E30 Zone

I've been trying to find a basic list of parts needed for an M30 conversion and what cars to find them from, can anyone help??

I've searched, but have got mixed answers/parts

I've got the opportunity to get a running manual E32 735i (MOT failure) so the obvious choice is to chuck the M30 in the tourer Its a 318i btw.

So, what do I need, where do find the parts (that wont be on the E32) and roughly how much am I looking at to do this??

Sorry, no doubt this has been covered a million times.

Cheers,
Ed

And while I'm here, does anyone have a link to details about the E36 steering rack conversion??

Engine mounting brackets - (pm Beefy on this site) - £100
E28 535i or E24 635csi radiator - £30ish 2nd hand
E32/E34 530/535 top rad hose - £lots new!
E28 535i or E24 635csi bottom rad hose - £?
An electric fan £??
M20 brown coolant sensor - £12 from bmw
M20/M40/M42 transmission support bracket you already have
E30 325i gear linkage and selector rod - £20 2nd hand
E30 M3 propshaft, or hyrid consisting of front half of e32 prop and rear half or e30 prop, modified and balanced (not DIY) - £100+
Need to do some bodging on the exhaust - £??
325i diff, 3.64 is best readily available ratio, limited slip if funds permit
- £50 open diff/ £250 for LSD
Better springs and shocks - £??
325i rubber engine mounts - £25ish

Theo325 wrote:Engine mounting brackets - (pm Beefy on this site) - £100
E28 535i or E24 635csi radiator - £30ish 2nd hand
E32/E34 530/535 top rad hose - £lots new!
E28 535i or E24 635csi bottom rad hose - £?
An electric fan £??
M20 brown coolant sensor - £12 from bmw
M20/M40/M42 transmission support bracket you already have
E30 325i gear linkage and selector rod - £20 2nd hand
E30 M3 propshaft, or hyrid consisting of front half of e32 prop and rear half or e30 prop, modified and balanced (not DIY) - £100+
Need to do some bodging on the exhaust - £??
325i diff, 3.64 is best readily available ratio, limited slip if funds permit
- £50 open diff/ £250 for LSD
Better springs and shocks - £??
325i rubber engine mounts - £25ish

Cool, so I can get a fair few bits from the E32
How much is an M3 prop?? I dred to think tbh
Can I not use the 318 diff?? I want a lower atio as possible, and have a spare 4.27:1 from a 318i tourer, was going to weld up as its gonna be a drift car

Looking about £330 plus E32, plus suspension etc. Am I right in thinking the M30 is about 210bhp with buckets of torque??

What sort of MPG can I expect with average driving??

MPG, err, not good! I'm not the best person to ask though, my car is a track car and only gets driven hard. On the M-Way you could tease high 20's out of it I rekon.

318i diff is no good whatsoever, 1st gear will be useless, and 5th gear will be more like what 4th gear should be. AS if this isn't reason enough, bear in mind that it's entirely probable that the diff will shit itself, especially if you are drifting.

Power wise, yeah 211bhp(with cat) and 230ish ft/lbs. My old M30 which had been to the moon and back, and no doubt raped all the way made 199bhp and 224ft/lbs with a knackered distributor cap and rotor arm and a truly shocking bodge of an exhaust...and std chip..............and no gearbox oil (more transmission losses on the dyno perhaps!?)

High 20's mpg sounds good As does the torque figure, it will be like drifting my old S13, but with 5 doors and 8ft of metal behind me

Whats the closest ratio diff I can get that will take the torque??

Well, a 3.91 diff out of a facelift 325i will do ya, but again, it's really short. Might as well have a longer ratio, and drift in a higher gear, it's really easy with the amount of torque these engines have.

Basically there are two sizes of diff on the e30, small case (found on 320's and 4 pot turds, excluding the m3 & 320is) and medium case diffs found on the 325's and M3's. The small case ones will not hack the abuse as poor old Gareth found out at Santa Pod.

Suppose the extra torque from the M30 over the M40 I currently have will make a difference.

I'll probably run it with the 4.27 for the time being, as I have it here, and keep the 4.1 thats in it as spare incase the 4.27 does decide to go south. Then think about getting a 3.64.

What wiring is envolved? Or is it "plug and play" type affair?? (doubt it )

Also, how much is the M3 prop?? Or who can I contact for hybridising the 2 props I (will) have??

And I was speaking to Munky last weekend about shock sizes? Apparently the 6cyl ones have larger dia shocks? So with an M30 upfront I suppose I should get uprated ones for a 325? Any recommendations, bearing in mind I'm on a budget

And what should I do about brakes? Are 325 brakes any bigger/better than 318ones??

Hi Ed,

M3 prop if you can find one will be around the £100 mark, it will be quicker to get your E30 prop and the E32 prop cut, welded and balanced professionally IIRC that will also be around £100. There's a place called www.reco-prop.com that will be able to sort it out for you.. I was lucky when I bought my M30 engine of another zoner.. it came with an M3 prop

Having the tourer will mean you've got the 51mm shocks already so yes 325 shocks will work fine with the M30 up front. According to my TIS the 318 tourer has the same brakes as the 325 (unless I've just read it wrong )

If your wiring is the same as mine was you should literally be able to just plug in the engine & body loom and it'll start, there are a couple of wires to be swapped over to get fuel economy/electric windows and heater motor working...

I'm running a 3.91LSD diff and 1st gear is useless as is 5th... sitting on the motorway at 70 with the engine at nearly 3000rpm gets to you, you just want to change up...

Charlie

I've just been having another look on my TIS and the shocks from the 318 tourer are listed as the same for the 325 so you would only need to upgrade the springs

Link to E36 rack conversion although you'll have clearance issues on the M30 exhaust manifold...

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 36rack.htm

Charlie

Nice one, cheers Charlie

So its an E36 rack or M30 powers? Damn it, I want both. And IIRC I'm sitting around 3krpm @ 70mph anyway, so perhaps the 3.64 wont be that bad

Does anyone have any pictures of 335 exhausts? What can I use? The E32 manifold, bodged to fit the E30? Or should I get a 325 tupirer exhaust and bodge it up to the M30 downpipe?

Where can i get a performance manifold from for an M30? Would it still fit??


Also, would this make the power gains claimed??

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=017

Hi turbo-tastic,
I am the seller of those chips, and can assure you not only do I know from personal experience in my own daily-driver E34 535iSE that they work, but customer feedback both on here and E-bay testifies to their effectiveness!

The Zone shop sells an M30 fannymold
Cheers,

BTB do a M30 6 branch manifold. Silly money though.

I have had dealings with that ebay seller, and his chips are good. I'm going for Megasquirt for my M30 conversion.

LOL, speak of the devil

Hehe, how's it coming along Flappysocks? Weather not ideal for M30 conversions I guess

No worries, I only asked as my old S13 had what was commonly known as "ebay power resistor of justice" which f**ked up my fueling, and made it run rich and really, really shit. Clogging up brand new Denso Iridium plugs after 600miles (£11 each)

Will you be relisting those chips? I cant buy yet as I dont have the donor car yet, so dont have the ECU code.

Didn't even know e30zone had a shop

No problem, just keep an eye out for the E-bay ads or PM me when you're ready

FlappySocks wrote:BTB do a M30 6 branch manifold. Silly money though.

You're not joking are you!!! £800 for a manifold??? Are they the only company?

Hot tuning were talking about doing one. You could try asking them hottuning@hottuning.eu

A few people contacted hottuning, myself included - I have my doubts whether the idea will get off the ground, and I think they even suggested that someone supply them with a manifold to....ahem....use as reference. Let's form an ordely queue

That is a bit of liberty really, no probs with them making copies if there isn,t a patent/copyright on it.
Do think they should at least buy the "original" though. Afterall they must have a maker already lined up if they are turning out the M20 six branches.

The only way they could pull that off is if they were to pay someone say £500 to borrow the manifold and do as they please with it for a week or however long Stevie and Ray need to replicate it, and then return it. I'd be happy to do that as i'd get a btb for £300, and they would pay only £500 for a design of an excellent product. BTB however wouldn't be all smiles. Oh well, shit happens.

gooner1 wrote:Do think they should at least buy the "original" though. Afterall they must have a maker already lined up if they are turning out the M20 six branches.

They probably can't buy an original, as I doubt BTB/Evole will sell them one.

FlappySocks wrote:

gooner1 wrote:Do think they should at least buy the "original" though. Afterall they must have a maker already lined up if they are turning out the M20 six branches.

They probably can't buy an original, as I doubt BTB/Evole will sell them one.

How hard would it be to buy by proxy, and yes i know it sounds like a song.

ahaa, i've been introduced already! regarding the diff, don't fart about with a small case. it's not worth the effort. mine lunched itself at 1500rpm while being 'relatively' gentle and then cost me £350 to get recovered home

it was also siezed and basically not tow-able either

keep an eye out for a M3 exhaust. it's a larger bore than the 325i one and matches the M30 downpipes with minimal modification

M3 exhaust is definetly the way forward I stupidly sold mine when I thought about quitting the conversion (financial reasons) way back. As your going to be using a 318 you'll need to buy a full system anyway so look out for the M3 one.

I can also vouch for Maurice and his chips I'm running one and am quite happy with the way it runs and drives mine might be up for sale in the near future as I'm moving over to megasquirt

Charlie

Are M3 exhausts much more expensive? I am thinking about replacing my exhaust system with a genuine one.

Picked up a good second hand one for £150 from ebay, had to travel to Eastbourne for it though.

Flappy, theres one one ebay now mate150187733891

Thanks gooner Are they a lot louder than a stock 325i exhaust? I didn't want anything too loud for my cab.

Have,nt actually fitted mine yet, think Gareth or Driftboy have one on theirs.

Gareth has a scorpion M3 exhaust on his chariot, it's definitely louder than the smaller bore system on my 335.

FlappySocks wrote:Thanks gooner Are they a lot louder than a stock 325i exhaust? I didn't want anything too loud for my cab.

If it's the original BMW one then I doubt it would be much louder than a standard 325 system, that one on ebay would be louder than standard as it's a racing one from a track car.

Arse, unfortunatley there is no way I'm going to be \ble to do my M30 335i convserion

So if anyone wants the details of a leather interior'd, LSD Equipped manual E32 735i for only £400 let me know asap, as it wont be around for long.