E30 M50 oil pan removal.....

[nateynormal]

That sucks. I'm not sure if that's normal fitment for an M50 with an M20 flywheel on it (BTW, you have a Getrag 260 trans, not an M20...M20 is the engine). But i'd guess that you have an M20 flywheel that hasn't been shaved down.

You're not getting those out without dropping the transmission. Even if you could get in there and weld a bolt onto the bolt heads, they aren't going to spin with the flywheel that close. You'd have to get a cutting tool in there to shear off the other sides of the bolt heads so they spin. There's just not enough room.

totally right....

tranny, pressure plate and clutch are out.

yes getrag trans
M50 motor not M20

now i am wondering what is the correct flywheel for this swap?

Id rather put this back together the right way.... but do i need to match the clutch to the flywheel?
i put up another post to ask for some more advice.

[fiveightandten]

I want to say thank you first for all the info I have been able to access on this site and I appreciate all the members sharing their experiences.
I am reviving this old thread to see if anyone has some suggestions. I am trying to remove the oil pan in my 87 E30 with m50 motor and M20 trans

I have removed all bolts EXCEPT the two near the transmission housing. I was able to successfully cut the 1 inch holes to access the bolts BUT instead of the bolts having clearance from the flywheel to remove they are tucked right against and sheared off (i didn't do the swap so I am guessing they were trimmed to fit) how the heck am I going to get these out now?

I really do not want to pull the tranny....

That sucks. I'm not sure if that's normal fitment for an M50 with an M20 flywheel on it (BTW, you have a Getrag 260 trans, not an M20...M20 is the engine). But i'd guess that you have an M20 flywheel that hasn't been shaved down.

You're not getting those out without dropping the transmission. Even if you could get in there and weld a bolt onto the bolt heads, they aren't going to spin with the flywheel that close. You'd have to get a cutting tool in there to shear off the other sides of the bolt heads so they spin. There's just not enough room.

[nateynormal]

Reviving this old thread

I want to say thank you first for all the info I have been able to access on this site and I appreciate all the members sharing their experiences.
I am reviving this old thread to see if anyone has some suggestions. I am trying to remove the oil pan in my 87 E30 with m50 motor and M20 trans

I have removed all bolts EXCEPT the two near the transmission housing. I was able to successfully cut the 1 inch holes to access the bolts BUT instead of the bolts having clearance from the flywheel to remove they are tucked right against and sheared off (i didn't do the swap so I am guessing they were trimmed to fit) how the heck am I going to get these out now?

I really do not want to pull the tranny....

[golde30]

cool, never thought of drilling those holes in getrag. i will have to remember this next time i have to pull an oil pan on 24v e30 w/getrag.

[BenjaminButtton]

If you're gonna bump a 2 and a half year old thread, that is how you do it.

Damn right.

[emmanuel.dlc]

measurments???? LOL... nah im kidding.

i used this picture (from google) to have an idea of what it looks like on the inside and made my measurments:



check that there are 2 flat tabs on the pan (circled red) those are the exact location of the 2 bolts.

what i did was give 6mm from the edge of the bellhousing and centered on the pan tabs circled on the picture to position the hole saw.

so, the holes are exactly 25mm each so half that is 12.5 plus 6 equals 18.5, thats where the drill bit must be positioned to achieve that thing i did there.

remember 1" hole saw.

does that make sense? im not too good on the explaining side.

EDIT: go easy when drilling, the drillbit will be very close to the flywheel, not to damage any teeth on it.

[bimmer630]

sorry for the bump, but this might help someone in this situation.

as for the drill... i went and did it on my g260, no regrets whatsoever :)



1" hole saw.

Im printing this picture and going to try putting holes like this in mine, but can you perhaps post some measurements also?

[bimmer630]

Harbor freight sells an engine support bar for like 40 bucks.

I might pull my pan off when I do my steering rack.. I have a low oil pressure condition at hot idle, which im hoping is a bad VDO sender, but if not, I may have boogered up my pickup tube gasket when I installed it...
I WISH I clearanced out my 260 bellhousing to access those pan bolts

[Roysneon]

If you're gonna bump a 2 and a half year old thread, that is how you do it.

[emmanuel.dlc]

How feasible would it be to drill holes in the bellhousing of a g260 to gain access to the oil pan bolts? I wish I would have thought of this before installing my engine last year, I would have done the oil pan gasket.

sorry for the bump, but this might help someone in this situation.

as for the drill... i went and did it on my g260, no regrets whatsoever :)



1" hole saw.

[graphikg]

Update: removed the oil pan and changed the gasket today (UGGGGHHH). Bolted the tranny back on by lifting it with arms (AHHHHHH!) Just need to bolt up the starter, shift kit, driveshft and exhaust. Once done, this e30 aint on the market.

[El Gato Liso]

update: drive shaft is off, tranmission bolts 2 of the 4 are easily accessible. the 2 upper ones are the bitches. after this fix, my e30 is going on the market.

[graphikg]

I am going to look for pics jrd...

well

I dropped the subframe, loosened the engine mounts, lifted the engine and loosened all the bolts....

now im at the tranny part. f m l.

and yes...i used the freakin' g260

I think you should have pulled the tranny first. Wouldnt it be easier to get the shaft out of the clutch mechanism if the engine were stable than if it were to be loose?

[MattM]

Yup, i ended up switching to the ZF when i had to pull the engine and tranny to do the oil pan gasket.... i think the sticky needs an update with this flaw

[El Gato Liso]

well

I dropped the subframe, loosened the engine mounts, lifted the engine and loosened all the bolts....

now im at the tranny part. f m l.

and yes...i used the freakin' g260