Turbo diesel.

[SeriousBusiness]

I have seen some guys post about swapping diesel engines into their E30's but never following up with any updates or information. Anyone know of a simple-ish swap for our cars? M21's are based on the M20 amirite? If I could get my hands on an M51 from europe would that be worth my while (mechanically, its an M50 swap right?)? What sort of electronics are involved in this? I have experience with some TRUCK diesels, the Cummins 6BT for instance. Those things are simple as shit, same with BMW diesel? Or am I better off finding an old TD Merc and just forgetting about all this nonsense...

[payney8]

Just be the inventor of a new forum ;). A td engined e30 would be wicked. The torque would be awesome. Dunno how'd itd go for power though. Just remember though going diesel is alot of work. The whole engine assembly is alot heavier in construction and all your fuel lines will need to be swapped, you'll need to clean the tank out and see if its usable with diesel. ( i dont know whether the diesel e30's were fitted with a special seal type of tank) They also generally run hotter so a bigger radiator is necessary. Other then that it'd be no different to every other swap

[M42Power]

It's not like that, 324td's can do more than 200hp and alot of torque with some mods, and there is some differences to a m20. The m51 is not that of a great idea, you could swap a 330d engine wich pushes 200hp stock, ive seen it done. It's a m57d30, have even seen a 540d engine in a e28.

The m21d24 has two versions, 324d (non turbo) with 80hp and 324td with 124hp, very simple engine. The M51D25 is nothing like a m50, and it is not a huge improvement with 140hp, and it is 12v not 24.

The m57 is the best option if you can find one, more complicated engine in terms of electronic but the most powerful from stock and very easy to get more power. The m21 from the 324td's needs a bigger fuel pump and that is hard to find, and it loves to heat up.

[SeriousBusiness]

I'd really only do it for the gas mileage. Not so much for the power I guess since I could just swap a M50 for much less money haha.

[Ryann]

A td engined e30 would be wicked. The torque would be awesome.

Agreed. The final frontier of e30 performance mods. Add a heated veg-oil delivery system and leave the rest behind in a cloud of taco shell/burnt rubber smelling smoke.

At a Wiki glance though, I must admit the numbers appear a little weak.

[kylekrueger]

They also generally run hotter so a bigger radiator is necessary. Other then that it'd be no different to every other swap

Don't diesel engines actually run cooler than gasoline engines. I think diesel fuel actually burns at a lower temperature as apposed to gasoline, diesel fuel's autoignition temperature is around 200 degrees Celsius as apposed to gasoline's 280 degrees Celsius, which I guess is not really that much different, but I do remember reading that diesel engines run cooler than gasoline engines. I think the reason that they are built so much more 'heavy duty' is because that is an inherent characteristic of diesel engines, seeing as they run on average 25:1 compression ratios.

I am interested in this project if you actually decide to do it. If I could I would by a 524td and swap the engine into a nice 4 door eta.

Keep us posted

[Vtec?lol]

diesel does run cooler than gas. Friction takes its toll in the heat dept for diesels though.

[Erik j]

I have a full m21 swap, with e30 harness too... interested?

[Rocla]

MB om606 powered e30 with turbo and bletdriven compressor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDK3K2TlAWs

[payney8]

diesel does run cooler than gas. Friction takes its toll in the heat dept for diesels though.

Diesel combustion temp is cooler then gas. This doesn't reflect the operating temperature of the engine though. Due to diesels being compression ignition they are a different style of engine completly