Just about dead M42.

[marcp1987]

Well I think its had it, after 190,000 miles, most of them on the limit I guess, the engine in my 318is is letting go.

Mayo in the dipstick tube and down every breather pipe, uses a little bit of oil, but no oil pressure at all anymore. Drained the oil yesterday and the sump to find 3 parts of a big end bearing!

Still runs well, pulls hard, but its not long.

What to do next then, how easy are correct M42's that arent fooked to come by? If not M42 then I guess its M20B25 time, I know theres more powerful options out there but the M20 is reliable if looked after, a reasonable step up in power from what im used to but most importantly, pretty cheap and easy to come by.

Engines from later 318is, do they fit? I know I need all my inlet manifold stuff, but are they the only differences?

[kevo]

i have a later type engine in my 318is, if you swap the parts over (sump etc and manifolds blah blah) then yes they fit fine. they are an easy engine to come by and are relatively cheap too. look on ebay, however you are obviously buying an unknown quantity so buy with a little caution. they are a strong engine though and will do many miles no problem, my previous engine had 180,000 on it and is still in the shed as a good spare.
no comparison to a 2.5 engine though, if you're after a power hike then theres no point in having this conversation, however it's a bit of extra work to fit, as in extra loom changes etc but it's not the end of the world.
hope this helps
Kev

[Dave_M3]

Your thinking of putting an M20 in a 318iS?!?





***Puts the Kettle on while sits and waits for the inevitable***

[GrindCulture]

E36 items seem to be the way to go to replace M42s, as long as you swap all the gubbins over to make it fit in the E30.

Or...

Go M50, don't bother with the 12v relics. You can use the M42 gearbox with the M50 too so that'll help things along the way.

[marcp1987]

I'll stick with a M42 if I can get hold of one for not silly money, thats not done a million miles, its a fine engine, apart from the timing chain issues I had.

So what year or car do I look at for getting hold of an engine? What needs to be swapped? Can I use my original ECU, chip and stuff?

Thanks!

[hoshy]

Sounds like time for a rebuild to me You should be able to get most/all of the bits you need easily. Where are you located, I know Dan-318iS has quite a lot of parts in his garage from when we rebuilt my m42.

[Daz318is]

Hi

E36 M42's around £300 to £500 depending on millage etc, on E Bay with all ancilaries, you Need to swap sump, inlet and exhaust manifolds but i believe you can keep the alternater etc with the bigger fan belt, your ECU and Chip and stuff should be fine

hope this helps
Daz318is

[hoshy]

Power steering pump would be needed too I believe.

[magpie]

i'm sure you have to change the oil pick up pipe when you swap sumps aswell,,,not a hard job ...
neither is the m20 swap...your call

[marcp1987]

Found a engine out of a K plate 318is, will this do? Can I just change the pully on the power steering pump to keep the serpantine belt?

I'll whip the sump off the new engine anyway just to see where I stand, so oil pickup be alright.

Ta

[Dave_M3]

Any pre 96 E36 318iS engine is a straight bolt on, bolt off afair with fitting into the E30 with parts etc, the later M44 1.9 engines from 96 onwards are what requires abit of patience in wiring and things like that.


You can swap the pulley fine on the power steering pump and also will need to swap over the mounting bracket.

It's all easy stuff anyway if you have both engines out on the ground side-by-side and just take anything on the E30 M42 off and onto the E36 engine if it looks different