I have an 87 325is which was auto and I converted to manual with a Getrag 260. I have been running Megasquirt MS2e and M20 Turbo and I love the power but I rebuilt the M20 with an E lower end and must have messed up somewhere since it was my first rebuild and have tons of blow by and low compression on 1 cylinder. Rather than rebuild her I got a really good deal on a solid M52 B28 OBD1 converted with headers, M50 Intake manifold, and a red label ECU and my plans were to just use the Getrag 260 along with my auto LSD which I think is geared at 3.91 I hear that's a good combo. I read a bunch that people wonder about the strength of the Getrag 260 but mine has held up over the years just fine.
My goal is to have more reliability and I know I will loose HP but I still want to have it so it is fun to drive. I don't know much about the Red label ECU that came with the setup or even how spirited the car should feel with the setup as is. Are there any suggestions as far as prep while the engine is out to give me any more power than what I can expect from the M50 manifold and headers? I know I would have to spend money to get my MS2E to drive the coil packs on the M52 since I was just running the stock M20 ignition with it... but I also saw that there are chips available for that DME so I am questioning whether it is worth the expense of upgrading the MS2E.
Also... trying to figure out whether the headers that came with my M52 will fit in the E30... they end at the same length and extend far enough back that I cannot rotate the engine on the stand without the headers hitting the engine stand support.
This is my first swap... I already soldered up the C101 and my front sump pan is set to get to me tomorrow. I was planning on buying
and
I'm still not sure what my best bet is for cooling... I would appreciate any suggestions... my E30 radiator in the car is 1 year old and has the external overflow tank. I am running in FL heat so I rather be safe than sorry plus my M20 had working AC so I would like to try to get that going with the M52 as well somehow.
Guidance is appreciated and thank you in advance.
My goal is to have more reliability and I know I will loose HP but I still want to have it so it is fun to drive. I don't know much about the Red label ECU that came with the setup or even how spirited the car should feel with the setup as is. Are there any suggestions as far as prep while the engine is out to give me any more power than what I can expect from the M50 manifold and headers? I know I would have to spend money to get my MS2E to drive the coil packs on the M52 since I was just running the stock M20 ignition with it... but I also saw that there are chips available for that DME so I am questioning whether it is worth the expense of upgrading the MS2E.
Also... trying to figure out whether the headers that came with my M52 will fit in the E30... they end at the same length and extend far enough back that I cannot rotate the engine on the stand without the headers hitting the engine stand support.
This is my first swap... I already soldered up the C101 and my front sump pan is set to get to me tomorrow. I was planning on buying
and
I'm still not sure what my best bet is for cooling... I would appreciate any suggestions... my E30 radiator in the car is 1 year old and has the external overflow tank. I am running in FL heat so I rather be safe than sorry plus my M20 had working AC so I would like to try to get that going with the M52 as well somehow.
Guidance is appreciated and thank you in advance.
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