At last i found a decent bmw forum.

I am after a bit of advice. i got an e30 320se. i am half way through moddifying the bodywork and i am thinkin bout the engine.

my 1st idea is to put the 3.2 lump out of an e36 m3. i understand its gonna be hard but i wanna know how hard. for example am i gonna need a specially made prop, will i get the engine in etc.

Or my second idea which is to get a 325 m tec engine and turbo it. which again if anyone got any tips or companies to call please help.

cheers

Midlands newbe

anything is possible, i have even seen a car with a V12 engine in an E30.

It all depends on

how much you know about cars if your doing it yourself

time you have free

oh and the final thing is and the most important thing is how much want to spend on it.

Plus it would need to have upgraded suspention & upgraded breaking system, wiring loom change, ecu changed. gear box (may need to chop at the bell housing)

Cheapest way to have a turbo car is just to go out and buy a new car

there is another good forum and thats at :-

www.e30zone.co.uk

see i dont recon the cheapest way is to buy a new car. 1st off if i do put the e36 engine in ya cant buy it. second off is i nearly finished the body work n i ave spent some hours on it so i aint gonna sell 2 buy new. engine swap is deffinatley the way.

1 ting i did forget bout was the wiring in of the new ecu. that's gonna be a bitch.

mind you if i stick wit a 325 engine most bits should be the same, right??

also while im here wats the difference in engines between the 325 and the m tec???

lo m8

 welcome to the forums , im actually in the`middle of swapping the engine in my cab as we speak ! just avin a cuppa !!

 there isnt a great deal of difference between the normal 325 and the 325 m,sport engine .

 i was running a 2.7 conversion but i think the big ends have gone , hence the swap .  the 2.7 conversion will give you nearly 200 brake , and coupled to the correct box , u can gain huge amounts of acceleration .

  if u fancy gettin ur hands dirty im sellin the old motor with the noisy bottom end , i had a bloke on the e30 zone that wanted it but i havnt heard any more from him ,

 as far as the wiring is concernd i dont think theres a lot of difference between the 320 and 325 . and if u had known , i just scrappd a 325i shell with all the loom still in it , u coulda had it !!

2.7??? is that just a bored out 2.5 block???

so the bottom end has gone?? where would i go to get the shell's? is it deffinatley the bottom end??? 

another tea break ! as its pi$$ing down wiv rain again .

well put it this way , the noise is coming from the bottom end , so im guessing its 1 of the ends , might be a small end !!

 its not bored out at all , its the bottom end out of a 5 series , Birds used to do the conversion for hartge , which is what i beleive the car used to be untill some monkey got hold of it .

 the rest of it is sweet tho , im taking the engine and box out , so i really wanna get rid of the whole thing as a lump , i dont want it sitting around . i only want £150 for the lot tho .

daddy cool wrote:  its not bored out at all , its the bottom end out of a 5 series , Birds used to do the conversion for hartge , which is what i beleive the car used to be untill some monkey got hold of it .

Is your cab a left or right hooker ???

There was only one rhd conversion done at the 2.7 level........... might be that someone got hold of the h27 engine and dropped it in ???? Has it still got a Hartge cam cover ???? interesting all the same !!!!

yeah , she was lhd , we converted her to rhd ,

 it hasnt got the cam cover on it !  i think we came to the conclusion a few weeks ago  that someone tried to copy the real thing , she did have the guages inside , strut brace  and hartge originals but its all been replaced or lost !! or stolen like the roof motor !!

BTW that cab looks great m8 !!!

nah ! shes a total mess at the mo .

 when it stops raining im gna try n get this motor out and the replacement in .

 when thats dun ive gotta make a start on the bodywork , she got hit in the rear drivers side quarter , i hit a fox at a ton and wiped out the passenger wing , theres also a couple of small azda dents  on each side which i wanna get done .

  then theres the wheels . the rear hood window . and the install to sort out . as if i havnt got enuff to do with this

Plenty of spares on http://www.e30zone.co.uk - www.e30zone.co.uk which might help your cause !!

You probably use that site anyway ????

Cheers dude ! i have visited the site a few times , but it allways  takes ages to load up pages .

  i got my new front wing and had it painted allready . just need to start prepping the rest of it , ive been quoted £300 for the window suplied and fited cos sadly its not a zip in one . and im buggered if i can find a new hood motor !!

 i see ur cars been de chromed ! did u do it urself or was it part of the conversion ?

