E30 Zone

I've told the story many times but once more for posterity.

I had an E30 way back when. Fast forward a few years I ended up with an R33 Skyline GTS Turbo. After 4 years of it being an awesome road car, the whole world got ridiculously greedy and it became expensive to run, so I took it off the road and decided to drift it. As much as you would think a Skyline makes a good drift car mine shat itself every time it got on a track. 2 blown engines later I broke it, sold it in pieces and decided I wanted to go back to the best handling car I'd ever owned (E30) and stick some serious power in it.

The story of my old Skyline continues for anyone wishing to hear it but I dare say you're more interested in my E30 adventures.

I got myself an E30 and an M30 engine and box and you can get the details here: http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=238112

As of right now, it's not pretty. Honestly, it never will be. I love abusing it too much. It's f**king brutal like a chainsaw to the family jewels and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Like me, she's gonna continue to wear her scars with pride.

This is my axe murderer:

Certainly looks menacingly hell-bent on causing some havoc! How do you find the chip?

I had one in a 1988 E34 535iSE and that went extremely well - saw an indicated 147 units of top speed down a private runway, so they must be pretty impressive in an E30, I imagine.

To be honest I was wondering if I'd be able to notice the difference with the chip, since she was pretty brutal right from the moment she first fired up.

But I could instantly tell the difference. She ran smoother and went up through the revs more easily.

It's a hell of a fun machine, I want to take her out all the time but my frustration at the moment is keeping the engine cooled. The rad and fan combo in at the mo does the job but only just, I can't have a hoon about in her for long as sustained high revs mean cooking over.

So there's that and I desperately need an LSD! The diff in it is designed for a 1.8 and in 1st gear pretty much just spins the wheels. 5 gear will get me over a 100mph but I know that engine has so much more to give with the proper ratio. It's buckets of fun but it was always gonna be a track car, and I just need more top end for it to be a weapon.

Good to hear that the chip is effective. Definitely get that diff swapped out for one able to handle the torque; IIRC, gareth on here blew his to bits on a launch at Santa Pod in his M30B35 Touring and had to be towed home on the back of a recovery truck.

Correct!
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ic&t=80352

Medium case diff all the way with a M30 Small case units just won't handle the torque.

gareth wrote:Correct!
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ic&t=80352

Medium case diff all the way with a M30 Small case units just won't handle the torque.

I see you're the man to speak to about LSD's. Are you in a position to supply them as well as rebuild them?

Very occasionally i do get them in but on the whole it's a rebuild/upgrade service on an existing diff

gareth wrote:Very occasionally i do get them in but on the whole it's a rebuild/upgrade service on an existing diff

Ok, well if you do let me know, I'm definitely in the market for one.


Some pics from last weekend:

Good to see another York member on here. It must have been hot at the strip on Sunday. I'm normally up there but wasn't this weekend just gone.

What times were you managing to run with it?

E30BeemerLad wrote:Good to see another York member on here. It must have been hot at the strip on Sunday. I'm normally up there but wasn't this weekend just gone.

What times were you managing to run with it?

You didn't miss anything this weekend, it was so packed I had 3 runs all day, left at 3pm cos I was fed up.

Times were nothing to write home about, desperately needs that LSD in, it just sat on the start line spinning it's wheels in 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Actually, correction, it sat there spinning it's wheel! Open diff, one wheel spinning, car not going anywhere, just a bit of a mess to be fair.

Before the next time it needs an LSD and probably some fatter rears too for better traction.

Added a bit of heatwrap to the manifolds (with bare arms stupidly, was itching all day despite 2 showers) and removed the grill plastic to improve cooling. Took it for a quick test drive to see how well it had worked. 8 hours and 200 miles later, I think it was successful!

Pics:

Very Nice

If you need improved cooling get yourself a Mishimoto E36 M3 radiator, they fit like a glove and are at least twice the size of a normal 325i rad.

£227 delivered next day from Mishimoto UK.

What diff ration do you need, might have an LSD for you.

tomislav wrote:If you need improved cooling get yourself a Mishimoto E36 M3 radiator, they fit like a glove and are at least twice the size of a normal 325i rad.

£227 delivered next day from Mishimoto UK.

What diff ration do you need, might have an LSD for you.

I think I might have to get a bit more creative with the cooling, whats in at the moment does the job for a bit of enthusiastic twisty road driving but I always wanted it to be a track weapon and the M30 runs very hot at high revs. I'm thinking rad mounted in the back seat with air fed from the back windows. Not subtle but it should do the job!

TBH I'm not sure about ratio, the standard 318is one in there is definitely no good. I think I heard someone who'd done a V8 swap say they used a 3.91, that might be the trick for me? If you've got something I'm definitely interested.

Cheers

That sounds like a retarded solution to cooling, no airflow, you will have to cut huge chunks of metal out the back end and you have the fun prospect of super hot coolant pipes inside the cabin waiting to shower you in boiling coolant.

