E30 Zone

im new to bmw scene ive recently bought e30 320 2dr with the head gasket blown and ive got around £1000- £2000 to spend on the engine conversion.which engine conversion would u recomand? 325,327,328??etc
majority of the work will be done by n my brother whos a mechanic
thanks

the m30 3.5 from the 535? a complet donor car for a few hundred quid and 218bhp as standard.

2.8.... But thats only because I'm doing it at the moment. I would say it depends on what your after in terms of performance and also how much work you want to put in.

I chose the 2.8 because it keeps the engine bay standard looking and other things such as suspension/transmission etc..don't have to be altered, hence less overall work.

My advise would be to do your research before making a decision.

Cheers

fuzzy wrote:the m30 3.5 from the 535? a complet donor car for a few hundred quid and 218bhp as standard.

than theres the prop to sort a engine mounts but well worth it in the long run

2.8 is quite good from what people say. but then really you'll want to run after markert managment like megasquirt to get the most of it, and get rid of the bosch unit.
i went in a friends 3.5 powered e30. it was stripped and cammed but foook me was it cool, quick and sounded like a mentalist. highly recommend that.

My self and Scotty86d are looking at the 2.8 or the 3.5 for my car at the mo and tbh the 3.5 seems to be the nice option.

thanks guys for ur opions............ im looking at the 3.5 conversion and might go 4 it. is it a straight foward conversion meaning IN n OUT job, bar a few problems . n what things will i be needing from the donar and my car and any modificatian parts

isn't the 3.5 much heavier and affects weight distribution and so handling?

jaffro wrote:

fuzzy wrote:the m30 3.5 from the 535? a complet donor car for a few hundred quid and 218bhp as standard.

than theres the prop to sort a engine mounts but well worth it in the long run

a custom made prop costs another £100. engine mounts for this conversion can be bought of the shelf iirc .

M30 3.5

what about a M50 2.5 out of e34 525i.

Modern (ish) 24v Straight Six. Good alrounder

fuzzy wrote:

jaffro wrote:

fuzzy wrote:the m30 3.5 from the 535? a complet donor car for a few hundred quid and 218bhp as standard.

than theres the prop to sort a engine mounts but well worth it in the long run

a custom made prop costs another £100. engine mounts for this conversion can be bought of the shelf iirc .

yep it all mounts up in the end as im in the middle of the swap but it will be worth it