M30 conversion guide - WIP; input required!

[Ziggy]

That was one of Martin(driftboy)'s quotes IIRC - I went the E28 M535i route...
A 325i rad will do the job if you want a quick fix, but I'd be looking to upgrade pretty quickly if you're planning trackdays etc

[DRIFTBOY]

T'was indeed Ziggy!

I used the E34 radiator in exactly the same way as turkey mentioned.

It is thicker than the E28 rad so anything except engine position 3 would have serious trouble with the E34 one.

I even had to chop off the air con belt part of the crankshaft pulley because under heavy braking the pulley cut two neat grooves in the bottom of the E34 rad! (Not enough to damage the core though).

The distributor cap has also come into contact with the top of the rad! Again, not enough to damage anything.

There were two types of E34 535i radiator, one is wider and won't fit between the E30 chassis rails.

I have read of people successfully using 325 M20 radiators but I don't know how well they cope myself.

[turkey]

Cheers for your help, so typically i've got the wrong one, and threw my old one away as it was to rough to sell. While im getting your help is there a way of testing the air-con electric fan on the e34, i've got one in my garage and tried connecting it to a battery with nothing happening!?!

Cheers,
Shaun.

[DRIFTBOY]

It should work across a battery, I suppose unless it's totally discharged.

[turkey]

il try it again today then, have a play with wires, and hopefully get the engine in too!!!
cheers,
Shaun.

[kabeer]

[jaffro]

also to add you can modify the m20 loom to fit this conversion as i did with my swap its easy enough to do and means you can have the ecu in the exact place it should go.

[Rav335uk]

How sure is everyone on the e36 2.8 propshaft fitting correctly, as I need to know as soon as possible, mine is being done in a couple of weeks and I am sourcing all the parts before hand.
Thanks

[charlE30]

Just been reading through this sticky thread and noticed the part about windscreen washer bottle. I have just fitted the 324td bottle for which I paid under £9 brand new through Zimmerbimmer so most probably cheaper than a bottle from the scrappies, this bottle also has holes for 2 pumps so you could still run headlight/intensive washwipe just using the same washer fluid. This tank can only be fitted if you've got the battery in the boot as that's were it sits and the pump/sender loom needs to be extended a bit. I just thought I'd let you know as it could be worth adding... windscreen washers are the last thing that gets thought about

324td washer bottle:



A good condition 325 rad works perfectly well for general messing around/commuting etc and my fan only ever comes on when sat in traffic, temp needle has never gone above half and that's in the weather we've been having recently.

[hoshy]

Wow - jon. Just seen this. This should really be in the wiki - this is exactly what it's for

[Ziggy]

I'll sort it dude - will have to wait until I get t'internet @ home again though

[steerfromtherear]

This is a good write up, exactly what I needed thanks.

[Ziggy]

Good good

Really should get round to finishing it off - no excuses other than lack of time!

[Ziggy]

...nope I've still not got round to finishing it off, but I thought I'd add another fan option; I've now got a Volvo V70 T5 rad fan in mine - easy fit, although dangerous for any small creatures that may be sucked in...

[ric325i]

can you get a pick up of the child eating T5 fan

my m30 ac fan should do the trick as its a big old thing (heavy too) also got a big hole at the front to help the flow.


i might have more to add to this thread??? but i think its 99% covered.


im using m20 poly engine mounts bought off the bay. not bad but they ae set up to not have much vibration through them so they are 2 bolts prob placed there when the rubber is being set? same sort of set up for the standard rubber mount.

one nut started spinnign and didnt tighten up so i dug out the nuts (jaffro was lending a hand as always) and put 1 single bar bolt through. the engine doesnt rock the car any more than with the standard rubber.

the driver side is the one i have seen fall apart on 2 e30 m30's


thinking of making some alloy ones with a poly/rubber sandwhich and a single nut and bolt??? nice and strong

[Ziggy]

Sounds good... I'm just using m20 ones, as they were nearly new anyway (my m20 broke the old ones!). Doubt I'll get round to upgrading them until they break again!

I gave up trying to find an E32/E34 aircon fan, & figured if this one's good enough to cool the volvo turdo lump, it'll do me. Plus it was cheap!

[ric325i]

good man. thats it really any big leccy fan will do. i think jaffro's was a vectra fan.

dotn know if you hammer the cab about ziggy but keep you eye on that drivers side rubber mount cause the engine mounts is really at a crazy angle to make it fit.

the rubber is pretty strong but can split and slide apart yes i am still talking about the mount and not a sex nightmare.

[Ziggy]

Sounds about what happened on my M20 - it started getting hot in traffic, & the reason was the fan being jammed on the rad, after the mounts had died!

[jaffro]

also m20325 prop was used on rics with the gearbox output flange changed for the m20 flange save cost of m3 prop

[Ziggy]

Be interesting to see how well the guibo holds up - the turbo m20 boys don't seem to struggle, but I guess a larger one was fitted for a reason...

[jaffro]

yeh a the m10 box a prop seems to hold up 2. so ziggy ya guessed yet .

[Ziggy]

Hmmm... got to be an m42. No hang on, you weren't after something ridiculously powerful...

[jaffro]

its a....... mmm so. cant remember

[jaffro]

ziggy you have pm

[Ziggy]

[jaffro]

you have 1 back mate

[ric325i]

my worry about the prop (on topic people - so he told you ) the out put flange on the has a smaller diamiter. so in turn i guess it will rotate more than the m30 one would. this should in turn reduce the final drive.....

or am i barking up the wrong tree and it wont make a difference???


yeah the guibo is half the size but what do teh turbo boys use??? the length is perfect with the 325i prop

[Ziggy]

or am i barking up the wrong tree and it wont make a difference???

Got it in one!

[ric325i]

or am i barking up the wrong tree and it wont make a difference???

Got it in one!

but the its so much smaller......... oh ok.


guess i will find out when i get to drive it. well i could now. ziggy thats the same thing with Galls m30he realised he had no space at the front anymore

cant wait to see Jaffro's lump

[euan]

all very intersting starting this weekend by removing my old engine, let the fun begin !!

[winx]

best of luck, took mine out 2 weeks ago and was surprisingly easy!

[Ziggy]

It is fun! Just wish I had a garage when I was doing mine - the weather can be a PITA sometimes...

[turkey]

can you get a pick up of the child eating T5 fan

my m30 ac fan should do the trick as its a big old thing (heavy too) also got a big hole at the front to help the flow.


i might have more to add to this thread??? but i think its 99% covered.


im using m20 poly engine mounts bought off the bay. not bad but they ae set up to not have much vibration through them so they are 2 bolts prob placed there when the rubber is being set? same sort of set up for the standard rubber mount.

one nut started spinnign and didnt tighten up so i dug out the nuts (jaffro was lending a hand as always) and put 1 single bar bolt through. the engine doesnt rock the car any more than with the standard rubber.

the driver side is the one i have seen fall apart on 2 e30 m30's


thinking of making some alloy ones with a poly/rubber sandwhich and a single nut and bolt??? nice and strong

Hey Ric,

I had the same problem as you a while back, was so pissed it really is just a useless design, got my money back after an angry e-mail to them, could'nt believe after all the effort getting it to pos 3 to find out the nuts wont tighten, so people beware DO NOT BUY THESE POLY EBAY MOUNTS nothing but hassle. Using my std rubber ones and they seem just fine to me...

[euan]

best of luck, took mine out 2 weeks ago and was surprisingly easy!

thanks guys trust my wife to give birth when i have a engine to remove haha

[Rav335uk]

thanks guys trust my wife to give birth when i have a engine to remove haha

Good luck mate