LOTSA STUFF WRONG BUT BODY NICE....KNOWLEDGE PLEASE ....

[e30sequel]

Howdy folks
this place has been a revelation - I ended up with a 1990 320i - and although it runs here are a few issues that will need to be addressed before enjoying this car ...

1 my coolant has some BROWN gunk in it but it doesn't seem to meet the other criteria of having 'milkshake' in the oil (head gasket?......)
a/ im hoping it is a clogged rad - but still have a feeling that the head might be warped and in need of a shave and gasket
b/ the car runs perfectly for long periods of time but cannot tell the temp as the SI board seems dead - previous owner said that the car would overheat after long periods but I have seen no evidence of him trying to find out what the actual problem was - everything is bone stock in the engine bay

2 the car actually runs smoother than the 2.5 - so I wish to retain this reduced displacement for the sake of inline smoothness - suggestions please as outright power is NOT whaT im after .....rather high revs and reliability

appreciate any suggestions

the only other option (if this is beyond 'not worth it') is to swap in a ALUM block e36 323is m52b25 ...but would still like to enjoy the 2.0 until it bursts

[e30sequel]

Ok
so maybe I SHOULD take the advise and just swap to a newer engine - it seems this issue is just beaten to death even where the b20 is available -

so the plan would be to take the whole engine out and turn it into a long term project (maybe a high revving monster or bore it out and have an almost new block to work with ......)

shite, was really hoping to keep it first and foremost because of the smoothness of it as well as the mileage of 78000 km - secondly to keep it as stock as possible

[johnl320]

The b20 is silky smooth, I have owned a few and although a little underpowered they sound great.
If it was mine I would keep it stock, give the cooling system a good flush, change the engine oil and go from there, another option for you is get hold of a 325e block, which I imagine will be fairly easy to get hold of over there and bolt your b20 head to it, with a bit of ecu tweaking you could get close to 190bhp

[DmcL]

the B20 has a slightly different cam than the B25.. have heard of people putting the B20 cam in a B25 for a small boost in top end. the B25 seems to be more mid range biased while the B20 is a bit more happy in the higher revs.

one thing i would love to see is someone build a decent B20.. could tweak the ports in the head up to similar sizes to the 885 head on the B25 and run a B25 inlet manifold and B25 TB with an M30 AFM and the standard ECU tuned to suit.. bet it would make a nice step up from the normal B20's stats.

[e30sequel]

That has been my dream as soon as I laid eyes on it - no roof, ZERO RUST so was a keeper for that alone - from the info I did manage to find engine/head wise - there was a slight increase in valve size in later 731 as the final evolution leading to the late/est e30 320i......then I realized the rev happy nature of it and fell in love .........same feelings I had towards the e46 m54 320 (2.2 this time ......btw a potential source of 'stuff' for me current m20b20, perhaps a slight bump in displacement without sacrificing the revability) I love to 'earn' the driving experience as opposed to the n american style of 'gobs o torque'...........this method just makes you lazy
Anyway, it is this or alum block 323is/ti/z3 e36 = gain displacement/lose revs but 'gain' weight loss plus a big boost in hp with early intake set up (think someone on here pegd it at 190hp put together this way stock then theres room for more etc etc) ..of course with the first sign of overheating=bye bye engine
......AND its just that it will no longer be stock .....



thanks for the encouragement to remain stock - we will see and I will definitely report my progress.....

[aimlessrock]

Im with John, keep your E30 stock, the M20 is a good strong engine and straight forward to work on. I have just restored a long dead M20 320I and had to replace a cracked block and undertake a full re-build due to the last owner wholesale failure to maintain the car!

Given your si board is dead and your remakes about possible overheating in the past i would consider a head gasket change and inspection of the head...just to be safe.

Best of luck

cheers

Gary