Swamp Stylez

[slammin.e28]

This started out as an e2i build but ended up going a little further....

We (my dad and I) rescued this 1984 325e 5sp with 178k on the clock from a junkyard of old Mopars near Roanoke Va. We went there looking for parts for my dad's '55 Dodge PU and spotted this e30 chillin' in between some trees.

The yards owner said it ran when parked....

Got it home and it sat a while. Dad changed the timing belt then I went to do a valve adjustment. #5 and #3 rockers were broken. So, I removed the head. Every valve had hit the piston and mushroomed out the valve recess. Ouch.

Also, the interior and windshield had an encounter with an ex-wife and were in, well, less than perfect condition.

Soo....we got a set of super eta dished pistons, a "is" intake manifold, an 885 head, and some custom M20 headers and got ready to rebuild the motor.

This, due to lack of funding and me being away at automotive school, then sat for over a year.

I in the meantime have been into e28s and acquired a second one. After replacing the head on the m30b34 with an m90 euro head I finally had my 5sp e28.....with a rusted out body.

Now is where my gratuitous diarrhea of the keyboard comes together...

I recently began tearing down the e30 for a full restoration and m30 swap. The following pictures are my progress so far, with hopefully more to come, lol, as I'm in between jobs right now.....enjoy...


(some pics may be recognizable from a previous dead thread in a location it really didn't belong :stupid:)

Anywho.....on to my abhorrent pics:

[slammin.e28]

Before:


Cleaned and dismantled, with new doors that really don't match (that's the soaking wet carpet hanging out to dry to the left):

Also removed that horrid wing. It may make a comeback though...

Semi-dismantled interior:

[slammin.e28]

Then I removed the sub frame for some new control arms and other parts.


Painted....fresh!

Why not do it red?

New tie rods etc...

[slammin.e28]

Removed that old weathered dash and found that insects had taken up residence inside:

Also cleaned the engine bay.....alot:

Annddd now.....all the stuff for the M30 swap I have so far:

1988 528es wiring harness with a B35 179 DME (Motronic 1.3)

1986 m30b34 w/m90 head:

G260/5

B35 oil pan and sump:



That's it for now. Gonna dig into it hardcore tomorrow as I have all the time in the world. Unemployment is good for getting things done around the house!

[threlevenguy]

hey are you around the new river valley area?

[slammin.e28]

Not really. I'm about +/-2 hours north in Waynesboro.

[MR E30 325is]

I always pay close attention to threads where an E30 that was literally left to rust to pieces gets saved and has cool stuff done to it. Kudos to you.

Keep us updated. Please.

[thowes24]

Sub'd!

^ditto on the updates!

[slammin.e28]

Thx for the positive feedback! I'll be sure to keep close updates on this one.

Today I got the motor out and mounted on my stand. I then removed the b34 motor mounts and fitted up the custom ones. Perfect, just need some shorter bolts. I also dug out the b35 oil pan and sump and got them installed no problems....

(Crappy cell pics warning)


....although I did find 2 bolts in the bottom of the old pan....



I'm not going to tear into this motor as I just did the whole top end about a year ago and it's just sat since then. Everything looks very clean and fresh. Compression test yielded excellent numbers across the board. Even with 216k on it I can still see the honing marks in the cylinder bores. It's just 16k miles broken in IMO.

Tomorrow I'll be cleaning the block and hopefully getting it all painted and beautiful.

[slammin.e28]

More pics! Lol, ended up helping a friend get the Jesus nut/bolt off his M20 so not much got done with the M30. Couple pics of the nice clean rebuilt M90 head.



I rebuilt this head and had the car running then decided the car was crap. All rusted out underneath. Only put about 2 miles on it since I installed it. Didn't touch the bottom end as I could still see the hone marks in the cylinders so I figured everything else was fine. May get a full rebuild/upgrades next year. For now, lets just get this thing in the damn car!



Epic clean valve cover thanks to Jerry's Engines in Staunton, Va! Awesome guy too! Shaved the M90 head and steam cleaned everything I brought to him, only charged $40.

I painted the valve cover also, just didn't get pics. Thinking about doing a better job tomorrow and sanding the Roundel and stripes to bare metal again.....maybe do plaid? Lol, we'll see.

More tomorrow and later in the week!

[slammin.e28]

Began the wiring nightmare. Scored an e34 535i balancer on eBay. Also scored a 3.73 LSD diff from a friend for helping him swap his e30 to a 4:10 LSD. Tomorrow I'll open up that diff and see how bad the clutches are burnt up. Maybe order new ones.

All in all, good day today.

[chadthestampede]

Saving an old car + m30 swap = win

I'm looking forward to where this is going.

[slammin.e28]

Saving an old car + m30 swap = win

I'm looking forward to where this is going.

Thanks Chad! It's definitely going somewhere, lol.

Today I took apart the 3.73 only to find out from the ID tag it's no LSD.




Anywho, I have the e28 the motor came out of and it has a 3.25 LSD. I Tried to removed it with A LOT of PB Blaster but that didn't work so I took the diff apart while it was under the car. Had to cut the half shafts in half as every bolt under the damn thing was rusted fast. (Rounded off my allen socket:curse:)
Left: Open 3.73; Right, 3.25 LSD




I got the LSD + ring gear out and swapped the 3.73 ring gear onto the LSD and put it all back in the 3.73 case. Please don't try and talk to me about shims and tolerances and all that, I've done diffs before, thanks!

Fresh outta the freezer! Have to cool it to put the ring gear and speed ring back on. Slipped right on and was solid in a matter of minutes!


So now, after a few hours work I have a 3.73 LSD for my fresh M30 to drive in a very light car, compared to what the M30 is used to.

And Ba-boom! Almost finished 3.73 LSD. Just need a new diff seal and some fluid and we're done! Not bad for a days worth of work. (well, most of it was spent with the girlfriend;))


Also realized I need to get an engine wring harness from an '87 325i as the 528 super eta one I have won't fit the e30 engine bay w/out a a lot of cutting and splicing. May as well use a harness that was made for the car. Plus too, I can use the 528 harness to upgrade my nice e28 to Motronic 1.3.....but that's after I finish the e30.

Probably more tomorrow! Gotta get this thing going as my dad's tractor is going to the shop this week so I won't be able to drop the motor in as easily!

[Stoner Sam23]

I thought that diff was a just a burnt out LSD. Idk why a open diff was in a 325is??? Anyway thanks for the help on the swap guy!

[slammin.e28]

Word up, thanks for the diff! Haha! The M30 should be being place in the e30 this week. The tractor is going for a full restoration this week so I'm dropping the motor in ASAP after the rubber mounts arrive.

Diff is going in Thurs regardless.