Best conversion on a budget?

[lukec88]

what is the best and easiest conversion from a 325 to get somewhere in the region of 230-250bhp? which are the easiest to fit in and cheapest overall conversions? thinking 3.5 m30 or a 2.8 m52. any other suggestions?

[jmc330i]

What sort of budget are you thinking about to fit an engine? If you go for M30 or M52, you will need to factor in the extra cost of tuning to get 230bhp+.

You could possibly go with a turbo Jap engine like a 200sx or similar. Won't take much to get 250bhp out of one of them, but I have no idea how much the engines are to buy, or the cost of fitting one in an E30.

[lukec88]

i dont really know on budget just trying to get and idea of costs on different conversions and what powers they can give. the 2.8 24v are quite tunable arent they?

[Kedge]

I think i've read that M52B28s can get close to 220bhp with the M50 manifold.

Perhaps it'd be better to advise what sort of budget you're looking at so people can advise better but to do any swap proparly isn't cheap.

Since your car is a Sport I think you'd be surprised at how much extra poke your M20B25 can provide with some simple work with the benefit of maintaining some originality.

Full service including proper cleaning of the injectors, BTB exhaust manifold and good exhaust and a proper remap could get you to 190bhp looking at results of just bolting a BTB manifold on. Chuck in a cam and BBTB and maybe 200bhp is possible for a lot less than a swap.

I've been out in a supercharged 318iS that was running just over 200bhp and that felt plenty quick enough in an E30.

[jmc330i]

the 2.8 24v are quite tunable arent they?

M50 inlet and tb, plus a remap will get 220-230bhp I think. Add some US M3 cams (if you can find them) and 250ish is possible I think. Plus the regular decent exhaust and air filter etc.....
I think you're looking at £1000 to £1500 for a decent M52 swap, plus another £1k for tuning - that's just a guess, so hopefully someone can be a bit more specific.

As for converting a Sport, I wouldn't worry too much. The M52 conversion can be done without modding the car at all, so it can easily be put back to standard if you wish (thats how I did my S50 conversion).

[fastdiablo]

Hi Luke, I know this is a bit cheeky but hey, its all done and ready to go ! . . .

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140766311269? ... 786wt_1198

[zaust]

M3

[e301988325i]

What does on a budget mean? under £500 best spent on maintanence, under a grand M30, under £1,500 M50, under £2k M52, then there's a big jump for serious power, S50 £5k?

All the engine swaps need chassis and brake upgrades to contain the extra speed, none of the worthwhile mods come cheap either.

[magpie]

Hi Luke, I know this is a bit cheeky but hey, its all done and ready to go ! . . .

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140766311269? ... 786wt_1198

i'd be proud of that punt,great timing

[fastdiablo]

Hi Luke, I know this is a bit cheeky but hey, its all done and ready to go ! . . .

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140766311269? ... 786wt_1198

i'd be proud of that punt,great timing

[lukec88]

Did you convert that yourself? I'm in northamptonshire too

[fastdiablo]

Hi mate, no I didn't. Here's a link to the chat bit in the forum about it . . .

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... sc&start=0