Which engine?!! S50, S54, M50/52 with Turbo etc etc etc

[thed4ppa]

Ok, looking for opinions on what engine for an E30 Conversion. First BMW Ive modded / converted so after a bit of guidance and opinion. Was originally set on a s54 conversion, liked the idea that it would be fast and take loads of stick. How ever it seems the 340ish hp they give will be quick, but not really that fast on the grander scale of things. Ive also learnt that it is eye wateringly costly to convert to any standard and I'd only put my name to something decent!

These M50 / M52 engines are cheap as chips. I see they respond well to Turbo's so I'm sort of leaning that way now.

Which engine is best with which box?

Car is a e30 325 Sport

Are there any plug and play management kits? Really looking at getting it in and running in stock trim with stock management make sure chassis / engine install is all good then we'll fit the turbo conversion.

Would like to see 500hp but wouldn't we all.

We can build a strong motor, as lots of engine building experience. Just need to know which bits and pieces I need as theres so much choice!

Manifold?
Injectors?
Management?
Rods?
Pistons?
Turbo?
Are there any decent full kits ie manifold, lines, turbo, intercooler, pipe work, etc etc

Or is it back to plan a and fit the s54?

Come on BMW experts tease me.

[MarkT]

Talk to gunni about turbo m50's. Bloke's a leg! I believe 500 brake is getable on stock internals with a lower compression ratio and head studs. Obviously you'd have to use the correct turbo, injectors and management etc.

[thed4ppa]

Looks like were back to a S50 B32 engine, after reading about reliability problems with FI......

[ross_jsy]

Well how much power are you after?

An m50 will do 500hp all day long with ARP head studs and a MLS gasket. Plenty of builds following that basic formula with no reliability issues.

[ross_jsy]

Oh and don't use Gunni for your manifold unless you fancy Polish plumber spec

[MarkT]

There been a problem with his manifolds? Not been on here for 6 months or prob more!

[thed4ppa]

Polish plumber spec! LOL.

Back to the M3 engine conversion now, we want to do some hill climbs etc in it next year so it needs to be reliable.

[ross_jsy]

There been a problem with his manifolds? Not been on here for 6 months or prob more!

Yep, currently being used as far as I'm aware. I'll find the pictures when I'm on my laptop. Truly shocking, case of talks the talk but couldn't walk the walk.

Not going to have reliability issues at the 500hp mark however if it's for hill climbing you will want to build it to be competitive in a specific class and a 2.5l turbo puts you up against some monstrous machines.

[MarkT]

I'm not at all surprised, it seemed to take him forever to do those two 'customers' cars and nothing ever materialised. Shame, seemed quite a knowledgable chap

[thed4ppa]

Plenty out there that talk the talk!

We'll get some pics up of the E30 as it progresses, looks like the s54 is the best base to start. Good point re turbo 2.5 machines, there will be some pretty impressive motors!

[ross_jsy]

Are you based in England? If so I would personally base it on an s50b30. Keeps you in the 3 litre class rather than unlimited.

[ross_jsy]

I'm not at all surprised, it seemed to take him forever to do those two 'customers' cars and nothing ever materialised. Shame, seemed quite a knowledgable chap

Check out this bad boy he made for someone:

It really doesn't surprise me that Gunni has ripped off so many people, some of which we have heard from, but I'm sure there are many that haven't shared their "experience" with Gunni/GSTuning.

I've kept a bit quiet from the start due to legal reasons, but it’s time that I share what happened.

Gunni was contacted to supply a package of parts that would turbo my M50'd E30 to which one of the parts was a custom exhaust manifold for the turbo. The car was dropped off to him at DI Racing in Cambridge. The car was promised to take 2 weeks to complete.

