E30 with E39 M5 Power

[pacerpete]

One of my customers (Aman from A trim) has got an e30 316 touring complete with badge and rust scabs on the tailgate . It also has a 3.6 M5 engine and M3 dogleg and LSD, M3 suspension with 5 stud hubs and 16" BBS X spokes . The car is a nasty bodged up turd (thanks Geoff Steele racing !) but is very fast ,and capable of upsetting lots of serious chariots.

[glenn]

put the gearbox back on this afternoon,not put all the bolts back in yet
because my effing arms were hanging off.
like the 350i ///M badge

[glenn]

mounted the remote oil filter and the power steering bottle today.
while i was drinking a cup of tea (as you do!), staring at the 320i badge,
thought to myself, i'm sure i can alter the "2" on the badge to look like a question mark, so i could make the badge look like 3?0i
what do you think?

[Karan]

very good idea!!!

genius

i see ure firing ahead with ure conversion--im properly getting under way nxt week!-need to get an e36 rack put on and get an ally spacer made up for the UJs!

Karan

[glenn]

yes karan, cracking on, but mostly little jobs at the moment.
you like the 3?0i badge then!!
was speaking to my brother in law today, told him i need to hear the lump running again!
all this talk on this site of m power conversions is giving me goose bumps
long way to go yet but i'm working on it !!

[glenn]

finished putting gearbox on today, had to alter the gearbox mounting to suit the gearbox. also fitted the gear linkage, had to shorten it by about 70mm, now comes through the original hole in the tunnel

[CaesarBob]

The 3?0i is a class idea. Better than a 316i badge which is obviously a lie, but still keeps victims guessing.

Alternative is a plain old V8 badge from a Merc or such.

[Sjoerd320i]

i would just go for the 350 badge, people won't believe jou but a few second later they'll find out its true

[Simon13]

Glen what diff are you going to use? can a normal large case diff take all that power?
I've read standard e39 M5 exhausts are a bit naff so a custom one might liberate a few more ponies, not that u need them!

Is this going to be a drift car? Let Julian Smith drive it!

[glenn]

not 100% sure about diff yet, i've got a complete e36 m3 evo axle here, but on closer inspection i think it may have a little damage to it (nothing that can't be fixed).
i don't know if an e30 m3 axle would handle all that power & torque.
as for drifting, is there any other way to go around corners?

i had to cut the manifolds about to fit them on the escort
and yes they are very resrictive, each branch has another pipe inside it
inner pipes are only about an inch in diameter

dont know about putting a v8 badge on the back, did think about a

3?0i
32 valve

but badges are job number 698! and i'm on job number 24!!!

[Frenchguy]

i don't know if an e30 m3 axle would handle all that power & torque.

I doubt it. Here someone swapped a b7 Turbo engine into an M3 and has already changed the diff once.
Did you have to "massage" the engine bay with a sledgehammer ?-) Weren't there some clearance issues because of the gearbox ?
How do you plan to deal with the wiring ?


Sorry for all the questions, but this is an awesome project !!

[mrLEE30]

readin with extream interest, will it be a double exhaust exit at the rear?? cause no matter what badge with a (presumably) shortened and de-cat exhaust system it will sound neither like a 316 or a 350. if you are gonna badge it 350 may be better to get an 850 badge (the later small ones) and cut the eight away (assuming your are technically competant enough to contemplate such a complicated modification!!!!)




good work fella

mr lee

I notice pomebastard has fooked off

[glenn]

believe it or not, i haven't touched the tunnel or bulkhead at all, i mounted the engine as far back as i could get away with( just enough room for heater pipes), and as low to the original and untouched crossmember as i could.the car will run on its original wiring (lights, brake lights, horn etc)
but will use the m5 loom for ews, dashboard and throttle( electronic)
i will still have to use the original cats off the m5 exhausts, the engine wont fuel properly otherwise, its got 4 lamba sensors, one each side of each cat.
haven't decided about exhaust exits yet,maybe out the back or even side exit yet, will see when i get that far.

[Gunni]

Great work

About the badging,

get a single M logo on the back and on the front grill
nothing more.

[Andy335Touring]

Sounds ace if you've not had to modify the cross member/bulk head/tranmission tunnel.

It's going to be one mental conversion ! Me want one !!!!

[mrLEE30]

Mate really wouldn't want to critisise anything you do as you quite obviously have some fantastic ideas, but did you see that green swedish E30 turbo in PBMW a few months back, the car looked fantastic till you saw the big ugly side exit exhausts! only my opinion.

go for a double rear exit, and definately no M badges!!

mrlee

[glenn]

you could be right about side exit, its just i have so many ideas about so many different parts of the project.
and no i haven't had to modify the crossmember, tunnel or bukhead yet,
i suspended the engine exactly where i wanted it and then made new engine mounts and gearbox crossmember.
exhaust manifolds next, these are going to take some time.

[glenn]

just a few more piccys

[Sjoerd320i]

WOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!!

[Sjoerd320i]

crapy double posting

[320Touring]

can you build me one please?

[mrLEE30]

Mate of mine works in a Mrecedes garage here in Bahrain and they actually make a 350 s class. I will get you some badges if you want and mail em to ya! let me know if you want

mr lee

[glenn]

crappy double posting???????

[Sjoerd320i]

yeah my reply got posted twice

[glenn]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GOT THIS MUTHER F**KER STARTED TODAY!!!!
i was sat in the house, brother in law came over to see what progress
i had made, he said drag that loom over here, lets have a look at it.
a few bits of wire later and i had the wife coming out through the back door saying" what the f**k was that"
absolutly fantastic
thanks andrew
heres a few pics of the loom all over the garage floor, clocks connected and throttle

[Davenotouring]

Awesome.

That's some wiring you have there

Hope you know where it all goes!

Can't wait to see the finished article..

[Frenchguy]

Congratulations !


Did you take pictures of the engine mounts ?

[glenn]

i fabricated the engine mounts myself, out of 6mm steel plate.
cant get a camera in there to take pics.
will take pics of underneath when i get it on a lift when the car is finished

[CaesarBob]

Unbelievable. Good luck glenn.

Your gonna need it just to hide all that wiring in the engine bay!!

[glenn]

over the next couple of weeks i've got to finish off a few things to enable me to keep the engine running, like cooling (radiator and exhausts)
i can then start stripping the wiring loom down of the things i dont need.
the loom is a complete m5 loom so it has everything on it like tv, sat nav,
phone and lights etc.
i still need to keep the 'fly-by-wire' throttle and clocks.
hope i can strip the loom enough to hide whats left.

[Dom]

good to see the progress, keep it up

[CaesarBob]

i can then start stripping the wiring loom down of the things i dont need. the loom is a complete m5 loom so it has everything on it like tv, sat nav,
phone and lights etc.

Phew - thought that was just the engine loom.

[Sjoerd320i]

isnt it possible to keep the sat.nav and tv etc. that would be cool

[glenn]

what you see draped over the wing and on the floor is the loom, clocks and throttle pedal, but the loom is equiped for the' other things' like tv sat nav.
its the' other things 'part of the loom i have to strip off, i dont have the tv, sat nav or phone equipment.

[CaesarBob]

Are you gonna be able to fit the clocks in the e30 dash. They look to be a different shape and/or bigger.