e30 s50 m3 3.0 conversion

[e30king]

hey, i have decied that i am going to put a 3.0 m3 engine into a e30.

i am just wondering if there is a thread on a page with a bit of a guide on how to do this.

what eles do i need apart from

e30 car (320i)
m3 engine
loom
dash
gearbox

budget is about £2000 for everythin apart from the car

[jaistanley]

You need to read the sticky M50 thread...

This:
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... sc&start=0

and this:
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... sc&start=0

then get back to us.... Probably with a beard and long fingernails... lol

To be honest.. Unless you have access to a really good mate with a BMW scrapyard, and really good mate with the fabrication skills of a legend and a really good mate that can make tea and weild a spanner, £2k is too low an estimate. If you were including buying the engine etc with that too, there's no chance!

[DanThe]

With 2k you should be going for an M50 or if you can find a decent one an M52

[Bavarian_Autotech]

With 2k you should be going for an M50 or if you can find a decent one an M52

too right.
£2k budget simply isnt even close to what you'd need to do an S50 conversion.

havent seen any for ages, and now 2 x m52's advertised today on e36coupe inc everything you would need. Both alusil too.

no mileage mentioned on this one
http://www.bmwowner.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7&t=132987

39k miles on this one !!!
http://www.bmwowner.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7&t=133021

[DanThe]

alusil

You mean steel liner engines

[Bavarian_Autotech]

alusil

You mean steel liner engines

lol - even BMW call them alusil sometimes.
but yes steel linered, though ive seen some discussion as to whether the very late replacements were Alusil as per the production engines of the day

[Jhonno]

2k for an S50 swap - No chance i'm afraid

You are looking at an M52 for that monies, still a great conversion

[DanThe]

ive seen some discussion as to whether the very late replacements were Alusil as per the production engines of the day

Youve lost me now, are you trying to say 'alusil' is something different to alloy blocks with steel liners?

AFAIK you have 2 options with alloy blocks -

1. Nikasil coated bores
2. Steel liner bores

[Bavarian_Autotech]

im no expert but its been explained to me in this way.

bmw started using nikasil as a coating to line the cylinder bores on 6 and 8 cylinder engines.
unfortunately this was subject to damamg by sulphur in the fuel
on the v8's they changed around 96 ish to a different coating called Alusil
on the sixes they changed from a coating to steel liners around march 98 and that the replacement blocks in e36/39's form this time were also steel linered.
later on when the e46 came out they started to use Alusil on the sixes too and that possibly some of the later re blocked e36's may have had blocks with Alusil coating instead of steel liners

or i co uld have it all totally wrong and be talking bollocks

[DanThe]

Well, ive worked on 3 E46 M54 engines and seen nothing but steel liners with the head removed
Never been near a V8 though

[e30king]

for my 2k i was thinking.....

1) £1000 for the engine, gearbox, loom, etc from the donner car.

2) £1000 for other stuff

which 1 or 2 is more unrealistic

[Jhonno]

both tbh..

Decent engines are 1.5k

Other stuff.. Well.. thats the rest of your 6k budget..

[jaistanley]

Mine panned out at:

£2000 for donor car (MCoupé)
£1000 project car (minus the few hundred I got for various bits off it I spose)
£1300 Manifolds
£1000 suspension and brake upgrades (low estimate here)
£1500 to 2000 various other bits.
another £1000 for bits that I forgot.
1 bollock and the smaller of my two kidneys for the bits I forgot I forgot.....

[Jhonno]

I'm not even going to begin to add mine up with the cost of the head etc..

it was done by someone on here, with no frills and it came to 6k, which is the accepted figure to get one running..

[Bavarian_Autotech]

Well, ive worked on 3 E46 M54 engines and seen nothing but steel liners with the head removed
Never been near a V8 though

cheers for that, always thought later m52's had Alusil like the V8's

[jaistanley]

I'd say 6k is on the money. I, like nearly everyone else, thought I could do it cheaper.. I AM an egineer after all....

Not a chance. Oh well, I do it for the love!

[bss325i]

One way to save money on the purchase of the engine, box, loom etc is to buy a complete E36 M3 for about £2500 (they are about at this price) and sell all the stuff not needed but of value ie interior, M3 body kit, LSD, Wheels, body panels, suspension etc so with a bit of effort, the cost of the engine, box and loom could be brought down to £1500-1000.

The only manifold readily available for an S50 into an E30 aplication is the BTB one which is a modified original one. This costs £1300 and if you want the rest of the system from them, this is another £700!

Another parts needed just to get the engine in a driveable are an E30 M3 propshaft (approx £150), E28 M5 engine mounts (approx £100) and an E36 M3 rad (use from donor car if ok).

A smaller brake servo and master cylinder needs to be used and possibly moved over on the bulkhead.

You then need to resolve the wiring issues but if you can do it you self, this wont cost much.

This is just to physicly get it in and move under its own power, for the car to be driveable and safe work will need to be done one the brake, suspension and diff.

If your base car is a 320i then the following will be needed as a minimum.

A suitable ratio LSD £300-600
A rear disc rear axel £100
51mm front struts housings £50
Bilstein shocks £300-400
Decent springs £150
Decent roll bars £250-300
Brake conversion £500-1000

Obviously more can be spent on things like coilovers, 5 stud conversions, huge brakes etc but the above will suffice.

A 325i would be a more suitable base car as it had the benifit of 51mm front struts, rear discs, and ABS as standard.

If your not good with the spanners then the labour costs will be imense!

[Bob_S]

Fritz also advertise a manifold for the m50/s50 I have no idea how good this is but a full system calls in at 1250.

s50's have slightly fallen in value now but not a significant amount and depends on the source of one. I am going this route for my project because I need the power to haul along all the options I have recently aquired.

s50's are mighty impressive mills, but an m52 isn't that far behind them realistically and are a damn sight cheaper, chance your chips and you could be paying low hundreds for one.

[bss325i]

Going S50 Bob?

[Bob_S]

yes m'lud will have some wonderfully lovely shoes on ;) will ride in comfort with my air con and heated seats

[bss325i]

A/C is a must! So what turd is it all going in and when?

[E30BeemerLad]

Need a S50 manifold Bob?

[Daf318is]

Need an M50 air con pump Bob?

[DanThe]

Aircon is a very underrated mod, I dont care if it is an extra 5kg, its going in every E30 I will ever own!

[Daf318is]

Aircon is a very underrated mod, I dont care if it is an extra 5kg, its going in every E30 I will ever own!

Paahhh! Open your window!

[bss325i]

Need an M50 air con pump Bob?

Different to the S50 one.

[Bob_S]

It's all going into my sapphire pearl black Sport ;)

See what happens when I let onto things.. I get harassed into buying more morcels!!
Dafs may have a look at it and shove it in my store..
Barry, you havn't seen what I can lay mig babies on yet! it's nothing short of awesome! modding that pump wont be an issue!

[jaistanley]

I have a spare S50 aircon pump.....