Am I doing the right thing?

[ColdAccord]

OK i gotta set the background here; i have an 87 325e. great body, great interior. 150k on the clock. needs oil pan gasket and headgasket. motor is pretty beat

i bought an m20b25 from an 88 car, but it's from a 325ix. so I have to get a non-ix oil pump and oil pan

i want to spend as little money as possible to get this thing reliable. i bought the m20b25 cause i figured "well, if im buying a new motor, i might as well get some more power"

my original intent was to do the 2.7 block with 2.5 head, but custom pistons etc would be too much loot. so i think im just gonna slap the 2.5 in there. am i doing the right thing?

[OldUser1]

Well, how much are you looking at overall from the time you purchased the new engine, untill its all said and done.
That will give us more of an idea if you're doing the right thing or not.

[ColdAccord]

i already have the motor, 325i gauge cluster, big case 4.10 lsd, etc. i paid about 1300 for everything.

so right now I just want to get the car running and reliable. It's just my daily driver. my project car is a 71 datsun 240z, i have it fully stripped, bout to pull the motor in an hour then send the car out to get blasted. i dont want to spend a lot on the bimmer, I'd rather spend it on the Z. but i'll do what needs to be done

[Low Level E30]

You're gonna love the upgrade from Eta to i.

ESPECIALLY with the 4.10 --- I went from a 3.73 on my 325is to a 4.10, and loved that immensely --- your car is gonna feel twice as fast as it is now :D

Huge upgrade. You'll love it. Money well spent, I say.

[OldUser1]

i already have the motor, 325i gauge cluster, big case 4.10 lsd, etc. i paid about 1300 for everything.

Okay I would say that you were doing the right thing. I was just making sure you werent about to spend a lot of money on a 325i motor when you could try and find a M50 motor on ebay, or in your local pick and pull.
$1300 to go from your "e" engine to an "i" will give you your best bang for your buck.

Keep us updated.

[bkelsey86]

If you dont have money for custom pistons then ur doin the right thing but try finding some Super Eta pistons if u want a cheap alternative.

[arnib]

I have to add a little warning here also.

Since a buddy of mine recently swapped an 325iX motor into his 320i,
i know about a couple of problems that came up.

We initially thought that the motors would be exactly the same, except for
the oilpan/pump.

But no-no, not at all :?

First of all, since the oilpan has it's deeper end on the other side, the dipstick has to be moved.
Now, there comes problem #1, since the hole for the dipstick is in the block itself, not the oilpan, and therefore you have to (somehow!) fill the old hole and drill a new one.

#2
Inside the block (above the oilpan) is some oil sensor/pressure adjuster (im not sure)
that is fastened in a different way in the iX engine than in an I engine.
My buddy found a way to get it together, i'll try to ask him and post it here later.

#3
Finally, since the iX engine is a lot heavier than an i engine (because of the 4wd system stuck to the oilpan), the iX motor mounts are a bit more "heavy duty".
The holes on the block for the bolts are bigger, so you need to take normal 325i motor mounts and drill bigger holes in them.

That's all i remember for now :)
And so this post doesn't drag you down, my friend has finished his swap so it can be done!
But I wouldn't recommend anybody to try the opposite, putting a 325i engine into and iX, that would probably be a PITA!

Good luck!

[ColdAccord]

word, thanks. i know about the block, i got a guy who can drill/fill the holes

would you mind elaborating on the #2 though?

german motor werks told me the motor only had 40k on it, but it looks like it's had a lot more than that. also, it looks like the head has been pulled at some point, also implying that it could have more than 40k on it. also, they still never sent me the fuel pumps I'm paying for

but because of the possible high mileage, I'm going to pull the motor apart after exams and replace the rings, headgasket, and headbolts, and see what kind of shape everything else is in

soooooo, this means i won't have a car until at least after christmas lol.

[Bryson]

if you're going that into it, just get some super eta pistons and use the entire 2.7 block. problems solved. :)

[JPbmw]

sorry to jack your thread but i have a question.
what would put more rwhp, a m20b25 or the E to I conversion engine with super eta pistons?

[ColdAccord]

I'm wondering if it's more worth it to just pull my motor, get the super eta pistons, and use my 2.7 block with the 2.5 head

[rs4pro3]

If the car is already not drivable you might as well pull your block and use it. If your taking the time and money to rebuild and put in a new engine due it right the first time. With the 2.7i I'm building I'm building a complete motor and am not ussing any of the parts of my current engine that way I can spend maybe 2-3 days duing the swap versus a week or two, then I'll have a complete extra running engine, which I might rebuild and stick nitrouse one and dump in into a 318i or something.

[OreoGaborio]

i say go w/ the 2.7i, considering you're already gonna break down the 325i engine you have

try lookin around for some Euro ETA pistons... little tougher to find, but they'll give you a higher compression ratio than the super eta (which will be prettty damn low) resulting in a little more power... that's the setup i wanna go for

[rs4pro3]

Ya Euro pistons or you can modifie M50 pistons to fit also. I've been waiting 3 months now for my euro pistons to come. I found a set but the seller sent 323i pistons by accident to the correct ones are on there way.
You can either find the early 525e 11:1 cr pistons or the latter Euro 325 pistons wither ones will work and will only give slightly different compression ratios.

[JPbmw]

sorry to jack your thread but i have a question.
what would put more rwhp, a m20b25 or the E to I conversion engine with super eta pistons?

anyone? :?: