E21 S50 Swap

[jakeb]

All the suspension parts are going to the coater tomorrow...
I was waiting for the front calipers to show up so I could trim the backing plates.

Trunk is starting to fill up with new parts (thanks blunttech)

[Polaris15]

sub'd

[greg1333]

Nice plan...I miss my 323i e21. I had swapped out the 2.3 motor for an late model e30 325i motor... the car was fast, much lighter than an e30.

Do you have a 6 cylinder front cross member for your swap? or are you going to just do something custom?
Another hurdle is the speedo input. e21 takes its input from trans. e36 trannys don't have speedo tap that I am aware of.

Just some food for thought.
Keep us updated...and best of luck with the build

[jakeb]

Getting back to progress on this project. Suspension parts back from the powder coater.





There is also a box of odds and ends but no picture of that.

[blunttech]

I admire you Jake... I cant seem to finish one project and you juggle multiples at once

[giantkeeper]

I admire you Jake...you juggle multiples at once

:nice:

[Galicianslash]

i am so sub'd

[unloadedak]

subscribed!

[jakeb]

New parts going together. Both of the front struts would have been together but some how one of the $2 strut bearing dust caps walked off.

Fresh powder coated strut housings, bilstein sports, and H&R springs


Rears...new vs old. Rear shocks were completely dead.

[Chriskbmx]

as far as doing the speedo for the e21 there are a ton of diff ways to do it. assuming your not going to use the 323i trans I have seen people make the e30 speedo work, have seen people run them off the drive shaft and there are a ton of other ways to do it.

[jakeb]

It will be either an e30 speedo or an aftermarket speedo run off a drive shaft sensor. I use a after market VDO on my m42 2002 swaps.

[jhaurimn]

Wow, looking good so far. I have a friend rebuilding an e21, thankfully his is completely rust free, which is extremelyyyyyyyyyyy rare with e21s. Seems like they all started rusting away before people appreciated them. Not to mention getting parts for an e21 is 9999999999999x more difficult than getting e30 parts.

[jharrel]

I've been wanting to do this to my e21, can't wait to see the outcome :)

[jakeb]

Getting things put together.

New steering rack bushings...these were a pain to get all put together.
old vs new


Mounted on the fresh subframe. Tie rods will get replaced once it is up on the lift.


Dark pic but on the car.


Drivers side


Passenger side...waiting on dust seal thing to put the strut all back together.

[Lof8]

Jake does the coolest builds. subscribed.