Hi everyone, you guys probably rolled your eyes when you saw the title but I haven't been able to get a straight answer so I was hoping you guys could help me out. As the title says I have a 1984 318i along with a running 1990 535i. I just recently learned I have the least desirable e30 engine and I've been getting mixed answers regarding the m10 to m30 swap. I've read that the 325i m20 would be a lot easier to swap and difficult on the 318i m10. I've also read somewhere that the m30 is basically an m10 with two extra cylinders so the swap would be pretty straight forward. I'd like to see what situation I'm actually getting myself into regarding engine swapping. If there's any threads that explicitly lays it out I'd love to check out those links.
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keep 535 running and go scoop an m20, theyre everywhere. i climb over them sometimes. -
I wouldn't call the M10 the least desirable E30 engine. That would probably be the M40 (not to be confused with the excellent M42), which apparently had quite a few issues. I'd rather have an M10 than an M30 in an E30 personally. The S14 is based on the M10. If you want more power I suggest to boost it. I'm sure there are some turbo and supercharger threads on the forum here. The M30 would be like having a boat anchor in the front of your car. It's much too heavy for the E30 and you really have to stuff it in there because it barely fits. Even the M20 barely fits.Comment
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the weight of the m10 in my opinion was the best balance in my car. Once I swapped to the m30 it had become nose heavy and could be felt when pushing hard in the canyons, especially downhill. But in contrast, the m30 feels amazing in regards to power/torque and acceleration. I'm on 4+ years daily driving with an m30 swap but not without it's pitfalls: cooling issues (you must run a high CFM spal), transmissions (from g240 to g260) and gearing (you'll have to hunt for an LSD with good gearing, the stock 318i isn't a good fit for highway driving)
With that said, if I had a blank check, and I could go back, I think I would have gone ITB+megasquirt+cams. OR a modest turbo.
But here I am, with an M30 and to be honest, it's a blast to drive.
In regards to the swap details? garageaholic (frank M) did a very thorough write up and sells it for i think $10.sigpicComment
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Well I already have the 535i and I think boosting it would just add so much more to the cost. I was thinking of using the 535 transmission, which I believe is already a 260. What type of gains are you getting using the ITB and megasquirt? And I'm assuming doing the m30 swap would be a lot more difficult and time consuming than the ITB.Originally posted by glnr13 View PostComment
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i don't know what the gains are for ITB + megasquirt, i've never done it and i'm in the very beginning stages of doing that to my m30b35. i know this much based on what i've spent, what i calculated to spend, and what i've read in regards to gains, it's not worth the $:HP. you have to want to do it overall. there are better ways to make bigger gains with better $:HP ratio, like FI or even s50/52.
the whole setup from the 535i is what you want. ECU, engine harness, motor and trans, exhaust mani. you'll have to get new coolant hoses + m20 therm to heater T hose + e28 535i radiator, and a spal. 318i throttle cable works just fine. take the ignition coil from the e34 too.
Custom stuff:
325i full exhaust or custom.
driveshaft
shorten the shifter plate or top mount it
shorten the shifter linkage
some soldering to connect the body harness to engine harness or make an adapter
engine/trans mountssigpicComment
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