E30 Zone

This might be a fairly slow moving project, mainly due to the fact my fabrication and welding skills are almost non existent. But I'm willing to give anything a try.

So far I have been collecting parts and dismantling the donor 540i auto.

What I have so far;

• M60B40 auto
  5 speed manual 'box
  300mm.de mounts
  BBB lightweight flywheel
  Helix E34 M5 3.6 organic clutch disc
  Sachs M60B30 pressure plate
  X5 4.4 manifolds
  E34 540i manifolds
  Rev counter signal gizmo from stifter.homer@freenet.de

My plan is to give the engine a bit of a freshen up while it's on the floor with some cam cover gaskets, sump gaskets, plugs and water pump, along with a good clean. Then I'll get the flywheel and clutch mounted and gearbox fitted, then put it in the car. And I'm expecting that to be the easy part.

A few random photos for those that are interested;



It's a big motherf**ker with the autobox attached. I felt like I'd been beaten up after removing it.


It took half of the engine mounts with it, I'd unbolted them underneath but they still stayed on the car. I think the only thing holding this engine in was gravity


Shiny stuff...




A thing of beauty. It seems a shame to hide it in a car...








And the unsuspecting recipient...


My 316 currently powered by an M42. I have to be honest I have been in 2 minds about whether to do this swap as the M42 seems to suit the car so well.

good luck with it fella

how much was the BBB flywheel out of interest?

It's gonna be a long but rewarding project..

How much does your flywheel weight?

Jonsku wrote:How much does your flywheel weight?

I'm not sure exactly, but I think it's around 6.5kg. I will weigh it when I get my hands on it.

si- wrote:good luck with it fella

how much was the BBB flywheel out of interest?

PM sent

just out of interest, by using the X5 manifolds does this make it easyier to fit it round the steering column?

Driftben wrote:just out of interest, by using the X5 manifolds does this make it easyier to fit it round the steering column?

Yes, as it's 4-1 manifold and thus you need to modify only one pipe

Ahhh that makes sense. I'm dreading the modifying of the exhaust manifold when I get round to it.

Driftben wrote:I'm dreading the modifying of the exhaust manifold when I get round to it.

I'm not too worried about the manifolds. I'm more concerned about the brakes.

Ahh I have that part covered, looks like I'll be spending all my life savings on a built manifold and exhaust system.

Moving the booster and master cylinder is the part I'm not looking forward to. I'm keen to do something similar to willnz rather than add more distance between the pedal and booster.

have you got the adaptor plates details will?? ive got 540 calipers ready and waiting for my e30

Subscribed

Does the manifold clear ok on the passener side?

That gearbox is massive

I haven't had the engine in the car yet so I'm not sure what the manifold situation is yet.

The gearbox in those photos is an auto. The manual 5 speed is much smaller.

chips wrote:The gearbox in those photos is an auto.

Thats what i meant

cool cheers Will

so 14mm thick plate, apart from the recessed part which will be 12mm is that right?

and the distance between the 2 horizontal red lines in the lower diagram is 24mm?

understood, cheers dude

And so it begins...





Different car, but a more appropriate base to start from. Plus I can't bring myself to do it to the blue car, it's pretty good as it is.

A couple of questions for anyone watching;

Which transmission mounting rubbers did you use? E30 or E34?

Is there much clearance using the E34 oil filled mounts along with the e30.de arms?

Thinking of getting a pair of these - http://www.revshift.com/shop/motor-moun ... w-m60.html - but if there is space to drop the engine even a couple of mm then I'll try and find something else.

Jonsku wrote:

Driftben wrote:just out of interest, by using the X5 manifolds does this make it easyier to fit it round the steering column?

Yes, as it's 4-1 manifold and thus you need to modify only one pipe

please post pics of this when you get around to doing this please..

will help me to actually see the end product.

sajad09 wrote:

Jonsku wrote:

Driftben wrote:just out of interest, by using the X5 manifolds does this make it easyier to fit it round the steering column?

Yes, as it's 4-1 manifold and thus you need to modify only one pipe

please post pics of this when you get around to doing this please..

will help me to actually see the end product.

Hopefully soon as my poly mounts have just cleared UK customs

It's interesting to see the 740 brake calipers are beginning to be a lot more popular now. Interested to see the end result as this is a swap I fancy doing soon.

Chris.

How is this proceeding?


It just happens that I'm travelling to Glasgow & Edinburgh for a business trip next week and it seems I've free weekend 28.-29. at Edinburgh. Do you need any "3rd opinion on your swap - I'd come by and see how the British E30 building scene is holding up?

Hi Jonsku,

Not much progress at the moment, although I'm hoping to get back into it next week as I should have a couple of days free.

Will PM you.

Chris

Hi what did you do about the arms that had the oil lines going thru them?

Cheers Phil

phi1 wrote:Hi what did you do about the arms that had the oil lines going thru them?

Cheers Phil

I haven't sorted this yet but I'm planning to cut off the part with the oil lines like most others have done.

what you mean cut the orginal bracket so you can still use them? I have the ebay arms and they fit but you would need to chop the arm off the old mount and make it fit with 2 insted of 3 bolts, I just wondered if there was another way around this.

You should be able to bolt it on using 3 bolts. Take a look at these pictures from 300mm.de;





There is a part from the X5 that can be used instead. It is essentially just the oil feed part without the engine mount built in. But unless you are set on making a super clean build, I would just cut the oil feed part off the original mount.

Yea the original oil-arm can be cut so that it still attaches to the block with three bolts, so it's oil-tight..

I completed that and got the engine in the car, what rubber mounts are you using? I tried e30 ones but they were hitting on the subframe well the sump was so a little stumped the 540's seemed to raise it so it wouldn't do that.

I'm using poly copies of E34 M60 rubber mounts. The sump is actually sitting on the steering rack, but once I swap the rack it should hopefully be ok. If no I will need to do some head scratching.

Jonsku, thanks for your help when you were over. My back is still bad so haven't been back to look at the rack issue yet. Could you post your wiring diagrams?