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    Friend bought a car, confused on motor.

    Long story short my buddy bought his first E30 and first project car this weekend, I personally own an 86 E and I'm having some confusion about his car, its a 1989 325i, however, it does not have the stock m20b25 in it that came with the car, someone who owned it before him put something else in it, the car has a tach out of an E car, tach stops at five and the motor only revs to 4500 before hitting red line, the car has headers, exhaust, and an intake, but feels like it pulls quite a bit harder than my 86 e. my confusion is coming from the fact that the car has a tach and rev limiter of an e but feels pretty similar to an I, am I just crazy and the car really does have an m20b27 and the headers and intake make that much of a difference over my stock motor e? despite most saying there are no great power gain mods for an E despite the 885 head? any insight on this would be great! and maybe I'm just stupid but whats the easiest way to determine what motor is in it may be a stamping of some kind? Thanks in advance sorry for a confusing story and probably a dumb question with an easy answer, I tried to check for a stamp but it was dark out and its a pretty dirty motor.
    86' E30 Plenty Slow And kinda Ugly

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    #2
    Look at the P/N on the intake side of the cylinder head. If it ends in 885, its an "i" head.
    Originally posted by wholepailofwater
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    :devil:


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      #3
      pics would be very helpful here
      Simon
      Current Cars:
      -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

      Make R3V Great Again -2020

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        #4
        Originally posted by MrBurgundy View Post
        Look at the P/N on the intake side of the cylinder head. If it ends in 885, its an "i" head.


        I knew 885 is stamped on 885 head but it’s all caked on with gunk right there so when he’s back in town I’ll scrape that off and see


        Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
        86' E30 Plenty Slow And kinda Ugly

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          #5
          Yeah, pics would help too.
          Originally posted by wholepailofwater
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          :devil:


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            #6
            Originally posted by 2mAn View Post
            pics would be very helpful here

            This is the only one I have of it..





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            86' E30 Plenty Slow And kinda Ugly

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              #7
              well, the intake setup is from an "i"
              Originally posted by wholepailofwater
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                #8
                Originally posted by MrBurgundy View Post
                well, the intake setup is from an "i"


                So why redline at 4500? That my biggest confusion, if it’s an b27 with an 885 head then wouldn’t the emu have to be switched to a I car ecu?
                86' E30 Plenty Slow And kinda Ugly

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Chaseb124 View Post
                  So why redline at 4500? That my biggest confusion, if it’s an b27 with an 885 head then wouldn’t the emu have to be switched to a I car ecu?
                  He said the intake manifold is that of an "I", not the cyl. head.
                  Still have to check it out.

                  Also, a bad CPS can stop your revs at 4500 - it's happened to me twice.
                  First time from a badly gapped one.
                  Second time from using an aftermarket one - problem went away after purchasing OEM.

                  If I read correctly, are you saying the car has the cluster of a 325e model?

                  1991 325iS turbo

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                    #10
                    I think it just had the cluster swapped
                    Simon
                    Current Cars:
                    -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

                    Make R3V Great Again -2020

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by ak- View Post
                      He said the intake manifold is that of an "I", not the cyl. head.
                      Still have to check it out.

                      Also, a bad CPS can stop your revs at 4500 - it's happened to me twice.
                      First time from a badly gapped one.
                      Second time from using an aftermarket one - problem went away after purchasing OEM.

                      If I read correctly, are you saying the car has the cluster of a 325e model?


                      Ah gotcha, yes, the car has the cluster of a 325e


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                      86' E30 Plenty Slow And kinda Ugly

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                        #12
                        Okay. Well, last thing to check is the head stamping.
                        The car might pull harder than your 85 because of the 89's gearing (3.73 I'm assuming) that is mated to the potential 325e motor that could be in there.

                        1991 325iS turbo

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                          #13
                          I also forgot to mention it has an e36 trans so there’s that to I’m an idiot


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                          86' E30 Plenty Slow And kinda Ugly

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                            #14
                            ._.

                            1991 325iS turbo

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                              #15
                              I'd check out the CPS as AK said.

                              I went through the same problem he stated; really bad ignition cut at ~4.5k with a failing CPS

                              Also, is that an O2 sensor I see hanging by the strut tower?
                              Originally posted by wholepailofwater
                              Q
                              :devil:


                              WTB: Dove Grey e36 Front Door Panels (2 door)

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