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85 318i Carburetor swap?

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    85 318i Carburetor swap?

    How's it going guys! Have had my 85 for going on 2 years now I have lots of plans for its future but currently I am in a bit of a situation. Long story short I miss shifted from 5th-2 when I was trying to hit 4th on the freeway. Car over revved like crazy (rear end started skidding @ 80) but continued to run(like sh*t) until I got back home. Assuming the timing skipped a hair or I floated the valves? Regardless something isn't right and I need a quick solution to get the car on the road. I have a 77 e21 with a carbed 2.0 sitting in it. I want to swap the entire 2.0 into the car and run it carbureted until I finish my turbo setup for the L-jet. I can't run L-jet on the 2.0 because the cam rotates the distributor in opposite direction. From what I could figure out the only issue with running the carb in the e30 is the fuel pump. Is there anybody who knows of a simple way to swap the fuel pump to something carb-friendly?


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    #2
    You have the distributor problem- the 77 runs the opposite way to the 80 and later M10.
    Different gear is cut onto the cam. And the thing runs points, to add insult to injury...

    The oil pan's different, too. I seem to remember the E21 pan hits the E30 subframe,
    but that's a vague memory.
    An 77 M10 may NOT have the right bosses for the E30, or they may not be drilled.
    It's easy to check- look at where the E30 motor mounts go, and see if there are holes
    on your donor engine. Passenger side, I recall...


    For a fuel pump, you can use the low- pressure in- tank pump and a regulator to feed the
    carb. Which is a bit iffy, as the low- pressure pump's not known to be the stoutest
    thing BMW ever made (and continued to make for decades- if you see a stranded E46,
    odds are it's got a failed in- tank pump)
    Any low pressure pump will work, if you bypass the in- tank pump.
    If you have a Weber, you really need about 2 psi- much higher, and it floods.

    Buzzing an M10 often just breaks a rocker- pop your cover and see. They're pretty durable,
    and sometimes that's all you need- pop the head, stuff in
    a new intake rocker or 2, and you're back in business.
    BTDT,
    and hth

    t
    now, sometimes I just mess with people. It's more entertaining that way. george graves

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks for the quick reply! Knew I'd have to swap the pan. I'll check out the mounts I wouldn't be against fabricating my own if absolutely necessary. Yea I heard some people have just ran the in take pump but I feel the same way about them they are unreliable I've also seen many a e46 fall victim, so I can only assume the 32 y/o pump isn't going to last me long. How about bypassing it and going with a Carter? What would I have to do to bypass the in tank pump but still be able to use the factory pickup? I have a Solex 36/40 on it right now. Was told the car ran with it so may continue to use it as is or go for a replacement/rebuild. Good to know about the broken rockers. I've seen one break when I popped the timing belt on m20 but obviously that entire head was toast I didn't get to hear it run again until after the head swap. I would have figured running a motor after a rocker snapped would be catastrophic but maybe not? I'll investigate and get back to you guys[emoji1417]


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        #4
        You'd have to bypass the in- tank pump somehow to get the pickup to work,
        or make your own. And then yes, an external pump, mounted low, would work
        just fine.

        An M10 survives broken rockers pretty well. I've done it 4 or 5 times, with only
        the rocker to replace. Floating kills them, usually before the valve hits the head.
        Usually.

        t
        now, sometimes I just mess with people. It's more entertaining that way. george graves

        Comment


          #5
          Good to know, I've always been partial to the m10 over any other motor in an e30, glad to hear more stories of their durability!Pulled the valve cover and none of the rockers were broken but I did notice a few of the black patches on the underside of the rockers were about half missing on the exhaust side. It looks like those patches are the contact point between rocker-cam. Missing some of the patch I would image cause issues with opening the valves completely and correctly. I also seen some abnormal wear on one of the cam lobes for cylinder 2 or 3. I'll see if I can get some pictures, but at least now I have an idea of what is wrong with my 1.8! Still going to move forward on the 2.0 & carb setup. That way I can rebuild the head at a leisurely pace while still having the car operational, plus a carbed e30 will be something a little different than your usual US spec car we are all used to seeing. I wanted to put that 1.8 head on a 2.0 bottom end for a turbo m10 build anyways, maybe I'll save up get a cam and some other goodies for the head and build it up. I'll post an update when the carb setup is fully operational so others trying to do the same can find the information they need!


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            #6
            Got the 2.0 pulled out of my e21 just need to remove the rest of the exhaust and get the e30 motor ready to come out, then figure out my pass. side motor mount. I am using this carter fuel pump to run the carb and probably just modifying an old fuel pump to use as the pickup.


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              #7
              Wow- that's the old single barrel from the early 2002....

              t
              now, sometimes I just mess with people. It's more entertaining that way. george graves

              Comment


                #8
                Yea I thought that was strange being that the motor was in a 77 e21 and clearly had e21 stamped on the cylinder head. From what I read it's actually a pretty good carb for stock application. I kind of wish I had a 2 barrel intake then I feel it would be worth the upgrade to a Weber.


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                  #9
                  It's ok- better than the 2bbl solex that came after it.

                  And yeah, for a stock engine, it's fine. Simple and durable as rocks,
                  but the throttle shaft does wear.

                  The 2bbl Webers are nice once you start going beyond stock, as they're
                  trivial to rejet.

                  t
                  now, sometimes I just mess with people. It's more entertaining that way. george graves

                  Comment


                    #10
                    whatever happened here?

                    don't run a weber 34/34, they are junk.

                    I put a two barrel intake on my e21 and ran a weber 32/36 for a good while. it was a dependable set up and got really decent gas mileage, plus way more power than stock. I used a holley pump mounted on the driver's fender and a return line so it didn't over pressurize the weber. I thought about doing it in my e30 but the stock fuel injection worked so I didn't mess with it.

                    get an aftermarket 2002 intake and you won't need adapters to run a weber. I got all my stuff on ebay for super cheap, when I had them.

                    good engines though, really dependable

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by superj View Post
                      whatever happened here?

                      don't run a weber 34/34, they are junk.

                      I put a two barrel intake on my e21 and ran a weber 32/36 for a good while. it was a dependable set up and got really decent gas mileage, plus way more power than stock. I used a holley pump mounted on the driver's fender and a return line so it didn't over pressurize the weber. I thought about doing it in my e30 but the stock fuel injection worked so I didn't mess with it.

                      get an aftermarket 2002 intake and you won't need adapters to run a weber. I got all my stuff on ebay for super cheap, when I had them.

                      good engines though, really dependable
                      I have the Weber 32/34 Dmtl and although its waaaay beter than the pierburg its worth getting a 32/36 or better yet a 36 DCD.
                      Oh and I used a 2002 manifold.

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