89is Alpine Progress Thread: e30 Hibernation - e90 swap complete

[VBe30]

Massive Update

Well well well...a lot has happened in the past 6 months. First and foremost - I am now a father. My wife and I welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world on 11.25.18. She is amazing.

So prior to her due date, I was determined to get the e90 running and driving, which I did! This allowed me to get the e30 out of my garage and over to my parents garage since the e90 was out. I wanted to be able to park our explorer in the garage over the winter for the baby's sake.


I bought 90% of the parts at fcp euro, so i have lifetime warranty on all the parts..even the oil! Replaced all the gaskets (except front/rear main), Valeo Single Mass flywheel/new clutch, new radiator, New windshield (insurance claim - free $$), new hood release, new rear window seals, new angel eye bulbs/fog lights, AVIN head unit, and much more I cannot even think of right now..

I coded the DME for the 3 stage manifold, and it runs fantastic.

Future Plans: Maybe Mtech bumpers, FRM2 (in the mail for Angel eye DRL), new wheels.


Now to the progress pics:

e90 parts stash



intake manifolds


3 stage for install


Replacement aluminum for prone-to-fail plastic fitting


Water pump


engine

front core support

front core support w/ headlights


headlight before Restore


After restore


Single mass flywheel conversion



Transmission going in


Valve cover off



VCG


Tensioner


back in



Fresh Oil



Modded the aux port for AVIN nav screen carplay in armrest


Ripped out old alarm from PO


Parcel Shelf Before


Parcel Shelf After


New Floor Mats


Carseat Base


Front


Tow Hook License plate holder - filled the holes with bumper repair. I plan on sanding and using some touch-up paint to cover


Interior Shot (missing new floor mats)


As it sits today



Junkyard scores waiting to go in
Almost perfect Junkyard seat (prior to cleanign) - $30 bucks!


Homelink mirror


Bluetooth module - not that I'll even use it...but there is a button on my steering wheel so might as well make it work since the car is prewired.


Auto-fold mirrors


Sport wheel - the leather is way better on this one. Already wrapped the trim in 3m matte black vinyl


Fixed the vents



Now what everyone is here for, e30 content! Basically nothing has happened except moving it to my parents house. Spring time will be engine bay prep.

e30 getting hauled to its project space







One car out, one car in



Stay Tuned!

[jeenyus]

I'm interested in that N52. lets see what's happening.

[paynemw]

What's up with this build!?

[jeenyus]

engine everywhere! great progress as always.

[paynemw]

Hey man, as for your harness, link up with my buddy on Instagram @almost_vintage_garage - he rebuilt one of his M1.1 harnesses after a huge M20B30 swap. If I recall correctly he found a good source for all of the BMW connections and other GM types of connections. He lives out by the REI in VA Beach, but is moving down out of state at the end of the month.

[VBe30]

Update

I put in a solid couple e30 hours last Saturday while watching the world cup. My garage is in complete disarray right now. I’ll be posting a ton of parts for sale shortly as the lack of space is driving me insane. I also had a dresser I was refinishing in the way, luckily I knocked that out, so it yields a bit more room. I might take some stuff up into the attic for some relief.

First up I tackled removing the 4.10 LSD and axles. I had used autozone rebuilts from my last suspension overhaul and I reused all the oem axle bolts except one because it disappeared...guess which one stripped out








Next Up, I removed the remaining autotragic stuff. Driveshaft, Auto Pedals, and Shift selector






Tackled removing the brake booster...it needs a fresh repaint as well






Removed the Fenders, front Valence, then tackled the harnesses


Engine Harness labeled - from what I read I only need to extend the injector wiring harness for it to work. We shall see..




Roasted Harness - Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix these pigtails? I don't want to have to replace every single 90 deg rubber connector on the harness. Weatherpak connectors possibly?




Current State








Next Up - Cleaning up the Bay some more, fixing wiring harness, install auto pedals, and make the core support removable.


Bonus - Before/After of the aforementioned dresser

[VBe30]

Another Day, Another Engine Removed

*Not e30 content.

