E30 Zone

I've just bought a really nice 318is and feel it lacks poke. After fitting E30 M3 running gear I plan to fit the engine and gearbox from a nissan 200sx.

These engines are HOT stuff, much more power and torque than an M3 engine and probably cheaper to install..

Has anyone on here done this?

Many thanks for any help or info guys..

Jai

Are you sure you really want to do this to a "really nice 318is"?

Specially putting a non-BMW engine in it

And past 80K or 100K arent they supposed to be like hand grenades?,lol.

Are you talking about the S14 2l turbo, or S13 1.8 turbo?

Adam

Yes they can be a very powerful engine with a few mods, but you are going to need buy a written off s14 to get all the parts required for the conversion!!

Hopefully the s14 lump? I'd have bought a s13 by now if it wasn't for the fact that the engine'd have gone pop after 5 mins! s14 lumps are supposedly a lot better, but I'd really stick with bmw tbh; there's loads of great lumps to choose from!

Adam318i wrote:And past 80K or 100K arent they supposed to be like hand grenades?,lol.

Are you talking about the S14 2l turbo, or S13 1.8 turbo?

Adam

S14.. The SR20 is reliable.. S13 motors gave bottom end problems at 100k if not looked after..

malaysia done alot of japs conv. into e30. here one of them

http://zerotohundred.com/forums/index.p ... t&id=44869

I've got a S14a 200sx and have seen engines on original internals with original turbos still running good at 120+k

They are superb engines IMO

Matt

julian smith had sr20 (s14 200sx) powered e30

Rearwheel_nick wrote:julian smith had sr20 (s14 200sx) powered e30

i thought he had an e30 m3 engined one (this is also confusingly called an s14 engine)

Karan wrote:(this is also confusingly called an s14 engine)

with nissans the s14 is the bodywork shape
this is an s14


this is an s13

AFAIK Julian Smith has S14 powered E30...which means BMW S14 engine. Thats 2.3 litre 4 cyl. M3 engine. This topic is about SR20DET Nissan engine found in 200sx S14.
Engines in earlier 200sx S13 are named CA18DET. Those are good engines, but they do tend to go bang I know, i had an S13 until recently. It was a great car, but too unreliable.

Back to the topic. SR20DET engines are very reliable. They have a decent power in stock form (cca 200), but its true power is in its tuning potential. I know some engines that run close to 400 without mods...only bolt on parts. You can also get ANYTHING you want for these engines The market realy has a lot to offer.

I dont know how will you install one, but i guess it wont be too hard since its smaller than M50. The turbo might be in a way, so you might need a diferent manifold. The best way to make sure is to try It will be a cool car.

hey guys, a friend of mines modifies s14, His own is running 390 bhp, its not cheap to run 390bhp as it has cost just over 4 grand to get to this stage.

The sr20 blocks is strong, they dont recommend that you run them over a 1.2 bar boost without correct fueling,

Ive heard stories of e30 with an sr20 block running low 12's on a quater mile. Makes you think

its a good idea if your a total chuffer and like turbo's better idea than turboing the 4pot thats already in there.

hey if you gonna do it make it a RB26 engine out of a gtr!

Do it up! A mate of mine in Aus has done it and hes getting ~165rwKW. Thats fast!! He says the conversion is rather simple.

Here is ongoing thread "e30 cab + SR20DET" http://www.r3vlimited.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=23629

I'd put S50 / S38, not japan engine but each their own way. Power is the main thing

Edit; another one: http://www.r3vlimited.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24425

Just found this so thought I would add it to this thread...

http://members.shaw.ca/kfgroup/sr20det.htm

Soooo tempting!

I just bought a mint LSD from an american M3 which I beleive is the same ratio as the S14.. Seems rude not to do an engine conversion to match now..

I need the engine,box,prop (custom),radiator, intercooler and an aftermarket ECU now...

Not too much eh?

Jai

bullitt wrote:

Adam318i wrote:And past 80K or 100K arent they supposed to be like hand grenades?,lol.

Are you talking about the S14 2l turbo, or S13 1.8 turbo?

Adam

S14.. The SR20 is reliable.. S13 motors gave bottom end problems at 100k if not looked after..

Both S14 SR20DET and S13 CA18DET Engines are prone to big end shells eating themselves or to the oil spray bars getting blocked and writing off the engine.

Believe me i know. The 2 S14 200sx ive had both went from running fine to mashed shells and damaged cranks without any warning and both cars had FSH and only 100k on the clock.

check out autotrader for all the 200sx's with "engine problmes hence....... or engine noise hence price etc"

steer clear. I would NEVER buy a nissan 200sx again.

I've already re-built a GTi-R sr20det with a friend so have got an idea what they are like. When I get an engine I'll give it the once over. With a set of new shells and an all round tidy up it'll be fine with the standard boost I plan to run.

At least I hope so!

To be honest, swapping a short block is easy enough so if one dies on me I can sort it easily.

As far as I can see, the ca18det engine eats itself when the turbo oil feed is foobared and the sr20det with stupid boost. I'm not saying they aren't a little fragile but that's not been my experience and compared to beemer engines of the same power and weight they are a bargain!
Jai

Here's a link to a psot I made on an american forum...

They give some links to cool cars.

TurboCABBY has a wicked project on the go..

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12233

Jai

jaistanley wrote:I've already re-built a GTi-R sr20det with a friend so have got an idea what they are like. When I get an engine I'll give it the once over. With a set of new shells and an all round tidy up it'll be fine with the standard boost I plan to run.

At least I hope so!

To be honest, swapping a short block is easy enough so if one dies on me I can sort it easily.

As far as I can see, the ca18det engine eats itself when the turbo oil feed is foobared and the sr20det with stupid boost. I'm not saying they aren't a little fragile but that's not been my experience and compared to beemer engines of the same power and weight they are a bargain!
Jai

GTI-R SR20DET is differnt to that fitted in the 200SX. GTI-R SR20DET doesnt have the VVT that the 200sx has, also the Pulsar/Sunny GTi-R engine has a stronger bottom end.

Had an S13 before and at 90k Big ends went. Got another engine for it and it spat out a conrod. Very unreliable in my experience. Go for the more reliable S14 engine if your going at all

Sell the is and buy another shell to put the engine in. Waste of a perfectly good car!

Don't knock non-BMW engines! BMW engines are great - reliable, powerful and sound good. But they are too heavy!!! Weight is the enemy, especially in the E30 which is already slightly frint heavy. Sticking q 3.5i or something in it will make it quick, but for ultimate no-compromise performance, need to keep the engine weight low and the engine as far back in the bay as poss. That also rules out engines like the Skylines RB26 and the Toyota Supra JC10 as they are also iron-blocked 6 cylinders.

That means the SR20DET makes a lot of sense. Light 4-pot with potential high power output.

Shouldn't need all the 200sx running gear if your lucky. Use the Nissan bellhousing and get an adaptor plate made up to mount it to the BMW getrag box. Voila!

Apparantly the SR20DET wiring loom is an arse though. Possibly aftermarket management??

Saj wrote:hey guys, a friend of mines modifies s14, His own is running 390 bhp, its not cheap to run 390bhp as it has cost just over 4 grand to get to this stage.

4k? that's cheap! try doubling the power output of a n/a bmw engine!

and even on a turbo engine, to go from 200hp-> 400hp 4k isn't too bad - not cheap, but not expensive...