e30 any engine transplant suggestions?

[Barkercup]

Dear all,

I am soon going to be looking for an e30 320i or 318i 2door as a project. I will be using the car for occasional track days and weekend blasts.

I'm wanting to know which BMW motors and manual gearboxes could be dropped in without having to chop up the bulkhead or do major work? The engines I am considering are the old e34 535i motor, e36 328i motor or even a v8. Has anyone done something similar?

Also is there a quicker steering rack that can be fitted to an e30 to sharpen the slow steering.

Any advice would be great.

[Brummmie]

Early 5.7ltr LS's are getting cheap now.

[benny.c]

Register on www.e30zone.net

There's a whole section on engine swaps and forced induction. Best one I've seen so far is the E46 M3 engine.

[Barkercup]

Thanks for the info. I was really hoping to fit the old e34 535i straight six into one if its fairly straight forward? Its quite a simple big old engine and not too expensive to modify.

[Bri957]

http://www.e3024v.com

Cheers Bri

[buggalugs]

Barkercup said:

Thanks for the info. I was really hoping to fit the old e34 535i straight six into one if its fairly straight forward? Its quite a simple big old engine and not too expensive to modify.

Yeah it fits well - there's a massive 'how-to' thread stickied on the aforementioned e30zone. Heavy bh but fits OK. If it was me I'd go for the alloy block 2.8 though. It's allmost as powerful and much lighter... but to be fair, more expensive.

[obscene]

benny.c said:

Register on www.e30zone.net

There's a whole section on engine swaps and forced induction. Best one I've seen so far is the E46 M3 engine.

They had a good one with an M5 5L V8

Z3/E36 steering rack. Not sure how much modification it takes but definetly get on e30zone.

[StuB]

Brummmie said:

Early 5.7ltr LS's are getting cheap now.

Definitely the way to go IMO, lovely motor, good prices, tunable to the heavens and bulletproof, seen a few of these.

[dan101smith]

StuB said:

Brummmie said:

Early 5.7ltr LS's are getting cheap now.

Definitely the way to go IMO, lovely motor, good prices, tunable to the heavens and bulletproof, seen a few of these.

What's the weight of an LSx compared to an M30?

[StuB]

dan101smith said:

StuB said:

Brummmie said:

Early 5.7ltr LS's are getting cheap now.

Definitely the way to go IMO, lovely motor, good prices, tunable to the heavens and bulletproof, seen a few of these.

What's the weight of an LSx compared to an M30?

About 400lbs (less than 2 fat blokes) according to t'internet. If you're interested, I know of a guy in Brum who runs an RX7 with one, he's done a Cerby and recently an MZ3 with an LS3 as well! He's a bloody magician.

[TheEnd]

There is a guy in in the midlands somewhere with a bright orange e30 with one of the LS series V8's
Jagermeister stickers too i think

[StuB]

TheEnd said:

There is a guy in in the midlands somewhere with a bright orange e30 with one of the LS series V8's
Jagermeister stickers too i think

I met Wayne (forgot his surname) at Gaydon BMW Car Club Show a few years back and have plenty of pics somewhere. The car's awesome, completely. Unfortunately I've yet to see one driven in anger, though was reminded how good stock E30 M3's can be, last week at Cadwell Park.

[dan101smith]

StuB said:

About 400lbs (less than 2 fat blokes) according to t'internet. If you're interested, I know of a guy in Brum who runs an RX7 with one, he's done a Cerby and recently an MZ3 with an LS3 as well! He's a bloody magician.

Hmmm...thinking an E28 5er with an LS V8 might be interesting!

[cpl_payne]

dan101smith said:

Hmmm...thinking an E28 5er with an LS V8 might be interesting!

Pretty much close to my ideal car, unfortunately lack of space and funds means it's still a dream. Another great host for LS would be e24 sharknose, what a great battle-cruiser that would be!

[iguana]

Transported a bog standard looking e30 325i but with a chevy 383 ci (6.3L?) crate motor on a 4 barrel carb to the 'ring last wk, should be good for 450 bhp! looked to be a really neat install, firewall looked further back & was suprisingly a lot of room in there & I thought my old e36 with the BMW 4.0 v8 was a beast!

I took a pic & I'll as if its ok with the owner if I post it up.

[IanMorewood]

Stick with BMW, will a 3.8 S6 fit?

[Mr_Sukebe]

A few years ago I saw an E30 touring with an old E39 M5 engine stuffed into it. Looked awesome.

[Barkercup]

I've just registered on e30zone so thanks for the suggestions. I do love American v8's but not in a bmw. Call me mad but I prefer the sound of a straight 6. I'll go for the 535i motor.

Thanks for all the help!

[sniff diesel]

A few people put the M50 engine from the E36 325i in E30's easily enough. I'm breaking a 325i, you could have the engine, ECU, and a steering rack for £250 if you can collect. PM me if you're interested.