3.5 in a E30

[johno]

i currently own a 325i sport im wondering as my father in law is getting rid of his 90 535i se would the 3.5 fit in my sport and if so how would i do it ???

[Toby_Unna]

http://www.tobyunna.com/



every man and his dog seems to want to do this conversion!

if you're serious, you have the best 3.5 donor available (as long as it's a manual )

[Andy335Touring]

Johno,where are you based mate ?

[johno]

im based in wilmslow cheshire

[Andy335Touring]

Shame your not a bit closer to me in Nottingham mate.

If your over this way and want a chat and have a look at me motor give us a shout

[e30maystar]

if you are doing this conversion what do you want for the shell after. Terry

[johno]

its just a thought at the mo terry will let ya now if i go ahead with it

[johno]

thx andy for the help but last tim i was down that way got caught on a speed camera in worcsester and i had just bought the dam car but hey when you have 2.5 never mind 3.5 you cant help yourself can ya

[BenE30]

http://www.tobyunna.com/



every man and his dog seems to want to do this conversion!

if you're serious, you have the best 3.5 donor available (as long as it's a manual )

WOW!!!

[Patrick335i]

Hi Johno,
I did this project mid of last year, and it is worth it!!!
For detailed information please check www.e30.de. Klick on 335i. The description is also available in English.

Patrick335i

[Toby_Unna]

cheers Ben! it looks good as long as you don't stand too close!

well worth the effort.

[CaesarBob]

The air intake is a work of art. Provides a nice home for hoovered up badgers.

[Toby_Unna]

no point messing about

bloody badgers deserve everything they get, one of the buggers smashed the front of my m535i to bits a while ago, oil cooler and all.

[CaesarBob]

Loving the 2-tone pink and beige Toby. No need for a respray now.

[Toby_Unna]

Pimp My Ride!

[CaesarBob]

LOL

[andrewe30m3]

I'd highly recommend it, thew torque is great, but then the fuel bills stack up a bit.

still miss my m3 3.5, wish i'd never sold it to Dips, but then it looks good in the performance bmw mag this month.... so glad it got better once i sold it, normally motors you sell get driven into the ground!

DO IT

[Jos]

Toby the electrics page is missing!!! Do you think you could find it for me?!

I am also in the middle, well more like the beginning tbh, of doing this conversion, my block is coming from a 735i auto probably (Generation 2 M30) and the electrics is something I really haven't looked at yet lol.

Progress, what little there is of it is at:

http://www.e30zone.co.uk/modules.php?na ... opic&t=778

You can see the 7 donor in the background of the 1st pic amongst all the Japanese rubbish

[Toby_Unna]

looking very cool indeed, that's a serious project!

i haven't actually done an electrics page, i put the icon up but there isn't really anything to write! as it depends what car the engine is from and what age shell you're using.

wiring is dead easy once you've figured out the engine loom connector pinouts for your car and engine. the m30 engine loom and ecu plugs to battery, injectors, starter, alt and everything else in the bay as usual, then connects to the car through this engine loom connector. everything runs through this plug - instruments, warning lights, start signal, fuel pump signal.

for then engine to start you need just three wires connected - fuel pump signal, coil power on signal, start signal.

is your e30 plastic bumper or chrome bumper? the plastic bumpers use motronic management like the m30 so the wiring's easier to figure out, but it doesn't really matter

if your engine is from an e23 then let me know and i'll write down what wires i connected to where (my engine is m535i which is the same connector type as e23 and probably the exact same pinout). similarly if your car is plastic bumper like mine then i can give you the pinout for the car side of the engine connector.



sorry if that's a bit garbled. i'm more than happy to help if i can!

[Jos]

Thanks for the reply, mine is a chrome bumper model and yes the donor is an 1982 e23, it's not quite a confirmed donor as yet, it belongs to my mate's father and we haven't convinced him to give us the engine, but hopefully he will The nicest thing about it (other than the 'free' aspect) is the engine only has 92k on it

It's good to see a few of these conversions already done by you guys, it gives me somewhere to scream "HELP!" every once in a while lol.

I will try and get photos of the engine plugs on both cars and see what you think. I presume its really a simple case of looking at the wiring schematics for both cars/engines and matching them. Only about 7 wires if I recall in the e30 plug.

And johno, as everyone else here has said: GO FOR IT!!! Lets see who can get theirs finished 1st! Then in 6 months when we are bored with it we can all come back and talk about turbocharging!

[johnl320]

Sorry to hijack the thread fellas but i am also doing this conversion and just wondered what fuel pump you were using i have a 318 pump (m40)would this be suitable?
cheers
john

[Toby_Unna]

hmm i take it the '82 e23 engine is motronic management? as i remember the 635csi was swapped from jetronic to motronic sometime in 82, don't know about the 7.

if motronic then fine, the engine plug should be rectangular and i can send you a diagram of the function of each pin on the connector, then you just need to figure out the same for the car plug (which is round-shaped; only later m30 engines from e32/e34 had the round plug)

if by chance the engine's jetronic (unlikely i think) then i don't think it'll go in an e30 easily, the inlet manifold and distributer are more awkward...

the best donor is still an e34/e32. even though my engine was totally free, it would still have been a better option for me to have spend a few hundred quid on a crashed/mot failed e34 535i manual. just my 2 pence worth! the later engine gives you a wider choice of manual gearboxes, has the right sump to clear the crossmember and steering rack, has a more suitable exhaust manifold and downpipes (to clear steering joint and bulkhead) and sounds a bit smoother due to having an oil pump chain tensioner.

i'm thinking of swapping my tired m535i engine for an e32/e34 lump, but i'll need to re-make the engine mount brackets which is putting me off doing so!

Fuel pump? my car has poor power at high rpm which i thought was the 316i fuel pump struggling. however when i bought a 325i pump the motor part number was the same (the pump assembly is a different part number because the 6-cyl e30 has a deeper fuel tank), and andy335touring's m30 car is making something like 250bhp with a standard 325i pump. so technically an m40 pump should work fine.

[Jos]

I am pretty sure she is Motronic, according to the generations page on e30.de it has a 2nd Generation M30, as the switch to Motronic was done in the 1st Generation Engine I would be 99% sure the 2nd Generations would be the same ECU or later.

Agreed on the engine thing, an e34/e32 engine is a much better choice. I do keep checking the 'Trader' to see what is on offer.

yeah sorry for the slight thread hijack, although I hope all the info here will help you too johno

Stuff I have found/used:

http://www.e30.de/335i/00.htm - More or less everything covered

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/ - Online ETK, handy for parts, handier than the installed version if you have broadband as you can compare models in 2 windows.

http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main.htm - Info on the e34, handy for tuning etc.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/ - General Forum with a fair amount of info on it, if you go looking.

Pretty sure everyone here will have seen these but no harm in posting them for people who haven't seen them yet eh?

[Karan]

after sitting in toby's car i would like to reiterate that m30 3.5 converisons are awesome and great value for money!!!

and whats all that nonsense about them becoming nose heavy!!!

Karan

[Andy335Touring]

Karan, love your new sig pic mate !

[Toby_Unna]

hope i didn't scare ya karan don't usually drive like that much of a nutter! oops

well impressed with the engine in yours, i've not thought too much of most m20s i've been in but yours is mental