1990 - 24v swap

[kid325e]

Cool build! Are you doing all of this in your garage or work? Your workplace looks like a cool place to build!

[wworm]

These alu M52's are harder to find but now that the Z3's are getting older they are more common in the yards. Most salvage places don't value them any different than a normal iron block engine.


MJ

I’m jealous of your junkyards! I have yet to see a shred of an alu block m52 existing around my area.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mjweimer]

Thats a good looking car!

My 84 was also very base, essentially manual everything (windows, sunroof, door locks, etc) It weighed in at 2450 as a full loaded 24v daily driver with a 12" lukebox in it. Got it down to 2300 as a half stripped, roll bar equipped car. Still had a lot of weight to drop.

Im back to a 88 325i that will be the daily so even though its simply a chipped M20, I still added j-stock suspension just because haha

Im excited to see this wreck get completed, keep at it. Are you keeping power steering, and A/C?

I probably should have never sold that Euro car but no regrets. I do wonder where it is today and if it is still in great shape.

I've never run a true J-stock suspension but I do plan to run Billie Sports and H&R sports on the wreck along with E30 M3 bars (properly mounted to the strut housings in front). I have not run a set-up like this since my '87 iS years ago and it will be interesting to see how it feels compared to how I remember it.

Yes the plan is to keep power steering and run A/C. Will be using the Z3 2.8 rack and converting to R134A with parallel flow condenser and associated parts. I kept the compressor and lines from the M52 so hopefully the local hose shop can merge the lines when the time comes.


MJ

[2mAn]

Here's a pic:



The all around best E30 daily I have owned was an '88 325iS - stock with the exception of a Dinan chip and stock M3 springs/bars, Bilstein sports and Euroweaves. Put a lot of miles on that one.


MJ

Thats a good looking car!

My 84 was also very base, essentially manual everything (windows, sunroof, door locks, etc) It weighed in at 2450 as a full loaded 24v daily driver with a 12" lukebox in it. Got it down to 2300 as a half stripped, roll bar equipped car. Still had a lot of weight to drop.

Im back to a 88 325i that will be the daily so even though its simply a chipped M20, I still added j-stock suspension just because haha

Im excited to see this wreck get completed, keep at it. Are you keeping power steering, and A/C?

[mjweimer]

Im more about weight & balance than all out power. Im actually not a fan of the S54 because of the huge weight penalty over the front wheels.

That's a fair statement. Nothing wrong with an M20 and quite frankly the cars are plenty fun stock with a few light suspension mods. Back in 2004 I owned a gray market '86 325i with the higher compression engine and the factory tune for high octane fuel It was noticeably stronger than a US car. It also helped that it weighed less due to less options (crank windows but power sunroof, and very little sound deadening among other weirdness).

Here's a pic:




The all around best E30 daily I have owned was an '88 325iS - stock with the exception of a Dinan chip and stock M3 springs/bars, Bilstein sports and Euroweaves. Put a lot of miles on that one.


MJ

[2mAn]

S54 swap is nice power to weight....

MJ

Im more about weight & balance than all out power. Im actually not a fan of the S54 because of the huge weight penalty over the front wheels.

[mjweimer]

My previous E30 aka the aluminum monster was a '84 318 with a fully rebuilt aluM52 + S52 cams. It was a daily drive in Los Angeles and I put 36k in 18 months. Rock solid setup that made good MPG and 225whp. Eventually it became a racecar and then ultimately sold. I miss it all the time.

Im surprised the headbolts werent an issue, I had a headache in that arena even with the timeserts on the first go-around, but eventually when it was done it was "done"

I fight the urge to look for another 97-98 Z3, in fact I was looking at a few earlier. salvage titled Z3s with a little over 100k going for ~$3000. Tempting to buy and part, but Im really leaning towards either staying with the M20 or something a little wilder in the power/weight dept

Very cool - that is a strong number from an M52. The fact that you put the miles on it with no issue just reinforces my thoughts.

I was worried about the headbolts too and was prepared for the worst but it worked out OK.

