Since I'm new here I might as well start at the beginning. I've been a lurker for a while but since I finally did something worth sharing I figured I would share my story. It all starts in October of '08, I was looking for a clean 2 door chassis to do an M30 swap. I found my baby ('88 325is) on the local craigslist and for $600 I could let it get away. The only thing the PO lied about was that when he did the 5pd swap his buddy drained the rear diff fluid for some reason and on the initial test drive proceeded to smoke the stock LSD. He told me he replaced it with another LSD but after getting it home and opening the rear cover it obviously wasn't. Luckily I had a 3.43 LSD from my old E28 535i that the M30 came from. I debated wether or not to go back to his house and deposit what was left of the open case across his front yard but decided against it. Anyways, here it was the weekend I bought it.
It's been my DD ever since then and it's been by far the best car I've ever owned. So far I have rebuilt most of the suspension including all new ball joints, Powerflex CAB's, tie rods, sway bar links and a new wheel bearing.
So fast forward to the weekend before last. The GF and I decide to go to the local El Burrito Loco for dinner. It's been snowing here in Michigan and the roads are shit (perfect for a RWD LSD) So the entrance to the parking lot is downhill and on a turn.
Marginal tires and understeer into a curb =
Amazingly it completely misses the front valence and oil pump pick-up. The is lip was already gone thanks to the PO (just like all the others). So a quick trailer home this weekend and my friend and I decided to instead of trying to find an oil pan in a junk yard when its been in the teens here lately. That we would instead swap the motor with one from a '90 325ic with 20,000 original miles that we picked up from a junk yard in '08. It was an absolute tragedy what happened to this car, it was an immaculate Calypso on black auto that got t-boned in the front fender. In all honesty it really could have been fixed but I guess the insurance company thought otherwise. We were able to rescue the motor, vert top, and some random interior parts. (The bumpers were already gone) Anyways, here's the pics from the swap.
Old M20 coming out
BTW this is the greatest tool I have ever purchased: $2 at harbor freight
New M20
After removing the trans the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate were brand new. PO must have replaced them in the 5spd swap
All Done
Yeah, I don't know why he repainted it blue. He didn't do too bad of a job though. All the panels are original so IDK, whatever.
Upon install, when we tried to start it for the first time the fuel pump relay wiring started to smoke a little, we figured instead of trying to diagnose and hack the original harness up we just swapped it for the 88. Changing the fuel lines around it fired right away.
Update: So the day after I do the swap when I get in to drive back to school I get no fuel pressure. Turns out the pump filter was clogged with years of shitty gas. It runs great once it starts but now I have crank the hell out of it to get it to start. This weekend I plan on putting a pressure gauge and the pressure regulator from the other engine on it. Any ideas as to why the loss in pressure after shutting it off? It even does it in the time I'm getting gas.
It's been my DD ever since then and it's been by far the best car I've ever owned. So far I have rebuilt most of the suspension including all new ball joints, Powerflex CAB's, tie rods, sway bar links and a new wheel bearing.
So fast forward to the weekend before last. The GF and I decide to go to the local El Burrito Loco for dinner. It's been snowing here in Michigan and the roads are shit (perfect for a RWD LSD) So the entrance to the parking lot is downhill and on a turn.
Marginal tires and understeer into a curb =
Amazingly it completely misses the front valence and oil pump pick-up. The is lip was already gone thanks to the PO (just like all the others). So a quick trailer home this weekend and my friend and I decided to instead of trying to find an oil pan in a junk yard when its been in the teens here lately. That we would instead swap the motor with one from a '90 325ic with 20,000 original miles that we picked up from a junk yard in '08. It was an absolute tragedy what happened to this car, it was an immaculate Calypso on black auto that got t-boned in the front fender. In all honesty it really could have been fixed but I guess the insurance company thought otherwise. We were able to rescue the motor, vert top, and some random interior parts. (The bumpers were already gone) Anyways, here's the pics from the swap.
Old M20 coming out
BTW this is the greatest tool I have ever purchased: $2 at harbor freight
New M20
After removing the trans the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate were brand new. PO must have replaced them in the 5spd swap
All Done
Yeah, I don't know why he repainted it blue. He didn't do too bad of a job though. All the panels are original so IDK, whatever.
Upon install, when we tried to start it for the first time the fuel pump relay wiring started to smoke a little, we figured instead of trying to diagnose and hack the original harness up we just swapped it for the 88. Changing the fuel lines around it fired right away.
Update: So the day after I do the swap when I get in to drive back to school I get no fuel pressure. Turns out the pump filter was clogged with years of shitty gas. It runs great once it starts but now I have crank the hell out of it to get it to start. This weekend I plan on putting a pressure gauge and the pressure regulator from the other engine on it. Any ideas as to why the loss in pressure after shutting it off? It even does it in the time I'm getting gas.
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