E30 Zone

Well here are some Pics of my 335is taken in May just a couple weeks before the rings gave out. Long story short brand new alternator belt came off, no warning lights, and it was heavy traffic, by the time I noticed the guage it was to late. Engine overheated and lost compression. Head checked out perfect not warped or cracked. The frame in my car was pretty twisted due to a past accident. So I decided to part out the car but keep all the M30 bits. Once I have the funds I'll rebuild the M30 but for now. I picked up a 85 325e Monday with only 40k on it's engine so it will be the new donor chassis. But unfortently it will probally be at least a year till I have the $$ to dump the M30 back in.

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DAMMIT you put a lot of work into that engin didn't you, completely rebuilt as i remember?

i'm on my second engine too and so is andy335touring, don't know if you come on here much but andy's put a rod through the side of the block, it wasn't pretty

engine bay looks fantastic though, much better than mine (look a few posts down, i put some pics up recently) only just got the gremlins sorted out once and for all

really really nice job that, just damn bad luck. don't give up on it, as you know it makes a very very nice car to drive!

bloody m30s aren't as tough as people make out hey?!

bugger...... were u running position 3 mate?

Ya position 3. I didn't rebuild the engine but replaced every gasket, and acessory.

they are sturdy engines, Mine had sat outside for a year before i purchased it and I think the block coolant passeges got sludged up. In March I had to replace the head due to 5 bent exhuast valves.

3.5 thats what i'm gonna do

well the engine is a ~3.4
It's a 3.3 block, with a 3.5 head, intake, full fuel injection, and all other bolt on parts like pan, alternator, oil filter housing, starter etc...... I was estimating 200 hp at the crank. Before I installed the 3.5 head it was making 150hp to the wheels. We a m30 goes back In I'll probally install a 3.3( I loved it's revving nature) or a euro high CR 3.5

is that bit of plastic covering the throttle cable linkage to the throttle body standard in america?

never seen it on a uk engine, covers up another bit of clutter though.

your engine bay looks so clean!

can't you get a cheap engine without ancillaries/manifolds, bolt your stuff onto that and put it in the black car as a temporary solution?

when i got fed up with my first engine i bought a replacement for Ԛ£100, from a 1990 e34 535i, and it runs fantastic, really quiet. guess parts prices are higher where you are?

rs4pro3 wrote:Ya position 3. I didn't rebuild the engine but replaced every gasket, and acessory.

have to say, your dizzy cap looks about as close to the rad as mine is, have you got the e30.de mounts?

Toby_Unna wrote:

rs4pro3 wrote:Ya position 3. I didn't rebuild the engine but replaced every gasket, and acessory.

have to say, your dizzy cap looks about as close to the rad as mine is, have you got the e30.de mounts?

mine will be touching the rad pretty much too in position 3 but the s38 has a big timing case so its different i guess

as my mounts are home made i have no idea what position i have.

mine was a whole inch further back than it is now, but something was rattling against the bulkhead so i just moved it forward. and once i'd adjusted the prop and gear linkage i couldn't be bothered finding where it was touching and moving it all backwards again

i don't think those e30.de mounts put the engine that far back, i'm sure when mine was in it's further-back position it was more back than their p3

Toby_Unna wrote:as my mounts are home made i have no idea what position i have.

mine was a whole inch further back than it is now, but something was rattling against the bulkhead so i just moved it forward. and once i'd adjusted the prop and gear linkage i couldn't be bothered finding where it was touching and moving it all backwards again

i don't think those e30.de mounts put the engine that far back, i'm sure when mine was in it's further-back position it was more back than their p3

yeh u r prob right

the dude who made them also drilled 2 holes wrong so i had to havethem adjusted

The mounts are the E30.de units The cylinder head and rear water jacket are up tight against the firewall. I actualy almost have to pull the radiator to remove the distrubutor cap.
That throttle body cover is a standard parts on E34 and E32 M30's here in the US.http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=13&fg=15

The reason I didn't pick up a cheap M30 is My frame is twisted and bent. I didn't want to do all that work in a subpar frame. So I purchased a good straight replacement e30.
M30's are cheap over here, I could of gotten one for under $300. But I couldn't justify it. Even with all new bushing my car still shook due to the messed up Geometry.
For my swap I found a bunch of factory solutions, like I reused my stock 88 m20 engine harness, and Just had to cut open the heatshrink in a few spots to snake out a few more inches of wire. Then I was able to plug it right into the Fusebox. Also I was able to use a stock 87 325e 5-speed driveshaft with no mods. IN 87 over here the 87 got the big M30 flange and happened to be the right length with position 3.

that's a bit useful! my m3 prop cost me Ԛ£82 and i was very lucky to get it that cheap (or to find one at all!) my e34 535i loom was a really good fit though, no mods.

when my engine was right back i'd needed to push the bulkhead in a bit to get clearance.

cheers for the part number for the plastic cover, might ring my dealer and get one. just found a pic of one on a euro e32, maybe they didn't put em on our e34s.

ive had to do quite a lot of bodywork.... with a hammer

and need to do a bit more still i rckon

I had to do quite a bit of pounding also, Any passenger was sure to have some nice toasty feet. I'd had a full dual pipe custom exhaust put on it with 2 brand new cats(required here). I loved the sound of the thing, quite around town but once you got on the throttle it just roared.