A Re-introduction (M62/ M60 Content)

[dmjensen]

I wanted to take the time to re-introduce myself and document my build. My name is Dillon and I'm a full time BMW technician in Nashville working on starting a small business. I've been on R3v since I was old enough to drive and bought my first E30 in 2011. That was the first car I really cut my teeth on by installing a turbo on the factory M20. I did poor documentation of that car which is still somewhere in the cobwebs of R3v. My second E30 was a little more involved with swapping in a low mileage S52. Both cars live on with their new owners.

On to why I'm actually writing this. I purchased my current E30 with intent of doing an forced induction engine swap. After countless hours of research I decided that an M62 is the perfect candidate for the car while still satisfying my inner BMW purist. The car is an 1989 325i. since I bought it about four years ago I've replaced all of the suspension bits, engine components and the basics to make it a reliable daily driver. Since I recently purchased a house I've been able to plan some of this out and start taking bites out of process.

E9B722FF-9528-4C6C-906B-0DA18CA0D856 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

2C517D90-BC4B-47C6-9D1F-FAF81372B1AD by dmjensen94, on Flickr

I was lucky enough to get a free M62b44 from what is believed to be a 1997 540i from a local. I was told it was removed from the car due to failed timing chain guides. Unfortunately it was stored without valve covers leaving the camshafts useless due to corrosion. I was however able to use all the parts for mock up.

B7E88E7F-F4B1-4556-8430-7CEAD57878B3 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

B83FD6E5-2BAC-407B-BA28-DFE38ECA42E0 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

Who needs a truck any way..

I was able to find another M62b44 from a 1997 740i that I was told needed chain guides as well. For those of you who don't know me, my Father has been driving the same manual E53 X5 3.0i for the past ten years in Iowa where I grew up. Unfortunately it was on it's last leg due to severe cancer. The same place I found my engine also had a rust free E53 shell. Naturally I wouldn't let my him drive anything other than a BMW so we bought it to keep him on the road.

D5D77708-FCEE-4C53-BA0D-4737C08AB7E4 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

Yes I know the trailer is loaded incorrectly. We had to load it that way to fix the M62 on the front of the trailer. Made it less than a mile down the highway before the truck started to fish tail. Ended up taking about fifty miles of back roads to keep at stable speeds.

295C1B06-00D4-49BB-AB4A-BE1535FDE375 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

0D49B09E-0369-4D26-9B1A-B28F7718050D by dmjensen94, on Flickr

B451BC05-3303-4493-B193-A5A6AE599C90 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

After a few painful months of sourcing parts and late nights I was able to give him a "fresh" X5 ;)

Back to the engine I bought which was in June. I didn't have time to tear into it until last month and what I found was it definitely needed timing chain guides... at one point.

7B1A8F01-9E67-4EAA-B1FE-AC218345C661 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

49974173-9F3F-41A2-93CD-B51328FC6EA5 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

2ACFE7DE-B64C-4080-9B7D-88BCDD38FFE9 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

E32E23E7-64DA-4C75-8581-F99436C46A63 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

04A81930-06C7-41FA-A844-52E1F9681ED9 by dmjensen94, on Flickr


790F60EA-6582-45D0-8D7B-90D21ED66423 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

36A41413-4B21-47F1-A51B-869D054F6B61 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

I was excited to find this thinking it was the reason the engine was condemned.

DD46B837-F48F-4A3D-854F-BB3A696B6340 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

I was wrong.

650F6B9A-DBA2-4766-A3A0-D1641CDCB463 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

So very wrong.

BC103F45-908D-4873-B236-4B4AD0403F00 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

Where's my timing chain??

50D7EA86-478C-4AF0-BB8F-10D1D47B5E4F by dmjensen94, on Flickr

D27BE010-AC3A-4ACE-8E8B-A36F65BF6295 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

5D932A4A-3E38-46A7-BE30-A0E5D6D7B32D by dmjensen94, on Flickr

618B344C-C084-4C16-9877-E827A86E736E by dmjensen94, on Flickr

60017EA5-3EC9-43D3-8C3F-A31CF0A5E30F by dmjensen94, on Flickr

6955EDCC-F4E5-453B-B7CD-52235F392FCE by dmjensen94, on Flickr

6E748DE9-0359-4922-8E09-CB512B6A77A6 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

There it is. So at this point I know the engine is trash. However I like carnage as much as the next person.

