3MPowered's Euro S50 E30

[pilotskillse30]

I'm in

[francogt1]

Love the color had one my self great color for the E30 and with the euro engine let just say it will be a beast to say the least

[N2MYE30]

That's one lucky e30. Sorry for your loss but you are upgrading. :up: Welcome aboard!

[Dj Buttchug]

This is going to be a great thread

[3MPowered]

Ahh yes yes! If you can pull this off, this color+car+motor+potential could be just beautiful!

I appreciate the enthusiasm! It's certainly contagious. I'm hoping do this right. There's a few bits on the car installed by the PO that dont sit right with me. I will update in time, but so far I've only had the car 3 weeks.

[Zreberlcoe]

Ahh yes yes! If you can pull this off, this color+car+motor+potential could be just beautiful!

[3MPowered]

Thanks guys! I'm getting more excited by the day. Now that the engine is in the garage next to the E30, it's beginning to feel real. Having never done this before, I just hope I'm not getting in over my head.

Today the headers were pulled from the block, as was the transmission, all in an attempt to make it easier to work on the engine.

Next, I have to make a shopping list...





And the money shot:

[george graves]

I see a loootttt of potential in this one! Sub'd

Ditto!

[AusScare]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the medium and small case E30 diffs are interchangeable right? There's no need to swap out subframes or diff mounts?

That's correct. I removed my leaking 4.1 small case open diff and replaced it with a 4.1 medium case lsd.

[Zreberlcoe]

I see a loootttt of potential in this one! Sub'd

[Alpina]

This is epic...

[3MPowered]

Nice M3, shame about the hit. The e30 looks awesome too!

I've got a 318is and will be doing a 'bigger power' engine swap too. Change the diff to a medium case LSD, and maybe the radiator to a bigger one (depending if it gets hot where you are).

Otherwise a 325 wouldn't really offer many more benefits I don't think?

To make the most of the engine you should probably put in bigger brakes and sway bars, better shocks/springs, etc, you know the drill.

I certainly do, thanks for the tips!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the medium and small case E30 diffs are interchangeable right? There's no need to swap out subframes or diff mounts?

[AusScare]

Nice M3, shame about the hit. The e30 looks awesome too!

I've got a 318is and will be doing a 'bigger power' engine swap too. Change the diff to a medium case LSD, and maybe the radiator to a bigger one (depending if it gets hot where you are).

Otherwise a 325 wouldn't really offer many more benefits I don't think?

To make the most of the engine you should probably put in bigger brakes and sway bars, better shocks/springs, etc, you know the drill.

[3MPowered]

November 15th, 2014

Hello R3v members! I'm new to the E30 game (previously an E36 guy) and thought I'd introduce myself by sharing my new undertaking. I'm looking forward to being a part of this community and hopefully meeting many of you at meets and events in due time.

I'll start by sharing a little about my previous car, a 1994 Euro M3. The build thread on bimmerforums can be found here: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ered-s-Euro-M3

It's long, so to save time here are the highlights:

- 1994 Avusblau E36 M3
- Imported from Japan in 2009 with 188,000 km
- Rebuilt in 2013 at 240,000 km, bored out to 3.1L + a few other tasty parts
- Died October 7th, 2014 at 263,000 km

The car was totaled by no fault of my own a month ago, and it's been a long journey to today. I have purchased the car back from the insurance company and successfully stripped it clean of everything that made it special. Pictures always do the talking better than words, so here's the gist of my journey with the M3 over the 4.5 years that I owned it:

Bringing it home:



I tried the low thing for a while on a set of OZ Mitos:















The rebuild:











Got tired of being so low (but I still have a thing for puddles):









Back to the OEM look:











And finally, the carnage:









And so to the past few weeks. I was lucky enough to find a place to store the carcass of the M3 while I strip it bare. The entire process of removing parts took about 3 days working on weekends, always in the rain. This is what she looked like after it was all done:













Piled high in the truck:



While all this was happening, I picked up the E30 that will hopefully serve as the donor car. It's a 1991 318iS in Laguna Green.

It has 280,000 km on the clock and suspension softer than a Mercedes (at least, compared to the M3). I don't think it's ever had a bushing replaced, but it runs strong and oozes character. Here are a few pics of the car as it currently sits:











Of course, it always helps to have friends familiar with the model. They've been trying to get me into an E30 for quite some time, and they've been very enthusiastic about helping me with the M3. I owe them big.



The engine bay was pretty filthy, so the first port of call was to give it some attention:



After:



That's all now now. I have an iS lip to go on, since the PO didn't even know the car should have one.

In the meantime, maybe someone could tell me if the 318 is a good basis for a donor car, or if I'd be better off starting with a 325. I thought I'd done my research prior to buying the E30 but it seems I'll need parts from both the 4 cyl and the 6 cyl E30 platform to complete the swap.

This journal will serve as a place for me to store my journey with this car, much as my journal for the M3 continues to allow me to relive my memories with that car. Hopefully this one doesn't end in carnage :)