Engine Swap

[toohuge]

I may have too much spare time on my hands but i have given this some serious considerable thought.

I have always loved the shape of the e30 3 series or the e34. A dream of mine would be to drive one of these but have a modern engine and possibly gearbox installed in one. I would prefer to do it myself as a project etc.

My question is am i wasting my time dreaming about fitting a fairly current engine into an old car? Are the computer systems in the new cars incredibly complicated so a straight swap of every component is not feasible?

Cheers
Chris

[phelix]

The newer the car the more integrated the engine's electronics into entire car's electronics. Not that it can't be done, just that it's much more dofficult.

A reasonable challenge is an E36 M3 engine into an E30; there are quite a few people who have done that successfully. Madness was the chap who wanted to put a 535d engine into an E30!

[toohuge]

Thanks, i was thinking, maybe a 330 into an e30 or my wildest dream would be to squeeze a m73 v12 into a 5 or 3, would be a large challenge i believe.

[StuB]

I've seen an LS2 in an E30 M3.

[toohuge]

StuB said:

I've seen an LS2 in an E30 M3.

Thanks Stub, i was thinking that the electronics on a crate LS2 engine would be a lot simpler to match to an old e30 as the engines are designed to be dropped into different applications. Having said that a supercharged LS2 in an e30 would put a smile on most peoples face...

Cheers

[Talkwrench]

toohuge said:

Thanks, i was thinking, maybe a 330 into an e30 or my wildest dream would be to squeeze a m73 v12 into a 5 or 3, would be a large challenge i believe.

Well, it can certainly be done...

http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2007/06/bmw-350i-e30-...

A lovely cruiser, I'd imagine but perhaps a little too nose heavy to throw around.
I'd love to try one though, as that engine is an absolute peach. Imagine the M Power V12 in a 3 series....

I have a spare V12 sitting in my workshop if you need any measurements.....

Edited by Talkwrench on Sunday 16th March 11:20

[Cliffv8]

A mate of mine put a M3 S50 in his e30 325 sport,
here's his thread on the e30zone, worth a look at http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name=Forums&amp... and another friend of mine putting a 2.8 motor in his e30 318is which is the much cheaper, seen these engine going for as low as £150 on ebay

[8Tech]

V12 will fit into an E30. How about a Twin Turbo V12 E30? BTW, thats 620 bhp!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_6OedKNUX8&fea...

Or an 1129 bhp E34?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqAUJAHtQtc&fea...

Enjoy.

Edited by 8Tech on Sunday 16th March 13:03

Edited by 8Tech on Sunday 16th March 13:06

[toohuge]

Thank you for all the advice and encouragement. It is early days, i am eyeing up he challenge and was making sure that i wasn't chasing a lost dream. I had seen that a v12 could fit into an e30 but i was just wondering about the electronics on the m73 engine (its the later 5.4 variant) as someone has stated it is a peach and should make the little e30 quite a good laugh!

Now it is time to start saving and preparing the garage for what could be a very long project...

Thanks for all your help.

Chris

[PJR]

You'll have to register to see the E30zone posts, but its a good forum to register for. You'll have to get used to every other word being "Mate" but other than that, its good
Folks on there have done all kinds of conversions to E30's. The most straightforward conversions would appear to be the 6cyl 24v engines from the E36 3 series. And also the big 6cyl 3.5l 12v engines from old 5 series.
V8's and V12's have also been done, but this involves a lot more work.
A clever chap there put a 400bhp 5 liter M5 V8 into an E30 I think it was this same chap that helped convert someone's E30 touring to V12 power too.

P,