E30 Zone

Hi all im new to the 2.7 i conversion i have just perchased a 325e with a blown head (thats good news aparently)

I have been down to the local bmw wrecking yard and the bloke told me to put a 323i head on & use the 323i cam, and he would supply a chip for the ecu use the original eta inlet manifold & ecu but get 535i injectors and ill need to find some forged pistons

does this sound like it would work to some people. I have read many conversion threads and i must say im getting confused the reason i ask is because 325i heads and cams are alot more pricey and are harder to find in Australia and most of the threads are about the 325i conversion

So I ask if anyone can help if they have done this and what sort of hp would i expect (of course the head will be getting ported and headers would be fitted)

so the main question is can i use the eta ecu & inlet manifold with a chip?? & would the 323i head and cam be ok??

Thanks Nick

you want a 731 head and a decent cam and chip

blitz877 wrote:you want a 731 head and a decent cam and chip

Ok a 731 is a 323i head (but the cam off a 323i head yes??) and ill still be able to use the same eta ecu and inlet manifold with a chip????

731 casting as used for 320/520 and 323 is fine.Use the 323 cam if it is servicable.
325 inlet manifold complete with fuel rail,injectors and fuel pressure regulator.
The above will work well with your stock eta short motor.
ECU.
Understand that 325e will have a distributor under the inlet manifold?
Be better swapping to the later motronic as found on plastic bumper 320/325,take all the engine harness and do not forget the h/t fitting at the end of the cam or the toothed wheel on the front of the crank,plus crank position sensor and bracket!
Ant at A-Tec here in the UK will supply a suitable chip,drop him an email for a price.

my m20 block has the dizzy at the front of the head not under the inlet manifold would the 323i inlet work with bigger injectors (I ask this because im getting a good deal from the wreckers for the head and inlet if i start talking 325i it becomes very expensive) dont forget im in Australia not UK 325's are not as popular as 323i's meaning alot of the 325i's are still on the road also could anyone help with a set of forged pistons (what brand & if they make a kit for this purpose) i know i dont have to go forged but i dont plan on pulling this motor down again after this
Thanks Nick

G'day Skindoggy and welcome to the zone.
I have been thinking about the very same conversion so interested in following this.
Why are there so few 325s here? I have been told it was a pricing thing - exchange rate and duties jumped in the mid 80s.

Gday skindogg33, Welcome to the zone. Good to see so many new Aussies joining the zone.

Mate use the 885 head, 325i cam, 325i inlet manifold , air flow meter and you will have a stormer. Problem is finding a good 885 head... (the 885 head is the one used on the 325i)

You can use the 731 and it is a great head but the 885 has larger ports and flows better.

I can get you everything you need to get underway. Will cost you around $1200 Australian for all the parts,

885 head (325i) pressure tested
325i inlet manifold
325i cam
325i AFM
325i fuel rail and injectors

or if you want it a bit cheaper I can get you a 731 head (323i) and 323i cam. However you still will need the 325i inlet manifold.

I got a quote for all these parts and it was $2000+ gst I now have a good source of all these parts

Mike

You dont need forged pistons either. They are real nice but will cost you around $1000... If you go the turbo rout it might be a good option but for 200hp its overkill

sorry guys the reason i ask and wanting all this to work is that i have been offered the 323i head,cam, for $250 and was told that the eta inlet with upgraded injectors would work with a chip of course. The guy has a buar cab 323 at his shop (wrecking yard) with this same modifications but the motor has ford cosworth pistons? said that im welcome to come back in a week when the owner picks up his car and be a pasenger for a fast wrap (car is there for brake upgrade) claims to have over 200 at the wheels ? and they say its not the first one they have done

I originally went in there because i wanted to turbo charge it but he said that i would get bored with it and lag also reliability issues but he told me to make my choice now because once i decide to go high compression i cant go back

said it would cost less then $2000 finished all up if i do all the labour (me and my neighbour )

200rwhp???? There might be a few guys on here that are running that kind of power at the motor..... I have never heard of a N/A M20 motor putting that kinda power down at the wheels.

Welcome Skindoggy33.

Mike is right on the build, and definately right on "claimed" HP on rear wheels. It is NOT going to happen on the build that you mention above.

I've done all of the work above on a 325e (86 model) and turned what was a "quite drive" into a bullet on wheels. The real issue with these cars are they are relatively small and light when compared to current offerings, so 200'ish HP at the flywheel turns these cars into a weapon, and if you spend as much effort in tuning the suspension and upgrading brakes (better disks, pads, mesh brake lines, etc) you will end up with a great drive.

Now, onto the build. I did mine over 2-3 years in different stages so can tell you what made a big difference and what didn't.

STAGE 1

* Chipped. At least it would rev out past 5,000rpm but not much more than that.
* Added a 323 head and a fairly wild cam
* Tuned extractors and twin stainless system. Great mid-range punch and breathed much better at top end
* Changed diff as the "e" diff is too tall and was made as a highway cruiser for USA market.

After these changes the car was a great street drive but cranky when you were at low speeds as the idle was really lumpy (sounded great though!)

STAGE 2.

* Changed the head to the 325i head and camshaft to match
* Changed the inlet manifold over to 325i one ( if you compare the "e" to the "i" manifold there is a large difference in the tube diameters)
* Koni airfilter replacement
* Upgraded injectors and had then ultrasonically cleaned and factory reset( this is a must as Australia had very poor fuel standards compared to Europe right up to 2003, so yours will definately be running suboptimal)
* Dyno tuned with a new "piggyback" chip to match the larger engine capacity and the mods ( you could probably achieve the same thing by buying the chip from Ant on this site and telling him in advance what build you have. It would save you money as the dyno tuninig is not cheap and there are only a few places I know of in Aus that do it)

That along with the suspension and brakes have made what was an old car in good condition into my favourite drive.

So...the advice here is don't go into a particular build because of the cost as you will probably not be satisfied and end up doing it again.

Steve.

ok guys im on a mission thanks for all your input im going to go with the 2.7 block crank & conrods, forged pitons (only for the reason to get exactly what size and app i want also stroker neibour said if ya gunna grind the crank may aswell stroke it 323i head ported and polished 323i intake port matched ballance and knife edged crank custom made headers and a chip looking to put in a 288 cam (my neibour builds race motors for speedway (mendes race engines) and i have full trust in his work) i hope to get 200+ at the rear wheels keep everyone posted as this will take a while (wife & 2 kids budget)

Thanks Nick

Great Nick, keep us posted on progress!

All this HP talk, my stock 323 makes me feel inadequate
Good luck with the builds though
Aussie zone roam anyone

Hi Mate

I currently am running a 2.7 eta conversion i am running a 325e bottom end with a 325i head and cam and eveythin else 325i works a treat well well responsive but got a alpina chip for the motronic ecu mate love it

Also a cam would be better am currently waitin for me shrick-cam to turn up should be good

m-jermyn,bit of advice,what would you do to a 323 m20 to get it going without swapping motors as i just swapped it in 2 weeks ago got a deal i couldnt refuse ,nother new south aussie here also