Hello everyone.
Here is my situation, i recently bought an E36 325 to learn how to drift in but on my first outing in it a put it into a wall and made a real mess of it. It has now been scrapped but i saved the engine, box, ecu, clutch and brake pedal and some loom so i could put it all in a new shell.
I then decided i wanted an E30 Touring instead as i really like the look of them. My original plan was to put the M50 engine and box into it but i really need something to use quick and didn't want to fall into the trap of putting it in the garage, dismantling it and then run out of time and money and end up selling it off.
I have now bought an E30 Touring. It is a 325 auto with a knackered box, so whatever i decide it has to end up manual as its for drifting.
I could do with some opinions of people in the know about what to do. i have two options as i see it-
1. do an m50 conversion-drop the engine and box i have into it and sell the engine that is in there at the moment. This will be the more complicated and longer option but will the results be worth it? the risk is it will never get finished.
2. put a manual box in and keep the older 2.5 engine. can the e36 box be used or will i need an e30 box? this will be the quicker option but the extra power of the m50 would be nice.
any opinions welcome, can anyone point me in the direction of the complete fitting guide for the m50 conversion so i can see whats involved, i started reading the sticky in the m50 conversion section but haven't come to a definate fitting guide yet. thanks
Noob E30 Touring owner in need of a bit of advice.
Moderator: martauto
- Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member

- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
There's no "complete fitting guide", because there's many ways of doing the conversion. The only definites are that you will need E36 alloy engine mount arms, and an E34 sump with oil pick up and dipstick.
The E36 gearbox will 'sort of' fit. It will attach to the engine, but will be rotated a few degrees, resulting in the need for a modified gear linkage and gearbox mount. The coupling to the prop shaft will be a different size, and the E36 has a 1:1 5th gear, instead of the overdrive 5th on the E30 of 0.81:1.
The E36 gearbox will 'sort of' fit. It will attach to the engine, but will be rotated a few degrees, resulting in the need for a modified gear linkage and gearbox mount. The coupling to the prop shaft will be a different size, and the E36 has a 1:1 5th gear, instead of the overdrive 5th on the E30 of 0.81:1.
if you do decide to do the manual conversion my self and others on here have done it a few times and can offer advice. ive also got 90% of the parts you would need for this aswell.


