E30 Zone

Hi i am newish to this forum. I have a white e30 touring i have done a few trackdays in and am looking at doing a M30 conversion, i have recived lots of useful info off of the forum. Cheers Lads.
But i am trying to find out how tunable the M30 is and if so what are the sensible mod's and where's the best place to go for cam, manifold, chip ect.....

Cheers James

I sell a good chip for the M30B35, for just £30 posted - as recommended by several Zoners.

Turbo it

Yeah, turbo is where it's at.

You can spend quite a lot of cash on mods for n/a and you won't get huge gains.

Speedtouch's chip is a good, cheap and worthwhile mod by all accounts though.

I might get a speedtouch chip, do you do a "try now pay later" option

turboing is costly...

someone on here stuck a funky cam in.

people have talked about boring the throtle body and 'adjusting' a hot tunning mani to fit the m30.

I tried to ask the question on a bbtb on this as the reply was not worth doing.
If it is worth it, what are the gains in terms of extra horses???

What about Nitrous Oxide?

Too short a burst, only last seconds

A cam and a chip will get you a worth while gain(240bhp APX), any more stuff like head work/etc is not so worth it on a £££ V's BHP gain basis.

Forget what the Fast and the Furious makes nitrous oxide out to be.

Set it to inject automatically between 2-5k (or whatever) when it's turned on, up to an extra 100hp that you can turn off? We know these motors can take a lot of punishment so nitrous shouldn't be a problem as long as it's set up properly.

I might take Andy335 advice and do a cam and chip change, but what cam???? as i'll get the chip from Speedy boy

what kind of extra power can be got from headwork?

Head work on an otherwise stock engine will only get you about 10bhp/10lbft, if you have a cam already in there then then you might get around 15bhp gains, but it all depends on how healthy your engine is and how well the chip matches your mods.

can get the headwork done foc and was going to use one of speedtouchs chips and have my standard cam reground

rav320uk wrote:I might take Andy335 advice and do a cam and chip change, but what cam???? as i'll get the chip from Speedy boy

I used a shchrick(sp?) but Cat cams are supposed to be good, you get more choice on the duration you want, with shchrick you only get one duration.

Well my car is not for track, only road use, so what would you advice on the catcams

not sure off hand what the durations are of the cat cams, mine was a 284/280 which is fine for the road so pick one around that but no higher

rav320uk wrote:Well my car is not for track, only road use, so what would you advice on the catcams

Isn't the M30 grunty enough on its own for a road E30?

No, i don't think so, will be happy with about 240+ bhp to beat all the scoobys and mitsubushi boys round here

Turbo is where it is. always.

M30 turbo is something to be admired,
ultra low end in NA form, little boost now in the low end,

high end always loosing VE. So boost helps you straight line the power to 350hp EASY.

I think I need to have a go in a turbo'd m30 to have something to compare to on power delivey.

GrindCulture wrote:Isn't the M30 grunty enough on its own for a road E30?

no.

who doesnt want more power???

if your going turbo its not going to be a daily driver anymore. we all want a go in a turbo'd m30!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you want power its the way for mental power!!!!!! but if i wanted that power i would start with a rice lump thats already turbo'd. few on here are trying it and looking good.


unless you were as luck as driftboy and buy toby unna's full set up lucky get.

ric325i wrote:

GrindCulture wrote:Isn't the M30 grunty enough on its own for a road E30?

no.

who doesnt want more power???

if your going turbo its not going to be a daily driver anymore. we all want a go in a turbo'd m30!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you want power its the way for mental power!!!!!! but if i wanted that power i would start with a rice lump thats already turbo'd. few on here are trying it and looking good.


unless you were as luck as driftboy and buy toby unna's full set up lucky get.

its alright haveing loads of power but its handling aswell!!!!!!

ric325i wrote:

GrindCulture wrote:Isn't the M30 grunty enough on its own for a road E30?

no.

who doesnt want more power???

if your going turbo its not going to be a daily driver anymore. we all want a go in a turbo'd m30!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you want power its the way for mental power!!!!!! but if i wanted that power i would start with a rice lump thats already turbo'd. few on here are trying it and looking good.


unless you were as luck as driftboy and buy toby unna's full set up lucky get.

why can´t turbo´s be dailys?
They aren´t when things are not done right, but when done right they can be.

ric325i wrote:

GrindCulture wrote:Isn't the M30 grunty enough on its own for a road E30?

no.

who doesnt want more power???

