E30 Zone

after looking at all the 3.5 conversions, i have been thinking myself weather to do it as it seems nice cheapish power, and pretty easy to do, but i have a coulple of questions for those that have done this,
what prop do you use and what gearbox, and do you really feel the power and torque difference in the conversion? also what engine mounts and rubber mounts do you use? are they off the shelf or custom made?
cheers

sean

If you can find one at a sensible price get an E30 M3 prop, i went with a E30 rear sectio joined to an m30 front section from a company called Reco-prop.

Use the manual gear box from the E34 or E32 you got your engine from, don't be tempted with the E28 dog leg box as it's not that robust.

Yep, it's a very noticable change in torque and power from an 2.5 M20.

Engine mounts can be bought ready made or home made is always an option, use the M20 rubber mounts.

so where do you get the engine mounts from readymade from? did you have to give them your props to mate them together?

You can get off the shelf mounts from www.e30.de, it may also be worth sending a PM to Karan on this site as he has supplied some very good ones in the past.

The difference in performance between a 325 and a 335 is very noticeable indeed, the big torque makes it great fun to drive, but a bit tricky in the wet.

rossle wrote:did you have to give them your props to mate them together?

yes, cut, welded and balanced

i went with a E30 rear sectio joined to an m30 front section from a company called Reco-prop.

How were they joined together? something you could do yourself?

Rik178m wrote:

i went with a E30 rear sectio joined to an m30 front section from a company called Reco-prop.

How were they joined together? something you could do yourself?

See my last post, not some thing you can do your self realy, especially balancing it.

a custom prop can be made up and balanced by specialists for about £90 iirc . in my case i supplied the bmw half and they made up the ford half. cut, welded ,balanced job done in 3 days.

ta

cheers boys, sounds like a plan....

well make sure you get it done mine is actually edging on a year now.


but in actual build time it could take a week?

i would stick with a 2.5 if you have one its the best engine IMO

yeah i got one in the car now, just want more grunt really!!!

know what your saying but i had mine chipped and it absolutly flew!

wanted more but i recon with a bbtb, a zone chip and a well looked after engine you would do very well against a 3.5............until you get to about 70/80 then you have no chance.

the torque is massive and you will slide out the corners nice and the pick-up will be better, pull out the corner harder........

ah i am just pi**ed its taken me so long!

3.5 is amazing

wanted more but i recon with a bbtb, a zone chip and a well looked after engine you would do very well against a 3.5

Honestly, it wouldn't.

Theo325 wrote:

wanted more but i recon with a bbtb, a zone chip and a well looked after engine you would do very well against a 3.5

Honestly, it wouldn't.

a well sorted sport up to 70/80 wouldnt be far of it theo

yes the m30's have more torque, but are more often than not only about 200 bhp

but it depends again on what box and diff you are using on the m30 car

i was thinking about an s50 motor but its a bit too complicated for me! so the m30 is a good choice then?

Well, my early 325i with 80k miles, 6 branch and chip which is proven to be pretty much as quick as an *ahem* 200bhp 325i is destroyed by my 3.5. Both running 3.64 diffs. In fairness it has to be said that the M30 turd is stripped out alot.

just swap a 2.5 24valve engine, m30 are heavy, old and have high fuel consumption

stripped out makes a BIG dif!

thing is if you do the things you would do on a m20 on a m30 it would be great but...

the fact we have to discuss the difference doesnt prove great for the effort needed in a m30.

Well, my opinion is based on experience, ie - I have a 335, I drive the arse off it & take it to the Ring etc etc. An M30 E30 will cain the shite out of a good 325i.... a mate has a 325i with a uprated cam, the best 6 branch available and probably a chip and it gets left for dead, even with a head start.

Not sure if the M50 swap is as appealing, 192bhp, not a huge amount of torque over the M20B25 and according to various figures I've read - it's a heavier engine than then M30. M52 would be nice though.

fair play theo.

i drove the arse of my 325i and i did a good job keeping up with andy in his 335i - yes he still beat me and thats what made me buy a 535i.

experience counts and i still want my 3.5 in my 318i.
its depressing driving a 318i........hence my negativity the only good thing is that i dont care about the engine so it doesnt matter how much i r*pe the little 4 pot.

Remember though that an ageing M20 will probably be 10% or so down on power just like an M30.

Gabi_323i wrote:just swap a 2.5 24valve engine, m30 are heavy, old and have high fuel consumption

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The weight gain with M30 is minimal really, especially if you remove parts of the car as well.

M50s are old too, and are they as robust as an M30?

Doing local (and not slow) driving I can average 20mpg, on a long motorway run I can get 27mpg. Barely worse than an M20.

M30 are cheap as chips too, even if you buy a 535i manual donor car!

fair play theo.

i drove the arse of my 325i and i did a good job keeping up with andy in his 335i - yes he still beat me and thats what made me buy a 535i.

experience counts and i still want my 3.5 in my 318i.
its depressing driving a 318i........hence my negativity the only good thing is that i dont care about the engine so it doesnt matter how much i r*pe the little 4 pot.

Haha, yeah thats the best thing about turds like that, you can drive them so hard and not worry in the slightest about what's happening to the engine. Full revs from cold is fun

Transplant is well worth doing, although a couple of things were very tedious (exhaust - still wank) and also having to remove everything after getting it running due to someone elses cock up was very frustrating. Get it done and enjoy it!

i dude i will but time is doing my nut in!

helping andy with his exhaust was fun until he ran out of funds just as we got to the back box! feel so sorry for him

i have bought all my exhaust parts now but the back box might be too small? got too much 3inch tube and a few bends.

waiting for a fan e34 AC fan from spadge and i can start as soon as andy is ready to help.


the 1.8 has a loose cam so i care about it even less! start the car and the 4:1 dif is makes the best use of what *cough* power i have.

been learning lots about going sideways, but maybe i will be able to hold a slide for longer with the torque?

Sorry to hijack this thread but i read somewhere on here that the M3 exhaust is good for the M30 conversion.
Has anyone here used one and if so what part of the exhaust was used.

I'm impressed so far with the good ol' M30B35. I've fitted mine with a BBR (Brodie Brittain Racing) chip and seen 7,500rpm - on a 20 year old boat anchor!!

hi jack the thread? i think i have done a good job of that. sorry.

m3 does work but i cant remember how or where they join?

pricy m3 exhaust - would be nice though

320iSE wrote:I'm impressed so far with the good ol' M30B35. I've fitted mine with a BBR (Brodie Brittain Racing) chip and seen 7,500rpm - on a 20 year old boat anchor!!

tell me more.....

is the Brodie Brittain Racing better than i zone chip?
im a big zone chip fan and i am 99% sure i will be getting the zone chip for my m30 when its done but i always want to know about other chips.

didnt realise double post from me

PM sent dude.

Theo325 wrote:Well, my early 325i with 80k miles, 6 branch and chip which is proven to be pretty much as quick as an *ahem* 200bhp 325i is destroyed by my 3.5. Both running 3.64 diffs. In fairness it has to be said that the M30 turd is stripped out alot.

god you sound like a girl with that statement !!

my comparison is to a sport with close ratio box and 3.91 ( standard gearing) against a m30 powered e30 with correct ratios ( no silly short diffs and low top speed)

Theo325 wrote:Well, my opinion is based on experience, ie - I have a 335, I drive the arse off it & take it to the Ring etc etc. An M30 E30 will cain the shite out of a good 325i.... a mate has a 325i with a uprated cam, the best 6 branch available and probably a chip and it gets left for dead, even with a head start.

so is mine dude, driven both in full road trim, not a lot in it untill you get to higher speeds

that friends car is low on power is its a certain silver tourer, thats a fact but the story i hear on the grape vine is that it was quicker round the ring than you

That sport you speak of must be very quick, infact it might even have a chance against your old iS

that friends car is low on power is its a certain silver tourer, thats a fact but the story i hear on the grape vine is that it was quicker round the ring than you

Yeah? Funny, not how I remember it!

The handbags are out again!

Theo325 wrote:That sport you speak of must be very quick, infact it might even have a chance against your old iS

that friends car is low on power is its a certain silver tourer, thats a fact but the story i hear on the grape vine is that it was quicker round the ring than you

Yeah? Funny, not how I remember it!

its how i've been told

as for the sport in question, it was one of mine and compred to the M3 which had the M30 in and was NA but with a cam agt the time there wasnt much in it up to 60/70 , there afters different

as for the IS, it 1/4 mile time were up there with the 2.5's at the pod last year 16.1 sec, OZ was about half a second quicker and zaust did about 30 runs trying to dip in to the 15's

Kos wrote:

Theo325 wrote:That sport you speak of must be very quick, infact it might even have a chance against your old iS

that friends car is low on power is its a certain silver tourer, thats a fact but the story i hear on the grape vine is that it was quicker round the ring than you

Yeah? Funny, not how I remember it!

its how i've been told

as for the sport in question, it was one of mine and compred to the M3 which had the M30 in and was NA but with a cam agt the time there wasnt much in it up to 60/70 , there afters different

as for the IS, it 1/4 mile time were up there with the 2.5's at the pod last year 16.1 sec, OZ was about half a second quicker and zaust did about 30 runs trying to dip in to the 15's

for the record, i was nearly a second quicker 15.3, but really, does anyone give a f#ck

Stop bickering you 2

oguz327 wrote: for the record, i was nearly a second quicker 15.3, but really, does anyone give a f#ck

Stop bickering you 2

sorry oz, best 2.5 time of the day that was

all i'm doing is ahving my say on the m30 conversion and how it performs, having had both cars in question and driven them all in different states of tune i can give an honest opinion

spadge has done a few and his touring was well sorted and quick, as he had a sport box in it.