E30 Zone

Hi guys. Has anyone ever fitted a Volvo t5 engine into an e30?

google it.

BornToBeE30 wrote:google it.

There's an old saying.
"For some moments in life, there are no words".

This was your moment.

Eko was making plans to do this swap ages ago, not heard anything more about it so I guess Tony thought better of it/ too much faffing aout

have a search on here, seems more hassle than it's worth. biggest problem being gearbox options and possibly sump.

There was a thread ages ago with a guy planning a T5 swap

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

pete sums it up on page three really.

I'm no purist, you can do what you want to a sad old chrome turd, your only temporarily delaying its conversion to a tesco value toaster. What i find strange that with all the readily engine upgrade options out there you would choose to spend vast quantities of money and time reinventing the wheel ?

Good engine and can make big power. But at the same time you have to think, is it worth going to all this hassle and experimenting fitting the lump in when an m50/52 is well documented and (if you check out gunni's recent post) can handle a lot of boost without much work.

ross_jsy wrote:Good engine and can make big power. But at the same time you have to think, is it worth going to all this hassle and experimenting fitting the lump in when an m50/52 is well documented and (if you check out gunni's recent post) can handle a lot of boost without much work.

Didn't Gunni state that turboing the M50 comes in at around £4k? Then add another grand for the usual M50 transplant costs and you're in for 5 large. You could probably do the T5 transplant for a lot less although granted you'd also have a lot less BHP too.

Well price up a MLS h/g, ARP head bolts then mani, turbo and management. I'm sure if you scrounged/fabbed a lot it would cost less

That is for 500hp, so see how much it is to get the t5 to that.

IIRC I was the only person on that thread who had actually had, and lived with a T5 and my advice was DON'T DO IT!! I hated the way the engine performed in an everyday enviroment!

ross_jsy wrote:Well price up a MLS h/g, ARP head bolts then mani, turbo and management. I'm sure if you scrounged/fabbed a lot it would cost less

That is for 500hp, so see how much it is to get the t5 to that.

I agree, but remember some people don't want 500bhp because the rest of the car will require serious money to uprate everything else. If you wanted 500bhp then perhaps turboing the M50 is the way to go, but if 300 was enough then the T5 lump would be a cheaper way to go.

Rodderz wrote:IIRC I was the only person on that thread who had actually had, and lived with a T5 and my advice was DON'T DO IT!! I hated the way the engine performed in an everyday enviroment!

In what way?

I can speak from experience as I have owned two Volvo 850 t5 models, the engines are very good, fast and reliable. Having an alloy block and one cylinder less than an m50 makes it lighter too. 300 hp is the limit on the standard con rods, so any more power than that and its m50 that makes more power per pound when turbocharged.

Thanks to all the people who left positive and useful feedback,
To all the nay Sayers, get a life and watch this space!

I've been mulling this over for ages, seems the ideal way of getting decent enough power and an amusing compromise on the old 4 pot v 6 pot debate!

If it can be made to work for sensible money then i'd give it a go for a track car. I love the noise of a 5 pot too

Any ideas on mating the original getrag gearbox to the t5 engine?

theres an adaptor plate available, not cheap though, give me a while and i'll find it.

think it's this one.

http://shop.klracing.se/cgi-bin/ibutik/ ... r&Visn=Std

seriously is this possible?i am very tempted

anything is possible, how much time and money do you want to throw at it?

baptie0 wrote:300 hp is the limit on the standard con rods,

That seems very measly for 2.5L engine that wears a turbo from the factory.

e301988325i wrote:

baptie0 wrote:300 hp is the limit on the standard con rods,

That seems very measly for 2.5L engine that wears a turbo from the factory.

The t5 engines are 2.3, some people have made more power but the rods are the weakest link.
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=10961

baptie0 wrote:

e301988325i wrote:

baptie0 wrote:300 hp is the limit on the standard con rods,

That seems very measly for 2.5L engine that wears a turbo from the factory.

The t5 engines are 2.3, some people have made more power but the rods are the weakest link.
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=10961

According to the article you've linked to above, the standard rods are good for 320-340 WHP if the engine is tuned properly. This translates to somewhere in the region of 380-400 bhp at the flywheel.

N00b wrote:

baptie0 wrote:

e301988325i wrote: That seems very measly for 2.5L engine that wears a turbo from the factory.

The t5 engines are 2.3, some people have made more power but the rods are the weakest link.
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=10961

According to the article you've linked to above, the standard rods are good for 320-340 WHP if the engine is tuned properly. This translates to somewhere in the region of 380-400 bhp at the flywheel.

whats your point? the rods are still the weakest link.

Go for the T5 transplant

I have got a V70 T5 and had it for the past 2 years. A great engine, even for day to day use, ive done 80,000 miles in ownership, with clock now reading 187,000. Great cruiser and awesome power delivery when planted.

