AWD E30 Turbo? Need information

[jrhaile]

Well the worst thing that could have happen did happen to my E30 this past weekend the night before the PNW E30 Picnic... I slammed into a concrete barrier doing ~50mph. More then likely the car is totaled as the front end is pretty mangled and the roof has a nice dent in it meaning frame problems.
The good news, it looks as if the engine and whole turbo setup are in tact. So my idea was to purchase an AWD E30 IX model and transfer my engine and components into that. So here are my questions:
- Has this been done before?
- What major issues might I run into?
- How much power can the AWD Tranny/transfer case, etc handle safely?
- How is the top end affected with AWD compared to RWD?
- Any other additional information you experts can provide is much appreciated

- James

[backtrail69]

You could swap the turbo setup, but the bottom ends are different. Ask Nando about specifics. I am really sorry to hear that your car is damaged beyond repair. Any pictures? I am assuming you are fine. Don't give up.

[jrhaile]

You could swap the turbo setup, but the bottom ends are different. Ask Nando about specifics. I am really sorry to hear that your car is damaged beyond repair. Any pictures? I am assuming you are fine. Don't give up.

Well the thing is, my engine has been rebuilt within the last 20k miles so I'd like to swap the whole thing if possible...

I'm fine and I'll get pics up later

[backtrail69]

I would look into another 325i/is to swap everything into if you just want to swap parts. Swapping to an ix entails more work than just swapping motors. What caused the wreck? I am assuming wet conditions and too much throttle? I really try to avoid driving my car in the slick conditions just because I know it is alot to handle.

[nando]

the block is not easily swappable at all. the oil pump setup is way different, and you can't just bolt an ix oil pump to your block. the intermediate shaft also spins the oil pump the other direction. minor differences are the dipstick tube location and oil pan bolt pattern. you will have to do maching either way, if you're really set on it I'd just have the ix block honed, cleaned up, surfaced and drop all your bottom end stuff in it.

the transfer case holds lots of power. the real weak spot is the front diff - but that really only breaks on the guys who drag race 4-500whp cars.

honestly unless you really want to build the car for power, just get a 325i and dump your motor right into it. putting a turbo in a stock (likely) poorly maintained ix, and then expecting it to be reliable is just asking for trouble.

the ix can do it fine but you would want to replace every wear part in the drivetrain, which can get expensive. on the other hand, it's a LOT of fun with power :)

[jrhaile]

So how hard is it in E30s to swap from an automatic to a 5spd? I found a black 4dr for a decent price that I like..

[nando]

it's not that hard.

[backtrail69]

You would already have the car to swap all the parts from. Should be pretty easy..

[JoeMadoo]

An IX turbo would be absolutely sick in my opinion...

[blueapplesoda]

imagine awd smokeshow from an e30.....axis spins on dry land yummmmmm