3MPowered's Euro S50 E30

[3MPowered]

Update: January 25th, 2015

So it's been a while, but this project has very much been at the forefront of my mind the past couple months. I'm still slowly stockpiling parts but I have most of what I need at this point.

I'm flying by the seat of my pants with this one. I've never swapped an engine before, and the information out there specific to Euro transplants is scarce at best. Once I've got everything put together I'll share the extensive parts list for anyone wondering how a Euro swap differs from US S50/52 swaps. I anticipate hitting a few snags along the way as a result of the limited information out there.

Strip Down:

I took the E30 off the road 2 weeks ago to begin the teardown. I started with what I knew: taking things apart. This is also the first time I've had the E30 up on jack stands, so the more parts I removed the more the condition of the car was revealed.



After the mud flaps were removed (the first parts to come off the car) I started with the front suspension. To my surprise, the rust is almost non existent aside from some surface corrosion on some of the suspension bits. The underseal lining the arches is falling apart in a few places and wouldn't have been able to cope with more than a couple more winters. I will be grinding it all back and re-sealing it with POR-15 before everything goes back on the car.





This is the worst of the corrosion I've seen yet, and hardly seems worth complaining about:



Not much dirt fell from the arches but I'm holding my breath before I do the rear. The mud flaps really helped retain a lot of crud:



Unfortunately, I've already made a boo-boo. While removing the front struts and brakes, I mistakenly assumed that because the brake lines were coming off nicely that I was doing it correctly. Nope. Now I have to fix the copper lines where the rubber hoses connect to the line fittings:



I'm told this can be fixed fairly simply without the need to replace the lines (which would NOT be a simple fix).

Engine:

I then turned my attention to the S50, which had a few damaged pulleys on it from my accident, but the crank spins freely so that's a good confidence boost!

My goal, as far as the S50 is concerned, is to pare back as much weight as I can. Given that the motor had already been fully rebuilt when it was powering my old M3, there wasn't much that needed doing to it. It had been bored out to 3.1L with forged internals and anything that couldn't be bought was re-machined. It took 8 months to complete, hence why I decided to salvage the engine to put in the E30.

The first port of call then, was to remove the secondary air pump (SAP) and air conditioning, since the E30 hadn't been fitted with it originally, and frankly, I hardly use it even when I have it (Canada FTW).

To remove the SAP, the pump itself must be removed, and since the AC compressor shares the same mounting bracket, the bracket itself could be ditched (it's aluminum, so the weight savings are less important here than the space savings). The plumbing for the SAP also has to be removed, which leaves a large hole in the cylinder block:



South African Euro M3s came without the SAP installed from factory, and to plug this hole, BMW made a blanking plate and gasket, which cost a surprising amount of money, but when you see the shape of the plate the price makes a little more sense:





I'll mention at this point that I'm an engineer by profession, so little details like this excite me in the nether-region ;)

Unfortunately, my camera recently stopped working, so I lost my pictures of the removal of the SAP and AC compressor. The bracket is what gave me the most trouble though, as there's a nut behind the vibration dampener that was rounding every time I put a wrench to it. The solution: remove the vibration dampener so I can get a ratchet on it. Easier said than done, as every time you take a breaker bar to the bolts holding the vibration dampener and crank pulley on, the crank spins and you lose all leverage.

This was my fix:







What I did was tie a ratchet strap around the entire block, fit the strap snugly in the cutout of the vibration dampener (see the last pic), and jam a coilover adjuster against the block and the teeth of the vibration dampener for good measure. The SAP mounting bracket is the Al piece to the left of the coilover adjustment tool in the pictures above.

It worked! The pulley and dampener cam off and I was able to replace the crank pulley with an E46 M3 one, which as the photo below shows, is slightly smaller in diameter and will act as an under drive pulley:



In the photo above you can also see that my original crank pulley was slightly bent from my collision.

