SR20DET E30 for drifting.

[iDriftYou]

Hey guys, new here on the forums. So college is coming and and well, I will a lot of time on my hands during the next two years, so I decided to take up a project. An e30 Drift car, I had a 1998 S14 with a 2jz-gte swap and that kicked like a beast, 648RWHP. Now I'm moving towards something German, so e30 seems to be the best option. I can get an e30 325 for about $1,000, and was wondering how much of a hassle it would be to put an SR20DET motor in it? I can also go the FI way and slap on a turbo on the stock M20. I know the FI way would be a lot cheaper, but putting an SR in a light car will make it fly! So your thoughts? My budget is about 7~8,000$. All help and replies are appreciated. :D

[SamE30e]

For 7-8000$ you can do a hell of a lot better then a SR20. You can do a S52 which will make more power then a modded SR20 and have reliability.

Do some more research, a couple people on here drift and they use turbo M20's.

[Erick]

Give me $8,000, take my track ready GT3071R e30. :p

Umm.... SRs in e30s have been done before... I've seen it locally. Personally too much of a hassle as the M20 is a good platform already (I never understood why people go from 6 to 4 cylinders for "performance"), and other BMW swaps are also very accessible, provide great power and reliability.

[iDriftYou]

Give me $8,000, take my track ready GT3071R e30. :p

Umm.... SRs in e30s have been done before... I've seen it locally. Personally too much of a hassle as the M20 is a good platform already (I never understood why people go from 6 to 4 cylinders for "performance"), and other BMW swaps are also very accessible, provide great power and reliability.

Yea only problem is that I'm not familiar with the M20 motor, only motor I actually do work on is the S54,2JZ,SR20, and the M54, though, it shouldn't be hard at all. Only reason I'm suggesting an SR20DET swap is it is factory turbo-ed, so it's like a microwave dinner, just pop it in and go. :)

[Erick]

M20 is a very simple motor. Nothing complicated about it. Fairly bulletproof too and starts off with low compression, which is great for boost.

- Erick

[SamE30e]

ETA bottom end + i head + megasquirt. Add boost then slide.

[Iain]

Have fun breaking rocker arms and having a car that sounds like it's trying to hit the brown note all the time.

SR20 = crap motor. They're incredibly common out here and hated by everyone except povo drug-addled fanboiz

[RickSloan]

seems like this is coming up about once every 2 weeks...

[iDriftYou]

SR20 is not a crap motor, one of the best motors out there IMHO. But seems like I should boost the m20, should I rebuild or just slap on a turbo and see how long it lasts? PS, I will be buying a turbo kit from ebay.

[Farbin Kaiber]

You can do a 24v in your driveway in a weekend, then throw a TRM turbo kit on it.

[iDriftYou]

You can do a 24v in your driveway in a weekend, then throw a TRM turbo kit on it.

24v? Whats the motor code, I'm not getting what your putting down. Kinda new to the older BMW motors :(

[SamE30e]

24v? Whats the motor code, i'm not getting what your putting down.

m50
m52
s50
s52
s54

[Erick]

24v stands anything 6 cylinder from 95-forward.

But in your budget, probably an M3 motor S50/S52.

- Erick

[iDriftYou]

m50
m52
s50
s52

Ahhh, thanks for the input! :)

[SamE30e]

Eriks right, S50 is probably for you. With bolt on mods, easy high 200hp.