M44 touring conversion

[jmc330i]

This is my '93 318i lux touring...


Ive had the car for a couple years now and other than the usual ticky cam its been pretty reliable, until a bottom end rattle stopped play. The car has covered around 115k and had been well looked after, so I was surprised when it started knocking. I dropped the sump to find a couple sump bolts in the pan and one damaged oil pick up.
Rather than repair the weasy M40, the obvious option was to change the engine for a good one - and one with a healthy power increase seemed to make sense. I'd already decided to keep it as a 4-pot, so 16v was the way to go...

Ive had the M44 engine for a number of months now, but Ive finally got round to actually starting the M44 conversion.

So, first things first - out with the old...



The engine bay will be getting a spring clean whilst its empty, although I wont be getting too carried away with it!

[jmc330i]

The M44 lump has been treated to some new parts, mainly various gaskets and seals, a waterpump, timing chain tensioner and some rubber hoses that looked a bit suspect. Its also had the M40 alloy engine mounts bolted on and the M40 sump too as the M44 sump has a rear bowl which wont fit in the E30. No pics of this as its a bit boring.

Whilst mocking things up I came across the first (simple) issue.
As standard, the M44 dipstick tube runs down the side of the block into the rear sump, which is no good for the conversion. The M40 dipstick tube enters right at the front of the M40 sump, but the M40 dipstick tube has no chance of fitting past the the pulleys, tensioner and belt on the M44. Luckily though, the M44 tube is almost the right shape for this, it just needs some slight adjustment to find its way through...




Its a nice tight fit and wont be going anywhere, but I will be extending the support bracket back to the inlet manifold.

[jmc330i]

With the engine on the floor, I turned my attention to getting rid of the heavy M44 dualmass flywheel. Ive got both and M40 and M20 singlemass flywheels here, but have gone for the M20 flywheel and standard M20 clutch.
The flywheel has been lightened, but not too excessively. Its been taken down to 6.9kg, down from 8.5kg. With the clutch attached the whole lot weighs 13.4kg...



The complete weight of a standard M40 singlemass flywheel and clutch is 14.4kg.
That might only be a 1kg saving, but the the main bulk of weight on an M40/42 flywheel is in the big band of metal around the outer edge, which isnt ideal. So the M20 flywheel has a bigger advantage than just some weight saving.


As it stands now, the flywheel and clutch is all bolted up and Im waiting on an M20 starter motor to arrive. Once its here, Ill be dropping the engine in and bolting it up to the M40 gearbox. One thing to do before is fit a Z3 gear lever.
I've also got an E46 rack on the way and so as soon as its here and offered into place, I can figure out what PAS pump and pipes I'll be needing.

[Jarno]

That's a nice to put in an E30

With the engine on the floor, I turned my attention to getting rid of the heavy M44 dualmass flywheel. Ive got both and M40 and M20 singlemass flywheels here, but have gone for the M20 flywheel and standard M20 clutch.
The flywheel has been lightened, but not too excessively. Its been taken down to 6.9kg, down from 8.5kg. With the clutch attached the whole lot weighs 13.4kg...



The complete weight of a standard M40 singlemass flywheel and clutch is 14.4kg.
That might only be a 1kg saving, but the the main bulk of weight on an M40/42 flywheel is in the big band of metal around the outer edge, which isnt ideal. So the M20 flywheel has a bigger advantage than just some weight saving.

Well it's 1 kg in the right direction, every bit helps. And you're right, mass in the outer part does cause more inertia.

[jmc330i]

I could of gone a bit lighter with the flywheel (I wouldn't of gone below 6kg) but it's my daily driver, so I wanted to keep some refinement. I forgot to weigh the M44 dual mass and clutch, but its safe to say the M20 setup is lighter!

I think an M40 flywheel can be taken down to around 7-7.5kg meaning with clutch kit, the total would be around 12-12.5kg. I'm not too keen on the way an M40 flywheel needs to be machined to lose the weight, plus there is still the bulk of weight around the outer edge. To me the M20 flywheel is the better option.

