m30 conversion progress and questions

[beefy]

hi all ive decided to start my thread about my m30 conversion.

I spent about 2 months looking for a donor car finaly i found a 1989 535i e34 with 130000 miles on it for 300 notes. Most of this cost im hoping to re coup from the selling of parts.

The during the 2 months looking for the car i did lots of research on this site and also on www.e30.de

The progress ive made is ive got the car all stripped down, engine box and loom out in one, prop off, exhaust off.

I will get some pics up when i work out how to do so.

I would say im a complete amateur when it comes to conversions and car repair, so ill be asking lots of questions. and will be reliing on the info on this site and the answers to my questions.

so first questions

1, Now the engines out im going to spend some time cleaning it up ensuring all is ok, ive read water pumps hould be changed is this correct?

2, Does the shift linkage need shortening?

3, Im going for engine position 3 with mounts purchased from e30.de, so im hoping the 535 rad will fit in what fan do i use? so ill have to remove the exsiting clutch fan? and grind the front of the pulley off?

4, What do i do about the tranny mount?

5, Drive shaft do i use the m30 one and get that shortened?

6, Oil cooler? i dont know anything about this.

7, Battery in the boot can i relocate this using the 535i wiring?

8, I would like to relocate the washer bottle to the boot is this the norm and is this acceptable any poss probs.

9, Do i not need any of the 535 exhaust only the manifold, im thinking of making one from jetex components?

10, will the loom plug need modifing or will this just plug straight in?

Sorry for the 101 questions

all input is valued

cheers

John

[gareth]

1, water pumps are cheap and easy to do. also usually stuffed! degreaser and a pressure whasher will make the engine lovely and clean at this stage!

2, no, use a 325i linkage. some new bushes and a Z3 shifter while you're there is a good idea.

3, yes the E34 rad should fit. if the E34 donor car has aircon, uer the fan and temp switch etc from that. if not, a pacet or similar, or rummage round the breakers for something that looks 'right'! the front (aircon) part of the front pully can be cut off for more rad clearance. to get the pulley off, don't touch the centre nut, remove the (6?) bolts around the front face.

4, i used a 325i one but fitted the E32 auto mount rubbers i had as the old ones were splitting.

5, either a totally standard E30 M3 one or a custom one made with the input flange etc from your E34 one, fitted to the rest of your E30 one.

6, the E32/4 M30 engines don't use an oil cooler. you can fit one with the oil filter housing from a E28 M30 if needed

7, maybe. not tried myself as my battery is still in the original location.

8, i mounted a suzuki vitara washer bottle on the old (redundant) afm bracket, leaving room for the battery in it's original location. a 325ix washer bottle will fit in the battery tray as a nice option. if your car is a touring, you can re-plumb the washers to use the rear bottle for both.

9, you'll want to hang onto the downpipes at the very least.

10, depends on what spec you have. if it's a late car, the loom will plug in and the car will run. mods need to be made to get the economy swingometer working, the abs powered (if fitted), and the unloader relays working correctly. (otherwise your fan, sunroof and power windows will only work with the doors open)

i think that's about it!

[beefy]

cheers for all that gareth

[beefy]

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/7016 ... 018fr1.jpg

[gareth]

no worries, you caught me in a helpful mood!


FRAG IT!!!!!!!!!

[beefy]

yeah mate im fraging it good

[gareth]

if you doctor the number late with pvc tape, it'll say F**RAg!!!!!

[beefy]

lol mate yeah its made for it think i may make a frag plate. Bits are sellin well sold 80 quids worth other day this was for rear part of exhaust, spare wheel bonnet badge and a fog light other was busted not bad i thought. Got six months tax to cash in for it. Bits on ebay up to 180 notes this includes the plate thought it may be apt to someone its up to 50 notes but dont know how to sell a reg so advice on that would be helpful-

[BristolBulldog]

can i block the oil cooler pipes off of the engine i have? or is there a kit anywhere that fits these engines. My oil holder has the two pipes coming out and they have been cut.

[E30Mark]

To transfer a number plate off a car over 15 years old it has to be taken to a local DVLA check point... And needs to be taxed & tested (or very recently expired.) Can be trailered there if needs be.

[Theo]

can i block the oil cooler pipes off of the engine i have? or is there a kit anywhere that fits these engines. My oil holder has the two pipes coming out and they have been cut.

You could fit an oil filter housing from an e32/34 m30 engined car, as these don't have the ports for an oil cooler.

[BristolBulldog]

I have both, but have already fitted the housing. I think my other housing jsut has some bolts that block off the outlets. I am jsut wondering, if i block off the ports, would it stop all oil flow? I would have thought not looking at the housing.

[beefy]

I have both, but have already fitted the housing. I think my other housing jsut has some bolts that block off the outlets. I am jsut wondering, if i block off the ports, would it stop all oil flow? I would have thought not looking at the housing.

To transfer a number plate off a car over 15 years old it has to be taken to a local DVLA check point... And needs to be taxed & tested (or very recently expired.) Can be trailered there if needs be.[/quote

ive phoned dvla and they said i need to go down with log book and test cert didnt say anything about the car maybe just assumed i would be going down in it. If thats the case it will be coming off ebay cos the only time this will move is when an iab comes and picks it up.

cheers for the info tho e30mark

[beefy]

Hi all just a quick up date on my conversion. Ive changed plugs, rocker gasket, sump gasket, rotor arm, oil filter and water pump.

Have also given the engine a bit of paint.

Some pics of engine.



Ive chopped the air con pulley off and had it faced of in a lathe at work to neaten it up.

[beefy]

Ive removed the 318is lump from the e30.

some pics of it coming out.




It wasnt that easy to get out as i was doing it alone and also just couldnt quite get the height to get it passed the front panel i had to man handle it out of there. I had to lift the engine at the front to get the gearbox out of the transmission tunel.



I am now wondering how im going to get the M30 lump in???

[beefy]

Pic of engine that didnt work

[jaffro]

cant wait 2 start my conversion mate. my doner car is more or less identical to yours 2

[gooner1]

Good progress mate. Whereabouts are you from? Not sure if its needed or not but think im going to change oil spraybar on mine.

[beefy]

yeah its enjoyable. I think thats the easy part done now comes the real fun

Next job on the list is clean up engine bay then hopefully get the engine in at the weekend.

[jaffro]

ive pmd you mate.

[Andy335Touring]

Pic of engine that didnt work

[Ron_Burgundy]

I believe it is easier to get the M30 in if you put the back of the car on ramps. Gives you a better angle. Engine looks good but what was broken on it?

[beefy]

im from teeside north east.

Sorry think i may have misslead people the engine wasnt broke. What i meant was its another pic as the orginal link for the pic didnt work on my computer.

I removed and cleaned the oil spray bar and it seemed fine so i refitted it.

[Andy335Touring]

I removed and cleaned the oil spray bar and it seemed fine so i refitted it.

If you've got access to a pilar drill then drill a small hole in the bolt heads and lock wire the buggers to the spray bar, they have a habit of comming undone even when using thread lock.

[beefy]

i may do via andy.

Ive got a question

I want to relocate the battery to the boot and want to use the loom from the donar 535. The wire will only just reach into the engine bay so the jumpstart and connector point will have to be mounted to the bulk head as close as possible to the hole were the ecu loom goes through. Will this be ok?

Doing this the separate red wire on the battery loom that goes to the ecu is to short so will have to be extended so there will be a join in the wire down beside the drivers seat. Will this be ok obviously will be well insulated?

[Andy335Touring]

I'd love to help you but i don't have that on mine, i still have the battery in the engine bay and the M30 harness has been adapted so i can connect my Emerald ECU up.

I was going to put the battery in the boot but it's not that straight forward in a touring.

[ric325i]

dude not next weekend but the weekend after i will be in the land of teesside for the weekend maybe i could pop over and say hi?

or i heard there is a drift event on at the autodrome on sunday night, we could meet there? but i cant find info on the drifting?

[jaffro]

dude not next weekend but the weekend after i will be in the land of teesside for the weekend maybe i could pop over and say hi?

or i heard there is a drift event on at the autodrome on sunday night, we could meet there? but i cant find info on the drifting?

hi mate where in manchester are you from?

[beefy]

yeah sure ric have pop round if you want ill be working on car sat and sun from about 10.

Never heard anything about the drift night dont even know were the aerodrome is?

[gall]

Hi beefy,

hope it's all going well with the conversion,engine looks good and remember to take loads of pics, migth try and pop over some time.

It's not a drifting event as such, more like a practice nite organised through driftworks. starts at 6:30 - 9pm. it's only £40 to do it!

it's at the karting track on skippers lane ind estate mate, ya must know where this is, i'll be going for a watch so hope to see ya there.

Andy.

[beefy]

id do that if i had my e30 done, nay go down to check it out tho, yeah i know the place.

Feel free to pop around when ever tho mate.

[ric325i]

beefy you want gall on your side, the boy practically built mine for me! knows his snizzle.

but he did say after mine he would never build another e30 m30 again! my fault


i wish i could get in on that drift event! maybe my ovlov could get involved?


thats my sig pic on my volvo 300 forum


jefro im a teesside boy but right now im in fallowfield manchester if ya wanna say hi?

[beefy]

yeah maybe he will come and lend a hand.

Goin to fit the engine im at weekend few questions before i do.

Were do you hoist the engine from what i mean is what kinda angle do you need it on so it will slip in easy?

Because when i lifted the m42 out it was almost vertical so i could get the box out of the tranny tunel.

Also do the break pipes on the bulk head get in the way of the cylinder head do they need moving?

[gareth]

theos went in easily (ish hahaha!) at about 30 - 40° iirc. a skateboard comes in handy to slide the tail of the gearbox in! one thing that will make life easier will be to cut the top stud on the rubbers down to the thickness of the mount + the nut. that'll save a lot of wriggling!

the brake pipes could do with a tweak upwards to be safe. trimming the lug off the rear of the rocker cover will also add a few handy mm clearance on the pipes

[beefy]

are dont own a skate board maybe ill have to burglarize some kid. Or maybe ill get away with using my floor jack.

The lug is already off the rocker cover.

And thanks for the other advice