I’ve had a couple of e30’s before now but both were autos and I’ve been hankering after a manual with a bit more power. I’ve done a lot of reading and decided to do the M30 conversion because it seemed the most straightforward. The M52 looks a great swap too, but harder for a novice. I’ve done basic servicing on my e30s before but nothing this involved so it’s going to be a steep learning curve. I will be asking lots of questions of the m30 heros for sure! After buying a shift linkage off Jimbob on here we got talking via PM and he suggested I should get a thread up. Jim’s been a great help and answered many questions already, thanks to a top zoner. Threads by other M30 zoners like Rav, LeeParkes, Ziggy and Bristol_Jer have been great reads. The wiki has been a great reference point which I've used a lot, if I can take any pics to add to the wiki during this build then please ask. It would be good to give something back to a resource I've found so useful. I’ll use this thread as my introduction to the zone too.
I have mainly basic tools and will be hiring the engine crane when needed.
Ratchet set and torque wrench from Lidl believe it or not. Feels good quality.
Two sets bought from Halfords in the sale.
I’ll be making the best of what I’ve got here and hiring or buying additional tools if needed.
So here is my rap sheet of previous e30s
316 auto moordoor, on paper the lowest of the low e30! But it was nice looking thing which snapped up on ebay for £240 and specced up over the course of about a year. Unfortunately these sort of gems don’t come up anymore, think they have all died out.
My 325i, had this since 2007. I’ve always thought the skirts were tech 1 and the rear bumper was zender but perhaps someone can confirm?
As you can see I have a chrome habit!
Now onto the conversion.
The donor
Shes a lovely old barge that I bought off an old chap up in Kent. It was a long way from Wales to get it but these I haven't been seeing many M30 manuals recently so I decided to bite the bullet and buy it. Train on the way up then M25 to M4 all the way back, cruise control was very handy here. Got stuck in M25 traffic and no overheating. A good sign.
I don’t have an e30 to drop this in yet but I’m scouring Ebay, Gumtree, autotrader and the like. I would love a 2 door chromie, but a cheap touring could sway me as I wouldn’t have to convert to discs and 51mm struts at a later date. A tech II sport with a serious engine failure could be tempting too. I want ideally a non runner project car so to keep costs down. I am not going for a moordoor this time round.
To keep the conversion simple:
I want a manual, injection engine with return fuel line with the C101 round plug (montronic?), I know all these things could be changed later but I’m a novice so it adds to the complexity for me.
The body has to be in good shape. I’ve been to see a few cars and travelled a fair way but I wasn’t happy with the rust although it was described as minimal by the seller.
This one I turned down.
I welcome Pms if anyone is selling an e30 which fits the spec.
Ok well now I’ll dive in to the mandatory ripping engine out pics. Having not down this before I made a few mistakes like putting the balance bar on the wrong way so couldn’t turn the handle when the engine tilted and forgetting the clutch line was still attached, but in the end perseverance paid off and the engine was out and I had learnt a hell of a lot.
The car when we started
Bonnet off, Airbox removed and exhaust manifold removed (didn’t snap any studs!
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Coil removed, manifolds clear.
This must be the power distribution block that needs a live feed referred to in the wiki.
Couldn’t work out how this came off in the end I just pulled the engine out with the hoist and it popped off. Any clues on how to refit?
Getting the prop shaft undone was a right pain under the car with no room to get a big wrench on there. Turns out propshaft bolts aren’t undone counter clockwise like I thought. Managed to shear one of the nuts clean off the bolt before realising this!
Balance bar on the wrong way!
Sorted but engine crane didn’t quite go high enough, will shorten the straps when it goes back in. Another lesson learned me thinks.
A lot of jiggling and pushing the car and slowly by slowly it came over the slam panel.
Not quite enough clearance with the straps as we had done them so will have to take care when it goes back in. As you can see it was pouring with rain which didn’t help the mood!
The lump stored safe and sound, very tired and fed up by this point.
I’m collecting important bits and I'm ebaying my e34 trinkets to raise funds.
My e34 had:
Heated black leather w armrests, rear reading lights, fogs, rear parcel blind, cruise, OBC which have all been ebayed.
Work in progress is as follows
Exhaust ”“ I’m slowly putting the exhaust together as per the wiki.
Picked up a few parts from a nice chap in Cardiff breaking a sport, got downpipes, centre silencer, prop and front springs, Thanks Anton! First thing was to chop the 325i downpipes and sand them ready for paint.
M20 pipes sprayed up and ready to fit.
M30 manifolds and downpipes were hacksawed off the donor car. Couldn’t separate the bolts holding the two together, even with plenty of WD40 and tried new nuts. I want to clean up the exhaust for paint before refitting.
On closer inspection we saw this
Sockets, wrenches, stud extractors (bought on an impulse) and mole grips later I gave up and popped down to our local garage.
Couple of hours later”¦ asked if he wanted any £ and he said chuck a couple of quid in the tea kitty. Nice to have an old skool friendly mechanic nearby.
Mated to centre silencer
When I got the sport springs they were rusted and not at all easy on the eye. I set about sanding them down and prepping for paint.
Ready to refit.
Propshaft given a lick of paint, seemed like a good idea when it was out and I had black spray paint to hand.
I think the rubber donut on my prop is past its best. I guess the sport that it came off didn’t have an easy life. Will need replacing.
Whereas the E34 item appears to be in good nick. I need an e30 325i output flange, I believe this part number also cross references with e34 520i m50 gearbox too. PM me if you have a buggered gearbox and I can buy the flange.
I have oil all over this area, I read one of Brianmoooores posts saying it is more likely to be the input selector seal leaking that the output shaft seal as these hardly ever go. To my untrained eye the selector seal looks OK?
Jim’s 325i linkage turned up in record time, bushes were in great condition just like he said. Cheers Jim
Lined up next to the M30 linkage it is replacing.
Removed these items for clean up and light restoration, the inlet manifold has a nice layer of factory yellow stuff (corrosion prevention?) so I won’t be painting the rocker cover just cleaning to bare metal and going for the retro look. I could change my mind on this as the build develops.
Start with this and see how we get on
Having removed the rocker cover I had a look at the valve gear and there were no broken rockers or anything obvious, the spray bar feels tight and has not come loose. Does anything here look excessively worn? I remember Jim had a good nick M30 camshaft should I need to replace this one.
Some more pics if that helps.
The landrover V8 mounts. These look pretty beefy to me they are 37mm thick, looking at getting some steel spacers to make up to 50mm
Few gaskets to do. The sump is a priority as that was leaking oil badly.
Parts still needed
1. A clean e30!
2. Engine mounts
3. e28 M535i rad, pipes and T-piece (will ebay new rad)
4. M30 water pump
5. Possibly e28 fly and clutch
6. Spacers for landrover mounts
7. Lots I haven't thought of
While this was all going on the 5 was taken away. A local company from Pontypool came to collect. I was surprised how he removed the e34 but I’ll let the pics do the talking.
Thanks for reading guys and really hope to get some feedback on my conversion as it happens.
