I bought a 325i swapped with eta engine

[E30Nova]

That looks like an "e" intake manifold, wtf?

[VinniE30]

srsly?

[bimmer_E30]

this car is weird

[Streichholzschächtelchen]

no it isnt. it has an eta motor in it. everything else is i. motor went boom at some point, guy swapped to an eta motor. swap the head, intake manifold, and valve cover holy fuck. 2.7i

[VinniE30]

Can anyone confirm if the intake manifold is i or e?

[bmwstephen]

hows ur gas mileage? =D

[einstein57]

^^ it's an '89, they didn't make ETAs in '89 ;)


some more information, for the sake of making this thread more confusing:

Early I motors were imported into the U.S. as early as 1987, the '87 325i and 325is had diving boards, iS spoilers and front airdams, as well as the small pre-facelift taillights. They were sold concurrently with the 325e, 325es, and 325 (base trim 325e). They ran on Motronic 1.1 ECUs with the last three digits being 153. They had the "roundel" valve covers stock, like the eta.

1988 was the facelift intermediate year. (for everything except the convertible, which stayed pre-facelift until 1991, but always had I motors) This is when they got the big taillights, larger rear valences, plastic bumpers, black window trim, and some other random changes. The eta model was completely dropped and replaced by the "325", known here as the "Super ETA". It had an I block and an I-like head with one-off pistons, single valve springs and a 4-journal cam. This motor was available ONLY IN 1988.

After 1988, e30s were only sold with I motors. (also the M42, yes)

My 3 of 87 "is" has the "BMW" valve cover

So basically what you guys are saying is that my car is probably making no more power than a stock eta and if I bring my car to the redline it will destroy it since the eta is supposed to only rev to ~5000... damn.

Toss some i valve spring in it

Can anyone confirm if the intake manifold is i or e?

Looks like a "i" to me. The eta were kinda squared off. I'd toss an 885 head, deck the block, and get an ebay alpina 2.8 chip. Should be good for about 190hp at the crank. Someone on here did something similiar but with a cam and some oversized oe pistons and dyno'd north of 190hp at the wheels IIRC.


Here is a pic of my spare i manifold.

[ForcedFirebird]

That's definitely an "i" manifold. The "e: manifold has about 1.5" between the two outer and second runners.

[VinniE30]

Update:
Here is the head back on. It's definitely an eta head it even says "2.7 eta" on it.



Does anyone know how to tell if the engine is from an eta or super eta? Are there any easy ways to tell? Are the changes from eta to super eta components just in the head or in the bottom end too?
So far I have gathered that the eta has different/better: springs, cams, valves..

[ForcedFirebird]

What's the casting number on the head?

[accident]

etas are good for one thing.


Good gas mileage

shut the fuck up, you dont know anything. My 87 325 would have walked all over any of the pieces of garbage you had in the mountains.

[ForcedFirebird]

shut the fuck up, you dont know anything. My 87 325 would have walked all over any of the pieces of garbage you had in the mountains.

and my 2.7i will walk you in the mountains, and on flat ground :P

[VinniE30]

What's the casting number on the head?

Where is this located?

[ForcedFirebird]

On the intake manifold side, just under the ports.

[VinniE30]

Can anyone tell me if the engine is an eta or super eta based on the pics? Does the fact that it has 2 exhaust manifolds prove anything?