E30 Zone

I know many of you disagree with sticking random engines in e30's but i'm going to run the risk of asking a question. Does anyone know of the 2.0 litre turbo charged scooby sti engine being dumped in an e30 ? only its a nice lightweight 260 ish BHP engine. They also seem to be reletivly freely available. Thanks guys. Jim

how lightweight and expensive is it? usually jap engines come with a whole host of electrical wiring nightmares.

you can pick then up for around 3-400 if you are willing to put in the time and effort to hunt for one and put in the wrench time or you can buy a professionally reconned 30,000 mile unit for £1000. im not sure of the exact weight but im sure it is got a much higher power to weight ration then any of the common bmw lumps. How expensive and difficult was your cosworth ?

a drive in drive away job will be about £6000 nowadays. its a simple engine so no great hassles other than the usual fabricating mounts,props etc.

Is there enough room between the strut towers? The gearbox is maaaaahooossive as well. The wheel track is almost certainly wider than an e30. Sounds a lot of pain to be honest. And that is before you start with the nitty gritty.

I doubt it'll fit between the suspension turrets. Unless you space frame the front end it'll probably be impossible.

I could be really helpful and go measure the impreza and my e30 engine bay that is outside, but its cold, damp, nasty and still very snowy outside. Sorry!

thank you very much guys im new to e30's and very inexperienced when it comes to any major modification (engine swaps etc) . im looking for a decent horsepower car and i fancied something a bit different but i guess most things would have been done by now, at least those worth doing. i have a 318i and i would love to get some more power

If you are new to mechanical work, I really don't think an STi engine swap is a great starting point! Its a stupid amount of work really. Something for a 60 year old mechanic to do after retiring for the next 20 years!

How old are you? It would give us an idea of what you are likely to be able to insure or not insure.

im 25 and although not as a mechanic i do work for a motor group so i have friends who are mechanics and i can tap up for help should it be required. I bow to your greater knowledge when it comes to the sti engine, thats why im asking i honestly dont know which are going to be more difficult.

would be a good idea,plus scoobys are tuneable and sound great!

If you're craving more power, then there are a few very well documented engine swaps using BMW motors, the 3.5 12v "Big Six" and the 24v 2.5 from the E36 are probably the best bang for you buck options. Read through some of the threads/stickies in the Engine Swaps sections for some ideas as to what's been done.

I wouldn't say I have greater knowledge on an sti, especially into an e30, but I have a good idea of how wide my brothers engine is and how wide my engine bay is. It might squeeze in, I really don't know without checking dimensions. The 4wd setup would a total ballache I am certain. Any significant(more than 2 cm's) difference between front and rear, and width would cause massive headaches.

I would contemplate one of grindcultures suggestions, even then, they take some enthusiasm.

Who do you know in Salisbury? Which garages, I may know them. Which one do you work for?

200sx lump would be a better choice if you're after something tunable & different that'll drop in rather more easily. A BMW engine that's been done lots of times is always going to be the simplest option though.

Jon_Bmw wrote:I wouldn't say I have greater knowledge on an sti, especially into an e30, but I have a good idea of how wide my brothers engine is and how wide my engine bay is. It might squeeze in, I really don't know without checking dimensions. The 4wd setup would a total ballache I am certain. Any significant(more than 2 cm's) difference between front and rear, and width would cause massive headaches.

I would contemplate one of grindcultures suggestions, even then, they take some enthusiasm.

Who do you know in Salisbury? Which garages, I may know them. Which one do you work for?

I work for the Foray Motor Group which is a Ford Dealer group but we have some willing mechanics who enjoy working on other cars. The main sites are Edwards Ford salisbury and English Ford in poole

scooby boxer wont fit in between the e30 chassis legs without major work, ive measured it before. you will have to find more than 10cm extra to fit it comfortably, IMO you are only going to manage this properly if you spaceframe the front end, anything else is likely to be a bit industrial and unsafe.

There would be no point at all. They make good power but crap torque.

Jimos wrote:thank you very much guys im new to e30's and very inexperienced when it comes to any major modification (engine swaps etc) . im looking for a decent horsepower car and i fancied something a bit different but i guess most things would have been done by now, at least those worth doing. i have a 318i and i would love to get some more power

if you want something that hasnt been done before in an e30, not on the zone anyway, then fit a volvo 5 pot turbo. i think someone was going to do it but gave up.

ive looked into it and the 5 pot will go onto a 960 turbo gearbox to make it RWD. the rest should be fairly straightforward and no difficult than any other swap. i think the only potential major issue being the sump/crossmember. the 960 turbo box is quite rare but you see complete cars or GB's for sale on ebay now and again.

leeparkes wrote:would be a good idea,plus scoobys are tuneable and sound great!

