My e30 318is s52 swap thread

[windsor318is]

The 410 will be fine, just realize that it's made for the 1.8, so make sure your S52 doesn't put out any more torque than the 1.8 would have.

lol! dude, after driving it down the street, definelty a waste of time, i can shift 2nd to 5th no problem, its waaaay to short, it does 90km at 3000rpm!! it actually slowed the car down huge, with all the shifts i need. what you running bigD? 3.73? i think im going to take the 2.93 apart and see what the issue is, maybe i can save it, ill prolly get the same gearing if its fucked.

[windsor318is]

Yeah, I agree. The 410 gears is fine, been daily driving mine that way for 5 months so far, shitty highway miles and low top speed but oh well its great in town.

your nuts! get another diff and youll like your car even more!

[318isbmw]

your nuts! get another diff and youll like your car even more!

No thanks, I do all of my driving in town, drives great...
And I'm hoping to do a lot of drag racing with it, so with that in mind, 4.10 is awesome.

Edit: by the way, all my friends will agree, I am nuts behind the wheel of the e30. I don't think I could have more fun legally than I do. Its all personal style. You've tried it and know what you like, that's all that matters.

[etxxz]

think about it this way: a 4.10 with a getrag is the same as having a 3.25 with the ZF
VERY short IMO. a 4.10 with a ZF makes first and second useles...i had that at the begining of my swap and i could take off third gear like it was a taller 1st gear.

btw got the chassis started on friday ;D...engine went in on wed!!! 2 days ftw

[windsor318is]

think about it this way: a 4.10 with a getrag is the same as having a 3.25 with the ZF
VERY short IMO. a 4.10 with a ZF makes first and second useles...i had that at the begining of my swap and i could take off third gear like it was a taller 1st gear.

btw got the chassis started on friday ;D...engine went in on wed!!! 2 days ftw

sweeet get it goin!, im still searching for a diff, and someone to illegally do my emissions test...or i have to get me a cat.

[318isbmw]

Ah, a zf, didn't realize you threw a zf in there. Gotcha now. yeah a 4.10 would be short...

[BigD]

lol! dude, after driving it down the street, definelty a waste of time, i can shift 2nd to 5th no problem, its waaaay to short, it does 90km at 3000rpm!! it actually slowed the car down huge, with all the shifts i need. what you running bigD? 3.73? i think im going to take the 2.93 apart and see what the issue is, maybe i can save it, ill prolly get the same gearing if its fucked.

No 3.25. I think it's the ideal diff. I had a 3.73 in there before but I found that too tall even for the Getrag. I think there's a dude on max selling a 3.46, you can try that for more punch. My buddy who is an autox fiend with his 328 says his 3.38 diff is a bit tall - good acceleration but he can't hit 100 in 2nd. The 3.25 is perfect, 150mph top speed, 62mph in 2nd gear (esp with my oversize tires)

Play with the numbers here:

http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/revs.html

For reference your gear ratios are: 4.20, 2.49, 1.66, 1.24, 1.00 and with Matt's chip your rev limiter is probably 7k.

[matt]

3.25 is the best all around gear ratio for an e30 with an e36 trans, I think.

I don't have the chip archive at home, but I would say 85% of our chips have 7k rev limits.

[e30polak]

4.10 with an e36 ZF is simply retarded. I have a 3.25 right now, but wouldn't mind shortening the gears a little. Do you guys think a 3.46 would make a decent difference torque wise, or am I just wasting my time?

[windsor318is]

No 3.25. I think it's the ideal diff. I had a 3.73 in there before but I found that too tall even for the Getrag. I think there's a dude on max selling a 3.46, you can try that for more punch. My buddy who is an autox fiend with his 328 says his 3.38 diff is a bit tall - good acceleration but he can't hit 100 in 2nd. The 3.25 is perfect, 150mph top speed, 62mph in 2nd gear (esp with my oversize tires)

Play with the numbers here:

http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/revs.html

For reference your gear ratios are: 4.20, 2.49, 1.66, 1.24, 1.00 and with Matt's chip your rev limiter is probably 7k.

what does the 3.25 come in?ive been searching for z3 diffs but cant find one anywhere, fugure it would be alot newer than an e30 one.

[matt]

3.25s came in some e28s.

[BigD]

3.25s came in some e28s.

Yeah, super eta 528s I think or possibly 535is (but I think those came with 3.73...). Anyway, just go on ebay and search for bmw 3.25

[e30polak]

3.23 came in the M coupe, 3.25 came in the e28.

[e30serg]

e30polak-with a stock s52:

225 ft-lbs * 3.25 ratio = 731.25 ft-lbs
225 ft-lbs * 3.46 ratio = 778.5 ft-lbs

47 ft-lbs more in 5th gear

Also, your RPM's are going to be (3.46/3.25)=1.06, so 6% higher.

Can you live with that?

[CorvallisBMW]

ummmmm... gear ratios don't multiply your engine torque. You cannot get more torque by lowering gear ratios.