Story of my m30 swap - 1/4 mile times 6/28/2005

[uflnuceng]

Prelude to the project...

Well... by the time I sell a bunch of wheels, suspension and engine parts that are left over from the project it will be close to the 7500-8000 dollar budget region, this is still going to be fun.

I just found a salvaged 1990 e34 535i which I will be taking the complete engine, tranny and driveshaft from as well as some other misc parts (radiator from an e28 and a 3.73 LSD from an e30). That plus a chip and other maintenance pieces for the engine is going to run me about $3500.

I also bought the 5-lug coilover conversion kit from Treehouse Racing which will give me e36 M3 brake calipers. That is another $3500 when I factor in brake pads and rotors. I lucked out and found a local guy on eBay selling LTW 95 M3 rims so I don't have to pay shipping charges and at only 20 lbs per rim for 17" rims (staggered) thats not bad.

Then Im going to invest about 2000-3000 dollars in a nice paint job back to its original sterling silver as well as some tasteful interior and exterior trim.

The suspension parts will be complete by the end of April and then I have 3 short weeks to put the engine in before the May 20th deadline. On that day my family and friends are renting a drag strip for 4 hrs so I will post some video and times. With the M20 these cars ran 15.7s stock. I put a Conforti chip in mine and was running 15.2 seconds at 90.4 mph on an engine with 178,500 miles on it! I was impressed. Im thinking with the M30 that has been chipped (and possibly a Schrick cam) will run low 14s and maybe even high 13s if I run the car on fumes. It will also have great potential for lower times with forced induction (my 2006 project) :twisted:.

I will keep everyone posted... this is going to be an awesome project. This board definitely inspired me... although I am seriously dreading the American Express bill at the end of the month :shock:

I'll start posting pictures of the car in process over the next month or so.

[JPbmw]

Cool, please do keep us updated ;)

[uflnuceng]

Getting the parts this weekend...

Going out to the salvage yard this saturday and picking up the following:

e34 engine - complete w/ accessories, airbox, ecu, etc.
e34 5-speed transmission including shift linkage
e34 manual driveshaft
e34 tranny cross member (Supposedly you can modify this one to fit)
e34 motor mount brackets (For reference in making custom brackets)
e34 oil cooler and lines (I know Im going to have to fab a custom bracket but I can't find an e30 M3 one close by)
e30 325ix window washer container
e28 535i radiator
e34 complete exhaust system (for material and reference for custom exhaust)
e30 glove box

All of this for $1300 cash! Everybody loves cash... its always the right color and no one ever returns it. The e34 parts are coming out of a running 1990 535i that I went to see about 3 weeks ago. The fact that I don't have to pay freight charges is an added bones and a savings of several hundered bucks Im sure.

Only the transmission is bolted up in my 325i at the moment. I'll pull the engine and tranny out tomorrow most like.

I have a bunch of urethane mounts coming from Ireland Engineering, as well as their sway bar kit and trailing arm camber/toe adjustment kit. They also gave me a front subframe reinforcement kit which I really feel is necessary with an engine that is 75lbs heavier than the original. $882 for the lot including shipping.

I have a Hella Ellipsoid kit, e34 Bentley Manual, Conforti chip, SACHs clutch kit, LTW Flywheel and UUC Evo 3 SSK coming from Turner Motorsport. I think that is everything from there. Oh yeah I got an oil filter, air filter as well and performance ignition wires (mostly because i like how easily the wires are labeled). Expensive shopping trip though... $2100 including shipping.

I have the e36 5-lug conversion kit coming from Treehouse Racing (hopefully... Jon's contact has been a little touchy over the past week). The most expensive part of the lot at $3400 including shipping.

From BMP design I have some toe hook ties and the urethane tie rod and control arm boot covers since the plastic ones always fall apart on me. Only $60 for this shopping spree.

Some of this stuff has already arrived, the rest should be here by the end of the month. I already have some vacation days set aside next month and I think that 3 weekends plus 4 vacation days should be enough to get this thing in and running.

I have all of the shops ready and waiting to jump on the custom fab work (driveshaft, reinforcement kits, shift linkage and motor mount brackets).

The only other parts that need to be taking care of are the brake rotors and pads, but I don't know whether to go for a floating rotor or just OEM for the time being. Gonna look at the spark plugs and get a set of those if need be.

I will be updating this post and my website with more details and photos as time allows. May 20th my family and friends are going to the drag strip so I can give you all results of a stock e30 325i, a Conforti chipped e30 325i (from when I was there before) and now with an m30 335i stock and a chipped m30 335i. What good is performance without data to prove it? I will also have a complete detail of the costs involved and what I sell the left over parts for. Im still trying to find the funds to get my car a nice paint job but that might have to wait a couple months.

[Xmarksthespot21]

damn, I wish you would just buy mine. Good luck with your swap.

[uflnuceng]

Thanks...

But half the fun of having a tricked out ride is doing the work yourself :D My opinion might change, however, after I get this finished.