Not sure why you can't cool it using a normal larger rad like say one from an e36 and a decent fan set up. Plenty of other m30 owners have no problems with cooling and plenty go on track/drifting.

3.91 will probably be far too low for an M30B35 - stock 325i diff was 3.64, and even those are on the low side.

The Tech 2 325i Sport had a 3.91 LSD, and my one felt rather too low-geared, as did a 3.91 diff I had on a 2-litre Fiat twin-cam engined Minor I had.

3.46 or 3.64 is probably the norm for M30 swaps. I've got a 2.91 but that's because it's turbo'd.

Have you fitted a E28 535i rad? It's better than the E34 rad.

Nice car btw

ross_jsy wrote:That sounds like a retarded solution to cooling, no airflow, you will have to cut huge chunks of metal out the back end and you have the fun prospect of super hot coolant pipes inside the cabin waiting to shower you in boiling coolant.

Not sure why you can't cool it using a normal larger rad like say one from an e36 and a decent fan set up. Plenty of other m30 owners have no problems with cooling and plenty go on track/drifting.

Seen it done on drift cars before:







I've got a NOS system ready to go in but want to make sure I can easily keep it cool as is before going nuts with the power. Also want to supercharge it eventually.

ImysE30 wrote:3.46 or 3.64 is probably the norm for M30 swaps. I've got a 2.91 but that's because it's turbo'd.

Have you fitted a E28 535i rad? It's better than the E34 rad.

Nice car btw

I think it's an uprated rad from an E30 in there tbh, an Alipna one. It's got big fans mounted front and back of the rad but the problem is more about getting airflow onto the surface of the rad. The few little slots in the grill don't let enough air in or let enough heat out.

Now that I've removed the grill it's a hell of a lot better, but the E30 has a nice front end and it ruins it with grill removed!

I've added heatwrap to the manifolds as best I can (the shape of the means you can't wrap them completely). I could try bonnet vents or bonnet lifters but again, that spoils the look of the car.

I will try a E28 rad before doing anything drastic, but money is tight and I need a diff first!

Cheers

Mate, bugger using a rear mounted rad, get the mishimoto one, no messing around needed, slots straight in, holds an extra 3 litres of coolant just in the rad. Win.

A) that looks spastic

B) because you have seen drifters do it isn't really a logical engineering answer to an easy to solve problem

C) as I said, plenty of drifters running m30's with turbo's/superchargers/far more mental swaps than a boat anchor don't have problems cooling them because they use an updated raditator in the standard location

D) that looks spastic

Think about it, the front of the car receives the most airflow, the side windows don't really receive any so any airflow over the rad is purely from the fans. You will also have a to cut out a huge chunk of metal out of your floor (all that hot air has to go somewhere).

You will also have to run electric water pumps due to the extra hose length the system now has.

All in all a retarded solution to a non existent problem.

A lot of differs remove the bonnet while drifting to aid in cooling. The standard slats shouldn't have any noticeable effect on a properly designed cooling system.

ross_jsy wrote: Think about it, the front of the car receives the most airflow, the side windows don't really receive any so any airflow over the rad is purely from the fans.

It's a drift car. It goes sideways. Therefore there is more airflow from the side windows than there is going in the front.

I thought it was a pretty clever solution to a problem that plagues a lot of drifters.

But since you're a smart arse, maybe you can share your wisdom on another problem I'm having with the M30 swap; the steering linkage clears the manifold by just millimetres (in 2 places). This means you get a bit of knocking, especially when turning left.

I have had a quick look around for how others have dealt with it, one bloke said he modified the linkage by removing the circular heat shield and cutting the rubber down to size - this sounds incredibly dangerous to me and would only half solve the problem as far as I can tell.

I've got a spare steering linkage ready to go but don't want to start hacking it up just yet. Any suggestions?

Apparently sound engineering knowledge makes me a smart arse

You won't get much airflow down a couple of tubes stuck to the side window.

There are several solutions to your problem. The best would probably be the shaft that a zoner called DanThe sells. I used one on an m50 conversion with a z3 rack and am very happy with the quality and figment. Here are the details if you want to purchase one:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=148445

ross_jsy wrote:Apparently sound engineering knowledge makes me a smart arse

You won't get much airflow down a couple of tubes stuck to the side window.

There are several solutions to your problem. The best would probably be the shaft that a zoner called DanThe sells. I used one on an m50 conversion with a z3 rack and am very happy with the quality and figment. Here are the details if you want to purchase one:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=148445

Cheers, that looks spot on.

For info, this is the lowdown on the drifter with the rear mounted rad. It's easy to dismiss it as a lopsided shed from the pics but there is some creative engineering at work here: http://www.speedhunters.com/2012/11/die ... 0td-wagon/

Some raw footage of a test drive after sorting a couple issues out: