E30 Zone

I fitted my 2.7 yesterday and sorted the electrics/cooling and exhaust today.

Just as the light was going at 6.15 pm today she fired up, feels well potent

The clutch slave cylinder might need changing as I accidentally pushed the pedal while the engine was out and it now feels very mushy and the bite point is near the floor

A full report will be written when I get time.

Going for a spin now to bed her in

Cheers,

Iain T

Nice one mate, should have mine in 2 weeks, what bits did you use to make yours, bet your well happy to have heard it all fired up

now it's the patient bit of running it in!

well done mate. great news. are we gonna see this car at ferrybridge. just a nice gentle drive to help rack up them running in miles.

well done geezer
my 2.7 should be done and runnin next week

Might be up for ferrybridge.

Been out for a 50 mile run, she's a strong one feels like she could pull your face off.

The only trouble is the propshaft is vibrating above 50mph, unfortunatley the scrappy didn't mark it when they took it off and although I aligned the universal joints it isnt right Arse

Lets see what tomorrow brings.

Cheers,

Iain T

Good work mate!

cool mate, if you don't fancy ferrybridge then don't worry. it should be a good day however as the weather is supposed to be superb, read 18-19 degrees C. so it should be about ten times as warm as the last one.

so how much cash we talking to do the conversion ????

Nicely done Iain, had no doubt that you'd get it done....but good to hear its fired up.

so, how does it sound?

Good work Iain. Sounds like it's gone off without a hitch.

200+bhp??

Johno- I reckon it's cost me Ԛ£1800 in parts doing all the labour myself.

Dan- will have to meet up over the snakes pass again to give it a good run.

Boots walker- It sounds fantastic, nice and throaty with a hint of V8 burble above 2000rpm at part throttle

Bob- Yes I reckon on a good 200 Bhp judging by the arse dyno. Havn't opened it up yet, got to be patient and run it in properly but the signs are good.

The mid range torque is phenomenal, I was accelerating up a well steep hill last night with 3 people in the car at 40 mph in 5th gear with next to no throttle

Can't wait to get the first 1000 miles over and give it a good booting

Just got to get this damn propshaft sorted, above 50mph it feels like the prop's going to come through the floor

Cheers

Iain T

Here's The list of bits used to do the conversion :

I used a complete 525 Eta engine and reconditioned the bottom end with new standard pistons/rings and bearings, pumps and seals etc.

I modified the Eta head by opening up the ports to 325i sizes and also had 3 angle valves and seats cut for better flow. I had the facilities and the time (15 hours +) to port the head myself but the late 320i (731 casting) head is a better head to use if you can't do the porting yourself.

I renewed all the valve gear including rockers/shafts, valves/springs and fitted a new standard 325i cam for now although that will be replaced with something like a Shrick cam in the future. The Eta cam sprockets are pressed steel and are a bit too weak for my liking so I swapped them for the standard 320/325i cast sprockets.

I used a 325i inlet manifold port matched to the head with 325i (blue cap) injectors and a 325i ecu with a Zone 2.7 chip, also a 325i airflow meter.

I used a 325i standard ratio gearbox with a new 325i clutch kit and rebuilt the 3.64 diff with new bearings and seals.

The 325i propshaft is necessary as it is shorter due to the gearbox being 30mm longer than the existing 2 litre 'box.

I also renewed all the coolant hoses and fitted an electric cooling fan to dispose of the power sapping viscous fan.

I fitted a full 325i 3 part exhaust system with a Boysen centre box (great bassy exhaust note) and Eberspacher angle exit back box (I like them although most don't). The late 320i used the 325i exhaust manifold so I used this, although the casting inside is pretty awful with lots of restrictions. A 6 branch is on the shopping list

Unfortunately the propshaft was not marked before it was removed from the donor car and is not in its correct position as it now vibrates above 50mph so that is todayÔš's job

Hope this info is useful.

Cheers,

Iain T

welcome to the world of the 2.7!

thats interesting.. from the sound of it you used an eta lump and added some 325i m20 bits to the head to make the head better... what compression ratio are you running?

have i got that right btw?

