m52 into my e30, which route to take?

[johnmaccow]

Iam buying a partialy stripped solid shell e30 2 door (in gold ) and have a m52 sat in my shed with box and loom etc.
The e30 has no engine and box (was a 1.8 auto)and is missing the steering rack, I will be putting the m52 into the car but what rack should I fit? Also what exhaust would work best? Iam currently looking for e36 m3 evo exhaust manifolds and have m50 inlet and prob getting bbtb from guy on e36coupe.
Also what is the best gearbox/diff combo for acceleration?

The colour will be changed at later date or could possibly just leave it as sleeper,undecided at mo.

[nickso]

gold or beige cars are the best for m52's. have you got the ecu, keys and ews stuff?

e36 rack is possibly the cheapest rack to use, certainly the easiest to find over a z3 or e46 clubsport one.

e30 m3 exhaust seems to be a popular choice for exhaust but an m20 one will work, a little bit strangled some say.

pretty sure e36 evo manifold is a bitch to fit....maybe impossible. modded m52 mani's work fine.

gearbox is either m20, m40, m42 with e30 prop and diff. or m52 box with e30 m3 prop and diff.

best to spend a couple of days looking through this section and e3024v.com, you will find all the answers you need.

[johnmaccow]

Finding loads of info each time Im on here now mate , just been looking at a guy's e30 on driftworks, red one and he decided finally to put m52 in. I know a lot of the guys on e36coupe are switching to the m3 evo manifolds but is space an issue on the e30?
Going to look into e36 rack and how to fit it.
What sort of mod is needed to m52 mani's to fit?
I have the m52 in my shed but it will be going in the garage with the car so easier to work on, I have the 2.8/m3 box with it and if is seen as stronger over m40/m20 box it will prob make sense to use it seeing I have it.It was destined for my e36 but nomore.
I have m52 ecu but no keys or ews came with it so am on the hunt for another.
Am goin to have mooch round and try to find info on best box and diff for acceleration and will have look on e3024v.com
Thanks mate

[Dave_M3]

http://www.e30owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11856


Here's a build thread of one a friend and I just done.

[blue30]

e36 M3 manifolds need the rearmost pipe re-routing big time to miss the steering rack, and also something doing to stop it rubbing on the anti-roll bar and the front subframe. M52 manifolds need modding too, but less.