M30 into my E30 thread

[bmwmike]

You must not have paid attention when you read e30.de. If you look at the shop at that site, it just says it.

Type 1 for older M30/M88 Engines (e23,
e24, e28 also B7 and 745i)

* Engine Position II and III in e30 335i
* Pictures from e30 with 735i e23
* Pictures from e30 with M88

Price for a pair: 178,95 EUR

Type 2 for newer M30 Engines (e34, e32)

* Engine Position II and III in e30 335i
* Pictures from E30 with E34 535i
* Pictures from Engine with "Fächer"
* Pictures from S38 Engine

Price for a pair: 204,01 EUR

lol, yeah i just glanced at it a few weeks ago..

[Garageaholic]

lol, yeah i just glanced at it a few weeks ago..

yeah, you need type I, but you dont have to get the type I from e30.de. I mistakenly bought them from a US alpina distributor. i realized later that I needed type II. (i returned them, however, they may have those in stock now.....) You'll have to call them yourself and ask. Use the part numbers that e30.de has listed for alpina (i'm talking about the steel ones, not the aluminum ones)

Here is the contact informatioin if you're interested.

ksk distributing
723 e. tujunga ave, unit b
91501 burbank ca
818.843.2620
ksk-alpina@net.att.net

[JRowe]

I've heard that with engine positions II & III you get alot of longitudinal movement from the engine. Have you guys looked into bracing the mounts to limit this? I've contemplated this swap for a while and would like to try it within the next year. Thought that might be a good idea.

[Garageaholic]

I've heard that with engine positions II & III you get alot of longitudinal movement from the engine. Have you guys looked into bracing the mounts to limit this? I've contemplated this swap for a while and would like to try it within the next year. Thought that might be a good idea.

well i heard of using urethane motor/tranny mounts to help the movement, but some people actually welded the braces right to the subframe, because ironically, the subframe is one of the weakest points of the car.

Welding them to the subframe will eliminate alot if any movement

[azzkikr]

What are you going to use for a turbo setup? What are you expecting costs to be, what turbo, manifold, intercooler etc. Just curious if you have the plans for that yet or if its still in the planning stages.

[Garageaholic]

What are you going to use for a turbo setup? What are you expecting costs to be, what turbo, manifold, intercooler etc. Just curious if you have the plans for that yet or if its still in the planning stages.

yeah, i'd like to know too... bc i heard it's maad tight in there with a turbo squished in there. What about costs? and availability of parts?

[bmwmike]

yeah, you need type I, but you dont have to get the type I from e30.de. I mistakenly bought them from a US alpina distributor. i realized later that I needed type II. (i returned them, however, they may have those in stock now.....) You'll have to call them yourself and ask. Use the part numbers that e30.de has listed for alpina (i'm talking about the steel ones, not the aluminum ones)

Here is the contact informatioin if you're interested.

ksk distributing
723 e. tujunga ave, unit b
91501 burbank ca
818.843.2620
ksk-alpina@net.att.net

Wow, thank you! Ill give them a call and find out more info, I didnt even know we had an alpina dealer.

What are you going to use for a turbo setup? What are you expecting costs to be, what turbo, manifold, intercooler etc. Just curious if you have the plans for that yet or if its still in the planning stages.

Engine
Well I havent really added the costs of things up and dont really plan to until its all eventually done with. The engine, Ill dissasemle, take the block to a machinist for insection and the typical rebuild machining. The same with the head. The crank, pistons and rods will be balanced and inspected. The stock pistons are said to hold a max of around 20 psi. I really dont think Id ever have the urge to do more than that considering 300 whp (achieved at around 10 psi) would be pretty nuts in the little e30. Therefore Ill keep the stock pistons. I might run 15-17 psi at the track. Ill then buy a rebuild kit for the engine. Get an MLS headgasket (multi-layer steel) from tcd b/c of the f/i. From what Ive read and seen on dynos, the M30 when boosted drops off power after 5000 rpm like a suicidal maniac off the empire state building. The reason for this is because of the SOHC flow (who wouldnt be suicidal with sohc?..jk). Im considering having some porting done, though from what Ive read this still wont accomplish much. Ill look at getting a better camshaft in the near future to help out. If you havent been to mye28.com go now, you can search their forums and find out a lot more on the M30 engine. The guys from tcd take part on their forum. Youll find dynos, and tons of info...

Tuning
The idea is to use megasquirt. If you (azzkikr) dont know the guys at boost factory (BF) in bloomington, you should, they do mainly old school VW stuff and have a pretty good knowledge of megasquirt. The old VW's use bosch motoronic as well. They'll tune my car. (if your not a member of mnsportcompacts.net or MNSC.net, join, im bmwmike there as well. BF is a part of the forum and takes place in discussions daily).

Manifold
Anyway, as for the manifold Im either having these guys at BF make me a custom log manifold (they make some very nice manifolds, again check out MNSC.net to see their work), or Ill go to TCD for that. TCD sells it for 700 i believe which i think is a bit pricey for a plain jane log manifold.

Mounts
The engine mounts, my first option will be that alpina dealer or tino at e30.de. My second option will be looking into sizing them myself and then having a professional do the welding. My third option will be to have boost factory do it.

