What to do with my eta engine wise?

[balooshinakus]

So today my eta sprung another coolant leak.. One of the hoses on the back of the block appears to have burst or something, tons of steam coming out and the engine temp went into the red. I was letting the car warmup in the garage and came out to find it like this. Couldn't have been coolant-less for less then a minute or two.

Anyways, I bought this car with the intention of doing something to it for more power. To get to this hose I'm definitely going to have to lift the engine out a bit anyways, so I'm extremely tempted to just get a new engine. Especially because I have a feeling this engine has been overheated in the past by the PO's (radiator issue when I bought it, the hose would blow off), and it definitely overheated this time, not sure if the engine is warped but I kind of just want to ditch the thing. The engine also probably needs a tune up kit anyways, new wires/cap/rotor/plugs all that stuff, so like 250 or so.

Where do I go though?

• Could do a 24v swap which is tempting, but an S engine is easily out of my budget, and an m50 doesn't really net that much power over an m20b25, and obd2 conversion isn't cheap for an m52. From what I've read, m50 swap will probably cost under like 1.5-2k all said and done.
• Could build a stroker to supercharge (I do not want a turbo, a reliable turbo setup is way too much money and I don't want a turbos powerband), it's not been done much but it doesn't look very hard to do. I should be able to supercharge including a stroker and MS for around 2 grand, probably less.
• Save 2k and fix the hose, and replace the other hoses behind the engine. Save the money and do a power increase sometime when I have a good chunk of money saved up (I'd be cutting it close on $$ atm).

I just hate the thought of putting hundreds more into an m20 with unknown history, past 2 owners were non-car enthusiest chicks, and I know it has overheated. Opinions?

[TexasTerp]

Ditch the engine, don't even think about replacing those hoses you'll just end up in the situation again and again.

Since you are planning on spending about 2k I suggest building a stroker. The only differences between the b27 and the b25 are the DME/ECU, Camshaft and Valve Springs. If you are lucky enough to find a super eta engine, buy it and either switch the cam/valve components to the "i" or throw on an already built "i" head if you can find it for cheaper. Have the block machined and cleaned and you'll be good to go.

For super charging you will need to fabricate a custom bracket for whatever SC you buy. MS or the WAR Chip will work for tuning. All in all you'll get more power out of a 2.7i SC than an m5X for about the same price and its a relatively direct fitment.

The engine I'm building is a 2.7i Supercharged ITB setup. Mine will cost more because of the ITB's but overall I'm looking at putting out somewhere near 250whp.

[ubernasty]

Ditch the engine, don't even think about replacing those hoses you'll just end up in the situation again and again.

Since you are planning on spending about 2k I suggest building a stroker. The only differences between the b27 and the b25 are the DME/ECU, Camshaft and Valve Springs. If you are lucky enough to find a super eta engine, buy it and either switch the cam/valve components to the "i" or throw on an already built "i" head if you can find it for cheaper. Have the block machined and cleaned and you'll be good to go.

For super charging you will need to fabricate a custom bracket for whatever SC you buy. MS or the WAR Chip will work for tuning. All in all you'll get more power out of a 2.7i SC than an m5X for about the same price and its a relatively direct fitment.

The engine I'm building is a 2.7i Supercharged ITB setup. Mine will cost more because of the ITB's but overall I'm looking at putting out somewhere near 250whp.

..and the rear, crank, pistons, instrument cluster, radiator, harness, intake mani, etc etc..... i could be wrong.

seems to me it'd be more money efficient to go with m5x or better and make equal or if not more power, depending on your resourcing on parts for the build.

[ubernasty]

Especially because I have a feeling this engine has been overheated in the past by the PO's (radiator issue when I bought it, the hose would blow off), and it definitely overheated this time, not sure if the engine is warped
[*]Could build a stroker to supercharge (I do not want a turbo, a reliable turbo setup is way too much money and I don't want a turbos powerband), it's not been done much but it doesn't look very hard to do. I should be able to supercharge including a stroker and MS for around 2 grand, probably less.

your head would be warped first of all, not your "motor". do you know if you blew your head gasket?

what makes you think supercharging is cheaper and/or more reliable than a well built turbo set-up?
turbo's can be extremely reliable, and the power-band is totally up to you what size turbo you want.
either way if you want to force your motor, a stroker is expensive, as is boost of any kind

[iwantspeed]

swap to another eta engine for now and save for a more desirable engine setup later down the road

dont swap to an i engine unless your budget allows for coolant system upgrades to the later style and all new wiring harness

if your budget does allow this then you can go with a m20 2.5l

[smonkbmw]

i wasnt aware a simple m20 stroker as listed above makes more power than any of the M50/52 swaps.

we must all do the 24 valve swaps for bragging rights.

then again this has been a repeated argument many times on this forum.

it doesnt make much sense to keep dumping money into a motor you dont plan on keeping for much longer. id say m50. put money together for cams and software. numbers are just that they are numbers. the power delivery of a 24 valve is a lot more than people think and is alot more than some can safely handle. my s52 cammed m52 swap car i can admit probably would have killed me sooner or later, so i sold it. this is the bigger reason why the m3 stayed a s14 and not a 24 valve. anything more than id say 250hp is alot.