78849FC9-F65A-4A4E-9FAC-0C84F73A64BE by dmjensen94, on Flickr

E3BD7708-80EF-4AB9-8A05-428525868004 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

ED464B60-514A-46D7-B15E-30E5A07A23DB by dmjensen94, on Flickr

5071B2EB-34A9-4FD9-907C-65A0AC8ECE9C by dmjensen94, on Flickr

That's what thirty two bent valves, eight damaged pistons and one massive paper weight looks like. Luckily the free engine I acquired has a good bottom end and I plan on using M60B40 heads along with timing components. Moral of this part of the story is don't rush when buying parts. I was in a hurry to load up the X5 and failed to do a basic inspection. always pull the oil filter and drain the oil of an engine you intend to buy.

Moving on to the good stuff. I'm working on starting a small business producing performance parts for vintage BMW's along with other fabricated components. Here is what I've really been up to.

AE89A02B-2E31-4E86-98C1-88C0ECCF227A by dmjensen94, on Flickr

99902D7C-D0F9-43DB-96BD-0D11C57BD444 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

2DC55E1A-9A2B-4116-B197-EF7F2E7E0078 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

0E96836C-16F3-4E06-B6C8-71E0CD3B479B by dmjensen94, on Flickr

029742DD-B5C5-42AE-B4A8-B930C9F2A4C8 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

0BFFE108-616C-4124-A6E2-AF90A80E16F5 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

3B080BDD-C3DD-4256-A2E9-946F55D31E80 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

760445EA-5B55-48C1-B46B-50C97F1D3B3B by dmjensen94, on Flickr

2449AB77-C806-44C2-A5E9-7C16B89AA52D by dmjensen94, on Flickr

A3CD2D4E-47C8-496B-B05B-4D60D916A4CB by dmjensen94, on Flickr

32C69C01-9D48-461C-9F4C-0C6C8C05CA10 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

0ED6F113-E4BF-453B-8CDC-FEA4A3190622 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

008C4066-B750-4C74-B592-39FB36F2A161 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

68D10955-5B75-4BD0-B266-0D008E026A8C by dmjensen94, on Flickr

AA9EBC5D-D1F5-4D23-AB95-72B9AF17E7AE by dmjensen94, on Flickr

D377EA96-255D-4997-A233-1FC19FF0F41A by dmjensen94, on Flickr

4A5CEA66-E457-4C51-9993-E24D8264C3E1 by dmjensen94, on Flickr

And an action shot taken by Scabzzz

10648E43-D065-4BF3-9FDB-FE6B78A92D52 by dmjensen94, on Flickr




I'll be making mounts to sell in the near future. They will require a notched oil pan or spacers to raise the motor and subframe. I personally would rather a notched oil pan than changing the suspension geometry. ( however slight that may be )

I've got big plans and tons of new things to come. I couldn't do it without the tremendous amount of help and support I get from my E30 friends and family.

Stay tuned!

[jpod999]

Welcome to the V8 sub! The M62 is fun in the E30, nice to see you creating parts for this swap.

What are your plans in terms of electronics?

[dmjensen]

Thanks Jpod999. I’ve read through your thread a couple of times and love your car! Originally I planned on using the factory DME but after doing some reading I’ve found almost no one supports them for forced induction tuning. As of now my plan is to use the OBDII harness and re-pin it to a MS3pro ECU. I’ve done some road tuning with tuner studio and it’s relatively simple. There are plenty of speed shops in the general regions that even if they aren’t BMW specific they would be able to tune it.

Current list of plans are acquire complete M60B40 heads, covers, timing components and re-wire/ clean up the OBDII harness. This is going to be a low compression build which I’ve been trying to find the most cost effective way to do. I was reading into using an M60B40 crankshaft in the M62B44 block to reduce stroke and compression. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s possible to use but the amount of time and money put into finding all the parts isn’t worth the end result. Next option is lower compression rods which are all over the web but are pricey. Why I’m currently working on is a copper head gasket spacer with a cut-ring head gasket and head studs. My E36 friend actually turned me on to the idea because it’s common practice on M/SX turbo builds.

I also have everything to do a five lug conversion using the Nasieg kit and E46 M3 brakes.

[scabzzzz]

Yeah bro!! This is going to be good.

[jpod999]

Forced induction will be interesting!

[Jean]

Sweet! Welcome to the v8 e30 world :) Very cool way to make your own mounts /modify oil pan as needed!

[JGood]

Awesome! Those mounts look great.

Excited to see the rest of the build!