Opinion about an euro 1984 320i

[federal]

I've just realized that this car was originally HENNAROT.. That makes me want to buy it more.. I really like a henna e30! Plus it's an euro pre facelift.

[federal]

just put a complete b25 with wiring harness and motronic in there. the paint job on that car looks like a backyard spray... and yes, the b20 is a piece of crap motor, esp. the early non motronic ones like that. Car looks cool and has a ton of potential!

edit, just saw the plates on it, guess a b25 isnt that easy to find there.

A b25 is not easy to find... a m50 is easier. But I don't wanna deal with that swap right now. Only if I found a euro S50...that would change my mind!

What would be better between a m20b20 and a m20b27?

[mikeedler]

just put a complete b25 with wiring harness and motronic in there. the paint job on that car looks like a backyard spray... and yes, the b20 is a piece of crap motor, esp. the early non motronic ones like that. Car looks cool and has a ton of potential!

edit, just saw the plates on it, guess a b25 isnt that easy to find there.

[SubDad]

Hmmm. I like the hose deletes. Thanks for the ideas Hooffenstein, particularly the PCV/vacuum plate one. Got any solutions for that bedarned idle speed booster-bellows-plunger thing?

Somebody before me deleted the throttle body heat and that's OK because it's really only for a particular set of damp cold conditions.

Maybe I'll try a temporary delete of the slide valve if a M20B25 swap doesn't happen this year.

I don't think an L-Jet harness will work for a Motronic engine, will it?

[Hooffenstein HD]

Yes.. I made a mistake.. It certanly is L-jetronic.

I don't want to deal with afm, idle valve, and all old stuff.
I'm thinking of installing so ei!, like megasquirt or INJEPRO.

Getting rid of the barn door would be wonderful but I'm not too sure there would be much to be gained on a B20.



Also, if you want to neaten up that engine bay and solve potential running/idling issues before you go the big jump to a real management system; it's pretty easy to just delete everything off an L-Jet set up. They really only needs the AFM, TPS and FPR. Everything else; all the vacuum hoses, auxiliary air slide valve, coolant to throttle body, cold start injector etc etc can get the cut. When I did this to my 323i, I noticed no negative effects and it actually made it sit at a consistent idle.

Where I live does not get below freezing temperatures though, so YMMV.

I used a 3/8" brass connector to join the two coolant hoses on either side of the air slide valve and rubber chair leg tips to temporarily block off all open hose connections.



Was left with these connections open to atmosphere.



Swapped to the 320i/325i intake manifold vacuum plate.



Used a mini pod filter to delete the PCV hose to throttle body.



Thought about more ways of simplifying the spaghetti, so I switched to a single hose for the brake booster.

I've just got rubber chair leg tips blocking up the open holes in the throttle body and TB->AFM hose at the moment(super shoddy). An M20B25 throttle body and a silicon intake hose would be much better.

[federal]

Yes.. I made a mistake.. It certanly is L-jetronic.

I don't want to deal with afm, idle valve, and all old stuff.
I'm thinking of installing so ei!, like megasquirt or INJEPRO.

[Hooffenstein HD]

These one have k-jetronic (very basic)

No, that's L-Jet.

Since people have put M30B35's in late model E30's and used the M20B25 loom, I've been wondering if the same could be done with an earlier L-Jet M30B32 with an L-Jet M20 loom. That would certainly wake the old girl up.

The E30 333i hauls ass.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

These one have k-jetronic (very basic)

I don't worry about paint.. I can get a full quality respray for us1000 o less (yes, I know is cheap, but is true)

About the engine bay, there are things that I don't like.. But the car is running good. Some parts to replace and a full cleaning would make a big difference.

The only reason I said it's a 100 horse is cause it's a 30 year old car that's lost some power for sure. M20b20 auto would make a great daily. Also like stated it's doesn't need to be fast to be fun.

[federal]

I've got an '86 sedan with an M20B20. It's a charming little engine that does its best but really, it doesn't make much power.



The car in the pics looks to be the right shape but the paint's pretty thick.

That radiator doesn't look like mine at all. It looks too small and that shade of green on a rad is never good news.

There's a couple of days work to be done under the hood but it'll be a fun car.



100?125? Mine has the later version of L-Jetronic so it makes 129 rompin' stompin' horsepower! :D

These one have k-jetronic (very basic)

I don't worry about paint.. I can get a full quality respray for us1000 o less (yes, I know is cheap, but is true)

About the engine bay, there are things that I don't like.. But the car is running good. Some parts to replace and a full cleaning would make a big difference.

[federal]

The early 320i is 125hp. What about those wheels? Are they any special.. They look like a schnitzer maybe? They are 15"

[SubDad]

I've got an '86 sedan with an M20B20. It's a charming little engine that does its best but really, it doesn't make much power.

The car in the pics looks to be the right shape but the paint's pretty thick.
That radiator doesn't look like mine at all. It looks too small and that shade of green on a rad is never good news.
There's a couple of days work to be done under the hood but it'll be a fun car.

100?125? Mine has the later version of L-Jetronic so it makes 129 rompin' stompin' horsepower! :D

[federal]

Yes, it has 125hp. I drove a w201 2.0 auto with 122hp. It was pretty decent.
320i couldn't be worse. And 6 cil sound its a plus!
Another thing.. It's getting difficult to find euro e30 pre-facelift in a decent shape.. Isn't it?

[lukeADE335i]

The M20B20 is a nice smooth drive as an auto. Not real fast as pointed out, but a 4.10 diff will help it be acceptable (I presume that early one probably has a 3.64). The 2.0L M20 is much smoother & nicer than the 1.8 M10.

I have to admit that I found when I bought my 320i that the 325i was not THAT much faster than the 2.0L. They have 129hp vs 168hp for the 2.5. They're both fine for the daily grind.

[Nisse Järnet]

It's a 2.0L motor with about 100hp. I have a 84 320i and with the m20b20 and it's by far the slowest car haha. From what I've replaced and bought for mine a lot of the parts had the same part # as a US model 325. Use realoem to double check your part numbers but a lot of them match up the same, for the parts that don't match I've found BMW still makes most parts and you can order from any dealer.

Edit: oh and as far as that car goes it's 10x better shape then I found mine. If you can wrench I'd buy it for cheap and swap a 5spd in it, or a m50 and make it a 5spd whole your in there.

Its got 125hp :)

[Nick_S]

E30's don't need to be fast to enjoy driving them. Go for it.