Ive seen alot of questions popping up about the swap figured it wouldnt hurt to give something to search. Stole it from funfags thread ill add a bit here and there.
E30v8.com has premade mounts/oilpans and a swap guide
To address the issue of weight. The 302 is a small displacement american v8. Stock to stock it weighs about 60-80lbs more. This by itself doesnt throw the balance of the car off much especailly when you consider that your moving 2 cylinders back over the backside of the front axel. Now thats not bad but it can be better. Something this american v8 has been blessed with that the inline 6 of the 325 hasnt is a rediculous aftermarket. Everything from the heads to the accesory mounts can be swapped out for aluminum. This means a set of heads($800+), an intake manifold($50+), a set of aluminum accesory mounts($70+) and billet underdrive pulleys ($50+) can save anywhere from 50-100lbs off the weight of this engine and almost all of these mods either free up or add hp (heads and manifold alone can add upwards of 100hp)
Engine/ driveline
1. Buy engine/ bellhousing/ trans together, this cuts down on the chance you may accidently(or be lied to) buy the wrong trans or bell housing.
2. Don’t be scared of the wiring, it’s really not as difficult as it seems.
3. Trim down or cut off the CSB mounts, that will provide much more room for the driveshaft, even if it’s just piece of mind for an emergency.
4. 3.73 is a perfect street/ track gear. However, if you’re looking at a lot of highway miles, it may be a bit too low of gearing, so look into alternatives.
5. If at all possible, use Explorer accessories. If you’ve read my thread, you realize the issues I’ve run into with clearance from the rad to the water pump pulley.
6. If you’re running a skidplate, it must be meant for an M42 and you must remember to notch a hole so you can change your oil. Also know that the top power steering bolts will be inaccessible once the engine is in, so install it before hand.
7. An early model, m20 rad is you best (stock) bet. I then used an inline filler cap from Morroso. I ran a random, universal overflow from Summit Racing.
8. Make the core support removable BEFORE you start putting the engine in. There are a number of ways to do this, just search google. This allows you to much more easily install the engine/ trans combo(albeit, we were able to do it multiple times, but it takes about an hour and involves lots of anger and swearing).
9. Ideal driveshaft diameter is 3”.
10. Buy long tubes or block hugger headers and make um fit backwards (gotta reroute a runner so it doesnt hit the steering shaft) Its easier then trying to run a 3" mandrel thru the mounts and starter.
-Wiring:
1. Again, it’s not as difficult as it seems. Just go over the diagram a few times, and go for it!
2. Don’t be surprised if you need to buy 2 or 3 engine side c101 connectors. Not all cars had the correct pins that I needed to do FI wiring. Alternatively, you can simply order new pins from BMW.
3. Cheapest way to wire the tach is to cut the control wire straight off the connecter, then run it back in the loom to the distributor and tap into the ground wire.
4. As with any swap, wiring can be a bit messy, even after clean up. Tuck all the light/ horn wires before you start to keep clutter down.
- Brakes:
1. I recommend keeping away from Remote Mount Booster setups for a number of reasons(go boosterless if you can find the kit), but if you must go the remote mount route, junkyards will have the full setup for much cheaper. Also make sure to grab the ENTIRE assembly.
- Pedal assembly:
1. The ideal setup is to skip the entire Wilwood kit, and simply order a full pedal box, and separately order the Wilwood slave cylinder. If you go that route, ignore the rest of this section’s suggestions.
2. Instead of ordering the whole Wilwood kit, you can get away with ordering just the slave cylinder and modding the attachment point on the stock clutch pedal to have enough throw to fully actuate the slave cylinder.
3. If you do use the whole Wilwood kit, make sure to reinforce the mounting points and the sheet metal surrounding it.
Stock mounted Pedal box
https://sites.google.com/site/bmwfab...30-pedal-mount
Pedals designed for the box-part # 340-11299
http://www.wilwood.com/Pedals/PedalP...emno=340-11299
Shifter/ Clutch:
1. While the shifter lines up fairly well in the stock shifter cut out, it’s not perfect and will most likely not allow full access of all the gears. To fix this, I cut a square chunk out of the trans tunnel in front of it, and then riveted and sealed a new piece with circular notch in front of it. Follow this up with a spare grommet to keep water/ noise/ exhaust out.
2. Make sure to cut down the corner of the clutch fork to prevent binding on the trans tunnel. This may even void the need to hammer that section of the tunnel out, providing much more room for the new gas pedal.
3. The stock t5 shifter is 2 piece. The top piece sits at an angle towards the driver. Because of how high the shifter sits, this can become annoying and also get a little too close to the steering wheel. To solve this, simply cut and weld to your desire!
