E30 Zone

ive just bought a 320i e30 and was wonderin wat would be the thing to do to engine as for mods, im hopin to gain close to 200 bhp, im thinkin of going along the lines of upgraded cam, ecu, fuel pump an regulator and also bigger injectors an also a better an intake , but dunno much about bmw so i dunno there best tunin products to go for, i was also wonderin about the gearbox an diff, i want the car to be quick of the mark an im not to botherd about top end speed does anyone no if the gearbox out off the e30 316 woud fit ?? ant help would be greatly appreciated ?

Steve,

It's hard and expensive work to get 200bhp out of a modified 2.7L engine, so you can forget about it on the 2.0L engine.

Your best bet is to fit a standard 2.5L lump from the 325i. It's basically a straight swap and gives instant improvements to both power and fuel consumption (320 is very thirsty). You really would be wasting your money trying to modify the original engine.

Ian.

Ian are you saying a 2.5 is more fuel economical than a 2.0????

mrLEE30 wrote:Ian are you saying a 2.5 is more fuel economical than a 2.0????

That seems to be the general consensus. You need to work the 320 a lot harder than the 325.

Ian.

tis true, my 320 is even worse now iv done the valve clearences!

mrLEE30 wrote:Ian are you saying a 2.5 is more fuel economical than a 2.0????

It's possible to get better fuel consumption from a 2.0. but you have to drive it so hard and rev it so high to move the thing along, that a 2.5 often gets better MPG.
Steveyboy: Your best plan is to enjoy the 320 just as it is now, maintain and restore it, and generally learn about E30s, and then, if it has a shell in good condition, consider an engine swap, like a M20B27 right up to a 3.2 M3 engine.
Have a look in the engine swaps forum. They're mainly nutters there, but they produce some excellant work. Awesome in some cases.

I've had a e34 2.5 m50, loverly car smooth, nice quite sound, 17 mpg driven hard, 32 mpg motorway driving like a good boy. Have a e30 2.0 m20 love the car but hate the tapping shakey lump called the engine bring home 15-20mpg all the time, can't wait till spring .. a deffinate engine conversion 2.5/2.8, the only new bit my m20's getting is a new thermostat.

thats just my opion *my m20 moan over*

J_Mac wrote:I've had a e34 2.5 m50, loverly car smooth, nice quite sound, 17 mpg driven hard, 32 mpg motorway driving like a good boy. Have a e30 2.0 m20 love the car but hate the tapping shakey lump called the engine bring home 15-20mpg all the time, can't wait till spring .. a deffinate engine conversion 2.5/2.8, the only new bit my m20's getting is a new thermostat.

thats just my opion *my m20 moan over*

Something wrong with your M20B20 mate! Whatever criticisms are levelled at this engine, and there are many, unsmooth is not one of them.

Straight 6. Remember the ads where the 50P piece was standing on the running engine? That's a straight 6. Or are you all too young?

Gwynne26 wrote:Straight 6. Remember the ads where the 50P piece was standing on the running engine? That's a straight 6. Or are you all too young?

My god I do remember that ad, must be an old git now

Cheers,

Iain T

See Sig !!!!

I remember that 50p advert, and the one where the motoring journalist "writes a few words on this ultra smooth engine"

steveyboy wrote:ive just bought a 320i e30 and was wonderin wat would be the thing to do to engine as for mods, im hopin to gain close to 200 bhp, im thinkin of going along the lines of upgraded cam, ecu, fuel pump an regulator and also bigger injectors an also a better an intake , but dunno much about bmw so i dunno there best tunin products to go for, i was also wonderin about the gearbox an diff, i want the car to be quick of the mark an im not to botherd about top end speed does anyone no if the gearbox out off the e30 316 woud fit ?? ant help would be greatly appreciated ?

dont waste your money,youll never get 200bhp from a 320 without spending thousands of pounds.either start bigger with a 325 engine which will still cost big bucks to get 200bhp or go even bigger and fit a different engine altogether.

It's possible to get better fuel consumption from a 2.0. but you have to drive it so hard and rev it so high to move the thing along, that a 2.5 often gets better MPG

thats what i thought too!! of course if you screw the arse off of a 2.0 to try and keep up with a 2.5 it will not return good economy, but if you screw the arse off of a 2.5 it will be even worse.

And my M20B20 is super smooth, returns better mpg than the 325 did but... it is what it is, a fairly slow (by comparison to 2.5) engine however it will still be purring along long after the 2.5's and 2.7 have blown up!!!. Accept that and live with it. simple mods are to fit a 325 throttle body , plenty of threads and tech articles on how to achieve good results doing this and a zone chip. this will pep up the bottom end a bit but as all the lads above say and you must have more power... dont waste any time throwing money at these engines, buy a 2.5 and convert it to 2.7 and you will be close to 200bhp for not much money if you can do the work yourself.

mrlee

hmm, if i was going to change the engine i would be thinkin more along the line of fittin a 535i engine or would this be a bad idea ?????

steveyboy wrote:hmm, if i was going to change the engine i would be thinkin more along the line of fittin a 535i engine or would this be a bad idea ?????

That's a conversion that's been done many times. Heavyweight primitive lump, but a powerful heavyweight primitive lump nevertheless.

steveyboy wrote:ive just bought a 320i e30 and was wonderin wat would be the thing to do to engine as for mods, im hopin to gain close to 200 bhp, im thinkin of going along the lines of upgraded cam, ecu, fuel pump an regulator and also bigger injectors an also a better an intake , but dunno much about bmw so i dunno there best tunin products to go for, i was also wonderin about the gearbox an diff, i want the car to be quick of the mark an im not to botherd about top end speed does anyone no if the gearbox out off the e30 316 woud fit ?? ant help would be greatly appreciated ?

Can i just ask.... why did you not just buy a 325 in the 1st place? Surely that would of made more sense and saved you messing about with a 320?

Can you not convert the 2litre lump to a 2.7? or am i bieng stupid?

Can i just ask.... why did you not just buy a 325 in the 1st place? Surely that would of made more sense and saved you messing about with a 320?

you are probably more likely to find a better condition 320 than a 325 as they tend not to be thrashed as much and hence crashed as much.

Can you not convert the 2litre lump to a 2.7? or am i bieng stupid?

no you are not being stupid,, you need (IIRC ) basically a 525e crank and rods and 320 block and head

yep here in ireland 325s are just used for diffing an driftin which also make them very exspenive , plus i like a challange !!! send more info this way about the 2.7 conversion please

Steveyboy,have a read about my new 2.7 in E30 chat......