Best Engine Swap for an 320 e30 to be used for Drifting

[Sonnex20]

Hi,
A real newbie to the world of e30 driving here.

Want to build a drift weapon and while I have the suspension sorted out the engine area is still a big question mark. What advice can any guru's give me as to the best engine to swap into my 320 to give good torque that can keep the wheels spinning for drifting

Cheers

[wrcarter]

Depends on your budget. M52/s50/S38/S54 or S62 The more money you want to spend the better engine you can get

[Sonnex20]

Cheers, although I being on my BMW "L Plates" the engine codes mean very little to me

I had been advised that there are results to be had if I lower the compression of my 6 pot and whack a turbo on it. Not sure if that is the most cost effective way to go.

While I am after the best lump, it would be crazy to spend thousands that could get me the same level of performance by spending the money elsewhere on the car.

Any engine choice needs to have a level of reliability to it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks

[wrcarter]

You currently have an M20B20. I would not dream of turboing that. the cost per bhp would be way too high. The M20B25 is the 2.5 variant of you engine and was used in the 325. That is a fairly straight swap and gives about 170bhp. The M52 was found in the never 3 series (E36 the one after our e30s) and 5 series. That is 190ish BHP and with a few mods over 200. Not a straight forward swap but not over complex or expensive. The S50 was found in the E36 M3 and will give over 280-320 BHP. A more complex swap but not cheap either. All these swaps have been done by zoners and are documented in build threads. The swaps are fairly reliable too. Hope this hepls

[punk_sy]

Have you drifted before? Or are you learning? My advice is stick a m20 2.5 init and have fun plenty of power in them for normal drift days till you get bored.

[hazd31]

320 with the right set up is more than enough power to get your drifting skills up over the winter!

drop a 2.5 donk in when it goes pop

[jimbom30cab]

Get a bix sig pot engine from an old 5 series about 1991 vintage, with a 535i badge on the back. This is the M30 engine and is a monster. Lots of swap info here and reasonable straight forward by the looks. M30 is the way ahead, everyone round here agrees with that

[leeparkes]

If you want good torque to keep the wheels spinning an M30 will do that all day long without bother.

[jonnie]

If your new to drifting then stick with whats in it at the mo. The best way to learn is to use an underpowered car, so when you step up to use a more powerful car, your not relying on the power of the car to drift, but actually know what your doing. Some of the best guys I've seen drifting have come from using sh*t underpowered cars that then step up to something powerful.

V8 should be your long term goal

[Rav335uk]

If you want good torque to keep the wheels spinning an M30 will do that all day long without bother.

THIS! ^^^^^^

Take a look at the links below.

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... =m30+drift

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... =m30+drift

[TouringTash]

If your new to drifting then stick with whats in it at the mo. The best way to learn is to use an underpowered car, so when you step up to use a more powerful car, your not relying on the power of the car to drift, but actually know what your doing. Some of the best guys I've seen drifting have come from using sh*t underpowered cars that then step up to something powerful.

V8 should be your long term goal

No THIS ^^^^

Power is feck all without control.


The M30 works by placing the weight upfront so the rear wheels loose traction, even under full load (either throttle or a boot full)

Sorry Lee/Rav I need to grow up but feel it's too late for that.

[Cook318IS]

I'd first be focusing on suspension mods and a shorter lock to lock rack (like the e36 rack) before engine swaps. It might be a bit underpowered but you don't exactly want to jump straight in at the deep end. By fitted a shorter ratio diff it should make it slightly quicker to accelerate and easier to spin up.

V8's seem to be fairly common on the more professional side of drifting. Gatis Lapans runs an e39 m5 v8 e30 drift car - he does ok It all depends on what your budget is for the engine swap.

[leeparkes]

This is a power graph for a standard M30 bar a 1mm head skim.



Makes 200lb ft at 1800rpm! Wall of torque FTW.

[jonnie]

For your first drift car, these are the essential things;

Suspension
Strip out weight
Bucket seat and harness
Lock mods

Simples

[TouringTash]

Some nice lines there Lee.

[HairyScreech]

as said before, if drifting is the game then aim for torque and number of cylinders first, theres a reason the ls1 seems to be king in the us drift scene.

perhaps a m70 could be put to good use? although i expect the size and mass of the thing would cause trouble.