Any Good Tips On Running a Car In. Cheers

dale325i wrote:Any Good Tips On Running a Car In. Cheers

this method has been recommended and i've seen it work on several cars.. one of which is running 250psi compression across all cylinders now!!

i used the american method as per "4 stroke performance tuning".

it consisted of running the engine up to temp, getting onto a dual carriageway or motorway, then selecting a high gear like 4th or 5th, accelerating hard at low rpm up to about 5500rpm, then snapping the throttle shut and coasting down to 2k ish. repeating that 15 to 20 times, then changing the oil and filter at about 25 miles. then another 300 miles on the second oil, varying the revs and engine loads all the time (still keeping it below 80% of the max revs), at 300 miles another better quality oil and filter change, then more variable revs and engine loads up to 700 miles ish. at that point i did the final oil change to the day to day oil.

oil schedule was

0-25 miles - cheapo halfords mineral oil
25-300 - cheapo halfords mineral oil
300-700 - better quality mineral oil like castrol GTX
700- mobil1 0w40 fully synthetic.

the idea of the above method is to work the engine hard without stressing it too much (high revs). the full throttle at low rpm maxes out the cylinder pressures and drives the piston rings into the cylinder walls (helping them bed in), then the snap throttle creates a large vacuum in the cylinder drawing up extra oil for lubrication. the 25-300 mile period, lots of stop start, varying engine loads and rpm working the engine and helping to stop the bores glazing, but again, not stressing it. the first 25 is the most critical, and the 25-300 would ideally be done in one sitting. its allot of miles and you cant really just drive to scotland and back at 4000rpm all the way, need to work the engine (without revving high), lots of a and b road stuff.

Worked well on my engine, but it does get a few backs up with traditionalists who prefer the Ԛ“drive like a granddad for 1000 milesԚâ€a version.

What sort of BHP does a good 2.7 make?

What are the measured performance stats?..

Proper stats, not "ive seen 150 on the clock"

0-60=5.9-6.0secs
1/4mile=14.5secs

top speed 145mph gps'd- at 6400 rpm

thats some average gtech figures for my 2.7, u can see spec in the link in my sig pic

HTH
Karan

Anything between 190 bhp and 220 bhp.

The important is torque. If you get 200 lb.ft- 220 lb.ft then its going to be one fast E30 regurdless if its got even 185 bhp.

Big torque is what is the most important thing here.

I'm a salivatin' here in deepest Essex!!!

Really pleased that she's running-I'm dying to get my 2.7 in now.

Aren't we all!

Johnno- sort of right, I experimented with the Eta head to see if it was possible to open the tiny ports out to the same measurements as a 325i head and found it was so I did the other 5 sets too.

Then fitted standard 325i bits to it, the unused cam bearings needed oil feeds drilling through the casting too.

Been out for a 70 mile run using the low rpm/high load method described above and she pulls hard from 1500 up to 4500 in 5th where i let off. I'd say in top gear at motorway speeds the torque is so great it feels faster than the old 320i did in 2nd

Very impressed so far, even if I do say so myself.

Sorted the propshaft vibration, took it off and turned through 180 degrees.

Also fitted the vibration damper to the back of the box and bent the gear selector shaft to suit.

I fitted the Z3 short shift while I was doing the conversion and am impressed, I made a nylon bush to replace the rubber one on the gearbox end of the aluminium shaft and there is no lever play whatsoever. Feels nice and tight, oooer !

Got to wire up the fan now nearly overheated her in a traffic jam

Cheers,

Iain T

are you going to use a dash switch for the fan or do you have a temp switch to screw into the rad?

i have mine just on a dash switch at the moment in the 335. i'd like to get a temp switch though as i can't really let anyone else drive it on their own or they'll forget to use the fan!

i have a temp switch from a corrado but i don't know what's the best place to fit it to get good heat conduction, it won't screw into the rad.

well done with the engine build btw. it's a nice feeling when you've had an engine in that many bits then you put it together and it runs sweetly!

Toby - I have a replacement rad that has a screwed boss on the drivers side, I got a temp switch from a volvo 340 and fitted that.

If your going to ferrybridge I'll show you. Also got a fan from a Peugeot 405 and fitted that to the front of the rad ( its a blower anyway).

Your right it is a great feeling running around in something that you've built but I dread the first start up.

I removed all the injection relays and plugs and turned it over on the starter in short bursts for what felt like 10 mins until the oil pressure light went off, then shorted out the fuel pump relay to prime the new hoses and filter etc. Plugs back in and it fired up first kick, What a relief

Cheers,

Iain T