My E30 325i Touring journey.. + boost?!
Discussion
So, never really done/posted anything like this but i thought i would share the journey that I’ve had with this little turd, as its been quite enjoyable and figured I may as well document it all!
Before buying the e30 I had toyed with the idea of an e36 328i sport touring, but after a few weeks of searching, the e30s in the suggested section of eBay got all too tempting, and ive loved the e30s since young so decided to ditch the 36 idea and the hunt for a good spec 6 pot e30 touring was on.. After a few months and plenty of rusty turds I bought F83 FGJ in August 2018 from a chap in Corby, as a 103k completely standard 325i auto on 14" bottletops and cream cloth interior.
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/JCBgwb8z.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/WC8uyJkz" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/WC8uyJkz.jpg)
Now, the plan was never to keep it auto, and manual conversions were super common, cheap and easy so this wasn’t a worry, plus, the auto box may have exploded slightly whilst being a bit of a tool.. however this “testing” did reveal that the car had a LSD fitted from factory (nice £500+ saving as id have bought one anyway).
After being manual swapped using a g260 and lightweight flywheel, it was apparent that every bushing under the sun needed replacing, so the polybushing journey began along with a few fun little bits along the way including BC coilovers, 15” BBS, tubular manifold, custom 2.5” exhaust, every gasket under the sun, ecu chip and some other bits and bobs that aren’t really that exciting. Once all of this was done nothing much really changed on the car for a while, but did loads of miles and drove it all over the place, did a week of bashing around the cotswolds with some mates, a few trackdays, excessive amounts of backroad hoons and the common 1-3am back of industrial estate special (yes, you all saw it coming).
2 after id cleaned it one day
Cotswolds adventure
Caffeine and machine
Also taken it on a few trackdays, the first photo being on one of the super hot spells we had last year (did an engine mount delete) and the second being a rather wet one later in the year (Passenger Dad was not having a great time lol)
Long story...
After around a year and a half of this Covid hit and decided that itd be a good idea to freshen the old girl up a bit, so more shopping began earlier this year... bought some fifteen52 formula tr alloys, ns2rs, leather sports interior and a few other little bits and bobs. Also, whilst being off work decided to try clean the engine bay up a bit. (screenwash res was tucked away but present).
Just found this photo too, which is kind of funny, my friends and i are into bmx (when back and weather permit), so theres a point where we all had thule roofracks and fifteen52s... so as any 21yo would do we took a dreadful photo, but its all fun and games aha
These photos etc mark how the car looked up to July 2020, marking nearly 2 years of fun!
However...
After July this year i took it apart. very apart if you will, ready for some boost. lots of boost.
I am currently collecting all the photos together but essentially I've decided to fully forge the m20 lump, reinforce subframes, big brakes, 5 stud, dual diff hanger and add a turbo... the list goes on, which im hoping to upload into this thread in the next few nights! (Little fyi im not far off the first start), And before anyone gets touchy that its gone all drifty and wonky wheels, its still going to be fairly understated!!
Before buying the e30 I had toyed with the idea of an e36 328i sport touring, but after a few weeks of searching, the e30s in the suggested section of eBay got all too tempting, and ive loved the e30s since young so decided to ditch the 36 idea and the hunt for a good spec 6 pot e30 touring was on.. After a few months and plenty of rusty turds I bought F83 FGJ in August 2018 from a chap in Corby, as a 103k completely standard 325i auto on 14" bottletops and cream cloth interior.
Now, the plan was never to keep it auto, and manual conversions were super common, cheap and easy so this wasn’t a worry, plus, the auto box may have exploded slightly whilst being a bit of a tool.. however this “testing” did reveal that the car had a LSD fitted from factory (nice £500+ saving as id have bought one anyway).
After being manual swapped using a g260 and lightweight flywheel, it was apparent that every bushing under the sun needed replacing, so the polybushing journey began along with a few fun little bits along the way including BC coilovers, 15” BBS, tubular manifold, custom 2.5” exhaust, every gasket under the sun, ecu chip and some other bits and bobs that aren’t really that exciting. Once all of this was done nothing much really changed on the car for a while, but did loads of miles and drove it all over the place, did a week of bashing around the cotswolds with some mates, a few trackdays, excessive amounts of backroad hoons and the common 1-3am back of industrial estate special (yes, you all saw it coming).
2 after id cleaned it one day
Cotswolds adventure
Caffeine and machine
Also taken it on a few trackdays, the first photo being on one of the super hot spells we had last year (did an engine mount delete) and the second being a rather wet one later in the year (Passenger Dad was not having a great time lol)
Long story...