With that done, I fitted my new belt (the OEM belt size can be retained with the S54 pulley) and took a step back to admire my hard work:



I lost the pictures of my alternator, but that was also shattered (and I do mean shattered) from the accident as well. BMW charges $750 for a new one, so I quickly sourced from from the UK for $100. Take that BMW.

I then replaced all the hoses running to/from the oil separator, as they were hard as stone and leaking in almost every place conceivable. I gave the separator and ICV a cleaning, since it'd be rude not to while they're off.

Things yet to do on the S50 include fitting the E34 M50 oil pan and replacing the intake plenum boot, MAF, and sourcing a new intake (all destroyed from the accident).

Headlights:

The factory sealed beams may as well be fireflies caught in a jar. They're terrible. So I bought some Euro ellipsoids with the intention of converting them to D2S bi-xenons, something I did to my E36 using E70 X5 projectors and custom brackets. Being that I had some spare headlights lying around, I figured I'd see what fit the best on the Euro headlights:

Euro headlight:



BMW donors:



The projectors were cut out of these headlights (from various newer BMWs) and compared against each other:



Oddly enough, the best fitment came from the E70 projector that I salved from my one surveying headlight out of the E36, which I went and found a mate for:



Euro projector vs. E70 projector:



Rough mockup:







As you may be able to tell, lots of cutting will be involved to get the lens to sit flush like the OEM projector does:





OEM projector's fitment for comparison:



So, I'm getting some sheet metal to make some brackets out of, and a friend has kindly offered to donate a spare Euro projector for me to cut up and test fit the E70 projectors, just in case this whole experiment doesn't work. If it does, it will easily be my favourite mod to the E30 (you know, aside from the engine).

As a benchmark, I took the E30 to a weigh scale. Subtracting my weight from the car, the total came to 1160 kg (2552 lbs). I have no idea what to expect the final weight to be, and I'll leave it as a surprise.
That's all for now, I'm hoping to get much more done this weekend.

[3MPowered]

Update: April 3rd, 2015

Ok, so it's been a while. I've had a few friends urge me to update this thread, but I didn't want to do so until I had some decent progress to share.

This project has already taken me longer than I anticipated. It's been nearly 4 months, I think, since the E30 was taken off the road and progress has been daunted more than a few times by lack of parts, lack of tools, and general mishaps. Then again, this is no small project, and given the limited literature there is on swapping these engines, I feel I've faired ok for a first-timer.

So then, progress: Since the last update the entire F+R suspension was removed from the car with the exception of the rear subframe. The idea is to fit the GC coil overs that will replace the existing "suspension." The factory suspension was so bad, it was merely acting as a place holder for parts that were actually up to the job. Plus, I don't think there's a suspension kit out there that looks as good as GC:





Of course, I didn't attempt to take the axel nuts off the front hubs until after the struts were out. Which meant to take them off, I had to resort to slightly unorthodox measures:



Needless to say, it worked.

With the suspension out, we had easier access to the engine. I invited some good mates over, plied them with beer, and we were able to remove the M42 fairly quickly:







With the engine out, it was finally time to have a thorough poke around the chassis for cancer. I was astounded by how much road crud had accumulated beneath the arch liners in 24 years of road duty:



The above picture really doesn't do the mess justice. There was one of these piles at every corner.

I picked up a medium case 2.93 LSD. It's a lower ratio than I would have preferred, but it will do nicely. It will also make highway cruising a little more pleasurable. It was in a sorry state when I picked it up, and I had no idea how bad the surface corrosion was:



Turns out, with an appropriately harsh wire wheel and enough ear plugs anything can be beautified:



I was intending to paint it black with POR-15, but accidentally purchased clear POR-15, which is why the diff looks the way it does. Truth be told, I kind of like the look, and it's no less hardy than if it were black.

