total newb, BUT, ix awd drivetrain in e30 m3? crazy?

[Julien]

love the passion already....

to say i dont have the money or resources is kinda AssU-ME-ing who i am. but warranted, because most idiots dont care to follow through with hacking the crap outta cars. They follow the current, not swim against it....

i am not trying to mate a s14 to an ix chassis. more the opposite. but not knowing ish about the difference between the chassis, that is why I asked the question(subarus from 95 to now share almost all the same mounting points, or at least a mismash of what has already been used). it appears somewhat of a pipe dream unless u are willing to take on a serious chassis abortion. honestly, id rather add the M3 body parts to an ix chassis. i have seen plenty of m3 dups out there, and it certainly seems make more sense. so possibly the rolling chassis body aborted to the ix chassis is a better route.

cool. thanks for the replies. it has certainly gave some direction.

last question. besides the UNDERSIDE of the chassis, the ix and M3 share the same body lines, right? front fenders, doors, NOT the B pillar back? interiors i know are the same or similar?

so it wont be a REAL M3, but maybe a sweet looking, wide body ix? with more power?

thanks in advance....

josh

There is a euro spec early model 325xi for sale in the classifieds somewhere, it'll have the right tail lights for the m3 fenders.

On another note, AWD BMWs are bland compared to their RWD bretheren. They daily drive really well but take away the fun oh-shit factor from from their RWD counterparts. They are also an after thought grafted into a rwd chassis resulting in poor design that can't take big power. IIRC e30 awd like to chew up front driveshafts and diffs.

good luck though.

[nando]

you could probably spend $15-$20k on the engine swap part alone (depending on how far you take stuff).

basically - do it, but bring your trust fund!

[nando]

On another note, AWD BMWs are bland compared to their RWD bretheren. They daily drive really well but take away the fun oh-shit factor from from their RWD counterparts. They are also an after thought grafted into a rwd chassis resulting in poor design that can't take big power. IIRC e30 awd like to chew up front driveshafts and diffs.

good luck though.

BMW actually re-engineered large parts of the car. you'd be surprised at how much is different. If it's an afterthought, it's a pretty well thought out one, considering the same design principles are still used in modern BMW AWD cars.

as far as the drivetrain - that's mostly BS. the front diff is too weak for drag racing, but the E34 front diff takes care of that problem. the front driveshaft is a lubrication issue, not a strength of design issue. Look into the X5 driveshaft problem sometime.

[flyboyx]

On another note, AWD BMWs are bland compared to their RWD bretheren. They daily drive really well but take away the fun oh-shit factor from from their RWD counterparts. They are also an after thought grafted into a rwd chassis resulting in poor design that can't take big power. IIRC e30 awd like to chew up front driveshafts and diffs.

good luck though.

you see...here is the thing about forums: often free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it and less. if you posted this on the "other forum" you would need asbestos underware. ground control now offers a complete coil over suspension with koni's, camber plates, and the whole works. getting the suspension set up properly on an ix will give you plenty of "oh shit". in fact, there will be much more "oh shit" that you can imagine because you will be able to put the car in and out of situations you would never think of with a rwd only vehicle. it just requires knowledge and skill. any dingleberry can slide the rear end out of a rwd vehicle. even your grandma's 86 crown victoria. the rest of the points, nando has already brilliantly addressed.


on the subject of using an s14 in an awd e30: as i said before, you can do anything with time and money. is if feasible? hell no. this has been discussed many times before in other places. there is no oem oil pan available that will even come close to fitting. the time and engineering involved to fabricate something would cost at least 2-3k. in addition, a good s14 will cost north of 3k. if you find a good deal on a bad engine that is even worse because the rebuild will cost 6k. so, 5-9000 dollars later, what then would be the purpose? so people will look under the hood and say "cool man! he had an s14 in an awd m3"? thats just....well, stupid. the car won't be original anyway. if you are actually planning to carry this out, just use an s52 or 54 and channel your brain cells toward other aspects of the restomod that make sense.

[Vtec?lol]

^^^All truth right there.