1. Engine
Bone stock M50tu was acquired for free as I said above. Typical M50 oil pan and pickup from an E34 525i. Pretty much completely resealed as I did not want to deal with any leaks.
2. Engine Wiring
I found an E34 harness on marketplace that was in great condition. I depinned the body connector on the E34 harness, purchased the other side of the E30 C101 connector and just pinned it myself to retain a factory look and avoid paying $200 for an adapter. Other than that the harness went in no problem. I have yet to mount the relays and ECU in the passenger foot well but I'll get around to it.
3. Drivetrain
Since I had just recently manual swapped it with a ETA G260, is flywheel lightened by me on a lathe, and the euro 323i TOB, I did not want to source a ZF and do it all over again. The clutch was brand new so I retained that and just bought the Condor trans mount. I also had just bought a new driveshaft since the one that came with the manual swap kit was pretty haggard so keeping that was a priority. I have a 4.10 LSD I got from a buddy which is super short and fun around town but I do get tired of being at 3500 RPM on the highway. I might try to find a 3.73 but I know those are expensive now.
4. Shift Lever and Linkage
Turner Motorsport DSSR I cut and welded 15 degrees twisted. I also had to heat up and twist the shift carrier to get the shifter to clear in all gears. I have a Turner Motorsport short shifter with the rally lever and it's my favorite shifter set-up I've had in any car.
5. Motor Mounts
Got a tip from a friend that E46 M3 motor mounts flipped upside down work well and give you some adjustability as you can twist them to move the motor around. This works really well and I did not want to go with polyurethane for NVH reasons.
6. Brake Booster, Master Cylinder, and External Reservoir
My set-up is not ideal but I was gifted an E32 double bellow booster and master cylinder which bolts right in. This did require me to shave a few fins on the M50 manifold to get it to fit. I also had to relocate the brake master cylinder reservoir and remote mount it using the 2002ti reservoir and fittings. This was no big deal but if I was going to go it again I would try to find a 944 booster as the E32 booster just sits so far forward it also gets in the way of the PCV fittings under the intake boot. Additionally, I noticed the brakes are pretty touchy as the vacuum assist is very strong with the double bellow set-up.
7. Steering System
Stock E30 rack for now but I will definitely be getting the Z3 1.9 rack to tighten things up. I flipped the pump feed line upside down to go under the E36 motor mount arm and then trimmed the rack return line to get it to fit with the reservoir mounted on the arm as it is in an E36. I also have the Turner Motorsport billet power steering reservoir which looks great!
8. Cooling System
Still rocking the E30 radiator from when my car was an automatic. Since the '88 has the late cooling system I used the E36 hoses and it fit pretty well. Threw in a new expansion tank while I was in there and its good to go! I was also able to reuse the M20 spider hose since I deleted the throttle body heater and plugged that hole in the head.
9. Exhaust System
I already had the Turner Motorsport catback on my car when it was M20 and I wanted to keep that since it was light and sounded great. My mid pipes and cat was in good shape with no rust so I used stock M50 cast manifolds and cut my front pipes before the cat. I then used some 1.75" pipe from Summit to mate the stock front pipes to the M50 flanges. My MIG welding was sloppy but it sounds pretty good with no rasp.












































Leave a comment: