Looking for clearance photos

[solo318]

As my M10 nears the 500k mark, it's beginning to make some funny noises. I have a low mileage m30b35 from an e34 that I was saving for a rainy day. I would like to swap it, but am not willing to "hammer" my firewall to do so. Does anyone have any pics of the b35 showing clearance at the firewall? Does the clearance requirement change with the e34 trans?
I have a couple of e34 m50tu engines that I could swap in in a pinch, But I like the m30 more. Good pics would be appreciated. Thanks

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Looking for clearance photos

Then you aren't gonna swap in an m30. Hammering your firewall is part of the swap no way around it unless you fab your own mounts and do it all from scratch. And its not a big deal to hit the fire wall anyway. Cause once the motor is in. You never even see where the firewall was hammered inside or out of the car.

As long as its a g265 tranny it shouldnt matter what it came out of iirc.

[solo318]

So does anyone have any pictures of how close it is? I don't want to start an argument, I just would like to see pictures.

[Bearmw]

The main clearance issue is at the back of the cylinder head and will vary depending on what custom "mounts" you buy or fabricate. I say "mounts" when maybe it would be more accurate to say motor mount arms. There may also be some clearance issues around the passenger footwell area depending on what manifolds or headers you go with. I chose to have my motor pushed back a bit to improve weight distribution and I am also running long tube headers so I needed to create a good bit of clearance in both areas.

[lukeADE335i]

With e30.de mounts, there's little need to bash the firewall with an M30B35.

I removed all my firewall sound deadening, and then fitted the engine in 'P3' on their mounts, although I think the position is probably more 'P2.5'.

I pryed the firewall back with a bar maybe 5mm in a couple of spots where the head was closest, but could have got away with not doing that.

B34 engines have a water fitting in the back of the head where you definitely would have to bash the firewall - I think this is where all the firewall bashing comes from.

In RHD cars, we have a brake linkage running across the firewall from the drivers side over to the passengers so we can't bash the firewall like most of the swaps you see on here.

Been running fine for 4 years.

[F34R]

You never see it...what's the problem with hammering the firewall a bit?

[uturn]

m30 e30 pics

Here you go. No hammering of the firewall. Position 2.

[solo318]

Awesome thanks. That should do nicely.

[solo318]

You never see it...what's the problem with hammering the firewall a bit?

The problem is that I have a rust free e30 that I have had for many years, and plan on keeping for many more. Why "hammer" it in?

[nighthawk]

My Personal experience with my M30B35 swap:

M30B35 from 1991 E34
Getrag G260/6 from the same car.
Garagistic M30 swap mount arms.
New stock E30 M20 rubber mounts.

My car is a 1991 325i 4 door.
Never been in any wrecks or accidents.
I made no modifications to the firewall when putting the engine in.
I didn't even remove the foam material.
It just kinda fit without doing anything.
Although I do hear some vibrations upon startup and shutdown that could be coming from this area, not sure however, no vibrations while driving though. (could be unrelated).

My radiator is pretty much touching the distributor plastic cover. Maybe a few mm clearance.
I do have the stock radiator top mounts, which could have been trimmed to be brought closer to the front of the car and make more clearance for the dist. cap.