One Year Later ...

[Herr Faust Schinken]

I've been considering doing an M30 swap
If you don't mind me asking how difficult was the swap? and I've read that m30s in e30s have overheating issues how did you deal with those?
Other than that the pictures of your car is what really makes me want to do an m30 over like an m5x swap
Your car a one of my favorites

[csermonet47]

The swap wasn't too bad at all honestly. The most in depth thing I had done before was replacing all my bushings. Which was probably worst than the engine swap itself ...

I had some bad luck and some trials and tribulations with the whole thing, but I knowing what I know now, I could do it a lot easier and cheaper the next time around. As far as overheating goes, I got a spal pusher on the front of the E28 radiator and it never once thinks about overheating. I have it wired to an E36 318ti temp switch and it kicks on around half way mark and you can watch it go down. Just don't skimp out on getting a nice fan and you should be fine. There is an awesome free guide on the swap in the M30 swap section.

Thanks for the kind words! I won't tell you what swap you should do, but if you have anymore questions, shoot me a PM and I would be glad to help you out.

[semaj4712]

Taking a look at this...there is totally a UFO in the sky

[Herr Faust Schinken]

thanks dude , the m30s are supposed to be torque monsters and i like the way they look in the bay as well

[csermonet47]

They are definitely torquey. I rode in an M50 car with S50 cams and although it was faster, it was all up top. All preference really. I am sure with MAF and a tune the M30 would be about on par speed wise as a M50 with S50 cams. They weigh about the same. I got 27mpgs highway with my car when I went up to Maryland so they aren't too thirsty.

Here is a dyno (not mine) with MAF and tune on a stock M30:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.millerperformancecars.com%2Ffiles%2FGen%25203%25203.5%2520L%2520MAF.pdf

[Herr Faust Schinken]

well that what i was thinking , the old saying "people buy horsepower but they drive torque" that what i always thought about the m30s and 27 mpg seems pretty damn good, are you running A/C too?

[csermonet47]

No A/C. Never used it and it clutters up the bay.

[Herr Faust Schinken]

No A/C. Never used it and it clutters up the bay.

yeah thats the only thing im gonna haft to decide on i normally don't use my A/C aside from just having the fan on but it gets to 110 degrees in the summer where i live , thanks for answering my questions though

[Cha Ching]

Herr Faust, if you live in Yucaipa, you definitely need ac!

The M30 is an often over-looked swap, probably due to its lack of 'sex-appeal'? The thought of a "M-Powered" motor gets people hard. The guys I talked to who have done M30 swaps all give it the thumbs up. Easy to do, no fabrication or sourcing of special parts, basically a drop-in proposition. Fairly cheap and easy to find the motors, too.

[Nick_S]

Perfect. The color, the stance, the engine...everything.

[evandael]

The M30 is an often over-looked swap, probably due to its lack of 'sex-appeal'? The thought of a "M-Powered" motor gets people hard. The guys I talked to who have done M30 swaps all give it the thumbs up. Easy to do, no fabrication or sourcing of special parts, basically a drop-in proposition. Fairly cheap and easy to find the motors, too.

though I don't want to detract from csermonet's thread, i have two comments.

first, the M30 definitely has a kind of 'period-correct' sex appeal, at least to me! it just looks so right in the engine bay, better than a 24v for sure.

second, although the motors are cheaper (sometimes), it is by no means a straightforward swap. you have to source or fab custom engine mounts, the motor is fucking huge, so sometimes some gentle 'clearancing' is necessary to fit, a/c can be a bitch to integrate.. the win goes to M/S5x motors for me on this front. direct drop-in with all factory parts, and donor cars are getting easier and easier to find.


anyway, back to drooling over those Image wheels..

[Blackout]

Aliens do exist. LOL

[HerbReal]

This calypso is beyond beautiful. Super jelly clarkson.

[Herr Faust Schinken]

Herr Faust, if you live in Yucaipa, you definitely need ac!

The M30 is an often over-looked swap, probably due to its lack of 'sex-appeal'? The thought of a "M-Powered" motor gets people hard. The guys I talked to who have done M30 swaps all give it the thumbs up. Easy to do, no fabrication or sourcing of special parts, basically a drop-in proposition. Fairly cheap and easy to find the motors, too.

yeah that my thing i need to read up on it more to see how hard AC would be to put in, and i think the thing i like about m30s is they are just brutal motors , its seems like you pretty much just drive the torque curve on m30s , which is attractive to me its means that just driving around town you have power down low, which the m20 you always need to rev it up to go anywhere, and i could care less if its an M powered motor, maybe if its an S38 or s14. But s50s don't have the same sex appeal to me that the older less refined power plants do

[dishwab]

This is definitely one of the best, if not THE best, cars on R3V. Classy, classic, and powerful. If I ever muster up the cash and courage to do a swap, I'm doing an M30.