Colorado general chat...

[iamsam]

...random interjection from Sean, who up until now, has not been involved in this conversation...

;)

anyway, you going to wings? I can return your ski rack...

[Bimmerman325i]

Thats probably why they get pissed

Ja genau.

[monkeytaco]

Best bang for the buck is to use the zf tranny, as no custom fab work is necessary for the transmission brace (it is required for the 260 and it will sit off kilter). The zf is cheap ($100 junk yard) and very strong, it can easily handle 350hp (boost anyone?), and I've seen at least 3 under 125k miles in the yards in the last month. You also need a driveshaft unless you swap the output flange on the transmission, which with my impact wrench and 30mm thinwall socket takes about 2 minutes. The lower geared diff is better if you don't like shifting much, and a 4.10 means a retardedly short first gear.

Whoever shows up at my garage first get's first dibs!

:)

[blefevre]

So with a ZF I can use my stock 260 driveshaft?

[Bimmerman325i]

So with a ZF I can use my stock 260 driveshaft?

I'm not sure about that, I thought you needed a 328i auto driveshaft with a ZF due to length primarily.

[Roland H]

I always thought you needed an E36 or E30M3 manual driveshaft for the swap..

Ian should know..

[Bimmerman325i]

Nope. Most guys running a 24v with zf trans in an e30 use the auto 328i driveshaft. dunno about an e30 m3 DS.

[blefevre]

It's stuff like that that makes me nervous about a swap. So much random info on the site. Even the swap wiki doesn't lay out EVERY part.

[Roland H]

oh my god.

this is so funny, yet so painful to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV2qtvbIPFE

gets even better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2cuAA2NOt4

keeps digging that hole deeper....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF7_VHp95Ps

and worse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q60M4QYGac

[blefevre]

Long story short: South Africa plane tickets sky rocketed. Supercharger on hold.

[iamsam]

South Africa??

[blefevre]

Long story not as short: We are going on a two week vacation to south africa in May. Ticket prices change all the time but just went up a lot. We need to hold off big spending until we figure out if prices go down or we just have to pay more. At most it is only a few weeks hiccup though.

[monkeytaco]

So with a ZF I can use my stock 260 driveshaft?

Primarily the difference with the zf is that the bolt holes and the diameter of the holes on the guibo is different, the length of the 325 driveshaft is not affected with the zf. If you swap the zf's output flange with the one on your 260 you can use your driveshaft without needing to source a new one. Most people don't do this because they don't have an impact wrench and a 30mm thin-walled socket...which I happen to have.

There are several driveshafts that work with the zf:

e36 328i with the four bolt rear end (not CV), and use the e30 center support bearing. These are plentiful and easy to come by.

e30 m3 driveshaft. really hard to find.

e30 325e from 87-88. This is the one I used because I happened upon it at the junkyard and thought it sounded really, really easy - which it was. These are also easy to find.

I'm going to make this really simple for you, if you have a question just know that I have the answer. I have a document that outlines literally everything one needs for a swap, with part numbers and explanations why you might need the part, that I'm willing to share with local e30 nerds. It represents about 200 hours worth of research and addresses every aspect of the swap.

I hope that every e30 ends up in the hands of an enthusiast and that every e36(damn ugly) dies a crunch-the-body death so it can donate its innards to the e30. The m5x and s5x really belong in the e30 chassis.

:)

[iamsam]

^^^ see! there you go Brad! good solid info from someone who has DONE the swap! Not speculation from me and David! ha ha!

[blefevre]

Epic post. I would love that document, I am sure it has a lot of great info!