Started the tear down on the 06' 325xi 6-Speed. What an adventure...every other minute I found ANOTHER wire and sensor to unplug. I will be struggling to connect everything back together correctly (I'm sure of it). Lucikly I got the Bentley Manual for the e90. I was just so eager pulling it out, I only labeled about half of the harness..





Accessories removed


Had to drill out/air chisel the stuck axle nut on the drivers side.


Ready to pull


n52 is out!


How it sits. Luckily I was able to keep the AC system intact.


Time to source a known good N52...

[VBe30]

Update

I saw on the Facebook group that you pulled the M20! YAY FOR M30 BUILD! Updates plz and ty!

Yep! Thanks dude. Update coming:

Soooo...First things first...I picked up a new car for an absolutely steal. It’s an 06’ e90 325xi - 6 speed. The engine has no compression, but I plan on swapping in a newer low mileage engine. Still doing some research, but it looks like I can use any version of the n52 (n52, n52n, etc) and use all the original sensors/harness from my car and everything should work. Also looking to use the 3-stage intake manifold and tune to gain some more HP. Essentially making the 325 a 330.






Jumped head first into ripping off the front of the car. Ran out of time, but haven’t been able to get some more time with the car. It’s sitting over in my parent’s garage.


But on to more important things...The e30

I started removing the transmission with the intention of possibly just fixing the auto seal and putting it back in....WAY to much work to remove again later. So out it came.





You can see the offending front seal hanging on the torque converter.




So after all that work, there was no way I was putting the slush box back in. I then started removing and labeling everything




Harbor freight was out of stock for a few weeks, but I was finally able secure a shop crane. Now it’s Go time.







M20 OUT!





This weekend I picked up some HF wheel dollies so I can maneuver around my small garage. Also picked up a new iPhoneX so I’m going to be testing out this portrait mode a lot more.

Next up: clean up the engine bay, remove the rest of the automatic stuff, and sell off these miscellaneous parts.

M20 and all the automatic parts are for sale, so PM me.

[ATL_E30]

I saw on the Facebook group that you pulled the M20! YAY FOR M30 BUILD! Updates plz and ty!

[warshark]

hey do you still have the oil pan if you do call me at 203 354 2389 and leave me a message if i am not home

[spiDmang]

I want you to know that I had a spare auto trans and I never wanted to offer it... because nobody deserves to be stuck in auto

This makes you a good person <3

[2mAn]

I want you to know that I had a spare auto trans and I never wanted to offer it... because nobody deserves to be stuck in auto

[VBe30]

Power Steering pump

Dug into the m30 power steering pump some. I have everything disassembled now. The damn circlip took me awhile to get off..














I am going to paint and refurbish the hardware prior to putting everything back together with the new seals. One step at a time.

I think i'm going to use Eastwood "aluma blast" for all the small silver aluminum parts on the engine. I will get the valve cover/intake manifold powder coated though.

[VBe30]

Soda Blast

I spent all day saturday testing out my new air tools. I got so excited I didn't take many pictures.

I sent up a makeshift outdoor tent to shield my from the rain. I was so eager to try, I didn't want to wait for a nice day...and believe me it was a a shit day out - Cold/rainy, but worth it.

I blasted through 50lbs of medium grit soda from HF. I did a bunch of small parts, but my m30 getrag 260 was the only thing I documented with pictures.




Original Pic straight from the Junkyard



Progress





"Finished product"
I still have some spots I need to clean and power wash off all the leftover soda. Needless to say, I am quite pleased with the outcome.


I think I have also settled one a plating process for the hardware to try - Black Oxide kit from Caswell plating. As I mentioned before, I am more of a fan of the black hardware than the shiny zinc/gold colors (although OE).

I'll keep everyone posted on the outcome..

[VBe30]

Dude, glad you threw up this thread man. I ended up moving to Germany, sad I couldn't stay in VA Beach to continue building stuff like you. Keep up the good work man.

Thanks Man! - I still have that sunroof panel I got from you on the shelf waiting for paint. Hopefully you can snag some sweet euro parts while you are over there. My assumption is you are going to move back stateside eventually? Or are you over there for good?