how far back is too far back?

[vic_325]

So i have the m30 in my parts car and im ready to start making the mounts. i bashed in the firewall a lot and the engine is siting realy far back (was able to fit the engine fan and it barely clears the rad)

the oilpan is siting on a 3/8" plywood on top of the steering rack. i have it back to where that little step before the "belly" of the pan.

the problem im having here is the further back i go, the higher the front of the engine goes up following the curvature of the oil pan. Making the engine sit on a slanting anlge lengthwise in the chassis. I can jack the tranny up but it stretches the bushings on the e30 m3 tranny brace.

Does anybody has pics of an m30 in pos III or any example where the engine is pushed back??? all the pics i see just have a non modded firewall setup.

Thanks,
Vic

[george graves]

Grab your radiator and a distrubuitor cap. If you have about 1/2 inch, you are back pretty far.

Position 1,2, and 3 don't really exist. It's numbers Tino over at e30.de made up when he was selling mounts.

But, here is a link describing the "positions": http://www.e30.de/335i/06.htm

3/8" oil pan-to-rack sound great. Make sure you can get your hood closed. I'm more like 1/4" and have a tiny bit of rubbing on the late model headliner/tps.

Oh, and here is a link to the whole wright up on e30.de in English, since you've seem to have missed that one: http://www.e30.de/335i/00.htm

[Good & Tight]

This is the farthest back I was able to put it, with a lot of firewall and tranny tunnel beating.
Clearances in some area's are an 1/8", pan to steering is less than 1/4"

Your making the mounts yourself right?

[vic_325]

thanks for the responses guys. and ya ill be making the mounts. ill try to get some pics up asap

[vic_325]

good & tight, i had my engine just about that far back aswell. but the front of the engine sits too high up. just wondering if you drove the car in that position? did you get the engine to sit level, lengthwise. even with my m3 trans brace in place the engine still sits tilted back and im wondering if there will be any oil flow issues from that.


i took a look at the e30.de stuff. id like to find some more examples still.

here are some pics of where im at right now.

[vic_325]

some more.
lol dont mind my bro


i dont like how low the rear of the engine sits

[Good & Tight]

You have to beat the tunnel in more to get it back farther. Made my own tranny brace so the engine sits more level.

These pics should give you an idea how much it was beat in.

[flawdaboi407]

I spy spray!!!!! vrooom

[Good & Tight]

I spy spray!!!!! vrooom

Ha, that shit isn't hooked up yet, really no need for it especially when it spins the drag radials at 90mph...!!!

[george graves]

You have to beat the tunnel in more to get it back farther. Made my own tranny brace so the engine sits more level.

These pics should give you an idea how much it was beat in.

Holy crap - you really went overboard on that. I'm sorry, but that looks painful. I wish I had pics of mine. You can hardly tell it's pushed back. And it's only 5 or so inches, not the whole firewall.

[flawdaboi407]

I banged mine the same. I didnt want to have to take it out and bang it more.

[vic_325]

Made my own tranny brace so the engine sits more level.

how close is the drive shaft to the top of the tunnel with your tranny brace?

how do you like to feel of the car with m30 mounted as far back as you have it?

[Good & Tight]

how close is the drive shaft to the top of the tunnel with your tranny brace?

how do you like to feel of the car with m30 mounted as far back as you have it?

The drive shaft is very close, the top of the tranny just about touches the tunnel.

Car feels well balanced, even though I don't rip it through the twisties car does not feel nose heavy.

[Vicarious]

So i'm reading up on this swap and i'm digging it.
When i go car hunting i think i'll go the E30+M30B35 route.

Ok so what i'm a bit confused about is this engine placement.
A lot of you are pushing it back for several obvious reasons
1. To get clearance for radiatro/fan
2. To get some good weight ratio since the M30 weighs a bit more than the M20, understandable.

What I dont get, and this might be a very obvious thing, is wouldn't this insanely compromise the installation of the driveshaft?

I keep reading about how its very critical to select a good driveshaft combo and how most of the time its best to go to a shop and have one shortened, balanced, properly fit for this wap.

Now if you guys are moving the engine back full inches, wouldnt the drive shaft then be too long/short?

I think i'm missing something here.

[george graves]

If you are having a shop shorten a shaft, then it doesn't matter where you put the motor.

If you want to go with a know combo then do that.