Im considering buying a Touring in the not-too-distant future to use as daily transport, but the real reason im after a wagon is for towing for my track car, as the extra luggage space would be useful for tools, spares and whatnot.
My question is thus though - has anyone fitted one of the modern 3-litre turbo diesel engines into an E30 before? It would make an awesome mile-muncher, and the massive torque coupled with great economy would make a good tow car a brilliant one.
Are there any obvious problems that spring to mind? Im completely new to BMWs - i've always been a bit of a (classic)Ford head, and more recently into VWs so have very little knowledge about the E30.
The obvious thing that springs to mind would be the security stuff thats built into new cars - coded keys, ecus, clocks etc.
Would i be best served starting with a 325? Or just the best example i could find (in terms of bodywork) regardless of trim level, as all the driveline is being replaced anyway?
Would the E30 rear end be 'man enough' to take the torque of the Diesel? I think i read the engine produces something like 320lbs/ft?
At the moment this is still a bit pie in the sky, but the more i think about it the more it makes good sense to me.
Obviously its not going to be straightforward, but thats half the fun isnt it?
And while i realise it would make much more sense to buy a big 3.0TDi wagon as BMW produced it, i'm a bit of a retro/old skool freak, and like my cars to have character and individuality.
Any info, or links to build threads or features would be massively appreciated.
Thanks, Rich.
