Seta 2.7I build Questions

[Evan’s E30]

Alright so I’m planning on doing a 2.7I build on my 1988 325 (Seta) over this coming winter. However as I looked at more and more pages explaining the process it became more and more confusing to me as to what I should do to accomplish this. Here is what I think I need to do in order to get it done

Current thoughts
1. New camshaft and dual valve springs in my current head (I’ve heard a lot of stuff about whether or not I can use this head without drilling so please clear this up although since they are 885s it only makes sense to me that I can)
2. The entire intake system from an I car
3. New ecu (id like to do a mega squirt as I want to turbo it after this)
4. Cluster with 7K tachometer
5. LSD (I’ve heard both 3.73 and 4.1 are good if anyone has tried both I’d appreciate an opinion on this)
6. I’ve heard some people say a new exhaust is a must but as I said I’d like to turbo later so I don’t wanna buy/make headers now then get rid of them in a year or so (I already have a magnaflow catback on too)
7. Bigger fuel injectors and regulator (I know 19lbs works for NA but again turbo)

Question Time
1. If I go bigger with the injectors will I need a stronger pump too?
2. I know for the normal eta replacing the alternator to the 90 A one is a good idea but for us seta guys do we already have one of them and same with the ignition system?
3. Would getting one of those oil cooler housings that goes up in front of the filters be a good idea or is there not much needed for cooling until boosted? And is there another way to add in an oil cooler as I don’t really want cooling lines right next to a hot manifold
4. Due to doing a mega squirt ecu what in this process changes is anything easier or harder? Should I wait on this and just do the 173 motronic 1.3 conversion?
5. Would anyone recommend going with a hotter cam that will work great both while NA and boosted or should I just buy a relatively cheap I cam?

Side Note
Yes, I know about the whole www.strictlyeta.net/technical/328i_1.html page so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t just link me there it’s a great resource but I just want to be 100% sure about everything I’m buying before I spend the money on it

Thank you to anyone who responds to this post and helps me through this build
Also I’ll be making a thread on this once I’m clear on everything as I’ve noticed almost nobody’s done that which is part of why I think there’s so much misinformation and confusion on the topic

[e30strokr]

I did the same with the SETA.. nonturbo

4.- I'm still using the SETA cluster 2 yrs after I did the change
5.- LSD option, I "upgraded" to a 3.73 do you want to get to 60 mph ASAP?.. I find being in 5 gear around town a lil too much... at 80 MPH on the highway at 2400k or so is relaxing, with a turbo traction will be an issue on 1-2 gear I think..

[ATL_E30]

Following as i'm in the process of collecting parts for this as well. I still have to 5sp swap my car first though.

[Evan’s E30]

I did the same with the SETA.. nonturbo

4.- I'm still using the SETA cluster 2 yrs after I did the change
5.- LSD option, I "upgraded" to a 3.73 do you want to get to 60 mph ASAP?.. I find being in 5 gear around town a lil too much... at 80 MPH on the highway at 2400k or so is relaxing, with a turbo traction will be an issue on 1-2 gear I think..

Would you recommend even going down to a 3.64 LSD or would the gearing be too low at that point? I have almost no experience with a diff other than the stock seta diff and I'm definitely installing a new cluster as my spedo, tach, odometer and all the backlighting all stopped working at the same time about a month ago. When you did your swap did you do the motronic 1.3 swap? Did you keep the head from the eta and add a cam and springs or buy a whole new 885? Thanks for the reply.

[e30strokr]

Would you recommend even going down to a 3.64 LSD or would the gearing be too low at that point? I have almost no experience with a diff other than the stock seta diff and I'm definitely installing a new cluster as my spedo, tach, odometer and all the backlighting all stopped working at the same time about a month ago. When you did your swap did you do the motronic 1.3 swap? Did you keep the head from the eta and add a cam and springs or buy a whole new 885? Thanks for the reply.

If you got a SETA, 1988 you already got the 1.3 electronics
I bought the complete 325I head, basically you need the I cam, springs and ECU along with the intake and throttle body if you want to use your original head... that's a lot of work, but not if you're rebuilding the head anyways


I don't have any experience with LSD besides 2.94 and 3.73 like I said before if your priority is to get to 60 stick with the 3.73, I think 3.64 will lower 300 rpms or so ( anyone?) not really a lot..

[Julien]

Alright so I’m planning on doing a 2.7I build on my 1988 325 (Seta) over this coming winter. However as I looked at more and more pages explaining the process it became more and more confusing to me as to what I should do to accomplish this. Here is what I think I need to do in order to get it done

Current thoughts
1. New camshaft and dual valve springs in my current head (I’ve heard a lot of stuff about whether or not I can use this head without drilling so please clear this up although since they are 885s it only makes sense to me that I can) Seta head should just dual valve springs and cam
2. The entire intake system from an I car yes
3. New ecu (id like to do a mega squirt as I want to turbo it after this) You can just get an sssquid chip and whatever matched injectors instead. I got one for rebuilt s52 injectors.. It ran better than a std "I" chip
4. Cluster with 7K tachometer Nice to have, not have to have
5. LSD (I’ve heard both 3.73 and 4.1 are good if anyone has tried both I’d appreciate an opinion on this) 3.73 if you drive the car a good bit, 4.10 if it's just a lols car
6. I’ve heard some people say a new exhaust is a must but as I said I’d like to turbo later so I don’t wanna buy/make headers now then get rid of them in a year or so (I already have a magnaflow catback on too) - Try and buy a complete used 325i exhaust. They aren't that expensive.

