E30 Zone

Ello Chaps,

Seing as I have never owned, driven or been in an E30 325i, can someone give me an idea of the pace of the car, what it is equal to in terms of straight line performance.

I'm still weighing up options of which engine to put in my E30 coupe, so far it is between the following:

2.5 24v 5 series lump
2.5 3 series lump
3.5 5/7/6 series lump
and a race prepped M10 (aprx 200hp unsure ft lb yet).

For pure bang for my buck, I am swinging toward the 325i, but I am not sure if it will live up to what I would like? It seems both the M50 and the 3.5 lump will cost roughly the same, 1kish + with the M10 being the most expensive at around 1.5k

The 2.0 m20 I have in there atm seems nippy, it is a little sluggish to start but since stripping the car out I have noticed the difference, and mid range to high revs it is, well nippy.

I'm thinking that the 325i lump in there with the car lightened up will make a huge difference, the extra 50ish horsies and 40ft lb should be good for something! I know the book time 0-60 dash which is mostly what I am interested in, is around the 7 secs mark. Is this way off? Will the light weight 320 shell improve the performance a great deal from a stock 325i? I would also look at keeping the 320 box and ratios. I guess later for the cash I have saved, I could later change the cams, do some headwork etc to improve the power more.

Any views appreciated!

Cheers!

3.5 big lump, a lot of power but high fuel consumption, be the quickest of them all, specicially if you stripped it out. GThink their around 210bhp mark. 325 engine, easy swap and cheap to do. 2.5 24v lump pretty good choice, modern engine, good power and torque prolly 2nd quickest in an E30. 190 bhp as standard i think?

If you want something for pure speed and outright performance 3.5 lump without question. Go like stink in an E30.

best bang for your £Â£ is an ETA bottom end with your head, 325 injectors, fuel reg AFM and intake manifold/TB

thats a bolt on 70 bhp ish

3.5 is best bang for your buck engine swap wise

2.7 conversion as Ant has stated is best bang for your buck..

320i shell is the same as the 325i as is the same as the 316i its the running gear that differed

320i box and diff arent ideal for a 325i - needs a large case diff and the 320i has longer or wider ratios iirc

Or....you could come buy my 325 turbo and have that instead. Have a looksey in the for sale section. And you are in wiltshire too.

Good call Jon !