E30 Zone

I MANAGED TO LAND ME A GENUINE 325i SPORT THE OTHER DAY, WAS GOING TO FLOG IT ON TO MAKE A CRUST BUT ME AND MY MATE [BUSINESS PARTNER] HAVE GOT A BIT SMITTEN WITH IT [MAINLY DUE TO A QUICK SIDEWAYS SPIN UP THE ROAD, HMM]. I'VE ALWAYS HAD A SOFT SPOT FOR THESE CAR'S BUT DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT EM, SO HERE I AM TO SOAK UP THE EXPERTISE. THE PLAN IS TO KEEP IT AS A PROJECT AT THE MO [OR EXCUSE TO HIDE AWAY AT THE YARD AWAY FROM THE MISSUS'S AT WEEKENDS, LOL], SO ANY USEFUL ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED, AS I'M SURE BEING TOLD OF COMMON PROBLEMS TO LOOK FOR WILL BE A LOT EASIER THAN FINDING THEM THE HARD WAY. WE HAVE ALREADY MADE RIDICULOUS REMARKS ABOUT 535 ENGINE CONVERSIONS, BUT WE HAVE GOT A LONG WAY TO GO, AND A LOT TO LEARN FIRST, HOPE TO GET A WARM WELCOME FROM ALL, REGARDS DINGLE

Welcome mate, get some pics up. Enjoy your stay.

welcome mate you certainly have found the best place to get all ur e30 advice hope you enjoy e30 ownership as much do

Welcome to the zone fella. Why would you think a 535 lump is rediculous. Nice easy conversion, been done load's of time's...

You will find in the sport buying guide most of the thing's you need to lok for/at.

Antthing your not sure of ask in tech help,


Enjoy and keep it side way's...

Caps lock is your friend. Don't abuse it!

Welcome, get some pics up!

Welcome dude, i'm doing a 535 conversion atm, and believe me, ridiculous it is not .If u decide to go that route, there's plenty of info and help from all of us on the zone.
Where you from???

Post some pics up mate. Early sports are awesome
Check everywhere for rust if you want to keep it. Mainly the inner rear arches and boot wells, area under fusebox, the underbonnet battery tray and sunroof.

sounds nice
JUST DONT SPEAK IN CAPS LOCK IT GETS ANOYING

Tech1's rule!!

Welcome to the Zone.

Piccies?

Thanks for the warm welcome and advice, and apologies about the CAPS, I was too bleary eyed to see the normal font in the early hours, lol. We were wondering how hard a 3.5 conversion would be, as there are a few concerns with the health of the original engine, but hopefully with a good service and a bit of TLC it will last a few miles of fun before we have to worry. The main priorities are getting it in useable condition and MOT'd as she's been neglected and parked up for a while. I under estimated how beastly it would be for a 20 year old car though, I remember them as being a bit of a tool in their day but that little blast up the road really surprised me for it's age [considering my current drive's a nippyish T5]. probably wasn't the best thing to do without an oil change first though.

Mtech327 wrote:Tech1's rule!!

Welcome to the Zone.

Piccies?

i do like the M-TEC1
Mtec327 loving your bm look great bro

Next time i bring it out the workshop at work I'll take a few pics, she is a bit of a dog at the mo though

hello dingledong

Hello fuzzy, may I take this oppertunity to bow at your feet for use of the posh pinto. I've seen a few cossy E30's over the years and must say at first didn't like the idea, but like most freaks of nature they grew on me [like my missus, lol], and being a teenage cossy fan anything wearing a cossy lump deserves admiration in my eyes

DINGLEDONG wrote:Hello fuzzy, may I take this oppertunity to bow at your feet for use of the posh pinto. I've seen a few cossy E30's over the years and must say at first didn't like the idea, but like most freaks of nature they grew on me [like my missus, lol], and being a teenage cossy fan anything wearing a cossy lump deserves admiration in my eyes

so your saying your missus is a freak of nature?
thanks for the bowing admiration

Welcome to the zone DINGLEDONG

welcome mate... good choice of car.. the early m20b25's are great engines... i have one in my 320(basically engine and running gear are the same as your tec 1, the 320's box has the same ratios as the sport box and the 3.64lsd) i do love the look of the tec 1 sports compared to the facelift sports.. the 535 engine swap has been done a few times on here... and from what i can make out its not that difficult... obviously the way forward is to chuck a m50b25/b28 in there! either that or supercharge the b25 you already have if the engine is healthy.
once again welcome to the forum and enjoy your stay

so your saying your missus is a freak of nature?
thanks for the bowing admiration

She must be to put up with me mate, lol

I do like the idea of supercharging actualy, but if I was going to spend that kind of money I'd probably go the whole hog and superblow a [healthy + bigger] transplanted engine, as like I said I'm a bit concerned about the original lump, It's a bit of a brain teaser because it's smoking abit, oil light's on, and top end's rattly, but it still goes like poodle poo of a shiny shovel, hopefully it just's needs some TLC though. There are a lot of niggly job's need sorting before we think about chasing the big horsepower though, I've just convinced myself to keep it as a project, so don't want to scare myself with expensive idea's just yet. I presume the m50 engines referred to are E36 lump's? I ain't very well educated on engine codes yet

yeah the m50b20/b23/b25/b28's are e dirty six engines also the s50b30(286bhp)/b32(321bhp) are the e36 m power engines.

Ah, thanks. Ideally an S50 would be my dream transplant as i used to have a soft spot for E36 M3's before they were as common as dog shite [purely for the collosal N/A power], but i think they're a bit too technical for my patience level to fit. If we do end up keeping the car long enough a 535 transplant would be an affordable project, just buy a rough old 535 with a good lump in, and use whatever parts needed. would my standard gearbox and flywheel fit the 3.5 lump though, incase i see a scrap old 535 auto on my mate's scrap pile?

i dont know mate...im no mechanic ... im sure a spanner weilding zoner will be along shortly to assist.

Welcome to the zone mate! All the best with your project!