After around a year and a half of this Covid hit and decided that itd be a good idea to freshen the old girl up a bit, so more shopping began earlier this year... bought some fifteen52 formula tr alloys, ns2rs, leather sports interior and a few other little bits and bobs. Also, whilst being off work decided to try clean the engine bay up a bit. (screenwash res was tucked away but present).
Just found this photo too, which is kind of funny, my friends and i are into bmx (when back and weather permit), so theres a point where we all had thule roofracks and fifteen52s... so as any 21yo would do we took a dreadful photo, but its all fun and games aha
These photos etc mark how the car looked up to July 2020, marking nearly 2 years of fun!
However...
After July this year i took it apart. very apart if you will, ready for some boost. lots of boost.
I am currently collecting all the photos together but essentially I've decided to fully forge the m20 lump, reinforce subframes, big brakes, 5 stud, dual diff hanger and add a turbo... the list goes on, which im hoping to upload into this thread in the next few nights! (Little fyi im not far off the first start), And before anyone gets touchy that its gone all drifty and wonky wheels, its still going to be fairly understated!!
InitialDave said:
Got a (tired) one myself, great cars.
Out of interest, what what the decision process with keeping the M20 over fitting an M50/52/54?
Honestly, every man and his dog does m5x turbos in e30s, and there’s a certain charm to an athematic 12v! Out of interest, what what the decision process with keeping the M20 over fitting an M50/52/54?
Not that it’s actually important but it came with an m20 and I’d like to keep it that way!
Falexander13 said:
Honestly, every man and his dog does m5x turbos in e30s, and there’s a certain charm to an athematic 12v!
Not that it’s actually important but it came with an m20 and I’d like to keep it that way!
No, I get that, and it's still a solid engine. I appreciate the value in keeping it relatively "original".Not that it’s actually important but it came with an m20 and I’d like to keep it that way!
Falexander13 said:
Heres a photo from a couple weeks ago just as a little taste of where its at now incase some are interested 
More specs please!, M20's are ripe for boost given the low CP (8.8:1 on the later engines) so be interesting to know what power / torque you're getting out of it and the MPG, typically heard that improves when you add boost on the old M20s.. least when you're not enjoying yourself 
So, another update! Thanks for all the positive responses, really appreciate it!
Ill start by showing a dyno sheet from a few power runs on a local dyno November last year, which revealed that it still made pretty good power (in m20 world) all things considered!
Got some more photos so sorted so here are some more! Started with the plan of using the standard m20 but with a new headgasket, ARP head studs and an Athena cut ring headgasket, to cope with around a bar of boost from a HX35w with 12cm hotside with an internal gate, which means the standard diff, subframes, mounts and brakes (ish) would have coped fine... However you will see that not long after the engines removal the plan changed!
Nearly ready for removal, showing all the grime and leaks
Lifting anchor...
And the empty hole.
So with the engine out of the hole some investigative work was undertaken, its worth noting that sometimes it struggled with warm starts, and petrolesque oil, which i think may have been a leaky injector, so was expecting a little bit of borewash upon removing the head.
As expected there was some borewashing, but apart from that all looked good...
[url]
Anyway, as covid was hanging around and i had a 206 track car to abuse, the decision was made to build the m20.. more than just studs and cutring.
So, forged rods, wiseco 8.8:1 forged pistons, acl race bearings, rebuilt head, polished crank and so forth was in the works.. which i will admit, is much further than I had planned to go but hey ho, the local fiestas would finally experience some buslengths (fyi, e30s get gapped by chavs in £250 a month STs).
Some Expensive shiny stuff (forgot to take many photos but still)
With this engine spec the plan was to run anywhere between 400 and 500bhp, which means the diff will eject itself out the back, standard brake stoppage and pretty much everything actually. So, after speaking to some friends and reading the diff plan was to use my 188mm casing and LSD unit, using a 3.15 e36 ring and pinion, e36 twin ear backplate and e36 speed ring, whilst having a great old bar welded across the rear chassis rails as a new hanger.
My diff
Rear beam etc
So, the car then went off to Deans for the rear hanger to be welded in (i can stick stuff together but this was a little out of my league, and hes done one on his v8 e30)
Had to roll it around on 1.2 clio wheels as id sold all my other sets aha
3.15 Gearing
So, ever since all this big power stuff brakes were still on my mind, so i elected to 5 stud convert it, using modified e30 front knuckles with e36 front hubs and compact rear arms, which had been recovered from a bush... However some weld in reinforcement plates, polybushes, new lines and hoses and an absolute bomb of hammerite later looked quite presentable, ready for when i get the car back
The rear hanger
The modified now twin ear rear diff installed
So at this point the rear is pretty good to go, next was to start bracing up the front, which wasnt rocket science! so i welded in some reinforcement plates, which i think came out ok, despite having what felt like the worlds fussiest welder.
