Daimlerman's 2.7
History of my 2.7
The numbers 2.7 are linked to the E30 by the major German tuners. When I decided to buy a second E30 I started to look at Alpina cars. I soon realized that not only were they way out of my price range but also the parts that made them 'special' were very expensive and hard to locate getting on for 20 years after production. So I decided to compromise...I picked up a 320i 4 door on Ebay, advertised as having a cracked head, nothing new there then!
The initial idea was to use it as a 'fixer upper', to try and get it roadworthy for no more than £500...I soon discovered that the base car was reasonably sound and its main problem was a buggered engine. I started to research 320 engine mods,looking (as all new 320 owners do)for more bottom end grunt. All the answers I received pointed towards more capacity and more stroke in particular. I located an Indian guy in Leeds who was breaking a 525e, by the time I got there the radiator and the instrument cluster had long gone so I took a punt on the short motor. The vendor, myself and a mate of his stripped the head and autobox off the motor and heaved the lump into the back of the touring. Off course when I got it home I discovered just how heavy a short motor is and struggled to hire an engine crane to lift the swine out.. I had, by this time, also bought an 885 type head, so I hired the engine crane again and yanked the 320 motor and'box out. Swapped the sump over, plonked the 885 head on, bunged a spigot bearing in the back of the crank, stuck the 320 clutch on along with the gearbox and stuck the whole lot back in the car. I paid the Indian £100 for the short motor, a guy in Grantham £75 for the head and about £100 for gaskets, head bolts etc. £275ish in total and I was well pleased.Not for long... I was delighted with the extra power and the torque was incredible, but the cloud of oil smoke each time I stuck my boot down was a bit of a blow. As was the flickering oil light at idle...
I found a 731 Head and stripped it to its underpants and took it to the local engine shop. They fitted new valve guides and sold me a set of new valves and a gasket set, and a cambelt and a bill for £350... I found a s/h engine crane(what did we do before ebay?)for £85 (I had paid the hire shop £60 for a weekend hire 1st time round)and yanked the engine and 'box out for round two. This time I had a good look at the bores and found that the pistons were slopping about in the bores and the crank bearings had more lines than Crewe railway station.I found a s/h block with no wear via a sympathetic zoner and the local engine shop reground the crank(£85) and supplied new piston rings(£98) and bearing shells(£35) GSF sold me a gasket set and some oil seals and my local stealer(we do not supply parts for modified BMWs was eventually persuaded to supply the other bits that I needed for about £200 or so. This was before the days of Zimmerbimmer and the Zone Parts dept. Whilst I had the whole lot on the garage floor I replaced the gear linkage bushes as well. I Still re-used the original 320i clutch as that had worked OK.
My chosen spec ended as, 731 Head with 325 cam, 325 inlet(99p) with 325 injectors, fuel rail and FPR, Eta crank, rods and pistons. 320 clutch as already mentioned and 320 manual 'box. I shoved it back in the car and fitted a Zone chip supplied by Ant, he telephoned me after ordering and before supplying to check my spec so that the chip would be as close as possible to my needs. I ran the engine in over several thousand miles, changing the oil first at 500 miles and again after a further 3000 miles then left it to the service indicator. My only real issue was a low speed 'shunt' type of thing which ran to several pages in tech help at the time.
I fitted a Miller MAF unit which has given a partial cure but in the main I have learnt to live with the issue. With regards to the Miller MAF, this does give better throttle response and aids fuel economy,but their after sales sucks!! I gave Miller my engine spec and they required mr to send my ECU and Zone Chip for them to modify to run their MAF. They did lend me an ECU whilst mine was off on its holiday. However, a rolling road day(178.3bhp and 180ftlb torque from 2000rpm!!) established that the ECU was over-fueling above 3000rpm. Despite Miller's claims to be able to write and supply extra chips to suit problems encountered or further engine developments they have failed to supply a corrected chip to me.I am currently saving my pocket money for a Unichip and a live rolling road session.
Since installation of this engine I have covered some 30,000 miles without dramas and generally I am delighted with my work. Earlier this year I added a Hottuning exhaust manifold, this has been the best £200 I have spent so far. As I accelerate through 3000rpm the exhaust note deepens and I get shoved back in the seat. I am running a 3.64 Open Diff which gives 75mph at 3000rpm. Used on my normal 400 mile week the car returns 35mpg, which improves with gentle running (rarely) to a best ever figure of 38mpg. You can build a more powerful 2.7 than mine, but these engines are more about the huge gains in torque that result in greatly improved 'driveability' and make a good car even more of an 'ultimate driving machine'.
By Daimlerman.
Dyno plot
