Marty's E to I Swap Thread

[BrewCity11]

Thought i'd share some pics of Marty's swap. It's a clean 325e with a nice houndstooth sport interior.

Just a standard E Auto to I Manual swap here, nothing special, but a great upgrade nonetheless.

Only two pics for now, but i want to make sure we get some good ones along the way for him.

The beginning:


An hour into it. Fluids drained, wiring disconnected, rad out. All thats left is driveshaft, exhaust and its ready for dismounting.


Will post more pics throughout the week.

[dashboardmonkey]

night and day........the difference eta auto to i manual

[3ics]

T - I can't wait :)

Looking forward to having 3 pedals again!

[Mike325]

Have fun guys. Just changing over to a manual would make a huge difference.

[nespo_e30is]

Nice Turk... looking forward to seeing this transformation live... great chassis guys, tons tons of potential, love the interior!

[ikkitousen]

Some of the issues I ran into with this swap when I did it last year:

Tach still doesnt work even though I swapped all the coils and wires and cluster.
Finding a complete wiring harness was a pain
Coolant hoses ended up being a hodge podge of different model tubes cuz I kept the stock eta radiator and used an eta water pump cuz the B25 pumps, radiators and hoses
are super different.
still used the eta clutch and flywheel though and it runs fine. I just installed new ones in the eta tranny and wasn't willing to swap/pay for b25 versions. (dual mass or single mass difference IIRC)
a lot of the shit behind the glove box gets thrown away. rip everything out and keep only the B25 stuff.
Didnt bother hooking the PS or the AC back up so you are on your own with those.
Oil cooler: Had no idea about this one and it was a pain trying to find one that wasnt beat to shit or leaking or rubbish! And make sure you get a quality gasket. I had mine rupture this first hard cold this winter on my way to work. Oil + Hot Exhaust pipes = Lots of white smoke. OOOOooooo look at the pretty oil light on the cluster! Weeee at least I know that sensor works now! Oh and good luck trying to mount that fucker on the eta chassis if you dont have access to a welder to make new tabs. Hell mine is STILL zip tied to the frame!
Make sure you take the time to do the Timing belt, tensioner and water pump while you have the motor OUT. Makes a PITA job a hell of a lot ezr!
If you have the $$ replace the fan clutch while your at it, as well as the motor/transmission mounts. I didn't and I sure as hell wish I had now.

For what its worth!

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DAMN TWO PENNIES!!!

[ZM Blue Devil]

^thanks for the pointers:)

Out with the old...

[ZM Blue Devil]

Engine bay prewash...

[3ics]

Sweet! I feel like a kid on Christmas! :p

[e30trooper]

what year eta was this? I wanted to do this too. Lucky I have a 87 eta so its pretty straight forward swap

[3ics]

what year eta was this? I wanted to do this too. Lucky I have a 87 eta so its pretty straight forward swap

'87 - I really couldn't complain because when I got the car it was traveling down to Philly, the shore and NYC - I enjoyed the mileage.... But it will be nice have a manual again - it's been too long without one.

[ikkitousen]

Oh well NM I didnt know levent was doing the swap!
So much for my ignorance!

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DAMN TWO PENNIES MORE!!!

[ZM Blue Devil]

Oh well NM I didnt know levent was doing the swap!
So much for my ignorance!

Not at all, any input is welcome.

Turk is doing all the hard work. I just take pictures and find parts.:D

Nothing like a little powerwashing in 30 degree weather..:(

[ZM Blue Devil]

Fairly certain we violated some sort of EPA regulations with the powerwash but there was so much build up...


Much better...

[Stephen]

moar.

I wanna do an e to i swap.