First pictures of my E30

[Mike325]

Also, is this a timing belt or chain engine?

[THM3]

http://www.bmwworld.com/engines/m30.htm

There ya go.

[euroshark]

I do have to change the engine side of the C101 plug / fusebox plug. I just cut the plug off of the E30 engine harness, with about 6 inches of wire, and soldered. I made sure to check various pinout diagrams so I know what wire goes where, and not suprisingly, all of the wires are joined to wires of the same color! Good old BMWs... The M30 is a timing chain motor, and yes, the only new pieces required to fit the motor into the car were the www.e30.de motor mount brackets! After that though, there are a few pieces that are needed to complete the swap, like a radiator from an E28 or E24, and you might have to have your driveshaft shortened.

I stuck the front half of my 6 series shaft on the rear half of my 3 series shaft, and its about 1 inch too long... So I guess I will see if there is a shorter front section that I can use, or just get mine cut down and balanced.

[mtechnik]

glad for ya man

[euroshark]

Thanks for the comments guys!

[325iCabrio]

That's pretty sweet. I think if I ever had to swap engines, I'd pick the M30. But hopefully my M20 will keep chugging along.

And hey, when people ask what you drive, you can say a 335i, and they'll think you've got that fancy twin-turbo job. :p

[CleanAzzE30z]

Explain what you did when you say "tinkered for a while". ;) Sorry if this has been addressed in the previous posts. Im lazy

mariano

[euroshark]

Well, tinkering sometimes involves beer... And maybe connecting some vacuum hoses that weren't connected by a dealership "mechanic". It seriously took about an hour and the thing started right up after 8 months of "diagnosis and work" by these retards! So to show my delight, I rented a hoist a few days later and ripped that anemic piece of shit out!

[euroshark]

Update:

Wiring is done, plumbing is done, car should start once I get some oil in it!

Got an E32 air box on the way, should clean up the engine bay nicely vs the old style air box...

Just waiting on the driveshaft now. Going to test fit the 6er's exhaust tomorrow, just the front half. Side by side with the e30 exhaust, it looks to be the exact same shape until right after the cat... We will see.

More pictures soon!!

[delphini]

Kee Us Updated ......

[Simon S]

It also runs 9.3:1 compression,

That car is dying for boost...

fuck yeah !

[euroshark]

Here is a little bit of progress... Everything is wired and it runs! No exhaust yet, no driveshaft yet because the guy that I am swapping parts with doesn't answer his phone :p , and the E32 airbox is STILL in the mail apparently... but she's getting closer.

[SpunkyE30nOk]

its looking real good...what engine position did you use? you started it up without the exhaust hooked up? how loud was that?

[euroshark]

I used engine position 2 on the Type I mounts. It sits pretty damn far back, the head actually touches the firewall insulation and part of the block had a tiny bit of interference on the drivers side. Without exhaust (just manifolds) it is god damn loud! But it sounds good, and very smooth (valve jobs are niiiiiiice).

Soon I will be building the exhaust, and probably having my 6 series driveshaft shortened because the guy who was supposed to give me a 325i auto front half seems to have flaked on me...

[nes85er]

hey nice swap you got going on, i dont recall seeing an m30 swap done before...pretty kool, looks like its coming along nicely.