[Xmarksthespot21]

Oh I meant my kit. You can do all the work yourself.

[uflnuceng]

ah...

One of the main things for me getting this kit is that I can drive 3 hrs to pick it up. Not paying a couple hundered dollars in freight is a real turn on for me :rofl:

[uflnuceng]

Panic attack starting...

Ok... Im thinking Im going to do the suspension work myself since I have done this kinda stuff like 5 times before in the last 2 years. So its not something I am afraid of.

However, Im having serious doubts about my ability to get the engine and transmission situated physically. Im going to talk to a mechanic that I know and see if he can atleast just get the thing in there physically. He probably won't want to try and wire anything because he didn't pull the engine out in the first place.

I don't know... I think my mind is pretty much made up. What he could do in 2 days would take me 2 weeks, and his measurements will be flawless where as I could easily miss something and have a driveshaft or shift linkage that is either to short or to long. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Once I get my website back up Im going to post some pictures of the engine pull and the m30's arrival into the garage.

Later people

[uflnuceng]

Uploaded some pictures temporarily...

After following Bently and disconnecting the engine and tranny my father-in-law helped me hook a chain to the engine mounts.





Then came the fun part... father-in-law has an excavator... better than an engine jack any day of the week.





5 minutes later...









And here is the new 1990 535i m30 and 5-speed tranny that will be going in over the next few weeks. Its a big son-of-a-bitch in comparison to the m20 ain't it?

[Julien]

why don't you ask rs4pro(ely) about the swap.. he just did it to his 88 325is.. and i beleive he might have used a driveshaft from an automatic eta, but not sure.



good luck
Julien

[rs4pro3]

Ya I used a 87 325e 5-speed driveshaft, right flange size and perfect length for position 3 ussing mounts from e30.de

[uflnuceng]

Im not modifying firewall...

As per e30.de, EP3 requires modifying the firewall which I am not interested in doing, although I was considering it. We don't run F1 cars here and I would be lying if I noticed any extra weight since I removed AC and power steering.

As for the install, what did you do? Are you competent as a welder or did you have someone do it for you or did you just make a lot of measurements and take your work to someone else? I think I might save myself a lot of hassle and just have this mechanic physically put the engine and tranny into place, although after that its just a matter of connecting the power cable, hooking up the fuel lines, attaching throttle cable, hooking up radiator, and swapping a couple wires in the wire harness plug. Kind of a dumbed down list but basically nothing I can't handle. However if this guy can get the engine installed in two days, I should be able to manage the rest on my own over another couple of days.

again, recommendations always welcome.

[george graves]

You forgot shortening shoft linkage in your list - yea, Ely RS4PRO and I have both done the swap and thinking you can just have your mechantic "mount her up is about 75% of the work)...

modifying the firewall which I am not interested in doing

Trust me - DO IT...I can fell a bit of weight to the front of my car, and I have the AC removed - nothing that I can't balance out with suspention - it will be fine, but really (I'm going to get tough with you so brace yourself....) Don't puss out on us...you're dropping a lot of $$$ and doing a lot of work - take the extra hours and bang the hell out of the fire wall - cover it up with some m3 underbody coating caerfully masked to look factory, and besides you'll never see it once the engine is burried in there - trust me. DONT BE A WHIMP - BANG THAT FIREWALL LIKE A $2 HOOKER!!!

It's almost imposiable to "take measurement" and take it to a shop to make the mounts. The space is too tight, it's too hard to keep the motor in one spot long enough - we made mounts out of abs plastic and "glued" together while the engine was on a lift and then took those and welded some mild steel. They are stong enough to lift the entire car from.

You'll want to make friends with ely and myself...we been down the road you're about to travel - and it's a long one my friend!!!

PS - is the motor out of a automatic e34?

[george graves]

Oh, and the eta DS proabbly only works if you are running a 260/5 tranny right ely? The 265 is about 3 inches longer...Don't think the splines on the DS can accomidate that much added length.

[uflnuceng]

Hey George...

I have a couple of heavy duty hitters in the family. My father-in-law has recommended that I become friendly with our neighbor who can work on just about any vehicle out there. I ran into a jam last night and him and my brother-in-law came over and did some things that were truly amazing in my eyes. The 5-lug suspension will be done by Tuesday. Then I will mount the engine, and for your sake I will try and get the engine back as far as possible:-) However, I drove in this guy's m30 M3 and noticed nothing when it came to weight. The suspension can take care of it in my opinion.

The motor and 5-speed tranny came out of the same 1990 (e34) 535i.

The rest I think you can just relax about... if I fuck up we will all know about. I have to have this car ready for the track event on May 20th. The suspension will be done soon. I'll get the engine and tranny in. If you have any recommendations regarding the driveshaft and the shift linkage, let me know. However, I don't think I'll really get to see the troubles until I start, no matter how much preparation I do.

Thanks and I'll keep you in touch:-)