E30 Zone

i recently bought a 2 door 320 to start a new track/drift build.i will be busy seam welding and cageing it for a while .would anyone have any idea what would be the best engine transplant for it because im looking for the best power and realibility as i am sick of fixing nissans every evening

AnM30 swop would be good for power, torqueand reliabilty and its cheep

call me stupid but what car is a m30 from because all i have ever delt with is the m40

M30 is from the 535/635/735.

M30 is gonna suit..

definatly m30 as i did have 1 not to long ago. and the guy who bought it off me took me out in it the other night now its in his track car a boy is it good. i wish i had kept it a yeh it scared me

i've got 194 torque out o the 2.7 using a eta bottom end, and thats also with a standard cam soon to be changed

M30 for grunt every time.

It's cheap, not that difficult and there's loads of info and experience from various members on here.

220ish lb/ft torque as standard.

what kind of bhp levels would u get out of a m30 engine in a e30 with the engine left standard

um.. the same they had when in the 7/5 series they came from..

.. which means 211hp if the engine is fron E32 / E34 (88->) and 218hp if it's out of E23 / E24 / E28 (<--87).

If its an option an S50B32 makes good torque more than the M30 and earlier in the rev range .......otherwise just look for as many CC's as possible M30 is probably the easiest option....you know the saying "there is no replacment for...........

reggid wrote:If its an option an S50B32 makes good torque more than the M30 and earlier in the rev range .......otherwise just look for as many CC's as possible M30 is probably the easiest option....you know the saying "there is no replacment for...........

Yes, that's true. But you can get 3 complete M30 engines for a price of one S50B32 engine.
M60 is also really nice engine, lots of power and torque etc..

Jonsku wrote:

reggid wrote:If its an option an S50B32 makes good torque more than the M30 and earlier in the rev range .......otherwise just look for as many CC's as possible M30 is probably the easiest option....you know the saying "there is no replacment for...........

Yes, that's true. But you can get 3 complete M30 engines for a price of one S50B32 engine.
M60 is also really nice engine, lots of power and torque etc..

1 in the front, 1 in the middle and 1 in the back would go pretty hard

Jonsku wrote:

reggid wrote:If its an option an S50B32 makes good torque more than the M30 and earlier in the rev range .......otherwise just look for as many CC's as possible M30 is probably the easiest option....you know the saying "there is no replacment for...........

Yes, that's true. But you can get 3 complete M30 engines for a price of one S50B32 engine.
M60 is also really nice engine, lots of power and torque etc..

3?! Try 6 or 7..

would anyone recommend the newer m3 engine running on a stand alone managment system

damo180 wrote:would anyone recommend the newer m3 engine running on a stand alone managment system

the recent ECU's in the M3 are far more advanced than any aftermarket standalone one so i would use that and perhaps a piggyback if you need to change something. There are some guys in the US working on ways to "editing" some of the maps and settings etc.

so is there much work getting a m30 into a e30

just got mine finished and mot'd, wouldn't say it's hard but there is a a fair amount of time i would say, took me 3months, done most of it my own but also changed the rear arms,bushes,diff shocks, springs etc. although quite a lot of time waiting for parts/bad weather/going out and leaving it.

I recommend planning and prep first, make sure you got all the parts and a good idea of what you need to do, i think you will be able to get it done in a couple weeks (by weekends anyway). Better to find a 535i E34 and do it that way, then you can get some money back selling bits you don't need...

Theres a very helpful guide on here aswell

M30 is for those who want more power and tourque on a budget. S50B30/S50B32 is the way forward but is not cheap.

My brother has a good strong ex-E34 M30B35 and associated gubbins for sale, freshly removed and running fine.

Jonsku wrote:

reggid wrote:If its an option an S50B32 makes good torque more than the M30 and earlier in the rev range .......otherwise just look for as many CC's as possible M30 is probably the easiest option....you know the saying "there is no replacment for...........

Yes, that's true. But you can get 3 complete M30 engines for a price of one S50B32 engine.
M60 is also really nice engine, lots of power and torque etc..

certainly does!

s38 is another option...great torque, particularly from the 3.8

it hard to know what to use then dose the people who have done the m30 conversion.crave more power after a couple of months or is there a permanent smile on your face

It really all depends on your budget mate, if you don't wanna splash out on M-Power motors or the M60 V8, M30 is really the only way to go. You could always turbo it later on if it gets boring.

damo180 wrote:it hard to know what to use then dose the people who have done the m30 conversion.crave more power after a couple of months or is there a permanent smile on your face

Now i've driven ~3500km with my "335" and it still makes me smile with the torque. I'd like to have more top end power, though, so i'm planning to swap M60 or M62 during next winter. That should be "enough" for cabrio-cruising

damo180 wrote:it hard to know what to use then dose the people who have done the m30 conversion.crave more power after a couple of months or is there a permanent smile on your face

Prime example...
Me. I had a 2.5. Bought all the things needed for a 2.7. didn't even get close to doing anything like that. Bought a 3.5 M30 after going for a spin inSpadges one, swapped that in but had trouble keeping uo with a tuned M20, so out it came and the M60 went in. I don't kmnow if I'd swap it out again, probably for a 4.6 if it blew. but that's if and when. If it goes bang when it's back in Oz, I see a nice LS2 can be had for about 750gbp, so that might find it's way in!

oze30 wrote:....when it's back in Oz, I see a nice LS2 can be had for about 750gbp, so that might find it's way in!

You're talking about Oz, right? I'd be surprised to hear that a nice LS2 can be had in UK for £750!

casper8r wrote:

oze30 wrote:....when it's back in Oz, I see a nice LS2 can be had for about 750gbp, so that might find it's way in!

You're talking about Oz, right? I'd be surprised to hear that a nice LS2 can be had in UK for £750!

Equivalent to 750GBP. approx 1500AUD

know any good sources for ls2s in the uk?

i need some sort of huge ass v8 in my car with straight thru pipes that can scare the living crap outta people on the street

I'm thinking of getting the middle boxes mounted on flanges so i can replace with staright pipes and just have the rear box. On cherry bombs, Fook me it used to burble sweetly, but would backfire/burp to much and did my head in (also motorway jaunts were ear splitting to say the least!)

I take it you enjoyed the ride on monday?

yep always wanted to experience a v8 e30! awesome torque and would make a serious drift weapon!!!

lol.. yeah. .need to learn how to drift properly now. Weld up the 3.9 and away we go!

Colin the noise your car makes is lovely as it is at the moment plus the flames out the back

V8s are tasty. Maybe if torque is your prime motivation (and you're not on a tight budget) you could follow oz and get a 4.0 or 4.4. If the M5 lumps weren't so expensive and slightly high maintenance, I'd recommend that option. However the LS1/2/3 is much better value though if you're not a stickler for bavarian donks. No idea how easy the LS series are to fit but they come with plenty of horses and torques for not much outlay and can be souped to intergalactic / time travel spec for about 50 pence. Do it