PLEASE HELP! E30 tourer M52 conversion

[HARRIS2333]

I've read plenty of threads on here so far but i've probably read too many, as im very confused!
I've got an E30 tourer 325i, which had an M20 lump & gearbox. I've also got the donor vehicle, E36 328i manual.
I'm wanting to use the engine and gearbox, swapping the dual mass flywheel with the single mass from the E30; I've been told that the E30 clutch pressure plate wont handle the increase in power, will a new standard LUK/Sachs clutch kit cope? Also what release bearing etc will i require? Any good ideas of a combo that would work??
Has anyone got parts for sale which will aid the conversion, i'm also on the hunt for a inlet manifold (325, M50)?
Does any have the part number for the mounts, throttle cable etc?

I appreciate that there are many different posts with different combinations, but i need a pointer in what direction to go!

All feed back would be greatly accepted!

[Jacko_]

1.You need an E21 323 through out bearing.
2.You need to skim a little off the back of the M20 flywheel or bodge the bolting ring on the back rather than the front (i wouldn't advise this)
3.I would also reface the flywheel while you're at it and buy a new 325 M20 clutch. or 323 whatever. Who ever fits a 2nd hand clutch really? For £120 why would you?
4.You also need a later M20 starter motor (ie the smaller motor one) or you can take the pinon out of the M52 starter motor and cut it down and add a new snap ring grove.
5.You need to use the M20 flywheel bolts or cut the M52 ones down to size.

Easy.

[DanThe]

You dont need the E21 release bearing, the standard 325i one that comes in the clutch kit is fine. Best clutches are Sachs, you wont have a problem on an M52.
I can provide an exchange lightened flywheel if needed
I would always recommend fitting new flywheel bolts

[Jacko_]

Will the 325 through out bearing now effect biting point and stuff? About 5mm difference in the total height i thought?

[DanThe]

No effect at all, ive tried both and you cant tell the difference.

[Jacko_]

Ohh ok that makes thinks easier. I was going to make a 5mm spacer but if you don't need to that's great. I shall give it ago and see how it differs in feel to an E21 one.

Thanks.

[HARRIS2333]

Thanks for the feed back guys, i am planning on running with M50 inlet manifold, sports exhaust manifold, and stainless exhaust with no cats, and a remap. Any ideas on rough power figures and will a standard new Sachs cope with the extra grunt?
Just want to be certain before buying a new one and finding it will slip, its pure use will be track days and a hacking round the ring.

cheers

[Jacko_]

220 maybe, tbh i don't know but it must be something around that figure.

[tomislav]

Which bit on the back of the flywheel do you need to skim danthe? or is this not necessary?

The car that HARRIS2333 is talking about is out mates 325 touring.

Its gonna be using m20 flywheel, m20 starter motor then whatever clucth set up is needed to make this work.

So whats needed?

Sorry, semi hijack of thread but i'm sitting here posting this with the owner of said touring lol

[deanocool]

ive converted my m50 exhaust into a single 2.5'' pipe with no cats. if youre going along the same lines as me you will need earplugs unless you love the beautiful psiren song it makes

[eko]

Which bit on the back of the flywheel do you need to skim danthe? or is this not necessary?

The car that HARRIS2333 is talking about is out mates 325 touring.

Its gonna be using m20 flywheel, m20 starter motor then whatever clucth set up is needed to make this work.

So whats needed?

Sorry, semi hijack of thread but i'm sitting here posting this with the owner of said touring lol

Heres a pic of my flywheel to give you an idea


you can leave the flywheel alone and remove some excess from the end of the sump.

[tomislav]

Ahhh so its not the centre bit of the flywheel you skim, its the opposite side of where the clutch would sit.

Thanks.

Anymore input gratefully recieved, and i'm sure me or harris will post more questions

[blue30]

Re. clutch bite - slave cylinder needs to match the gearbox you're using. M50 boxes seem to put the slave a bit further back from the flywheel and the slaves have an offset built into them to take account. As said, starter needs to match the fly though.

[e30-EVN]

E30 box = e30 slave cylinder
E36 box = e36 slave....

I'm using an e30 m42 box with m20 clutch, flywheel, starter and e30 slave. No probs here to report but listen to danthe, sachs clutch it the way forward!
I used an luk clutch and its shite! This is on an m52....