I think they sound horrible!

zaust wrote:There would be no point at all. They make good power but crap torque.

ey? Compared to what, a chevvy v8? They make good torque being a turbocharged engine, similar to an m30b35 I suspect. Then they rev hard up to 7k rpm.

I know of Steve Brooks(service manager at edwards). Nice chap if you stay on the right side of him.


Dan, you bad man, i like the noise. Anyone know why they make that noise? Its a pretty agricultural reason I can assure you.

If you really want jap power then at least chose an engine with the cylinders in the right places, not like the STI engine!

I have never seen an Evo engine mounted longitudinally..... these are just as tuneable as the impreza. I still think the 200sx engine is the way to go though, I have a friend with a 180sx and belive me they shift!!!

DanThe wrote:

leeparkes wrote:would be a good idea,plus scoobys are tuneable and sound great!

I think they sound horrible!

Jon_Bmw wrote: Dan, you bad man, i like the noise. Anyone know why they make that noise? Its a pretty agricultural reason I can assure you.

Something to do with it being a flat four boxer engine, similar to a VW Beetle?

Jon_Bmw wrote:

zaust wrote:There would be no point at all. They make good power but crap torque.

ey? Compared to what, a chevvy v8? They make good torque being a turbocharged engine, similar to an m30b35 I suspect. Then they rev hard up to 7k rpm.

I know of Steve Brooks(service manager at edwards). Nice chap if you stay on the right side of him.


Dan, you bad man, i like the noise. Anyone know why they make that noise? Its a pretty agricultural reason I can assure you.

someone told me its different length exhaust pipes???

Jimos wrote: I work for the Foray Motor Group which is a Ford Dealer group but we have some willing mechanics who enjoy working on other cars. The main sites are Edwards Ford salisbury and English Ford in poole

the obvious would be a cosworth conversion then.even a stage 1 will give you 270bhp plus about the same amount of torque.

could you use engine and bits from a focus st or something like that??? duratech???

hongkongfuey wrote:could you use engine and bits from a focus st or something like that??? duratech???

Why though?

DanThe wrote:

leeparkes wrote:would be a good idea,plus scoobys are tuneable and sound great!

I think they sound horrible!

i have to agree with dan.
for me, they've always been an engine i respect, but hate.

march109 wrote:

hongkongfuey wrote:could you use engine and bits from a focus st or something like that??? duratech???

Why though?

cheap version of cosworth? 2.5turbo 4 pot, got to be quite quick?

i wouldn't myself,

unless you've got loads of cash and time do what you can, instead of a rebuild with 2.7 or 2.8 , stick on a supercharger to get same results. every ones different and want different things, no ones ideas are wrong (within reason)

Jon_Bmw wrote:
Dan, you bad man, i like the noise. Anyone know why they make that noise? Its a pretty agricultural reason I can assure you.

Agricultural? Down right pikey if you ask me, its because the firing order is uneven and the exhaust manifolds are shite!

Speedtouch wrote:

Jon_Bmw wrote: Dan, you bad man, i like the noise. Anyone know why they make that noise? Its a pretty agricultural reason I can assure you.

Something to do with it being a flat four boxer engine, similar to a VW Beetle?

The fireing order is similar to an in-line four, there's two pistons at TDC and two pistons at BDC.
The off-beat noise is created from unequal exhaust manifold lengths ie, the four, that join into one are not the same length. This creates uneven pressure pulses in the exhaust system, creating the off-beat noise, not disimilar to the reason a harley davidson engine (radial) makes the noise it does.
Later in the subarus' developement a turbo was developed to make more efficient use of this pulsing exhaust gas. Which had the net result of being faster spooling and more efficient but evened the exhaust system presure after the turbo and the off-beat noise was rather diminished.

Daf318is wrote:If you really want jap power then at least chose an engine with the cylinders in the right places, not like the STI engine!

I have never seen an Evo engine mounted longitudinally..... these are just as tuneable as the impreza. I still think the 200sx engine is the way to go though, I have a friend with a 180sx and belive me they shift!!!

Or choose an engine with the cylinders in the right place AND make sure there's the correct number, 2JZ anyone?

Besides the scooby 5speeds are junk.

A misfiring E30 316i with a big bore exhaust sounds similar to a Scooby

jesus scooby engines are rubbish...

what you want is an sr20det from an s14/a s00sx

220bhp out the box...

fuel pump, chip, intercooler increase boost to 1 bar and voila 280bhp of LIGHTweight ally blocked engine.... trust me this is the way to go