Theres a lot of modding that can be done to gain big BHP figures.

As stated above, you will need to replace the rods if you decide into 300+bhp however i do know someone running 346bhp on standard engine and not had any issues in the 6months of use

baptie0 wrote:whats your point? the rods are still the weakest link.

My point is you're making it look like the engine has relatively fragile internals, when the truth is there are a lot of engines that would need internal work to get over 400bhp.

your quote wrote:The other level is one in which the turbo is upgraded, and performance is limited mainly by the transmission and later, the connecting rods.

Seems to me that the turbo is the weakest link if you're aiming for high bhp. Sorry, but when you state as a matter of fact that 300bhp is the limit on the factory rods, then go on to quote an article written by someone who clearly knows far more than either of us on the subject which states that this is simply not the case, then you have to expect someone to point out that you're less than correct.

N00b wrote:

baptie0 wrote:whats your point? the rods are still the weakest link.

My point is you're making it look like the engine has relatively fragile internals, when the truth is there are a lot of engines that would need internal work to get over 400bhp.

your quote wrote:The other level is one in which the turbo is upgraded, and performance is limited mainly by the transmission and later, the connecting rods.

Seems to me that the turbo is the weakest link if you're aiming for high bhp. Sorry, but when you state as a matter of fact that 300bhp is the limit on the factory rods, then go on to quote an article written by someone who clearly knows far more than either of us on the subject which states that this is simply not the case, then you have to expect someone to point out that you're less than correct.

your not bringing anything to this thread, you and the rods are the weakest link, goodbye

baptie0 wrote:your not bringing anything to this thread, you and the rods are the weakest link, goodbye

Well done for stopping short of putting your thumbs in your ears and sticking your tongue out. This is a discussion which, in case you don't know, means people contribute their thoughts and opinions on subjects and a consensus is reached.....in this case it's been shown that you were incorrect. Deal with it like a grown up, it's happened to all of us.
You say the rods are the weakest link.....the expert reference you cite says the turbo is the weakest link followed by the transmission (not applicable in this case) then the rods.
You say the rods a limit the motor to 300bhp or so.....again, the reference YOU PROVIDED says otherwise and that it's the turbo that needs to be replaced before going beyond 300bhp or so and that the rods can comfortably handle 380@ the wheels.

Out of curiosity, what would a turbo'd M50/52 weigh (as well as intercooler/other turbo associated parts) compared to something like the T5 lump which has a turbo as standard?

M50 turbo weighs a ton, t5 is alloy so considerably lighter, also its shorter so less weight in front of axle.

baptie0 wrote:M50 turbo weighs a ton, t5 is alloy so considerably lighter, also its shorter so less weight in front of axle.

You're definitely making a good case for making the transplant. I'd imagine the engines aren't stupidly priced in the breakers yards, so even if you had to change the turbo (no biggy as you'd have to buy one to FI the M50 anyway) AND replace the rods you could get big power for somewhere around the same money as turboing the BM lump costs. I think Gunni was throwing around a figure of £4k to turbo the M50, so the Volvo lump looks like a very good alternative to BMW's newer offering. Plus in terms of durability we know the standard Volvo engine is as tough as the proverbial hob nail boots. Any ideas how much the engines change hands for?

N00b wrote:

baptie0 wrote:M50 turbo weighs a ton, t5 is alloy so considerably lighter, also its shorter so less weight in front of axle.

You're definitely making a good case for making the transplant. I'd imagine the engines aren't stupidly priced in the breakers yards, so even if you had to change the turbo (no biggy as you'd have to buy one to FI the M50 anyway) AND replace the rods you could get big power for somewhere around the same money as turboing the BM lump costs. I think Gunni was throwing around a figure of £4k to turbo the M50, so the Volvo lump looks like a very good alternative to BMW's newer offering. Plus in terms of durability we know the standard Volvo engine is as tough as the proverbial hob nail boots. Any ideas how much the engines change hands for?

Best to buy a whole car and sell what you dont need, the 850 t5 models are very cheap.

baptie0 wrote:M50 turbo weighs a ton, t5 is alloy so considerably lighter, also its shorter so less weight in front of axle.

depending on sump options it may have to sit in the same place as the m50 anyway. lighter? yes, better position? mmmmm maybe.

nickso wrote:

baptie0 wrote:M50 turbo weighs a ton, t5 is alloy so considerably lighter, also its shorter so less weight in front of axle.

depending on sump options it may have to sit in the same place as the m50 anyway. lighter? yes, better position? mmmmm maybe.

the sump is a problem, but you can use a front bowl sump from a 24v 960 volvo and chop one cylinders space out of it, then tig weld it back together.