Question... Engine Swap

[george graves]

I was under the Impression that a Later model 318 say a 89 318is would make a good platform to do a S52 swap. If this is true what year/models make good platforms?

Wow - ok...back in '84 and '85 BMW made the "318i". It's a e30 with a m10 motor(4 cly motor,only 1.8L). I believe all came with drum on the rear, ect...it was a "starter" BMW back then.

TOTALLY different than a "318is" M42 motored cars made later on in the life of e30's.

EDIT - oh kinda sounded like I was slamming the 318i/m10 cars - not really - They are a ton lighter, and teach you how to drive correctly(much like a underpowered kart does to teach you how to carry speed through the corners)

HTH

...

[Nygdup]

An engine swap is definitely the most involved thing I've ever done. I'm a capable wrencher, but there is a limit to what I'm capable of doing. If I decide to go ahead and do this, you can bet I'll be asking hundreds of questions or looking for a local guy to help out.

Sounds like the old m30 is not the way to go, so for now I'll just deal with the m10.

[Garageaholic]

Now that I'm done installing my E32 M30 engine... and my turbo... Im thinking of writing a whole writeup with pictures.. starting a new thread for each aspect of the swap. When someone wants to learn how to do an M30 swap, just go to the engine swap thread and all the separate articles will all be there. I'm removing my motor mount brackets and on my CAD program will create blueprints for the passenger and driver side motor mounts.. for the threads, i'll do something like this for example:

M30 swap - motor mount brackets thread
M30 swap - coolant hoses thread
M30 swap - transmission shift linkage thread
M30 swap - electrical
M30 swap - driveshaft
........etc... for every aspect of the swap

It will be a sort of an extension of Jared Squires writeup i guess and people can add to it (obviously ONLY by the people who have done the swap). Kind of like a generic how-to thread that encompasses every aspect of the M30 swap. It seems to be getting more and more popular and parts are very readily available.

I think it's a great idea.. what do you M30 guys think?