m30 3 litre - is it worth it?

[e30Alex]

hey, ive been offerd a 530i manual e34, for cheap, running. first question is should i bother considering i wanted a 335i, secondly is the engine mounts the same as the m30 3.5?And does it run the same box?Does anyone know the standard power of a 3.0 m30?Sorry about all the questions,, but the car is offerd on a buy it today basis!Cheers everyone Alex

[ed325i]

The engine mounts are the same.
Its worth getting for the box.

[e30Alex]

So as i thought its the same box an prop?I was thinking of puting it in, getting it up an running, then waiting for a good 3.5, tuning it, then throwing it in.Any advice????Alex

[ajm-e30]

freind of mine has a 735 fro £350 still got t+t aswell

[ed325i]

Yes its the same box and prop.

[charlE30]

So as i thought its the same box an prop?I was thinking of puting it in, getting it up an running, then waiting for a good 3.5, tuning it, then throwing it in.Any advice????Alex

Just read your thread and thought exactly what you've just stated, I take it you will be the spanner monkey and not paying anyone to do it? if the answer is yes I would go for it. Once everything is in place and running (3.0lt) I don't think it would be more than a weekends work to swap to 3.5 when one turns up

If you've been offered a complete 530 you can also frag it and recoupe all/most of your costs (if it's in resonable shape)

Good luck

Charlie

[e30Alex]

yer ill be the one coverd in oil!cool, i think my project is well on its way...cheers Alex

[Toby_Unna]

as everyone else has said...

box is same, mount tappings on block are the same. the 3.0 is a nice smooth version of the m30 but won't be much quicker than a 325i though, so you would ultimately want to stick a 3.5 in

[CHRISP]

530i e34 m30 188 bhp

[e30Alex]

legend.Alex

[jaistanley]

Sh!tloads of torque though, would upset a 325i surely?

Jai

[jonb]

No

A waste of time. It might be a cars length on the 325 down the duel carriageway, but that hardly makes it worth the effort of fitting it.

3.5 or nothing.

[Ant]

3.5 or nothing.

Like he said

[Gunni]

I say do it now ,
get rid of everything to make a little money,
drive around.

find the ideal 3.5 and 3.5 ecu , the swap should take within a day.

[gareth]

if nothing else, a 530i E34 will get you the hard to find bits like manual flywheel, clutch, gearbox etc. i reckon a 3.5 from an auto 735i will be the least thrashed. a E34 3.5 will be more likely to have been thrashed it's whole life.

E34 735i's are soooooooo cheap and plentiful too! mine had full main dealer and specialist history to back up the 98k on the clock and the lump was mint inside! best of all, the whole car cost me £100 and more than paid for itself by selling just the wheels and £50 worth of leftover scrap metal!

i'd get the E34 530 for the parts and track down a 3.5 before fitting it all. in fact that was what i was going to do before the E34 530 i had lined up was stolen

[Simon13]

most 530 6 pots are shagged though and they are quite hard to come by

[Speedtouch]

Are 535i's as prone to head/gasket problems as the good old 325i?

[Ant]

not in my experience, normally do 175K on the stock H/G beofre a failure occurs, caned from cold/cooked examples may not prove so robust however.

M30 is a good old donkey mill, has more niggles than the M20, and they do tend to pi$$ oil like the Exxon Valdes....

j/k BTW ( well a little one.. )

[Andyboy]

My 3.0 M30 has 265'000 miles...............

Like anything else, if properly maintained (6000 miles for oil/filter) and new antifreeze every year it'll go on and on. Most E32's are neglected old shitters however.