With the plates welded in the tub of hammerite was opened yet again. Then installed in the car and hacked up an old brace that didnt fit and modified it to create another 2 points of contact, tying the subframe into the car more.
my rookie welds lol
Hammerite the world
And my bracing bars
The next thing to worry about was brakes, which was sorted by going with some e46 330d 325mm fronts and adopting the 272mm e36 rear, using EBC yellowstuffs and J hook discs all round, again with new braided hoses and new lines where required. Also decided to delete abs too... may regret it but i think i will be fine as im retaining the e30 booster etc.
Only photo i got of my fronts atm, excuses the bolt and washer, this is just belt and braces for the hub nut
So with the brakes all done next was the steering, which didnt really need to be changed as id already installed a new rack but hey ho. I went with the bmw Z3 rack which brings the lock to lock down from 4 to just 2.7. In order for this to work i had to fit some 14mm billet filling blocks and have some custom lines made up (not a problem as this is a fairly common conversion). So whilst in there also added some rack spacers and all new inner and outer tie rods, along with a super slim steering uj to make more room for the downpipe. (worked out well as the z3 rack neck also made room) photos are a bit all over the place as i did have the rack in without the reinforced subframe
To finish this section of the update, the last bit of stress was getting as much tyre as i could in the rear, whilst not having to hack arches etc.. this was made rather difficult when the e36 rear works out 15mm wider on each side, on top of e30s being a bit of an offset pain... and to add to this i still wanted to stay 16"... that have to clear the big old 330d brakes... which arent offset friendly.. so i was stuck having to have a super low offset rear and a fairly high offset front... after borrowing all sorts of wheels, buying singles off ebay, getting emotional that id made a pants decision a random ebay purchase of a single e34 525ix wheel proved to be the one, which i then somehow managed to score 6 for under 200 quid, despite being from a super rare car that wasnt even produced for uk market.. but this means i can run the 225 45 i wanted to on the front, a 225 45 on the rear for being a yob and the best bit, i can run the 245 45 r888s i have, without ruining my arches. which im super chuffed with!
So Yeah, this is pretty much the rolling chassis sorted! The next section i will post hopefully this weekend, and show the engine assembly, clutch stuff, fuel stuff, ecu, new turbo, manifolds, custom exhaust stuff and all the much cooler more interesting stuff that doesnt involve hammerite and get updated to where it is now!
Thanks for all the nice comments by the way, i really appreciate it and glad its not just me interested in a skanky old estate!
Thanks
Ill start by showing a dyno sheet from a few power runs on a local dyno November last year, which revealed that it still made pretty good power (in m20 world) all things considered!
Got some more photos so sorted so here are some more! Started with the plan of using the standard m20 but with a new headgasket, ARP head studs and an Athena cut ring headgasket, to cope with around a bar of boost from a HX35w with 12cm hotside with an internal gate, which means the standard diff, subframes, mounts and brakes (ish) would have coped fine... However you will see that not long after the engines removal the plan changed!
Nearly ready for removal, showing all the grime and leaks
Lifting anchor...
And the empty hole.
So with the engine out of the hole some investigative work was undertaken, its worth noting that sometimes it struggled with warm starts, and petrolesque oil, which i think may have been a leaky injector, so was expecting a little bit of borewash upon removing the head.
As expected there was some borewashing, but apart from that all looked good...
[url]Anyway, as covid was hanging around and i had a 206 track car to abuse, the decision was made to build the m20.. more than just studs and cutring.
So, forged rods, wiseco 8.8:1 forged pistons, acl race bearings, rebuilt head, polished crank and so forth was in the works.. which i will admit, is much further than I had planned to go but hey ho, the local fiestas would finally experience some buslengths (fyi, e30s get gapped by chavs in £250 a month STs).
Some Expensive shiny stuff (forgot to take many photos but still)
With this engine spec the plan was to run anywhere between 400 and 500bhp, which means the diff will eject itself out the back, standard brake stoppage and pretty much everything actually. So, after speaking to some friends and reading the diff plan was to use my 188mm casing and LSD unit, using a 3.15 e36 ring and pinion, e36 twin ear backplate and e36 speed ring, whilst having a great old bar welded across the rear chassis rails as a new hanger.