The next major task was to reinforce the subframe and sway bar mounts with AKG's reinforcement tabs. I had taken a welding class before this project and always intended to own a decent 3-in-1 welder, so now was my opportunity to justify the purchase of one. I picked up Lincoln Electric's new 210 and I must say, it's a joy to use. Having only ever welded with industrial sized equipment, it took a little getting used to (especially running off a 120 V mains) but over time my welds improved. The gas wasn't strapped down in the picture below, but it was ratted strapped to the engine hoist to keep it from falling over:



The patient:











My first welds were... not great, but with a grinding disk (probably the most useful tool during the build yet) anything can be made better:









The motor mount pockets were a little tougher due to space restrictions. And I told myself because I wouldn't be able to get a grinding disk in there, the welds had to be perfect the first time.

Of course, I botched both sides and had to cut the pockets off the subframe to fix the reinforcement plates. This had be uneasy, because I had no way of knowing if the pockets could be welded on in their OEM orientation. I wasn't taking pictures at this point because I was so nervous, but the result was this:









I was surprised to find that BMW doesn't actually weld the pockets onto the subframe everywhere, opting instead to attach it at 3 points. When I welded mine back on, I welded all around the pocket so it should be a damn sight stronger than it was. I bolted the engine mounts to the S50's engine arms and put the subframe on the mounts to make sure they were straight and could be bolted up. Once everything fit, the pockets were tacked in place and the subframe was removed for final welding. I'm happy with the result:



Of course, I had to allow a friend to try out the welder, and I needed at least one shot of it in action. Here's a friend doing the rear sway bar mounts:



The E34 M50 oil pan was fitted prior to the test fitting of the subframe, which also took a considerable amount of time because I get nervous when engines are opened up.

I was, however, extremely happy to find that since the rebuild of the engine things looked super healthy in the bottom end:







S50 oil pickup removed and M50 one in its place, the oil pan was test fitted. Of course, nothing ever goes according to plan, and the S50 oil pan baffle was too bulky to allow the M50 pan to fit. What's more, when fitted, the M50 baffle obstructed the rotation of the crankshaft.

The M50 baffle is shorter than the S50 one (sorry, no comparison pics) so I preferred to reuse the S50 one anyway. I cut a hole in the corner of the baffler where it interfered with the M50 oil pan:



This allowed the M50 oil pan to fit and retained most of the baffle of the original S50. I then cleaned up the edges to make sure no metal could flake off into the sump.



Now the bad part. With the engine bay gutted, we did some poling around and found the battery tray was toast:





This will have to be replaced, smoothed, and painted. Luckily, I have a friend willing to undertake such tasks, and while all the welding was going on he had a crack at doing some smoothing in the engine bay:





So far so good. Things should start moving more quickly now.

[2mAn]

Very Cool thread! Looks like you are doing it right the first time. Might as well move that battery to the trunk while you're at it. Just need the factory 325 parts.

[stanhayward]

Love it! So many cool canadian E30s lately I can't help but feel some national pride! There were a couple euro S50s for sale in alberta recently but I passed because of their $5500+ price tags, but now I'm kinda regretting it :(

[Nisse Järnet]

Nice build man!

My rwd E30 M50 turbo weights 1260kg with 420g 6 speed and full interior etc. No spare tire or power steering but a 12" sub and 3 way front system with amps, active filters etc.
Without driver and around 20 litres of fuel if I remember correctly.
So yours should probably be less than that :)

[efficient]

nice

[Balleristic31]

Never knew they made 318ISs in Laguna. Pretty awesome! Keep up the awesome work. :up:

[GDA]

Cool build and unique car color as well.

Sub'd

By the way... you can get that AC and SAP accessory plate off without pulling the damper. I was able to use a stubby 12 pt on it to get mine off of my Euro S50B30. You just need to get about 4 to 5 threads backed out and not the whole bolt.

[TheBankslife]

Sooo jelly for that motor.

[Rodoni]

damn, i loved your avus car over on bf.c. It was one of my favorites. I wish my avus car was like yours when I had mine haha. Your e30 is going to be epic.

