eta question?

[Pat W]

alright was at this dealer today and i saw an e30 went to check it out hoping it was a i....its a pre 88 its got the es spoiler....my only question is that why the tack goes to 7k?....lol the guy told me he has all the recipts and the guy put 10k into it since he owned it since its alpine wess(sp) i like its got some gay rims but owell those will leave soon enought.....but anyways how can this be how can i tell if they guy put in a i motor? im gonna test drive it one day possibly tommorrow.....will the car rev to 7k if its an eta no right....if he put in the i tack how can i tell if its an e motor please help the guy wants 1500 and im selling mine for 2k so if its got an i motor i would be making out big time.....thank you

[LikeCDoos]

does it have two exaust pipes out the back? if so it's the i engine if it has the smaller tail lights. What does the front air damn look like? If it has only 2 slits in the very bottom it's a e(s)...if it has 4 slits it a i(s)

[Beej '86 325es]

If you're looking at the engine, you can also tell by looking at the intake manifold. If there's a little cylinder with some stuff coming off of it attached to the intake manifold like in this picture then it's an eta:

http://www.siue.edu/~bpearsa/bimmer/mybimmer/current/engineright.jpg

If there's just a flat plate there instead, it's an 'i'

[bwanac]

Or take it for that drive and see if it revs past 5000 on the tach!

That could work.

[Pat W]

alright its got one tailpipe coming from the muffler...i think im gonna just test drive it and see if it revs past 5k....is there anyway it could be an e and still rev past 5k?

[MR 325]

Nor really, Eta's aren't fans of revving high. You should be able to tell just by driving it, not even by looking at the tach.

Another easy way, te valve cover on an Eta has a rouindel, on the i motor it says BMW.

[bwanac]

But those can be swapped. Look at James' he did it.

Some people know how to switch the things like that to make it more "authentic". :?

[Ryan Stewart]

Single pipe means its an Eta if its a 6cyl. The tach is worthless because if the just threw in a 325i cluster and didnt change the chip the tach could be off anyway.

[bwanac]

Single pipe means its an Eta if its a 6cyl. The tach is worthless because if the just threw in a 325i cluster and didnt change the chip the tach could be off anyway.

Ahh, very true.

Of course they could pull a Pete and swap the 'i' exhuast on too! But it is single so why swap to that? :?

[Ryan Stewart]

Yeah, it can all be very confusing. Back when I had the 325i manifold on there you couldnt use that pic, I also have the 325i exhaust and when greg gets it here I will most likely have a 325i cluster too.

[James Crivellone]

heh I did the 7K swap on mine, just because I got the cluster cheap and my 5k tach was getting stuck sometimes (and for the stroker)


also keep in mind, if the prev owner did not swap the coding plug, the guage could go up to 7K, however the engine will only be turning 5K at an indicated 7.


easy way to tell is where the guage is at idle, mine sits at 600rpm, just a hair above the 500 mark, if its above 800/1000, then the guage is reading wrong....

if he swaped the coding plug as well (like I did) then the guage is accurate, however the rev limiter will kick in at 4800 (5200 chipped)

[Pat W]

alright could it be a super eta?....couldnt i check the vin number on the engine?....where would it be located...so if the gauge is coded it will say its going to 7k....thats weird....i hope its an i because its pretty ricey to put a cluster that goes to 7k into ur car when it only revs to 5 and also making it look like the engine is actually reving to 7k....i hope this car is a real i....any other ways to tell would be great....ill try to find the engine vin and ill look at the recipts the guy has from the original owner

[LikeCDoos]

super eta's were only made in 88, they had the "facelift" (bigger taillights). Super eta's also had 2 pipes out the back. If you get pictures of the car it would be alot easier to tell what it really is.

[Sean]

What does it say inside the driver's side door?


The car below is a Super Eta...

[BavarianBimmer]

Nor really, Eta's aren't fans of revving high. You should be able to tell just by driving it, not even by looking at the tach.

Another easy way, te valve cover on an Eta has a rouindel, on the i motor it says BMW.

My original 323i engine valve cover has the roundel too :roll:

i think the easiest way is the intake manifold
eta's have small pipes with some space between the pipes
i's have ticker more rounded pipes and have allmost no space between the pipes
look at pics from engines and you'll se the diff"s ;)