1985 318i

[e30fan]

hey guys my brother has just bought a 1985 318 i..i know he should have gotten an 325i,but he got it for $365..so thats what he could afford,and still have money to modify it..what can he do to make this thing a little quicker..now i know of the usual intake header exhaust,and a lightwight flywheel,but will a 3.73 rear diff from a e28 535i fit on a 318i...any other things such as a cam and raised compression will be addressed later..now i told him that he should have started with a newer 325,or if he wanted to stick with the 318 go with atleast an 90-91..but he wants to do it to this one,,,,hes hardheaded as hell....thanks again..Jay

[KenC]

With all the money he'd spend in the mods you listed, he'd be better off buying an M20 and swapping it in. Unless it's a turbo, it's a wasteful mod for an M10.

[Jordan]

Ponder this:

A m10 (your brothers engine) built up to the upper end limits of street tuned will still put out less power then a stock m20 (motor in the 325i/iS)

[e30fan]

yea jordan thats what i told him,but he is sticking to it,....i told him about the m50 swap..but he wants to build up this damn motor...so...will you guys help me list out sme mods for him..he knows intake ,header,exhaust,he said that he was going to get a bmpd cam,but i advised against that because of the 5800rpm limmit..and theres NO way to raise it..so any help with the motor mods...no turbo,,,that was one of the sug,that i made along with ,kencopperwheat,..is the diff in that car ok as far as acceleration,top end is not a big deal,if not what will swap in...but he wants to do it the hard way, so im gonna help him with you guys help also..thanks again...

[e30fan]

come on i know some of you guys do have thoughts here....Jay

[KenC]

Don't change the diff to a 3.37 - the factory diff is a higher ratio than that.

[Jordan]

come on i know some of you guys do have thoughts here....Jay

The general thought can be seen in my first post. Sorry but the M10 isnt worth its weight in scrap steel let alone worth powering a e30.

Building up a m10 to be as powerful as a stock m20 will cost 10 times what his car is worth. There is absolutely no point in building up a m10, there just isnt. Its not cost effective, its not efficient, and in the end it will still be a strung out m10 that you dont want to daily drive.

[Hortos]

If you're hellbent on keeping the M10

http://home.att.net/~jroal/jay/bmw.htm

Here is the link of the car I almost bought just to stick the turbo on my 318i in the driveway. I guess the only good quality of the 318i is its a very light car. Also I don't recommend swapping a motor into an E30 that is older than an 88 since you either have to keep your diving boards or get a tacky kit. So in all turbo the thing sell it to local highschooler for $4000 dollars then buy a 1991 325i install a larger turbo gut it and stick rollbars in it, and maybe one of those side-cocked driftomatic exhausts.

[randomtask37]

Re: If you're hellbent on keeping the M10

Also I don't recommend swapping a motor into an E30 that is older than an 88 since you either have to keep your diving boards or get a tacky kit.

do u honestly think its not worth swapping a motor into a pre 88 car just because they dont have plastic bumpers? and just because u have a motor swap doesnt mean u have to make the car look "awsome"

IMHO, if you are spending the time and money into doing a motorswap into any e30 your probobly not to worried to much about how the car looks but moreso on how it performes.

[cunninglinguist]

Time to stop wasting time and get a better car. This I've learned from my seniors here.

[e30fan]

thanks for all of you guys posts,but he still is going to try it..he has sthal headers for it,he ordering a bmpd cam,intake,and going to do a coustom exhaust.he says next will be the lightweight flywheel,adjustable fuel press regulator,ported intake manifold and a bored out t-body,and he said something about raising the comression up to say 10.1...but if that what he wants to do then more power to him..lol...thanks again..Jay

[Bavarian3]

First off your brother has the lightest E30 produced. The early 318s are bloody light, so who ever said modding this car was a waste of time because of it's bumpers please read up before one makes a post.

Second of all, you can do that work on your M10 but as everyone else said it won't be all that powerful, it might be fun. You really can't do much with the M10's fuel injection system because its quite outdated by the M20 system, well even the M20 isn't all good. He is spending close to 2k on the engine, if he is going with all the stuff your saying.

Tell him that he needs to lower the car, work on the suspension and brakes, and take some of the cars guts out, aka: remove the stuff you don't need, like the A/C, rear seats, sound padding. I am sure it will be a fun car but not all that powerful.

Mind you this board is full of people (not naming anyone) who want turbo'd M20s or S50 engines. Nothing wrong with that, but sometimes you have the guy who buys a old 318 and wants to 'mod' the engine.

One last note, if he wants to take advantage of that single cam, you might want to tell him to do some minor head work, higher compression pistons and get rid of the ECU and throw in a Motec system or even a piggyback system, so you can get rid of the AFM unit and work with something more tuneable.

I hope everything I said isn't wasted....

[James Crivellone]

Re: If you're hellbent on keeping the M10

Also I don't recommend swapping a motor into an E30 that is older than an 88 since you either have to keep your diving boards or get a tacky kit.

So you consider Mtech1 a tacky kit? I would rather have an 86/87 then an 88+ car

[e30fan]

Bavarian3,yea thats what he wants to do..i told him about high comp pistons,but he was wondering about just shaving tha head a little like 0.35..that would yeild a comp of about 9.8:1or somewhere clsoe to that over tha 9.3:1..i know for a fact from my honda experince thats a good 5 to 10 horsepower and 5 to 10 ft-lb of torque..thanks Jay

[e30fan]

hey guys my brother got his bmpd cam on sat...real nice ...i think its gonna sound like an old v8..lol...lump lump lump...Jay