Engine Options/Help make a decision

[Los818]

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking for help on making up my mind. I've been doing some research and trying to come up with a conclusion but it's not easy.

I would like to track my e30 325e but at the same time keeping it street legal so I can drive around on the weekends.

I'm debating if i should either boost my m20 or do a engine swap. What do you guys think is the best route for my money? I would love to boost my M2o but ive read it's better to install a more modern motor in the car. I've also read that the M20 is a good motor to boost and that i can get 400 HP out of it. I'm 50/50.

If you would swap the motor which motor would you install?

Please Help!

[stonea]

M20 ftw

[lcoleman]

Get on track first, then decide what you want to spend your money on. The i head swap is relatively cheap and will net some decent gains over a stock eta.

[Luke_M]

^This. Unless you have a lot of track experience power is the last thing you need. Brakes, safety items and track time don't sound as sexy but are vastly more important.

I recently did a track day and was schooled like a motherfucker in my instructors spec e36 with a whopping 190ish hp. It's hard to explain how much better an experienced driver is compared to a newbie. Power wouldn't really help anything past a certain, modest point.

[Los818]

Thank you guys for the responds. I agree, seat time means a lot. I just thought i would start planning the future for the car but i agree that i should wait until i get on the track and go from there.

In regarding brakes, should i just run the stock brakes?

[squidrope]

Thank you guys for the responds. I agree, seat time means a lot. I just thought i would start planning the future for the car but i agree that i should wait until i get on the track and go from there.

In regarding brakes, should i just run the stock brakes?

Upgrade your pads (I use Cool Carbon)and fluid

[agent]

I agree with what's been said about getting on track first, but to simply answer the question:

I would like to track my e30 325e but at the same time keeping it street legal so I can drive around on the weekends.

If you would swap the motor which motor would you install?

OBD2 24v.

[Jb325is]

Yep, just wait on the motor for a while. 98% percent of people here (including myself) cannot drive a stock m20 car to it's full potential, so why not work on getting closer to that before making the car faster? It really depends what you want to do. I swapped my car from s54 to spec e30 for this reason. Get good pads, good fluid, and some 200TW tires and have fun... then upgrade from there.

Also, aftermarket turbo cars, in most cases, do not make reliable track/race cars, period. I know people will be up in arms about this comment, but in my experience, being around club and pro racing for quite a while.. it really takes a lot of thought/engineering/money to get it right and even when you do put in the effort, that's just a lot of heat to manage. My advice would be, if you're looking for a trouble free, reliable, track car on a modest budget, stick with N/A. A 24V e30 with a good driver, good shocks (not BC, D2, etc) and good tires should be a very very fast track car

[autox320]

^This. Unless you have a lot of track experience power is the last thing you need. Brakes, safety items and track time don't sound as sexy but are vastly more important.

I recently did a track day and was schooled like a motherfucker in my instructors spec e36 with a whopping 190ish hp. It's hard to explain how much better an experienced driver is compared to a newbie. Power wouldn't really help anything past a certain, modest point.

Hell yeah I remember the first track experience and that about sums it up. Eye opener on what you need to really focus on. Once skill is up then maybe open the fun factory upgrading the machine capabilities.

Far as turbo cars completely agree. Most don't make it an entire 20min session. Heat is the enemy. It always comes down to engineering the car package to how fast for how long. How fast you want to keep going and for how long before things are out of window of operation. Build a car to be completely beat to death all weekend is a great start point.

I like PFC pads, and Castrol SRF fluid. Any good tires. If you want to upgrade from there always put safety gear first, then move to suspension. Last would be extra motor power due to reliability goes down once ragging the edge. A good solid rebuild will be 80-90% as much fun than an early pit and short weekend.

[Cephas]

https://youtu.be/sDCfayNpWno?t=2m20s

My buddy driving our track car. Watch his mirror at 3:10 when that same Porsche that he passed, passes the GTR, then after that next turn...they are both way back there. This is with a stock m20 with 200k miles on it and 7 year old spec e30 suspension.

I know what car I'd rather be driving ;)


I get it that the GTR and the Porsche should technically be way faster, but the point is, seat time makes it, not the power plant at the start. Oh, and we run ATE typ 200 fluid and PFC pads. Have fun out there!

[JRKOUPE]

I agree with what's been said about getting on track first, but to simply answer the question:



OBD2 24v.

and yup.

[Los818]

I appreciate the everyone taking their time and passing on the knowledge. I'm going to take everyone's advice and start with seat time.

I just bought some wheels from tire rack and wrapped them with Hankook rs3. I've heard good things about that tire. I hope i did not make a mistake.

I'm going to look into the brake pads.

Rookie question, how do you guys follow the thread or know when someone responded? Also, is there an easier way to find the thread? i just scrolled through all the topics until i found my thread.

[Los818]

https://youtu.be/sDCfayNpWno?t=2m20s

My buddy driving our track car. Watch his mirror at 3:10 when that same Porsche that he passed, passes the GTR, then after that next turn...they are both way back there. This is with a stock m20 with 200k miles on it and 7 year old spec e30 suspension.

I know what car I'd rather be driving ;)


I get it that the GTR and the Porsche should technically be way faster, but the point is, seat time makes it, not the power plant at the start. Oh, and we run ATE typ 200 fluid and PFC pads. Have fun out there!

Very nice! I need to get to that level.

[agent]

Rookie question, how do you guys follow the thread or know when someone responded? Also, is there an easier way to find the thread? i just scrolled through all the topics until i found my thread.

If you're using the Tapatalk app on your mobile device, you can select the participated heading. If you're on a computer, you have the ability to subscribe to the thread, and select the notification frequency for replies. That option should be under the thread tools drop-down menu.

You can also subscribe to the topic with the Tapatalk app, though I find simply using the participated heading to filter out the threads I have not posted in works well for me.

[Los818]

If you're using the Tapatalk app on your mobile device, you can select the participated heading. If you're on a computer, you have the ability to subscribe to the thread, and select the notification frequency for replies. That option should be under the thread tools drop-down menu.

You can also subscribe to the topic with the Tapatalk app, though I find simply using the participated heading to filter out the threads I have not posted in works well for me.

Thank you so much. I'm try that out.