Swapping out an m10?

[Nygdup]

I've got an 84 318i and I've thought about swapping out to a 325 motor. Is it a relatively simple swamp from the m10 to the m20? Does the manual transmission from the m10 plug right into the m20? Anyone ever done this before?

Really don't want to just go out and buy another car. Interior and body on the 318i are in great shape, just needs a little paint on the outside.

[blunttech]

its too much work for the return. enjoy your e30 with the m10. its a good motor albeit a bit down on power. drive it and wait till you have the loot to get what you really want. be glad you have an e30. you could be driving a sunbird auto

[Mike325]

its too much work for the return. enjoy your e30 with the m10. its a good motor albeit a bit down on power. drive it and wait till you have the loot to get what you really want. be glad you have an e30. you could be driving a sunbird auto

True. The swap can be done, I think all that you need is the front subframe from the m20 car as well as the engine wiring harness. Not sure about the trany though.

[KenC]

tranny wont work

[bimmerdreamer]

i guess im biased, but why not turbo it? for a few hundred more than swapping an M20 you could have a beastly M10. It will be more work compiling the parts but search around, you'll find the M10 is a boost whore.

For example theres a guy in FL with a 11.6 sec. 1/4mi M10 (320+ rwhp/tq)that is basically all bolt ons and runs a tranny w/ 300000mi+

that said turbo charging is not for everyone (kinda pricy/reduced reliability/turbo lag), and if you dont have a passion for boost its probably better to just wait and get another car.

personally, i am commited to my car and will do anything (regardless of cost/time) to have an ultralight boosted m10 with all around performance.

[James Crivellone]

its too much work for the return. enjoy your e30 with the m10. its a good motor albeit a bit down on power. drive it and wait till you have the loot to get what you really want. be glad you have an e30. you could be driving a sunbird auto

Having done this before I fail to see the too much work for return portion. Assuming he likes his chassis you can pickup a runner e30 I that has been wrecked for usually under 1000 bucks, and easily swap all the components..95% of them are direct bolt in parts.

Or just get the motor, tranny and driveline. Only issue is wiring unless he swaps in an ETA motor from 84/85, then its direct plug. Brakes/Diff etc can come later if needed, the small case 3.46 can usually hold up pretty well.

a nice running M20B25 is amazing compared to an M10.

[blueapplesoda]

i bet. i say boost. its fun. and you can brag about it. m10+boost = lightest combo, good on gas (i guess? lol tubo lol) for relatively the same price

[Joey Link]

tranny wont work

Ken you forgot the apostrophe, period, and proper capitalization.

[blunttech]

Having done this before I fail to see the too much work for return portion. Assuming he likes his chassis you can pickup a runner e30 I that has been wrecked for usually under 1000 bucks, and easily swap all the components..95% of them are direct bolt in parts.

Or just get the motor, tranny and driveline. Only issue is wiring unless he swaps in an ETA motor from 84/85, then its direct plug. Brakes/Diff etc can come later if needed, the small case 3.46 can usually hold up pretty well.

a nice running M20B25 is amazing compared to an M10.

i agree. do all that work so you can have a 40 dollar car instead of a 30 dollar car. fuck that. maybe im spoiled but doing all that work and having m20 performance is a waste of time. id like the m20 with a saturn rocket booster sized turbo strapped to it but thats about it. this dude should talk to otis. either that or like i said, enjoy what you have

[AdironRider]

Turbo or nothing at all. It wouldnt be worth the time and money to swap in an otherwise stock m20.

[2002maniac]

I have an S14 crank FS if you want to build a stroker M10.

[Nygdup]

Wasn't really looking into the turbo option. Car would work as a daily driver to keep the miles off our newer cars. It's got to survive roughly 100miles a day of mostly interstate.

As much as I like my m10, it's just not fun down the interstate at all. Figured an eta would still be economical and easy to maintain.