My Z3 had 114k and was purchased for the price of a Z3 steering rack. No one wanted the car for salvage because it was essentially worthless - everything a yard wants to sell was damaged. I hopefully got lucky but it has yet to run....

S54 swap is nice power to weight....

Great build shame you did not keep the rear subframe but assume it was because it was mangled beyond use.

Rear subframe was mangled. It looked like the car slid into a curb on the driverside rear and initiated the rollover. The RS trailing arm/wheel were one with the chassis and had to be cut out.


MJ

[M-technik-3]

Great build shame you did not keep the rear subframe but assume it was because it was mangled beyond use.

[2mAn]

I think it should be a great combo for a nice driver that is quick, reliable and fun.

These alu M52's are harder to find but now that the Z3's are getting older they are more common in the yards. Most salvage places don't value them any different than a normal iron block engine.


MJ

My previous E30 aka the aluminum monster was a '84 318 with a fully rebuilt aluM52 + S52 cams. It was a daily drive in Los Angeles and I put 36k in 18 months. Rock solid setup that made good MPG and 225whp. Eventually it became a racecar and then ultimately sold. I miss it all the time.

Im surprised the headbolts werent an issue, I had a headache in that arena even with the timeserts on the first go-around, but eventually when it was done it was "done"

I fight the urge to look for another 97-98 Z3, in fact I was looking at a few earlier. salvage titled Z3s with a little over 100k going for ~$3000. Tempting to buy and part, but Im really leaning towards either staying with the M20 or something a little wilder in the power/weight dept

[mjweimer]

This car loves to challenge me. As I wrote above, I pulled the engine by lifting the car off of the whole front subframe assy in one piece. Straightforward.

However....when I attempted to put the subframe back into the chassis to make it a roller - it would not fit. The car had been wrecked so nothing is out of the question but there are no signs of damage or repair to either of the frame rails. Hmm...no matter what tricks I pulled, the dowels on the rear most mounting holes would not line up and slip into the chassis. Wonderful. I played around with it for a while making sure it was level, etc, etc no dice.

A couple of weeks ago I got my hands on a used subframe (Hi Bobbie!) to modify for the build so I checked it for fit - fit fine (thankfully...) so the grinder and drill came out to remove the dowels and enlarged all the holes to 13mm.

It fits now and will work fine for rolling the car around but this whole exercise ate through too many hours on Saturday. Too much fun. The subframe must have been slightly bent and "sprung" once removed from the chassis.

Other than that, torched out a broken stud in one of the the M52 exhaust manifolds and put together the latest of many parts lists.

BTW I can't recommend these guys enough for new hardware as well as metric coolant/fuel/vacuum hoses.

https://www.belmetric.com/

MJ

[91tii]

That interior is awesome!

The light weight of the aluminum block should make for a super fun car, 318 balance with 24v power!

[mjweimer]

Aluminum block M52 is the best. You will love it. Im excited to see more people starting to swap these in. Im not sure why its taken so long. Its a wonderful setup, I love mine.

I think it should be a great combo for a nice driver that is quick, reliable and fun.

These alu M52's are harder to find but now that the Z3's are getting older they are more common in the yards. Most salvage places don't value them any different than a normal iron block engine.


MJ

[2mAn]

Aluminum block M52 is the best. You will love it. Im excited to see more people starting to swap these in. Im not sure why its taken so long. Its a wonderful setup, I love mine.

[alistairolsen]

Looking good so far!

[mjweimer]

Did you have any issues with putting new head bolts in the block? I have an aluminum m52 ready to go into my E30 as well but I'm worried about stripping the threads in the block if the head ever has to come off.

No issues but I spent a great deal of time cleaning out the threads in the block to make sure there was no debris, etc. If you follow the link in my 3rd post you can see what brushes I used to clean out everything.

Pazi88 is correct - if the engine has not been overheated then the threads should not pull out. I did not know the history of the engine and breaking off one of the head bolts made me extra careful.


MJ