[3MPowered]

Cheers guys, the support means a lot! I've been staving off an update until I had something more to share, and now I've got a ton of progress to log.

Very Cool thread! Looks like you are doing it right the first time. Might as well move that battery to the trunk while you're at it. Just need the factory 325 parts.

The battery was in the trunk when I bought the car actually. Not sure if that was a '91+ thing, but it should aid the weight distribution a bit.

Love it! So many cool canadian E30s lately I can't help but feel some national pride! There were a couple euro S50s for sale in alberta recently but I passed because of their $5500+ price tags, but now I'm kinda regretting it

They are pricey, roughly twice as expensive as what I've seen entire S52 drivetrains go for. Having driven both an NA M3 and a Euro though, I can tell you they're completely different animals, owed entirely to that engine.

Nice build man!

My rwd E30 M50 turbo weights 1260kg with 420g 6 speed and full interior etc. No spare tire or power steering but a 12" sub and 3 way front system with amps, active filters etc.
Without driver and around 20 litres of fuel if I remember correctly.
So yours should probably be less than that

That's some great news! I weighed the Golf recently at the same dump I took the E30 to and it weighed in at 1035 kg, which is slightly more than I thought (I was hoping for under a ton) but still damn light.

Cool build and unique car color as well.

Sub'd

By the way... you can get that AC and SAP accessory plate off without pulling the damper. I was able to use a stubby 12 pt on it to get mine off of my Euro S50B30. You just need to get about 4 to 5 threads backed out and not the whole bolt.

Yeah, there's definitely a way of getting it off without removing the vibration dampener, but every time I got a wrench on it, it would just keep rounding. Better to do it right and not risk having a sheared bolt in the block!

[GDA]

Good to hear you are making solid progress...

BTW - several items that are not documented yet in my Euro S50B30 thread:

If you run the factory headers you will need to notch the subframe about 3/4 of an inch and about 1/2 inch deep for clearance. Further, the header pipe will have serious clearance issues with the front swaybar. Even after spacing mine down with Garagistic spacers I had to rework the header pipe quite a bit.

Also, the euro diesel fan just will not work with the MZ3 radiator as it is just too thick. The MZ3 radiator leaves just over an inch of clearance from all the pulleys. Further, the factory E36 M3 oil cooler pipes are a really close fit between the radiator, frame and the PS pulley. It fits but you need to work it to get it all in there.

I ended up going with a 3000 cfm 16 inch pusher and with the MZ3 rad it runs at 11 o'clock on the cluster gauge.

Hope this info helps.

Look forward to seeing yours come together.

G

[Eric]

Nice project! having done the euro swap 1.5 times, I have a few observations

- while your fixing the broken firewall, make clearance for the #6 exhaust manifold.

- You need to modify the subframe for the 1-3 bank of headers. I have my subframe out currently, so I'll grab some pics.

- S54 Mcoupe 3 core radiator drops right in

- AKG 24v motor mount/trans mounts work great

- VAC oil pan baffle is a good investment if you are going to use the E34 oil pan. It's a $150 investment towards oil starvation freedom.



Edit: uploaded some photo's of both subframes.

From the 3.2l car which is getting new rod bearings and VAC oil pan baffle so the subframe is out.
Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr



From the 3.0L track car which is for sale as a complete unit.

Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

by ericandshovin, on Flickr


Hope this helps!

[3MPowered]

Thanks for the input guys, it helps a lot. I've been banging in the OEM headers to clear the subframe and ARB, but I may have to notch the subframe as well (I hadn't thoughtnof that previously since it's a structural component, but I guess it should be fine).

I'll be using an all aluminum E36 radiator and 16" electric fan (most likely as a pusher due to space restrictions). I won't be reusing the OEM oil cooler lines since they were ruined in the crash. Braided SS lines will be more flexible anyhow.

Thanks again for the tips guys! I'll be updating the thread tonight with pictures and you can see what I'm currently working with.

[TroyShark]

Awesome build. In for more updates