help with an oddball 24v E30 swap request.

[sefb222]

my wife totally covets my swapped E30... so i agreed to put together a swapped automatic for her, as she refuses to drive stick...

without flaming the shit out of me for marrying a woman who cant drive stick, and without going on and on about how much better a manual trans would be, and its a waste of time to do an auto... how about a little help?


how straight forward is the swap, if i were to use an auto from an M3?

and, how feasible is it to work out traction control in said car?

her E30 is an automatic 1990 325i.


any suggestions on parts i should start looking for?

thanks!

[hugh jass]

i would start with a thorough search of the archives. i'm not sure if anyone has done an auto twincam swap. you are definitely in for a lot of work because you have a bigger wiring harness with a separate computer for the tranny, the tranny cooler lines, not to mention the dimensions of the auto tranny, which could be bigger than the e30 auto. are you sure you don't want to just find her a nice used e36 m3 auto and call it good.
and i think the traction control would necessitate obd2 electronics, which is a whole project in and of itself.

[Van Westervelt]

You are looking at a very expensive and complicated swap. It can be done, and I beleive it has. Not saying its worth it though.

[hoveringuy]

I think traction control is a non-starter. I think it's too heavily integrated into the E36 ABS system.

[1990m3]

you could integrate race logic traction control - that takes care of that problem

[Fidhle007]

What part of your swapped car does she covet, the power? If so, I'd think about a low-boost supercharger for her car, added power and torque for similar money to what would be invested in an auto-tranny 24v conversion.

[e30polak]

^^^ Supercharger idea sounds like a good option. You could also do a 2.8/3.0 stroker kit from IE which would give some impressive numbers, with much less hassle. However, couldn't hew use the e30 auto, with an s50/2??? I don't think ASC would be an option worth the effort, just buy heavy wheels and meaty tires for her.

[brandon11130]

what about just using the stock slushbox? no computer needed, just bolt it up. you can probably use the same cooler lines, driveshaft. The e30 auto tranny is just so..... sluggish. But if she refuses to drive 5speed than I dont think she would mind.

[Apex381]

are you sure you don't want to just find her a nice used e36 m3 auto and call it good.

+1 and e46's are affordable now. I'll bet she would like a modern looking 323i or similar.

[sefb222]

thanks for the replies...

A: she hates the E36 body style. i've owned 3 E36 M3s.... she wasnt into any of them.

B: the part she covets is it being an E30. she loves the body style... same as the rest of us here. i had an E46 M3 as well, 2001 laguna seca.. when they first came out. and she still prefers the E30.


C: traction control aside... it looks like 1995 will be the best option, no? just considering the electronics side of things.

[FredK]

Hm. This swap is definitely possible, and possibly quite straightfoward if you decide to not install the ASC-T. Like with any swap, it is easiest to do with a complete donor car. An automatic E36 M3 is probably way less desirable than a manual one, so I bet you'll be able to get the car fairly cheaply. It's probably the best car to start with, as it had a 5 speed auto.

Then it's just a matter of swapping engines and transmissions, and most likely the auto shifter as well.

[sefb222]

awesome.. ive located a complete donor car, with 122k on it.. 1995 automatic M3

the guy says he's motivated to sell, and his asking price is 4500.

might be time to pull the trigger....

[FredK]

Sweet!

The 95 auto M3 came with a 3.23 LSD that you can sell for around $450-500 (it won't work in any E30 application). Brakes front and rear you can sell for around $450, with front spindles. And other M3 parts are also pretty easy to unload.

You'll probably need the auto driveshaft for the swap to get the correct length. Hopefully the trans isn't too big for the tunnel, otherwise you might have to get busy with a hammer. :D

[sefb222]

Sweet!

The 95 auto M3 came with a 3.23 LSD that you can sell for around $450-500 (it won't work in any E30 application). Brakes front and rear you can sell for around $450, with front spindles. And other M3 parts are also pretty easy to unload.

You'll probably need the auto driveshaft for the swap to get the correct length. Hopefully the trans isn't too big for the tunnel, otherwise you might have to get busy with a hammer. :D

are you sure the lsd wont fit?

i used one from a 99 Mcoupe in my swap... i was under the impression it was basically the same.
i might hang onto the brakes, in case i want to put them on my car at some point.
i think im gonna leave the wife's car a 4 lug, since its an automatic, and she wont be drag racing.

[FredK]

are you sure the lsd wont fit?

Yes. It mounts differently than the E30 and Z3 diff, because the E36 rear subframe is totally different than the E30/Z3/E36Ti rear subframe.