Fair comment.

jaffro wrote:

ric325i wrote:

GrindCulture wrote:Isn't the M30 grunty enough on its own for a road E30?

no.

who doesnt want more power???

if your going turbo its not going to be a daily driver anymore. we all want a go in a turbo'd m30!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you want power its the way for mental power!!!!!! but if i wanted that power i would start with a rice lump thats already turbo'd. few on here are trying it and looking good.


unless you were as luck as driftboy and buy toby unna's full set up lucky get.

its alright haveing loads of power but its handling aswell!!!!!!

as the old saying goes, power is nothing without control.

1an wrote:as the old saying goes, power is nothing without control.

yes yes.

lets face it the e30 would be happy with 350bhp. maybe you will need to make the diff holder stronger???

i think 300 to 350 would be the nuts and controlable in an e30.

i think Unna had a good laugh in his except the mpg figures were not too good.

thats my daily driver thought. maybe he could have had it mapped better????

Gunni wrote:why can´t turbo´s be dailys?
They aren´t when things are not done right, but when done right they can be.

ok your right. i would just be worried if i was sat in rush hour in manchester, well i am anyway....i cant take my eyes off the temp in any car.

jaffro just wants to get the turbo idea out of my head cause he knows he would be helping me build it

ric325i wrote:jaffro just wants to get the turbo idea out of my head cause he knows he would be helping me build it

na chance ive retired lol

na chance ive retired lol

WHAT!!!! you having a laugh as I was going to ask you to help me do my e21 m30 conversion.I think i'll have a go at this one, as I've done most of the other myself too.

rav320uk wrote:[my e21 m30 conversion.

Now that is something I'd like to see.

Pleeeaaase post pics when you do that, I adore E21s!

picking her up next week.Going into storage over the winter, then in spring shall be on her

Hi, take note the following, it may help you in the process..

I wouldnt go into the m30 to get power. Its not a 5.0. Itr, wasnt built in mexico, it is pretty good striaght form the factory. cruising other boards and this one, i came up with the folllowing a long time ago, i have one E30/m30.

Zone chip, EAT chip or JC (about 229bhp) Most intellegiant people would stop there.
Exhasut: No reliable dyno stats to show more than 5 hp to the ground

Porting and polishing intake manifold and installing mustang injectors ~ definite improvement on torque but no reliable HP gain dyno (But I know its there)

Header...again 6 to 7 seven ont he ground,l maybe

Tuning AFM..big help
REplacing AFM with MAF..good for about 5% over entire powerband and 15% on top end

VArious cold air intakes..meh..simply insulating what you have..good for 1 or 2 HP

Cams make you lose precious low end

Lightwieght flywheel..increases effective horsepower by reducing rotating inertia. A big improvement right there! I rode in a car with magnaflow exhaust, EAT chip, and lightwieght flywheel..it was amazing.
all in all ???

Remember M30 is an 'old scool' engine. With everything I have just mentioned, I have found report after report indicating about 260 HP crank from 'Metric Mechanicis', which is your best bet, but not cheap tho..

Changing to MAF will get you a better POWERBAND..

If you have an pre 88 M30, changing to newer pisotns and heads will get you from the 186 up to the 208 of the newr m30

The cost of all those mods?
Exhaus $700
Headers? $700
Chip? $200
Porting and injectors? $450
The flywheel is a necessity anyway, so I wont count that
MAF? $700 to $1200
if you wants to play around, do a 'dual pressure oil spraybar'. it's an excellent mod, in terms of preventing major problems later. Here is the link.
http://www.cscoupe.org/tech/spray_bar_fix/70590.html

cheers mate.