is this a stupid move to do to an E30 ?

[eur04lif3]

Swap it.

[agent]

To me, E30's, unless super super nice, are just begging to have dumb shit done to them. The ones that are 'ruined' are usually my favorites.

Hopefully more people will adopt this outlook so the value of the ones that haven't had dumb shit done to them keeps going up.

[JinormusJ]

Oh really? I'm enjoying my automatic e30. Gets me to where i'm going. It isn't fast and it isn't slow. E30's aren't the race cars that people think they are...

You are more the exception, not the rule.

In my experience, my manual cars have gotten 3-4 times more interest than my automatic cars. Always

[Roysneon]

True life.

I swapped my coupe, so i guess it's all '87 325i stuff, but fuck if i know for sure. I just put on a bunch of used parts that worked fine before my friend's car got t-boned.

Then I did a 5-lug swap on the vert, seller told me that it had 318ti rears. When I went to replace the rear wheel bearings I found out it had a much bigger diameter wheel bearing, so maybe I have z3 m5x trailing arms, half shafts, and brakes?

That's why I could never sell my car.

Well it's got E30M3 suspension, but the cailpers are from an e24 635, but only the late model ones will be the same. The master cylinder is from a late e32 735 but it's had the pushrod shortened and the firewall redrilled. The master cylinder is from an e30 325iX.

Don't get me started on the engine swap, or the transmission that doesn't match the car or the engine donor car, or the clutch that doesn't match either.

Oh and make sure to put the CSB on backwards if you need to replace it.

Good luck to whoever tries to buy it off me. :giggle:

[McGyver]

^^ This kids, is why buying a swapped car can be a gamble.

True life.

I swapped my coupe, so i guess it's all '87 325i stuff, but fuck if i know for sure. I just put on a bunch of used parts that worked fine before my friend's car got t-boned.

Then I did a 5-lug swap on the vert, seller told me that it had 318ti rears. When I went to replace the rear wheel bearings I found out it had a much bigger diameter wheel bearing, so maybe I have z3 m5x trailing arms, half shafts, and brakes?

[Roysneon]

To me, E30's, unless super super nice, are just begging to have dumb shit done to them. The ones that are 'ruined' are usually my favorites.

[JasonC]

Tell them to stuff it.

No one wants an automatic e30; and if someone has one, I guarantee a manual transmission swap is part of their build. Like Barry said: e30s are a market control by the enthusiast, so doing a 5-speed swap will only add to the car's value. Having 3 swaps under my belt, I can attest to the fact people want a 5-speed standard car over a 4-speed auto

Oh really? I'm enjoying my automatic e30. Gets me to where i'm going. It isn't fast and it isn't slow. E30's aren't the race cars that people think they are...


Back to the OP, it is your car and you can do what you want with it. And I can see what the shop is saying. They're calling it a classic car, so a classic car in most senses should stay original as it can. That is if it has some collectability to it. If you do the swap I'd suggest to save all the automatic stuff so if down the road someone would want to put it back to original they can have a full matching numbers setup.

[nrubenstein]

I'd probably leave the engine alone, but fix the transmission.

It's a 100% easy bolt in that requires no wiring modifications, so there is no reason not to do it. Pony up for a rebuilt transmission, or a 320d 6spd.

[dirty30]

Buy it and swap it. M20's get boring real fast.

[Thizzelle]

no it's not a auto M3, just saying I don't need to swap because I have a 5 speed to drive, if need be.

[rturbo 930]

I would swap it if you have to take it all apart to fix something. But saying that,
I have a auto and I'm not going to swap it because M3.

I had no idea they made auto E30 M3s. And I'd swap that too.

Fuck autos.

[ST1G]

Swap it.

[slammin.e28]

^^ This kids, is why buying a swapped car can be a gamble.

[JinormusJ]

is this a stupid move to do to an E30 ?

Ah

That is true
I have a 325iS with i flywheel and early eta 5-speed, so I sorta jumped the gun. I forgot about the 2 TOB options depending on which flywheel is being run

[Andy.B]

And for people saying not to swap an early eta trans: the transmissions are exactly the same; early eta and late model i are still Getrag 260s; the only difference is the eta trans has two holes as reliefs for the crank position sensors, which, you can leave cut/unplugged/take out when swapping to a late model i car as the CPS is located on the front of the engine on late model m20s. The transmissions are literally identical otherwise.

They also have different bellhousing depths to accommodate the dual mass flywheel, and some have different shift carrier mounting provisions. If you use a deep bellhousing with an I flywheel, for example, you need a euro 323i tob. Sticking to proper I parts will make future maintenance much easier, by taking the guesswork out of sourcing parts.