Little bit of advice from you turboed e30 owners.

[Kershaw]

you shut your mercedes benz loving mouth. you only say that because your 190e has less hp than 325i.

;)

[VE30]

I would definitely recommend a motor swap. I have an S52 in mine and its a fucking monster.

[325ix]

What are your plans for the car? Track car, street car?

[e30Villain]

Thanks everyone for your input.

I've had both a S50 swapped E30 and a 2.7L M20 Turbo E30.

The turbo car is clearly more fun (and faster) but there's no question that doing a swap is going to be the more reliable choice. Not only that, it's not exactly worth it to turbo an Eta engine. You're talking about needing to swap to an 885 cylinder head, i wiring harness, Megasquirt, dyno tuning, etc etc. As other have said, turbo and budget rarely go hand in hand.

What part of CA are you in?

Yeah turbo cars are really fun, I've driven my friends' turbo cars they all put a smile on my face. My e30 puts a smile on my face around corners but tbh i want it to be a little quicker on straight aways aswell. And I live in Glendale.

What are your plans for the car? Track car, street car?

Street car. This is my daily driver.

[efficient]

Supercharge m20. Better. A twin screw makes decent hp.

Or do a tuned m30, m52, s50, s52, s54 ( lol you wish).

Its really down to how much an e30 really needs (which it doesnt need alot. I see alot of high hp e30s fight for traction through the first three gears (mainly due to all hp no suspension/bad tires but lol.

And its down to your amount of cash and what time you have.

And what looks prettiest.

Imo, best looking swaps are m30, s38, and s54.

Or if your bonkers an lsX

You should have asked what the price difference is instead.

Price > importance then hp.

Don't go into debt like a moron for a ride that the state of California will take and crush in the crusher if you great caught with shiny turbo bits under hood...

Just do a swap if you can afford it bro.

I like this idea. +1. Btw I got a eta aswell and plan to swap a m20b25 in it.

[evandael]

I would really only do a 327i build. It should cost less than $1000, with a bunch of supporting maintenance and upgrades.


You don't want to worry about Cali laws with the turbo, S5x swaps cost a lot, and M5x don't offer much horsepower over the M20.

[e30Villain]

I've never actually seen anyone do 327 build in person, only seen them in videos. Is it worth it?

[Wschnitz]

327I has all ways interested me.

[Holland]

3.1 M20 or bust.

[evandael]

I've never actually seen anyone do 327 build in person, only seen them in videos. Is it worth it?

http://www.strictlyeta.net/technical/328i_1.html


the way i see it, going this route will have less down time to get running and is nearly stock, so driveability and reliability will be the same as any other stock e30 (this is a good or bad thing, depending on how diligent you are with maintenance). plus its kinda cool.

i'd say you'd be putting out anywhere between 190 to 210 horsepower, depending on if you do any mods like cams, exhaust, chip tune, etc.

[MR 325]

And I live in Glendale.
.

You're definitely close enough to go to Castros. If you plan to do a swap talk to Chris, he's the best.

[e30Villain]

http://www.strictlyeta.net/technical/328i_1.html


the way i see it, going this route will have less down time to get running and is nearly stock, so driveability and reliability will be the same as any other stock e30 (this is a good or bad thing, depending on how diligent you are with maintenance). plus its kinda cool.

i'd say you'd be putting out anywhere between 190 to 210 horsepower, depending on if you do any mods like cams, exhaust, chip tune, etc.

Sounds like a plan. Ima do a little bit of rearch and I might so this.

You're definitely close enough to go to Castros. If you plan to do a swap talk to Chris, he's the best.

Sounds good man. Thanks !