E30 questions

[cferb]

You won't get a straight answer out of this question, there are so many ways you can go about this.

If you want to turbo then go with a 325i/is or an early 318i, both respond pretty well to boost, the M10 in the 318 is actually the basis for BMW's F1 car in the late 80s, as well as for the s14 in the e30 M3, so while it is slow from the factory, it's still a good start. Some people supercharge(haven't seen turbo but boosting them was pretty uncommon when I sold my last e30, don't know what's happened since I've been gone), the later 318 which has an entirely different engine, it's higher compression so it will be a bit more difficult. Another option would be an NA build, in which case you'd definitely want a 325, you won't get a whole lot over stock with bolt ons, but you can mix and match with the super eta(don't know which head goes with what block for that) for a budget build and get some okay power, which is probably your cheapest option, but you won't get much past 200 with it.

If you're concerned with handling, a 318 will be much lighter, and thus handle better, but you're stuck with big metal bumpers in the early cars unless you swap.

I'm a straight 6 guy myself, love the M20, but as was said it really depends on what you want out of the car, 250-300whp should be easy enough to get out of the m10 or m20 if boosted.

[Mav1]

You won't get a straight answer out of this question, there are so many ways you can go about this.

If you want to turbo then go with a 325i/is or an early 318i, both respond pretty well to boost, the M10 in the 318 is actually the basis for BMW's F1 car in the late 80s, as well as for the s14 in the e30 M3, so while it is slow from the factory, it's still a good start. Some people supercharge(haven't seen turbo but boosting them was pretty uncommon when I sold my last e30, don't know what's happened since I've been gone), the later 318 which has an entirely different engine, it's higher compression so it will be a bit more difficult. Another option would be an NA build, in which case you'd definitely want a 325, you won't get a whole lot over stock with bolt ons, but you can mix and match with the super eta(don't know which head goes with what block for that) for a budget build and get some okay power, which is probably your cheapest option, but you won't get much past 200 with it.

If you're concerned with handling, a 318 will be much lighter, and thus handle better, but you're stuck with big metal bumpers in the early cars unless you swap.

I'm a straight 6 guy myself, love the M20, but as was said it really depends on what you want out of the car, 250-300whp should be easy enough to get out of the m10 or m20 if boosted.

What about M20 n/a - can you get good power n/a with cam and stuff?

[evandael]

^you could probably get to 200HP with a 2.7seta (start with an '88 325is) + the 2.5is head, a cam, ebay headers, and megasquirt.

[VinniE30]

These cars are light so 200hp in an e30 feels like 250hp would in a car like an e36.
Try to drive a few swapped e30s to get a feel of it and you will realize 300hp is ridiculous in these cars, and you don't need that much, and will have trouble putting that much power to the ground properly.

If you're coming from a turbo background though, no non-turbo engine will give you the sudden surge of midrange torque that a turbo gets, that makes the car feel fast, even if the naturally aspirated car has more power and is in fact faster. Boost makes cars seem much faster than they are compared to naturally aspirated. For example, my m30 (3.5L straight 6) swapped e30 is faster than my friend's subaru sti but his feels faster driving it because you get a sudden surge of power as the turbo spools up. Whereas the power from my engine is more of a linear increase as it revs up.

For what you want, you should get a 325i and see how you like it. From there, it's a good platform to turbo, or swap out for one of the e36 24v engines. It's also the most common model.

[Mav1]

These cars are light so 200hp in an e30 feels like 250hp would in a car like an e36.
Try to drive a few swapped e30s to get a feel of it and you will realize 300hp is ridiculous in these cars, and you don't need that much, and will have trouble putting that much power to the ground properly.

If you're coming from a turbo background though, no non-turbo engine will give you the sudden surge of midrange torque that a turbo gets, that makes the car feel fast, even if the naturally aspirated car has more power and is in fact faster. Boost makes cars seem much faster than they are compared to naturally aspirated. For example, my m30 (3.5L straight 6) swapped e30 is faster than my friend's subaru sti but his feels faster driving it because you get a sudden surge of power as the turbo spools up. Whereas the power from my engine is more of a linear increase as it revs up.

For what you want, you should get a 325i and see how you like it. From there, it's a good platform to turbo, or swap out for one of the e36 24v engines. It's also the most common model.

Right. Turbo cars are alot of fun, especially the torque they can produce. Thanks for info.