[Andyboy]

If anyone else wants to do this, I can supply a complete M44 with loom, ECU, EWS and key for around £350 - I think that's what you paid me for this one?

The M44 is a nice engine and a great conversion for an E30.

[jmc330i]

Yeah, after looking at a few 'low mileage' M42s it seemed apparent that I would be needing to replace the timing chain, sprockets, tensioners etc etc as a matter of course. So £200 for an M42 engine, then another £400-£500 to sort the chain and other bits made £350 for a much newer (this is a '99 M44) engine a bit of a no brainer.
I took a gamble that this engine would be ok (TBH, I wouldn't expect any different from Andy), but having had the rocker cover off it all looks good.
And I even served the M44 sump and oil pick up for £85 to the owner of a slammed E36

[maxfield]

Will this be the first E30 with an M44 in?

I bought an engine off Everett about 5 years ago now and the engine is still sweet as a nut

[jmc330i]

I know of a couple M44'd E30s, but they have all used the M42 management and inlet manifold etc.
I'm not sure if anyone has bothered to keep it all M44.

As I said, buying an engine is always a gamble, but I wasn't particularly worried getting it from Andy

[jmc330i]

With the engine almost ready to go in, I found the next small difference between M40 and M44. On the M44, the fuel hard lines (from the fuel rail) run down the side of the block and are held with a bracket that bolts to the side of the sump. The M40 sump has nowhere for this bracket to bolt to.
So I took the bracket from the M44 and chopped it in half....



And bent into shape...



And borrowed a sump bolt to hold it in place...

[jmc330i]

My next issue wasnt totally car related, but was my error after building a gate and small wall, leaving me no room to get my engine stand through
So I had to improvise....



With solid mounted trucks so it wouldnt tip, it was actually very balanced...

[jmc330i]

So after being dragged out to the beer garden for the afternoon (I didnt take too much persuading ), I had the engine in this evening so I could look for any other issues...

The first obvious problem (so far) on the inlet side was the DISA housing resting on the carbon canister as I lowered the engine onto the mounts...



Not too much of an issue as the carbon canister can be removed, although Ive kept it and just moved it down in its bracket.

With the engine on its mounts, the next problem is the DISA housing almost catches on the brake fluid reservoir. There is a about 1mm of clearance, but that wont be enough once the engine starts moving around. I'll either remote mount the reservoir or find another slightly narrower one...



One last pic from this evening - the engine in its new home...



Tomorrow will be plumbing, PAS and hopefully a start on the loom modifications.

[appletree]

Nice work, I thought the M44 inlet manifold hit the e30 bonnet which was why you see the M44s with the M42 inlet fitted.

If you need a M42 inlet I have 3 for sale cheap as they're in the way drop me a PM if interested.

[jmc330i]

Nice work, I thought the M44 inlet manifold hit the e30 bonnet which was why you see the M44s with the M42 inlet fitted.

Cheers. Hopefully this should work out to be a nice conversion.

I have heard about the M44 inlet not fitting, but so far everything seems to fit and the bonnet is closed... so fingers crossed
Hopefully I wont need an M42 inlet manifold, but I might need a couple other bits...


I havent managed to do anything to the car this week, but should be on it again at the weekend.

[wellard]

M44 manifold clears the bonnet fine.
Re the disa close to the reservoir, if you remove the nut and stud and put a bolt in it gives a little more clearance.I've been running mine six months now and had no problems.

[wellard]

M44 manifold clears the bonnet fine.
Re the disa close to the reservoir, if you remove the nut and stud and put a bolt in it gives a little more clearance.I've been running mine six months now and had no problems.

[jmc330i]

I did look at removing the stud and nut, but the reservoir is still very close. Have you had any contact between the two?

[wellard]

No, it runs very close but not had any problems so far.

[wellard]

No, it runs very close but not had any problems so far.

[jmc330i]

Cool, I'll have a good look once the car is up and running.

Cheers