strokin' it. M20B31 build (finished!)

[e30shmobberr]

looking great mang!

[kingston]

Raxe,

Man, I love both of your cars!

You've done exacty what I'm preparing to do. THe 3.73 LSD is in my garage waiting for the install, and I am planning to send the 'i' model head I got to a shop to have them go through it. After that, it's the 327i swap for me, too! Cool that the swap itself only took you 6 hours! That's a great improvement for an afternoon's work!

Thanks for posting this thread - it's good info for me, and I'm thrilled to hear your results!

[Raxe]

very nice man...you joined the club! I love your red e30. I'm gonna powdercoat my RX's white i think. But anyways, I have the IE 272 cam and it has worked flawlessly, no problems. dunno what they are talking about. I daily my car, you can hear the lumpiness of the cam still, but idles smoothly still. Has a good power band from about 3.5k-5.5k then it kinda falls off from there. I also have an adjustable cam gear i need to install as well. Also, according to my OBC. I still get about 22.5 mpg avg. I also did the 3.73 lsd swap.

What chip are you using? I had Dinan, was a piece of shit with the 2.7i, got a alpina b3 2.7 chip, its WAY BETTER! It idles at 1000 rpms tho. But with the dinan chip, i was getting only about 20 mpg.

I also plan on going from the stock injectors, to m50 injectors, (rebuilt/cleaned em, just gotta have time to put em in)

Whats the mileage on your car? I did this "stroker" at about 270k, and it was a nice refresh. I'm not at 286k. No problems what soever. Other than a couple speeding tickets/exhaust ticket lol. (With my cam + old exhaust, people asked me if there was a v8 under the hood)

Mine's not chipped right now, just a 173 from the i. I'm going to try the Dinan chip from my friends 325i anyways to see if it makes a difference but it's interesting to hear you had a bad experience with it. The car is at 180k miles, exhaust is a de-cat and new OEM muffler. It has a good rumble to it right now at idle, I'm excited to hear it with a 272!

[acolella76]

very nice man...you joined the club! I love your red e30. I'm gonna powdercoat my RX's white i think. But anyways, I have the IE 272 cam and it has worked flawlessly, no problems. dunno what they are talking about. I daily my car, you can hear the lumpiness of the cam still, but idles smoothly still. Has a good power band from about 3.5k-5.5k then it kinda falls off from there. I also have an adjustable cam gear i need to install as well.

regrinds from IE and new billet are totally different! I hear the regrinds are awful but the new billet ones aren't bad. In fact I have a new billet 272 as well from IE.

[88SuperETABD]

very nice man...you joined the club! I love your red e30. I'm gonna powdercoat my RX's white i think. But anyways, I have the IE 272 cam and it has worked flawlessly, no problems. dunno what they are talking about. I daily my car, you can hear the lumpiness of the cam still, but idles smoothly still. Has a good power band from about 3.5k-5.5k then it kinda falls off from there. I also have an adjustable cam gear i need to install as well. Also, according to my OBC. I still get about 22.5 mpg avg. I also did the 3.73 lsd swap.

What chip are you using? I had Dinan, was a piece of shit with the 2.7i, got a alpina b3 2.7 chip, its WAY BETTER! It idles at 1000 rpms tho. But with the dinan chip, i was getting only about 20 mpg.

I also plan on going from the stock injectors, to m50 injectors, (rebuilt/cleaned em, just gotta have time to put em in)

Whats the mileage on your car? I did this "stroker" at about 270k, and it was a nice refresh. I'm not at 286k. No problems what soever. Other than a couple speeding tickets/exhaust ticket lol. (With my cam + old exhaust, people asked me if there was a v8 under the hood)

[Raxe]

The problem was a dirty injector I guess, ran some plain old Lucas injector cleaner and all symptoms disappeared.

Did a 3.73 lsd swap this last weekend, it's a worthwhile improvement over my 2.93 lsd. Made a few runs against a chipped '91 325i and beat it pretty good every time. :)

[acolella76]

i've always wondered how that antenna would look on a non m/touring.. i think you made up my mind. beautiful cars, man. And 272 is definitely the way to go if you don't want any headaches

[Raxe]

Thanks guys :)

The 272 is a good choice if you want a mild cam without any headaches. You can run up to a 284 without getting springs etc, but you have to be a little careful (see towards end of post).

Sounds like the 272 is my winner then. Thanks for the info!

First problem has sprung up since the conversion. I was taking a couple pictures tonight and while I was moving the car around setting up shots I noticed it would really bog down for several seconds after firing it up. The problem only shows up when the car has been running for less than a minute between starts and would clear up shortly after, which leads me to believe it's a fuel issue. Pulled the vacuum hose off of the fuel pressure regulator and it was dry so I'm guessing it's a dirty/leaking injector. That's the problem with putting on a head from a less-than-ideal donor car; no idea what the history is like.

Anyways might as well post a pic:

[619E30]

I might be doing this, this summer. Except, I'll be swapping bottom ends. lol

[leegf]

is there anyone else on here with two super nice E30s i wonder?

[sandlock]

nice work. if all motor swaps only involved the top end, cursing in garages around the world would drop by 30-45%.

[spencers]

Perfection.

[Wh33lhop]

The 272 is a good choice if you want a mild cam without any headaches. You can run up to a 284 without getting springs etc, but you have to be a little careful (see towards end of post).

FYI a real stroker it larger bore(bigger pistons) with shorter rods or bigger crankshaft. Since you already had the SETA it is just an improved topend. It is still a great build and motor!

Eh, people keep on complaining about this pedantry--who cares. It's a 2.7i. :p

DO NOT get a IE regrind

Agreed.

And you are going to have to buy upgraded valve springs to get over 7k with the cam.

As I recall there is not much of a reason to go beyond 7 grand with the 284. Stock "i" springs are okay until you step it up to a 288.

Or just don't race it. On my brother's stroker build I am replacing the rockers with the beefy race ones to handle the higher RPMs. If you get the Schrick cam buy a IE cam adjuster gear. Only 100 bucks and helps dial in the cam =)

The main reason to get a cam gear with the 284 IMO would be to have the ability to clearance the valves. It has been awhile so I don't remember exactly which configuration this happened in (2.7i or stock b25) but the pistons just barely graze the valves with the 284 installed with stock phasing. So, you will want to retard cam timing just a bit until there is sufficient valve clearance.

[Jean]

Very clean! Nice job! What lens was used for the last photo?

[Raxe]

WAAAAAAY off topic, but nice wheels!
Are those euroweaves?
I have some euroweaves on mine that I want to refinish, and these look AMAZING.
Is that nogaro silver for the center?

It is indeed, and a perfect match for Lachsilber.