any easier.
So here's where I'm at:
I've got both cars together.
I have not ordered any swap parts yet.
Basically I've broken down the E30 took off the fenders took out and stripped the interior. Right now I'm actually discovering that there might be some frame damage. It might have gotten rear-ended at some point in the back right side. I took some basic measurements to tell if the frame was bent but it seems like it's within good tolerances. But still before I put time love energy probably a lot of frustration in to this car I want to double-check and make sure it's right or at least straight. Eventually this will be some sort of show car or at least something that looks half decent but for right now I'm okay with it looking like a sleeper.
While figure that out my main focus is getting that s52 started and running before I swap it. I know I'll catch some Flack for not getting a running one but hey it was cheap. So I've been in touch with desert BMW who is going to handle my reflash and ews 2 delete along with a simple tune.
My goal this weekend is to take pictures and post on the Forum. Im also going to try and drop the rear subframe and get that cleaned up.
Also if anybody knows what parts off at E36 M3 are worth anything let me know. (Apart from the seats motor suspension.) Also I've been looking around the forms to see if I could even swap the differential in. I also know that the E36 M3 rear end does not link up to the E30 Subframe. My question is could I Use the BC coilovers that are on it in with a 318 TIRear end? I'm going to email BC today to find out that answer as well, But I figured I'd ask since you all are all geniuses.;D
Anyway that's all for now, More to come.
By the way if I missed some typos or grammatical errors blame my voice converter on the S7. I doubt it was even designed for something like this.
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