My 1st E30, Swapping Immediately

[johneod75]

Well I have been lurking around here for some time and figure I should actually post something up for once. I used to own a 78 320i that I absolutely loved....





Unfortunately I had to get rid of her as it was my only car and the 4 and 5 year old couldn't stand south Texas heat with no A/C.

I was totally out of the game for a while until I bought this for $350.



He didn't know why it didn't run but it did turn over and had good compression so I paid him and took her home. Turned out the DME was bad and DME relay was missing. He had tried to use the one out of his M3 but didn't know about the missing relay. I was fully planning on putting the E36 on the road and building it but unfortunately as much as I love BMWs I hate E36's. Well my best friend had bought a non running 89 325i to fix up for his wife and I managed to squeeze it out of him for $600. This is it....





So I immediately started tearing things apart to swap the M50 and the steering from the E36.









Then I spent countless hours going through the ETM's because I don't trust anyone elses pinout charts and finally got the wiring knocked out.





I am waiting on a bunch of parts including
E34 pan and accessories
Motor mounts
Headers
Knock sensors
Clutch pedal box
LCAs with new ball joints
M3 offset LCA bushings
Tie rod ends
Sway bar endlinks

Oh and these showed up Saturday. Anyone is welcome to hate away on them. I love the price and when all is said and done I have less than 1800 invested in a 24V swapped E30 with (what I think are) good looking wheels and updated suspension and steering.



As I'm waiting on parts I'm kind of at a stand still so I cleaned the bay today.









Turned out pretty well and will be making a lot of progress this week as parts start pouring in.

[Holland]

I am in love with that 320!

[rThor432]

^^Yeah the 320i is sweet. Nice lump you had in it too (the engine).

Looks like you are making quick progress with this! You can probably clean that E30's exterior a bit and buff on it to bring back a near factory shine. Should be sweet when you are done, white late models rock.

[StereoInstaller1]

I am mighty impressed!

I just love that you paid basically twice as much for an older car...good man!

Welcome to R3V, welcome back to having fun while driving.

Luke

[N2MYE30]

This should be good. Killer E21!

[StereoInstaller1]

^absolutely. I have never liked that wheel until I saw that set.

This should be a fine example of an E30. Looking forward to seeing it!

Luke

[johneod75]

Thanks for the words of encouragement you guys. I absolutely cannot wait to get her on the road. Tomorrow I am going to finish cleaning, and painting the bay, install my springs and get the rack out of the E36. I am at a bit of a stand still on the swap as my mounts are supposed to be here tomorrow, suspension bits and header thursday, and oil pan friday.

Oh question, and yeah I should probably search but am already posting here, my buddy has a set of eibach pros and a set of h&r's that are either sport or race. He told me I'm welcome to use whichever I choose. Recommendations?

[87e30]

Thanks for the words of encouragement you guys. I absolutely cannot wait to get her on the road. Tomorrow I am going to finish cleaning, and painting the bay, install my springs and get the rack out of the E36. I am at a bit of a stand still on the swap as my mounts are supposed to be here tomorrow, suspension bits and header thursday, and oil pan friday.

Oh question, and yeah I should probably search but am already posting here, my buddy has a set of eibach pros and a set of h&r's that are either sport or race. He told me I'm welcome to use whichever I choose. Recommendations?

H&R if they are races. You're going to want some bilstiens or konis as well.

Modify the steering rack install while you're waiting on swap parts. It's a good little project.

[318isbmw]

H&R if they are races. You're going to want some bilstiens or konis as well.

Modify the steering rack install while you're waiting on swap parts. It's a good little project.

Great looking swap! Can't wait to see how it turns out after the clean e21 you had.

Definitely H and R's, the eibach's are notoriously soft, and with the low oilpan on the m50, it will be nice to have a firmer suspension.

[m3clutch]

HR race...very yummmms

[johneod75]

Well sorry about the lack of posts but how about an update?





So my buddy came over and lent a hand. Got the new pan on along with gasket and new rear main seal on. Reinstalled the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate and bolted the tranny up. Starter is on and some of the wiring in place. Also bolted the subframe to the whole assembly and got everything ready to go in the car tomorrow night. Here is how it's sitting now....











This morning I also picked up my wheels from having tires mounted on them. Again big thanks to my buddy Chong for giving me some spare tires he had laying around. 225/50 for the rear and 205/55 for the front. Then my son and I ran back to the car after lunch and I couldn't help but throw on the rears to see what it was gonna look like.



Here is what it looked like stock......







talk about alot of room.



And here she is with the new rubber....















My helper...











so tomorrow night the motor is going in the car come hell or high water (which is entirely possible with the way Chuck's back yard floods if the humidity is even too high.) The wife is coming with to snap some in progress photos, so I'll have another update tomorrow night hopefully.

[Ral]

you should check out the autocross at Waldron. There's a bunch of M3's (my e30, my roommate's e92, a charged e36 that Chuck probably knows and a few e46's.)

Also, say hi to Chuck next time you see him.

-Raleigh

[FreedS4]

you should check out the autocross at Waldron. There's a bunch of M3's (my e30, my roommate's e92, a charged e36 that Chuck probably knows and a few e46's.)

Also, say hi to Chuck next time you see him.

-Raleigh

Let me know next time you head that way and I'll join up as well.

[pureaudio]

I like the wheels quite a bit. I love those wheels on your E21 also, lusted for those for a long time now.

[johneod75]

Motor is in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Looks like Sunday I'll have to be over there all day to try and get the odds and ends bolted up.

On to pics.