No all chrome still there - and as for the motors I would stick with manual, its no slower than the motor and its less to go wrong !!! Also there is a company that repairs the back windows - will try and dig around and find a url or number for you..................

http://community.webshots.com/scripts/misc.fcgi?action=invitePickup&uri=album/91116965bRdCzT - http://community.webshots.com/scripts/misc.fcgi?action=invitePickup&uri=album/91116965bRdCzT

ur car looks sweet !!

 i dont think mines gna be that good ! certainly never gna be that original !! i thought ur kidney grill had been de chromed from looking at ur sig !!

Thought so !

 iv e got my 2.5 motorsport lump to go in now , which has been breathed on so i think ive got all ineed to do it , exept some good weather and a new 13 mm spanner as i just broke the one i had .

Midlands newbie !

 why dont u go for a 2.7 converion and fit a decent shot of nitrous instead of a turbo !  u can turbo these motors but unless u go into serious engine work having the compression lowerd  to around 7.4-1 u wont really benefit that much ! ur only other option is to go 4 a low pressure turbo which can be made to bolt straigt on but despite them being able to provide u with a good hike in hp , it will put a lot more stress on ur motor and will shorten its life drasticly . if u still wanna go down the turbo route i have a friend that turbos everything !! and would probably be able to help u out !!

daddy cool wrote: lo m8  welcome to the forums , im actually in the`middle of swapping the engine in my cab as we speak ! just avin a cuppa !!  there isnt a great deal of difference between the normal 325 and the 325 m,sport engine .  i was running a 2.7 conversion but i think the big ends have gone , hence the swap .  the 2.7 conversion will give you nearly 200 brake , and coupled to the correct box , u can gain huge amounts of acceleration .   if u fancy gettin ur hands dirty im sellin the old motor with the noisy bottom end , i had a bloke on the e30 zone that wanted it but i havnt heard any more from him ,  as far as the wiring is concernd i dont think theres a lot of difference between the 320 and 325 . and if u had known , i just scrappd a 325i shell with all the loom still in it , u coulda had it !!

"there isnt a great deal of difference between the normal 325 and the 325 m,sport engine ."

There is no difference dude. 

And as for the 320i engines, the chip in the ECU is pretty much the only difference between them and the 325i's as far as the electrics goes.

alright lads, benn moddin the last few days. i'm gonna tell ya this but ya might cringe. i'm fittin xr2 arches on today. i had the arches knockin around and as a laugh held em up. whoo they fit. so i thought i'd give it a go.

see my first love is modifyin cars, can't help it buy it mod it always the same. i had a bm some time ago but in the process of drivin like a c**t i stacked it. been a while to get 1 at the right price, don't like payin 2 much money for cars.

so back to the question in hand. say i get this 2.7 it'll be a case or droppin it in then changing the ecu???

second off how will i find out what wrong wit it. dont wanna be strippin down bottom ends if i dont have to, to be honest i aint a clue where i am wit these engines, i set up rockers n changed the coolin fan but much more than that i'm lost.

I have  but they on the digital camera. i aint had chance to get em off yet. if ya can wait a few days i should have finished the arches so ya can get a whole shot. Forgot to say in the previous post, its got a scooby front bumper and cavalier rear bumper.

As for this engine i am interested. got a mate checkin out part prices, but he recons it shouldn't cost too much providing the engine was running. Did you say it didn't smoke it was just noisey?? If i come n get this engine is there any chance of hearin it runnin???

cant really hear it runnin now m8 !!

 its the one nearest the car !!

Im gna turn the old engine upside down to see whats wrong with it tomorrow !!

 if its only the shells , i,l repair it myself  and sell it for top money unless someone wants to do themselves and save me the hassle .

 i dont even know how much a set of shells are for one of these , but they probably wont be as much as getting the crank reground which i would do to make sure its perfect .

 itl be a shame to strip it down and sell it for parts cos its so much quicker than every sport i came across , and watching other drivers expressions as i go past wiv the hood down ,tunes up and a smug grin on my face was a real joy !!!

well as i said im interested in the engine. prob be best to mial me ya number. mail me at mailto:mad_midscruise@hotmail.com - mad_midscruise@hotmail.com , thats my msn too.

oh yer and me modded monster i'm making has been named scrapheap challenge by most round er.