On my m50 I used the second hand sachs clutch from my m20 2.5 and not a problem.
When I rip it appart I will be fitting a sachs item and have no probs

[Jacko_]

Just to put your flywheel into perspective this is a lightened and re-faced one;




Big difference and well worth doing imo.

[tomislav]

Bloody hell, that flywheel has had the skim of its life!!!

I didn't realise you can take them that far!

All info so far recieved and digested. Thread will be updated as we go.

While i think about it, clutch ordered (sachs), e28 m535 engine mounts ordered, sump, dipstick tube and pick should be coming from sskoda next week sometime, cant remember what else but i'll let ya all know

[eko]

My flywheel was lightened to 7kg.
I know most seem to go down to around 6kg but 7 is fine in my opinion.
Engine spins up well thats for sure

[DanThe]

The above flywheel will be closer to 5kg
Looks very similar to the ones I have done except for the friction surface

[Jacko_]

What do you do with the face Dan?

[DanThe]

Nothing, unless its badly scored, but then I would have it surface ground rather than turned. You need to be careful how much material you remove from the friction surface

[Jacko_]

Ohh i see, i just take a fraction off nothing more.

[tomislav]

Righth, update.

Engine now out of doner 328, engine mounts here, clutch sent back and now waiting for the sachs one, wiring loom detached and ready to send to danthe (expect a PM soon, how busy are you over christmas?), box off, old flywheel binned, checked over m52 lump, nice and dry really, all looking good so far.

Few bits to do now, bit of welding, cleaning up etc.

I'll keep this thread updated, and again, thank you all for the input

[tomislav]

Hi there people. Update on this thread.

Progress has been slow due to christmas, new year, money, parts etc but we are now at a stalling point.

M52B28 engine AND gearbox is mounted fine but not sure about which prop front section is needed.

The engine is in an e30 touring if that makes any odds.

Please help!

Thanks

[DanThe]

328i prop is what you need.

[E30BeemerLad]

I've been running a M20 325 sachs clutch on a m20 flywheel on my M52 for a couple of years and have done many many 1/4 mile passes and have never had any clutch slippage or other dramas.

This was initially in a touring and then in my chromie

[Dezzy]

My custom built M52B30 is running M20B25 sachs clutch with zero slip so far

[tomislav]

Got the prop sorted, thanks guys!

Going well now, using sachs clutch so thats good news.

Anyone know anything about clutch delay valves???

[tomislav]

Right, problems again... Help?

We're now turning our attentions to the exhaust side of things and have a huge headache.

We've seen people on here modifying the standard m52 manifolds to fit obviously with some welding required (...LOTS!) but after getting everything into place to check fitment it seems that the rear half of the manifold will either foul on the steering linkage or the bell housing of the gearbox.

The car is running a standard e30 steering rack.

Can anyone give any guidence/pictures of modified m52 manifolds please?

We've heard of it and seen it being done, just wondering how on earth people have coped with the fitment issues.

Any help most appreciated, thanks again.

[HARRIS2333]

Firstly a big thank you to you all that have helped so far, an especially big thank you goes to danthe for wiring loom & exhaust manifold - LEG-END!
To keep you all up to speed, car is all complete again, and up and running.
Just been on first road test, really impressed with the grunt & pick up; only one slight problem we've encountered thou!
when accelerating up through the rev range its feeling like an early rev limiter of approx 5K !
We have not had a chance to plug it in an check for any fault codes yet, but wondered if anyone has experianced similiar or heard of this before?!
Any feed back is warmly welcomed as we are slightly stumped at the mo!

[rich318i]

speed signal to the ecu 100% many of us had the same problem. 5.5rpm ?? its the ecu thinking the abs is not working.

[HARRIS2333]

We got Danthe to do the ECU EWS delete, and the loom adaptions, would this be something that Danthe has already dealt with, or something that we would of needed to do?
If it is something we need to do, can you point us in the right direction for the mod (previous posts maybe?)
cheers

[rich318i]

pin 9 c101 is black and white. to pin 15 to the ECU ONLY!!! NOT PIN 15 ON THE LOOM !!! ITS PIN 20 BLACK ON THE E36 SIDE