After 4 months of excuses, the car came back to be with a complete monstrosity of a "manifold". The manifold was in similar condition to the one that Gunni built for B3_Drift_ (a close friend of mine). To make matters worse the car was given back to me in a sorry state with multiple areas of damage caused while under the possession of Gunni or Damian @ DI Racing. It turns out that Gunni does not make the manifolds he just "designs" them, and quite frankly, the design is appalling with no attention to performance and flow characteristics anyway. The car came back to me with scratches all over the car, and also the inside of the car was completely plastered in disgusting animal hair. Damian who runs DI Racing has an unbelievable amount of cats, and they all live at his workshop. Now these cats are allowed to wander about, over customers cars, inside customers’ cars and no doubt caused the damages to my car. They were also stupid enough to post a photo on Facebook where they were having a BBQ and using my car as a table!

The manifold was given back to Gunni twice for correction due to the many problems that it had. Every time I would pick it up Gunni would say that the manifold is perfect and that all the problems have been corrected, of course this was not the case. After two attempts at correction, the manifold had multiple holes where the welding had been inconsistent, the flanges were warped beyond belief, there was MIG welding splatter down the tubes, and some areas has been very badly MIG welded with no penetration. Yet Gunni still thought the manifold was perfect even with all the problems with it.

So I had enough of this and went to see Gunni for a third time, where I told him I want a full refund as the manifold was unfit for the purpose it was intended for and he had had enough chances to rectify it. I also wanted a refund for all the unused parts as they were supplied in a package, and without the vital manifold, they are all useless to me. Gunni refused to a refund and I had to end up taking him to small claims court.

After a year of trying to mediate and resolve this with Gunni with no luck, we finally went to court and in front of a District Judge I presented my case and all the evidence I had obtained. The Judge ruled in my favour and I was awarded a refund for everything supplied by Gunni and compensation for damages to the car and all the legal costs associated with the claim.

So at the end of it I have a county court judgment against Gunnar Reynisson. I would therefore recommend that you have a read of this thread before considering dealing with Gunni for anything. The state of the manifold is horrific and certainly tells you what Gunni's standards are when it comes to his work. He could have held his hands up and simply given me a refund, but instead he played a silly game for over a year, costing me a lot of time and money, where at the end he lost and got what he finally deserved.

































It is beyond me why Gunni hasn't been banned off of here by now as he is simply a con-artist.

Taken from this thread if you want to read the full story:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... sc&start=0

[thed4ppa]

Blimey, it probably was harder to make a complete hash of that manifold and design than it would of been to sort it out properly!

Its why I'm dubious over forums and recommendations, so many sharks out there.

I'm glad I can hold my head high in the knowledge that I run my business to a high standard and I'd never dream of trying to pass that junk off on people.

Glad to hear you got it sorted, all be it a long winded process!

As for the sub 3 litre class, its a good point but I want something quick and tbh the regular s50 30 isnt going to cut it. I'm a VAG man and Ive had / own some serious cars, all be it driving the wrong wheels, but still rapid motors!

I want my E30 to keep me interested in 4 wheels, as after recently owning an e92 m3 it has re lit my enthausiasm for cars. I race bikes as well, hectic schedule next year!

[ross_jsy]

To be fair a well sorted s50b30 it's on the limits of what the e30 chassis can reasonably handle IMO. See if any zoners with s50'd chariots will take you for a spin, properly done it would make a decent hill climber.

I want to see an e30 with a highly strung duratec and close ratio sequential be entered. Would be in the highly competitive and arguably more interesting 2 litre category

[thed4ppa]

Ive been looking at Sequential boxes, although we'll get the engine in and running right first. Its going to be a cool build!

GAZ Coilovers
Adjustable rear camber etc subframe
Cage
Seats
Poly bushes
Tarox big brakes
Some carbon panels at some point hopefully
Recaro Pole Positions
S54 5spd

Still researching the finer details but can't wait to get cracking! Ive done tons of vag conversions over the years, but always found them underwhelming being primarily fwd. RWD will be much better I'm sure!

[S38B38]

If,, an IL6 engine is chosen and the goal is the 300 ponies club,, why not take the biggest,, ??

i had the S38B38 ,, 340 smackers and 295 lbs/ft.. thats hard to beat

the S54 is also a great option