[Dave_M3]

I've a 320 at the moment too thats going to be my drift/daily hack until my other projects are done.

I'm going to use the 2L for a few weeks until it blows up and then stick in my S54 if I have it ready or else drop in a M20b25 until it is in a month or two.

Before it gets silly power though, all the other bits will have been taken care of such as

Coilovers,
Adjustable front control arms,
Extra lock hubs and rack spacers,
Steering quickener,
Fully polybushed,
adjustable rear camber and toe,
Hydraulic handbrake (although the drum versions in the 320s and 316/18i aren't bad at all!)
welded diff or maybe use one of my proper LSDs (3.9-4.45 in ratio even with the E36 box)
Weld in cage, harnesses, bucket seats, smaller steering wheel etc to keep me in place.


Definitely start out with shit power though so you learn the basics quicker rather than relying on power to compensate...

this was me using a 318i one day that we just pretty much pulled out of a ditch the previous day...
welded small case 3.91 diff, cut front springs, no name rear lowering springs, manual rack with extra lock spacers (probably about 5 turns!!!) and hubs chopped for extra lock, drum rear brakes and of course 60psi in the rear tyres.



I was able to do the same or even better in the dry too later on in the day when it cleared up abit and few lads were saying I was doing better than a 325 there with an M50b28 with cams and all sorts of engine bits that should see it more than double the power I had.



If I had a choice of engine however and hopefully might manage it for my proper track project as not using the S54 in it now due to bulkhead constraints... it would be the V10!
And obviously bin the stupid E30 back axle while I was at it.

[matthewe30]

Toyota 1jz swap! 2.5 twinturbo + vems = 380-430hp! ;)

[Dave_M3]

400bhp from a JZ would be abit disappointing in an E30 imo

[matthewe30]

430Hp and 600Nm from the factory engine with vems.. Its no too bad!
Its my friend car:

[Dave_M3]

Whole point of a 1JZ swap though is so you can stick on a silly turbo and make 600-750bhp

[redcar]

Sr20 or turbo m50 or 1/2jz

[Dave_M3]

Can have all the power you like in an E30 but its still not going to really help due to just not having the rear end grip if you want to be competitive.

[BATTS91]

a cheap m52 conversion , with half decent suspension , better rack , lock mods / hub mods . and a WELDED DIFF !!!

everything depends on the budget , that is why my drift e30 is still on the drive in bits as i seem to have champagne taste and lemonade money hahaha

[Rav335uk]

M30, forget the M52. as it is't cheap

[Bladerider]

OP,

Before you take all this "sage advice" I would be tempted to confirm exactly who on this thread actually drifts to a decent standard, as opposed to the odd airfield day or skidz round McDonalds !!

Ghetto hero points are only useful on the internet - so thrashing the arse out of a 320 with a latter 2.5 swap and a whole 200 of your finest powers is great in second and a slowing third gear entry with average rear grip on slim tyres at 45psi. But when you have paid a ton of money for a proper track day or in a comp and the guy with a 500bhp nissan enters 20mph faster than you, in a higher gear and out accelrates you in a long corner you will start to wonder why you let these internet doodz talk you out of a V8 swap !!!

Compared to the actual cost of drifting regularly almost ANY engines swap will become a small expense assuming it last more than 12 months.

Personally for the broadest spread of useability from beginner to advanced, ease of conversion, least amount of trick stuff to go wrong and the fact theres no exensive turbos and such to faff with I would be looking at a BMW vv8 - either an M60 or M62, check wikipedia for the details of these engines, essentially the 60 is the 4.0 version that has potentially more issues with internal problems, but its cheaper and hence more plentiful. The M62 is the 4.4 - 4.8 version and is more powerful, newer, more relaible and more expensive. You'll also need a gearbox of some description, the 5speed is more common, needs more work to make fit but is perfectly adequate, the 6 speed is gravy but costly.

You'll also need other kit like propshafts and flywheels and such - check the mods sections of this site for the technical requirements, its really very simple if you can do the mechanics yourself, just the wiring may challenge most people.

have fun and good luck with it.

J.