7. Bigger fuel injectors and regulator (I know 19lbs works for NA but again turbo) yep get the 3.0 bar FPR and read aforementioned note on injectors.

Question Time
1. If I go bigger with the injectors will I need a stronger pump too? No but if your pump is original might as well stick the mustang warlboro in it

2. I know for the normal eta replacing the alternator to the 90 A one is a good idea but for us seta guys do we already have one of them and same with the ignition system? IDK, didn't have that issue
3. Would getting one of those oil cooler housings that goes up in front of the filters be a good idea or is there not much needed for cooling until boosted? And is there another way to add in an oil cooler as I don’t really want cooling lines right next to a hot manifold Oil cooler is optional
4. Due to doing a mega squirt ecu what in this process changes is anything easier or harder? Should I wait on this and just do the 173 motronic 1.3 conversion? Check your dme, you probably have a 173 if your car is an 88.
5. Would anyone recommend going with a hotter cam that will work great both while NA and boosted or should I just buy a relatively cheap I cam?
I hear those dual pattern cams from bimmer head are nice, no experience though

Good luck with it all. This was my seta build

[Evan’s E30]

If you got a SETA, 1988 you already got the 1.3 electronics
I bought the complete 325I head, basically you need the I cam, springs and ECU along with the intake and throttle body if you want to use your original head... that's a lot of work, but not if you're rebuilding the head anyways


I don't have any experience with LSD besides 2.94 and 3.73 like I said before if your priority is to get to 60 stick with the 3.73, I think 3.64 will lower 300 rpms or so ( anyone?) not really a lot..

Okay thank you very much this has actually cleared a lot of stuff up for me.

[Evan’s E30]

Good luck with it all. This was my seta build

thank you very much are the sssquid chips still turbo compatible/have tuning options or would i have to switch over to a megasquirt later?

[Zambuzan]

thank you very much are the sssquid chips still turbo compatible/have tuning options or would i have to switch over to a megasquirt later?

Go Megasquirt. Motronic in general is only *decent* with stock cars. Unless you physically visit Jay (SSSQuid) in FL and have him personally tune it, you probably won't be able to get the best results unless you go MS.

[Nader393]

I just got my 2.7 SETA stroker up and running. Schrick 284 cam. 19# injectors, Miller MAF+chip, headers, no cat, etc. Car has a 4.10 rear diff. It's a daily driver for me. I have a short work commute on surface streets, about 3 miles. Perfect for that. The short diff makes the car feel faster than it really is. On occasional highway blasts, it's about 3.5K RPM at 75 MPH in 5th gear. Right in the powerband, which is great for a built-up, cammed m20.

[Julien]

thank you very much are the sssquid chips still turbo compatible/have tuning options or would i have to switch over to a megasquirt later?

MS later, but these would work great if you don't want to mess tuning your brand new motor right off the bat. Especially if you don't have much experience with megasquirt.

[Evan’s E30]

Go Megasquirt. Motronic in general is only *decent* with stock cars. Unless you physically visit Jay (SSSQuid) in FL and have him personally tune it, you probably won't be able to get the best results unless you go MS.

Okay thats what I was thinking and I'm not really trying to drive my car all the way from Bellingham WA (pretty much Vancouver Canada) all the way down to Florida. I already know how trashy motronic can be as my idle is always super wonky id much rather just spend the time to do it right myself. Thanks for reconfirming my thoughts.

[Evan’s E30]

I just got my 2.7 SETA stroker up and running. Schrick 284 cam. 19# injectors, Miller MAF+chip, headers, no cat, etc. Car has a 4.10 rear diff. It's a daily driver for me. I have a short work commute on surface streets, about 3 miles. Perfect for that. The short diff makes the car feel faster than it really is. On occasional highway blasts, it's about 3.5K RPM at 75 MPH in 5th gear. Right in the powerband, which is great for a built-up, cammed m20.

Well i guess that just confirms that with a turbo a 4.10 would be absolutely crazy. How is that cam and MAF? would you recommend doing a hot cam like yours? did you run their beefed up valve springs with that or keep them stock 2.5i dual springs? If you could give me some insight in those I would greatly appreciate it and as always thank you for the info.

[Evan’s E30]

MS later, but these would work great if you don't want to mess tuning your brand new motor right off the bat. Especially if you don't have much experience with megasquirt.

I just got done helping my friend through tuning his miata on MS and have the tuner studio program pretty down, I'd much rather just make the one purchase too as most chips will cost $100-200 and that could go to well the massive list of parts I already have for the 2.7I + Turbo and as previously mentioned motronic is just alright and I'd rather just do it once and do it right

[Nader393]

Well i guess that just confirms that with a turbo a 4.10 would be absolutely crazy. How is that cam and MAF? would you recommend doing a hot cam like yours? did you run their beefed up valve springs with that or keep them stock 2.5i dual springs? If you could give me some insight in those I would greatly appreciate it and as always thank you for the info.

Car is having some issues with erratic, surging idle and bucking ride that I think is a bad TPS. When I get that sorted out, I can tell you if that cam is something you can live with. Don't know what springs are in there; they are double. Runs really well at full throttle, especially above 3K RPM. I'll get it to the dyno when it's sorted.

I agree that 4.10 in a turbo car would be a bad idea.