[James Crivellone]

dont swap to an i engine unless your budget allows for coolant system upgrades to the later style

Huh why? The 84 - 87 325e/325i's all shared the same cooling system, hell my 2.8L M20 stroker is running the early cooling system.

[Alkasquawlik]

The M50, although it doesn't have much more power in terms of paper specs than the M20 is a totally different engine. It has a wider powerband and it responds to mods extremely well.
If I were you, this is the route I would go.

[balooshinakus]

your head would be warped first of all, not your "motor". do you know if you blew your head gasket?

what makes you think supercharging is cheaper and/or more reliable than a well built turbo set-up?
turbo's can be extremely reliable, and the power-band is totally up to you what size turbo you want.
either way if you want to force your motor, a stroker is expensive, as is boost of any kind

Not sure if the HG blew at the moment. And yeah warp the head, I wrote that write before bed. SC is a lot simpiler to setup then a turbo, you need a lot less parts to do it which is why it is a lot cheaper to do. No need for a manifold/BOV/messing with oil lines plus all the little costs of a turbo. Literally all you would need with an Eaton SC is the SC, some piping and an intercooler if you are going to run more then like 8lbs boost, engine management, and injectors. Everyone one e30tech who set one up spent under a grand, and they aren't doing hack jobs, there just isn't really much to spend money on. I priced out a turbo setup and it was going to be minimum 3k for a setup that I would be happy with (not tons of cheap parts). The SC also makes boost off idle, theres no turbo that is going to do that and not max out at 3k rpms. Anyways, don't want to get into a turbo debate, turbo makes more power and SC delivers a more NA like powerband.

btw Terp there's no reason you can't use MS, everyone on e30tech who setup this up and used EM used MS.

How would I check if I blew my HG now that the car has no coolant in it? The only way I know of is looking inside the valve cover?

I'll start looking for 24v stuff, probably makes the most sense.. I can always SC that too. Just gotta get this done relatively soonish as I was visiting home so this car is now taking up space in my parents garage which sucks when you have 4 other cars you need to fit.

Anyways, anyone got a m5x near Seattle they are selling? :-D

[Court M3]

Huh why? The 84 - 87 325e/325i's all shared the same cooling system, hell my 2.8L M20 stroker is running the early cooling system.

Which reminds me, just moved to Bremerton. Gotta check out this car sometime. :) Currenlty going to start scavengng parts for a 2.8 on my car.

OP I'd say M5x + SC. Lots more SC support for the M5x family of engines.

[E30SPDFRK]

How would I check if I blew my HG now that the car has no coolant in it? The only way I know of is looking inside the valve cover?

:facepalm:

In your case, go with the simplest route possible

[balooshinakus]

Sorry I'm not the worlds greatest mechanic. My buddy helps me/teaches me how to do shit as I need stuff done to my car. He's done quite a bit of enginework/fabricating so technical skill to pull off a swap is definitely not an issue. If you could give me some hints as to going about checking my head gaskets condition, that would be appreciated.

[E30SPDFRK]

Do a leak down test to check your head gasket. Pulling the valve cover will tell you if the coolant has mixed with the oil, but it wont tell you where or why.


IMO, fix the eta and save up for a m30/50 swap.

[TexasTerp]

Here are a few suggestions for you:

First, why are you wanting to swap to an m5x engine that has far more known cooling problems (head gasket wink wink) than the m20?

Yes the m5x engine has a wider range of SC/Turbo add-ons than an m20 but from what I can tell you don't like doing things half ass, if that's the case you'll need to replace ALL of the cooling system, gaskets, and belts. By the time you do the build correctly you'll be far over your 2K budget.

Why don't you just replace the hoses and gaskets on your m20, swap on an b25 i head which will already give you a power boost. When you're ready to SC you'll have the low compression setup already necessary for the SC.

I guarantee this will be the simplest route for you. It'll take less time, and save you more money for the SC build and restoring other parts of the engine to make it run better over the long run.

I know the m5x seems to be everyone's "holy grail" at the moment and when done correctly they work very well, but having owned an e36 and seeing all the problems with everyone I've ever known to do the swap, it simply isn't worth it.

btw Terp there's no reason you can't use MS, everyone on e30tech who setup this up and used EM used MS.

I specifically stated to use either MS or the WAR Chip. Try reading what I said again.

[smonkbmw]

First, why are you wanting to swap to an m5x engine that has far more known cooling problems (head gasket wink wink) than the m20?

i disagree. again there are far more people running 24valve motors with minimal problems. a few of the local guys have 40k+ on their swaps with little to no issues. the m20/30 is a tired design. if it wasnt the m/s/50/52 wouldnt have been developed and been so widely succesful. the more reliable motors have timing chains, plain and simple.

to the o/p. be prepared. as i stated before this topic generates a lot of heated debate over which is the better swap. i still believe a 24valve, even a non vanos motor in a e30 is the most reliable motor for the car. it is what should have come in the car.