Turbo/Intercooler
The turbo will be some sort of T04e. Find it online somewhere if not from BF or sound performance in IL (good guys, fastest sc300 in the world). The intercooler Ill most likely get from johnnyracecar.com Small site, but the guy actually makes very nice intercoolers in many different sizes, and the best part is the prices are very good. I have a saab intercooler in my garage but its very tall and slim, maybe it will work in the e30, but at the moment i have no clue?

Turbo misc
As far as things like the wastegate, bov, gauges etc Ill scrounge up eventually, maybe slightly used even, and try to keep the costs down. MNSC always has all kinds of stuff fs in the fs/wanted section and since its local... Injectors I can get for like $250 from tcd. BF should be able to make up some intercooler piping and a downpipe for me. For exhaust, I know a place in shakopee that always does great work for a good price, otherwise BF.

Other driveline
The tranny Ill have inspected (or inspect myself) and replace gaskets/seals, the same with the diff. The clutch Ill get from tcd, a spec clutch that can handle all sorts of power. I think its like $350

Id like to do as much work as possible myself for two reasons. 1 to know how everything went together etc, and 2 to keep the costs minimal. Id say I have well above average mechanical skills though Im not a professional. Ive swapped engines before (in american muscle) and done quite a bit of other work on cars regularly for the last 5 years or so. The only parts Id be a bit worried about doing myself would be welding something like the mounts, and the tuning of course. Its these things Id leave to the pro's no doubt. I will take my time and hopefully do everything right the first time. id say in the end it could be $2500-4000 to do the job. Thats a lot considering the car only costed my 2k, but hey it'll be worth it.

[Garageaholic]

wow mike, you have your hands full. good luck and keep me updated. when do you planned to have this completed??

[bmwmike]

wow mike, you have your hands full. good luck and keep me updated. when do you planned to have this completed??

hopefully sometime this summer. I finish school in the spring, so ill have more money to go around, and a lot more time on my hands. I think the key will be to go in order. Ive been tempted to go buy suspension stuff or wheels, but I have to save the money and spend it on one thing at a time, starting with getting that new motor in. I dont really plan on running the engine in the car without boost either...

[bmwmike]

figured out some costs for the engine rebuild. I can rebuild the engine with a special headgasket and arp studs along with the regular rebuild parts for about $900 total. Im also considering taking it a step further and getting a different camshaft, and forged pistons which would bring the total to more like 2 grand.

The question is, would it be worth it?
For $900, Id get about 300 whp safely/daily and could push it to more like 400 whp still safely.
For $2000, well I can go a lot further. Id still drive with around 300, but I could push the motor to more than double that. There really wouldnt be a use for that kind of power so Im thinking maybe I should save money for other parts..

[JRowe]

I'd do the 900 rebuild. 400 whp is plenty for these cars and probably too much to handle, although it would be fun. Also, reading the Corky Bell book on turbocharging, he basically recommends a stock rebuild for anything other than highly exotic/pushing the envelope turbo systems. I'd prep it as he recommends with studs and gasket. Also, add some oil squirters - there's a great thread on those on e30tech. The M30 is bulletproof. You'll be good and save money in the long run.

[ping65810]

I too, am swapping an m30 into my 87 325iS. I'm not turbo-ing it, but I got a late m30 out of a 735i e32, but I just did some work on mine. The m30 is a real bulletproof design. Period. Pulling mine apart, I saw minimal problems, but I still did headgasket, waterpump, oil pan gasket, etc. I still have yet to figure out thwe engine mounts yet, but I am thinking more an more about welding plates on either side, and than matching evertything up and drilling for the engine mounts. So far, my swap is costing next to nothing, since my m20 is sold, for the same price I paid for the m30! Best of luck with the turbo upgrade, I am going NA, but with intake exhaust and chip I figure it'll still fly pretty good.

[JPbmw]

I too, am swapping an m30 into my 87 325iS. I'm not turbo-ing it, but I got a late m30 out of a 735i e32, but I just did some work on mine. The m30 is a real bulletproof design. Period. Pulling mine apart, I saw minimal problems, but I still did headgasket, waterpump, oil pan gasket, etc. I still have yet to figure out thwe engine mounts yet, but I am thinking more an more about welding plates on either side, and than matching evertything up and drilling for the engine mounts. So far, my swap is costing next to nothing, since my m20 is sold, for the same price I paid for the m30! Best of luck with the turbo upgrade, I am going NA, but with intake exhaust and chip I figure it'll still fly pretty good.

Thats exactly what im doing, i even got the same engine you do and from the same car. i fugured too, that with those mods it will be enough for at least a while

[ping65810]

Somehow, I think over 250hp in an e30 is like my cbr600F4i- way more power than you know what to do with. As far as I am concerned, it will be plenty fast enough for me. It actually is a very easy swap, and it is going very well with the swap. I'll try to get some pictures up of my project soon.

[Garageaholic]

Somehow, I think over 250hp in an e30 is like my cbr600F4i- way more power than you know what to do with. As far as I am concerned, it will be plenty fast enough for me. It actually is a very easy swap, and it is going very well with the swap. I'll try to get some pictures up of my project soon.

Yeah, keep all of us updated on what all u do with the swap.. bc i have a 735i e32 also that i'm swapping in march, and am going to need plenty of input.. so the more you document now, the better, i can't wait