My diff
Rear beam etc
So, the car then went off to Deans for the rear hanger to be welded in (i can stick stuff together but this was a little out of my league, and hes done one on his v8 e30)
Had to roll it around on 1.2 clio wheels as id sold all my other sets aha
3.15 Gearing
So, ever since all this big power stuff brakes were still on my mind, so i elected to 5 stud convert it, using modified e30 front knuckles with e36 front hubs and compact rear arms, which had been recovered from a bush... However some weld in reinforcement plates, polybushes, new lines and hoses and an absolute bomb of hammerite later looked quite presentable, ready for when i get the car back
The rear hanger
The modified now twin ear rear diff installed
So at this point the rear is pretty good to go, next was to start bracing up the front, which wasnt rocket science! so i welded in some reinforcement plates, which i think came out ok, despite having what felt like the worlds fussiest welder.
With the plates welded in the tub of hammerite was opened yet again. Then installed in the car and hacked up an old brace that didnt fit and modified it to create another 2 points of contact, tying the subframe into the car more.
my rookie welds lol
Hammerite the world
And my bracing bars
The next thing to worry about was brakes, which was sorted by going with some e46 330d 325mm fronts and adopting the 272mm e36 rear, using EBC yellowstuffs and J hook discs all round, again with new braided hoses and new lines where required. Also decided to delete abs too... may regret it but i think i will be fine as im retaining the e30 booster etc.
Only photo i got of my fronts atm, excuses the bolt and washer, this is just belt and braces for the hub nut
So with the brakes all done next was the steering, which didnt really need to be changed as id already installed a new rack but hey ho. I went with the bmw Z3 rack which brings the lock to lock down from 4 to just 2.7. In order for this to work i had to fit some 14mm billet filling blocks and have some custom lines made up (not a problem as this is a fairly common conversion). So whilst in there also added some rack spacers and all new inner and outer tie rods, along with a super slim steering uj to make more room for the downpipe. (worked out well as the z3 rack neck also made room) photos are a bit all over the place as i did have the rack in without the reinforced subframe
To finish this section of the update, the last bit of stress was getting as much tyre as i could in the rear, whilst not having to hack arches etc.. this was made rather difficult when the e36 rear works out 15mm wider on each side, on top of e30s being a bit of an offset pain... and to add to this i still wanted to stay 16"... that have to clear the big old 330d brakes... which arent offset friendly.. so i was stuck having to have a super low offset rear and a fairly high offset front... after borrowing all sorts of wheels, buying singles off ebay, getting emotional that id made a pants decision a random ebay purchase of a single e34 525ix wheel proved to be the one, which i then somehow managed to score 6 for under 200 quid, despite being from a super rare car that wasnt even produced for uk market.. but this means i can run the 225 45 i wanted to on the front, a 225 45 on the rear for being a yob and the best bit, i can run the 245 45 r888s i have, without ruining my arches. which im super chuffed with!
So Yeah, this is pretty much the rolling chassis sorted! The next section i will post hopefully this weekend, and show the engine assembly, clutch stuff, fuel stuff, ecu, new turbo, manifolds, custom exhaust stuff and all the much cooler more interesting stuff that doesnt involve hammerite and get updated to where it is now!
Thanks for all the nice comments by the way, i really appreciate it and glad its not just me interested in a skanky old estate!
Thanks
Just of note, a suggestion for brake fluid and pads.
I've run ATE TYP200 fluid on my E46 touring to great effect, though the EBC pads , you may find aren't up to track use.
Seen a few cases both here and on trips to the Nordschilfe where EBC pads have just vanished after a few hard laps of use.
If you do find they're burning up fast, I'd suggest swapping to the DS2500 from Ferrodo as a good fast road pad which has significantly longer life.
Watcing with interest to see what you get from the engine and drive train, good to see the diff hanger setup being updated to E36 as that would have likely exploded out the back end much like Gareth's did from E30Zone with his M30B35 converted touring and a small case 4.10 diff at Santa Pod.
I've run ATE TYP200 fluid on my E46 touring to great effect, though the EBC pads , you may find aren't up to track use.
Seen a few cases both here and on trips to the Nordschilfe where EBC pads have just vanished after a few hard laps of use.
If you do find they're burning up fast, I'd suggest swapping to the DS2500 from Ferrodo as a good fast road pad which has significantly longer life.
Watcing with interest to see what you get from the engine and drive train, good to see the diff hanger setup being updated to E36 as that would have likely exploded out the back end much like Gareth's did from E30Zone with his M30B35 converted touring and a small case 4.10 diff at Santa Pod.
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