E30 Zone

i'm planning to swap the 2.5 M20 in my tourer for something a little (ok a lot) bigger!

i take it the easiest swap will be the M30 following the instructions on www.e30.de but i must admit the 286 to 340 bhp variants of the 24v S38 are more than a little tempting! this will be the most cost effective over tuning a M30 to these power levels... (i know the urge will be there!) physically, am i right in thinking that the block / gearbox etc are the same?

the main stumbling block will be the management. is everything vastly different on the S38's compared to the fairly basic M20 / M30?

the same power levels could probably be reached with a turbo but the reliability and time factor involved in the conversion will most likely kill this idea off. (wife, 2 kids and a half finished house = very little free time or money!)

also, i kinda like the idea of a sleeper with a 'standard' bmw engine, just in a car they never fitted it to!

Start with the M30 then stick a turbo on it at a later date ?

Ask Karan about the S38, its a well cool swap but a lot more expensive and more things need sorting out to get it to work.

i thought this may be the case...

once the heavy work has been done in converting to a M30, is the S38 a relatively easy future swap? (when i win the lottery!!!)

i assume most of the work with this will be electrical / plumbing etc...?

Until Karan gets here have a read of his S38 thread

http://www.e30zone.co.uk/modules.php?na ... sc&start=0

was thinking about the s38 too, but tbh it's way too expensive for me. I would go the M30 at the start, then add turbo later, I am going to have a spare engine I think so going to build it up as the turbo one, then swap at a later (much later) date.

my main concern with an s38 is that if it goes bang it will be very very expensive to fix.

i think that might put me off thrashing the car a little, because if the engine died it would cost so much. andy335touring and i have both had major problems (terminal) with our original m30s, luckily my replacement only cost Ԛ£100 and i can hammer it without too much fear

but still, if you can afford it i'd go for an s38!

i'm aware that the M30 will effectively cost nothing if i buy a running manual 535i or similar and break it. the sport is likely to be the best bet for this due to the resellable lsd, brakes, suspension, recaro interior, obc etc etc. if i'm lucky i'll make a profit and get the running gear i need!

what's a S38 likely to cost? i'm betting that a M30 + rebuild + mods to lower CR + turbo + intercooler + management etc will cost more to get to the same power as a S38.

that said, with a cheap M30 i could wind up the boost and find out what point it goes bang!!!!!

There have been some standard(internally) M30s making a reliable 300-400bhp in turbo form, so long as the engine is in good health.

I would turbo an M30 only after a rebuild personally or if you are really confidant in the engine you are using.

Or anouther way you could look at is if it goes bang its only 200 quid for a new engine

for the cost of a new m30 i'd just turbo it and get on with it

Andy335Touring wrote:
Or another way you could look at is if it goes bang its only 200 quid for a new engine

and don't we both know that Andy

my long term plan is turbo m30 with standard internals making 300 ish bhp

if it happens to blow up another standard lump can go straight in in its place.

this would give similar power and probably better torque than an s38/s50, should be similarly reliable but won't cost a grand if it lets go on me.

won't sound as nice though

my long term plan is turbo m30 with standard internals making 300 ish bhp

i think a turbocharged m30 will be my next project too!

realistially, what are the costs involved in a M30 tubo conversion? is there a standard exhaust manifold that'll do it? i assume a full custom system will be in order?

745i turbo manifold is the only standard type part you can get, however you need a LHD shell for it as the steering rack gets in the way on RHD cars..

All the kits (all one of them lol) are US based and LHD only too, so yeah, custom all the way..

ive been very busy as of late and lots left to do on mine!


s38 is mental in the e34 shell which is well lardy

cant wait to get it running in an e30!

ive been trying to do oit properly though by usinbg proper running gear etc (hartge stuff designed sepcifically for this coinversion), painting suspension components etc.... uprated ARBs

ive seen an s38 engined e30 move and i wad SHOCKEd at the power it had... it just squatted and shot of

m30 is cheap and still very fast though.. the s38 however goves iu the top end speed and should allow 160mph plus easily!

s38 with nice lairy cams, and minimal silencing is the sex, s38 is the dream swap for me.