E30v8.com has premade mounts/oilpans and a swap guide
To address the issue of weight. The 302 is a small displacement american v8. Stock to stock it weighs about 60-80lbs more. This by itself doesnt throw the balance of the car off much especailly when you consider that your moving 2 cylinders back over the backside of the front axel. Now thats not bad but it can be better. Something this american v8 has been blessed with that the inline 6 of the 325 hasnt is a rediculous aftermarket. Everything from the heads to the accesory mounts can be swapped out for aluminum. This means a set of heads($800+), an intake manifold($50+), a set of aluminum accesory mounts($70+) and billet underdrive pulleys ($50+) can save anywhere from 50-100lbs off the weight of this engine and almost all of these mods either free up or add hp (heads and manifold alone can add upwards of 100hp)
Engine/ driveline
1. Buy engine/ bellhousing/ trans together, this cuts down on the chance you may accidently(or be lied to) buy the wrong trans or bell housing.
2. Don’t be scared of the wiring, it’s really not as difficult as it seems.
3. Trim down or cut off the CSB mounts, that will provide much more room for the driveshaft, even if it’s just piece of mind for an emergency.
4. 3.73 is a perfect street/ track gear. However, if you’re looking at a lot of highway miles, it may be a bit too low of gearing, so look into alternatives.
5. If at all possible, use Explorer accessories. If you’ve read my thread, you realize the issues I’ve run into with clearance from the rad to the water pump pulley.
6. If you’re running a skidplate, it must be meant for an M42 and you must remember to notch a hole so you can change your oil. Also know that the top power steering bolts will be inaccessible once the engine is in, so install it before hand.
7. An early model, m20 rad is you best (stock) bet. I then used an inline filler cap from Morroso. I ran a random, universal overflow from Summit Racing.
8. Make the core support removable BEFORE you start putting the engine in. There are a number of ways to do this, just search google. This allows you to much more easily install the engine/ trans combo(albeit, we were able to do it multiple times, but it takes about an hour and involves lots of anger and swearing).
9. Ideal driveshaft diameter is 3”.
10. Buy long tubes or block hugger headers and make um fit backwards (gotta reroute a runner so it doesnt hit the steering shaft) Its easier then trying to run a 3" mandrel thru the mounts and starter.
-Wiring:
1. Again, it’s not as difficult as it seems. Just go over the diagram a few times, and go for it!
2. Don’t be surprised if you need to buy 2 or 3 engine side c101 connectors. Not all cars had the correct pins that I needed to do FI wiring. Alternatively, you can simply order new pins from BMW.
3. Cheapest way to wire the tach is to cut the control wire straight off the connecter, then run it back in the loom to the distributor and tap into the ground wire.
4. As with any swap, wiring can be a bit messy, even after clean up. Tuck all the light/ horn wires before you start to keep clutter down.
- Brakes:
1. I recommend keeping away from Remote Mount Booster setups for a number of reasons(go boosterless if you can find the kit), but if you must go the remote mount route, junkyards will have the full setup for much cheaper. Also make sure to grab the ENTIRE assembly.
- Pedal assembly:
1. The ideal setup is to skip the entire Wilwood kit, and simply order a full pedal box, and separately order the Wilwood slave cylinder. If you go that route, ignore the rest of this section’s suggestions.
2. Instead of ordering the whole Wilwood kit, you can get away with ordering just the slave cylinder and modding the attachment point on the stock clutch pedal to have enough throw to fully actuate the slave cylinder.
3. If you do use the whole Wilwood kit, make sure to reinforce the mounting points and the sheet metal surrounding it.
Stock mounted Pedal box
https://sites.google.com/site/bmwfab...30-pedal-mount
Pedals designed for the box-part # 340-11299
http://www.wilwood.com/Pedals/PedalP...emno=340-11299
Shifter/ Clutch:
1. While the shifter lines up fairly well in the stock shifter cut out, it’s not perfect and will most likely not allow full access of all the gears. To fix this, I cut a square chunk out of the trans tunnel in front of it, and then riveted and sealed a new piece with circular notch in front of it. Follow this up with a spare grommet to keep water/ noise/ exhaust out.
2. Make sure to cut down the corner of the clutch fork to prevent binding on the trans tunnel. This may even void the need to hammer that section of the tunnel out, providing much more room for the new gas pedal.
3. The stock t5 shifter is 2 piece. The top piece sits at an angle towards the driver. Because of how high the shifter sits, this can become annoying and also get a little too close to the steering wheel. To solve this, simply cut and weld to your desire!
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