It's quiet in here...

[rob0r]

Are M30 swaps dieing out?? I still think it's good value for money/easyish swap for decent performance. I guess either parts are becoming scarce or favour is purely with the 24v engines.

[jimbom30cab]

everyone wants to do M52 these days mate, not many of the old M30 crowd left now.

M30 is getting thin on the ground these days though.

[Rav335uk]

I'm quiet as I'm still building mine.

[rob0r]

Looking forward to seeing your beast Rav! Do you still have your E21?

There's something about the M30 being old skool that I like and my '86 E30 is of the height of the M30 era. In fact my '86 320i is fitted with an '86 M535i engine.

[Bristol_Jer]

I was thinking the other day we don't post much in the m30 section any more! Still got mine, need to do an update on my thread at some point but haven't had time to find the photos and write something up.

I'm loving driving mine now it's got the new head and cam fitted, certainly goes well now. Need to get it rolling roaded at some point to see what sort of BHP/torque it's putting out

[Rav335uk]

Hi Boys,

Yes Rob, as far as I know the e21 is still in lock up....

This is the next big item in the new year on the list to buy.

http://www.tts-performance.co.uk/#!rotr ... arger/cur7

[Bristol_Jer]

Very nice Rav! I've been toying with the idea of building up my spare engine as a low compression one with one of those beautys attached to it.

Also got a b35 block here that's been bored out to take it to 3.7 iirc with the right pistons/rods so that might be something to spend next year's tax rebate on!

[TPS]

It's probably Been nicked by now, you can't trust anyone from Solihull

[zaust]

It's probably Been nicked by now, you can't trust anyone wth a BR post code

Fixed lol


I think it's more a lack of doners than wanting to swap. M30's seem to be scarce these day's. Shame as t would always be nice to have a spare.

[Rav335uk]

True Phil, true.

"Bristols" , I'm hoping for a rebate too for tax, hopefully the accountant should be able to sort that out, i've paid tooooo much this year.

[Rav335uk]

I think it's the lack of manual gearboxes too Marc.

[leeparkes]

They are still being done but mainly my mounts nowadays go overseas, granted not as many are being done as say 5 years ago, but they are still being done.
Now, regarding M30 vs M52 If i had two E30's side by side, one M30'd and the other M52'd i would grab the keys to the M30'd car everytime! Power deliver is way better with so much more useable torque, Im beginning to hate my M52, feels so flat and boring under 5K.

[TPS]

Bromley?

[zaust]

Sorry just ment B.

[steve_k]

Very nice Rav! I've been toying with the idea of building up my spare engine as a low compression one with one of those beautys attached to it.

Also got a b35 block here that's been bored out to take it to 3.7 iirc with the right pistons/rods so that might be something to spend next year's tax rebate on!

a 3.7 m30? with the right cam, headwork, exhaust manifold etc that would be one hell of a monster

[Bristol_Jer]

I think it's the lack of manual gearboxes too Marc.

Has anyone ever priced up getting a M30 manual box rebuilt? I've got a spare box that crunch into 3rd. I can't imagine getting any change from £500?

[Bristol_Jer]

Very nice Rav! I've been toying with the idea of building up my spare engine as a low compression one with one of those beautys attached to it.

Also got a b35 block here that's been bored out to take it to 3.7 iirc with the right pistons/rods so that might be something to spend next year's tax rebate on!

a 3.7 m30? with the right cam, headwork, exhaust manifold etc that would be one hell of a monster

Its pretty expensive to do from what research I've done so far, I only bought the bored out block as it was a good price

[jimbom30cab]

Cheaper to buy another box Jeremy i would think. You can still get them, i've got a spare if you are in desperate need.

[leeparkes]

Very nice Rav! I've been toying with the idea of building up my spare engine as a low compression one with one of those beautys attached to it.

Also got a b35 block here that's been bored out to take it to 3.7 iirc with the right pistons/rods so that might be something to spend next year's tax rebate on!

a 3.7 m30? with the right cam, headwork, exhaust manifold etc that would be one hell of a monster

Iirc Racing Dynamics did a long stroke 3.8 M30 with all added extras like cams etc and kick out around 300hp with gallons of torque!
Also im sure you can up the cc with S38 M5 gubbins.

[Rav335uk]

MMMMMMMMM......3.8 M30

[scoobydo]

I'm still poking around in here altough strickly speaking mine is not a swap as it is factory M30. Got issues with downpipe clearance and time to get it finished now the weather has broken as my garage is not quite wide enough to work on the car easily. Got my new front mount intercooler, engine is back in positon 3 from factory position 1 on the Alpina mounts but need to grind off the tab at the back of the block passenger side as there is clearance issues by the transmission tunnel. My downpipe is going to now heat the suspension turret so either need to bash this with a hammer but it is also going to interfere with the angle bit of steel that is welded up the side of the turret, or have a new downpipe made up.

[scoobydo]

Here is the problem area





Clearance before pushing the engine back about 30mm

[Bristol_Jer]

Cheaper to buy another box Jeremy i would think. You can still get them, i've got a spare if you are in desperate need.

I've got a good one in the car, a chance ebay buy that turned out to be a good 'un, was thinking about getting the crunchy one rebuilt. Thanks anyway though Jim

[leeparkes]

Where did you get the crunchy box from Jer? my original box crunched into third and i sold it to someone on here.

[Bristol_Jer]

It came with my engine, it was fine until I gave it some abuse on a trackday!

[scoobydo]

Here is some pics of the downpipe. Hoping to do a bit of adjustment on it and then bodywork to get fit to fit. Failing that then a new 5 bolt flange to vband 3inch with a tighter radius thrn collected to join with the 2x 2.5 pipes where there is a bit more space. prefer to keep what I have though as 2x 2.5 is at least 27% larger than 1x 3inch. But obviously depends on how smooth the transitions are.

[zaust]

Anyone got a turbo manifold for an M30 they don't need ?

[scoobydo]

may have just got away with it



might need to dent the strengthner on the turret just a bit only got about 3mm clearance. But didnt think it was going to go anywhere near.

[Bristol_Jer]

That's close! Hope you've got nice strong engine mounts

[scoobydo]

Is very tight but honestly did not think that it was going to go anywhere near. It just didnt look like it had the enough clearance when it was on the Alpina mounts, engine has shifted back about 40mm was just a relief to get the turbo and downpipe on, at least I can now mark any areas that need adjustment.

Here are the mounts are I am going to use. They are very firm and obviously through bolt arrangement.

[scoobydo]

New intercooler test fit



made a bit more space for the downpipe






Bolted up to make sure it all fits still, need to put my new mounts on but that will make the clearance a bit better but think I will get away with it now.

[scoobydo]

was having probs with the gearbox not sitting on the gearbox crossmember on one side. Turns out that my Alpina crossmember is handed. Rotated through 180 degress and now the mounts meet the crossmember. can now check the clearance of the downpipe now I can get it in its final position.

[zd3bx]

That's one big-ass turbo

Speaking of:

[youtube][/youtube]

[scoobydo]

Clearance has now disappeared now the everything is sitting correctly on the gearbox crossmember. Need to slit the suspension turret reinforcement and weld up for clearance, but I dont do welding