E30 Touring swap advice

[djafactor]

I have a ‘93 build e30 318i touring on its way from Germany and my mind is already thinking about doing a swap. Thought I would post here for some advice as I’m not sure what engine to go for.

My love for the e30 stems from it’s handling dynamics and have been looking for (but haven’t found) threads that discuss how a swap changes the handling. Can someone chime in that has driven stock M20 vs M5X/S5X? Is there a noticeable difference? If so what suspension adjustments can fix discrepancies.

I’m also thinking that the added rear weight of the touring body may make the balance better especially since I’ll most likely be upgrading the suspension at some point.

Z3 steering rack is most likely in the cards as well to improve turn in feel.

Also the motor in the touring is an M40 so I’m assuming it is mated to a G240 tranny. I’m leaning towards using this tranny in the swap so am not sure it’s even reliable for a S5X motor

I do have a e30 M3 on a full ground control suspension so this is my background on how e30s feel to me.

Any advice is much appreciated

Cheers


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[exhaust]

I'm driving a convertible so a wagon will likely have different driving dynamics but, here's where I'm at:

It rocks.

The S52 is a great engine for this chassis. Its fast, reliable enough, modern enough, and a ton of fun. The weight difference different between the two engines is about 60lbs so you won't be that thrown off.

I'm on Koni Yellows, H&R sports, an x-brace, thicker sway bars and refreshed rubber bushings all around. While the car handles well, I'm planning on adding some camber plates soon to compensate for the lowered geometry.

I have not found that the motor negatively impacted the handling characteristics of the car at all although that may be because of the extra weight the convertible chassis is already carrying around.

I'm using a Z3M rack and highly recommend any rack from that or the E46 generation. When I first took it out after installing, I was immediately shocked by how much easier it was to park and drive around town. Mine is a little twitchy on the highway but I believe the camber plates I previously mentioned will help with that. I am also using the G260 from the M20 so I can't comment on the G240. I recommend going with a ZF just for the gearing difference but I doubt you will have any issues with reliability unless you have a lot of extra power.

Feel free to PM me for anything specific, it's a great swap and I'd be happy to help.

[MrBurgundy]

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/sho...d.php?t=233682