2.7 or 3.5

[--alpina--]

Ok theres not much difference then in weight, what about the injection setup? the complete engine wiring loom would need to be changed?



jimi

[SPADGE]

Ok theres not much difference then in weight, what about the injection setup? the complete engine wiring loom would need to be changed?



jimi

I am swapping the entire engine with all its ancileries inc ecu, loom etc... as well as the gearbox!

[Simon13]

spadge have u a large hammer at hand to modify certain areas of your chariot to make the 3.5 fit lol

[Andy335Touring]

Indeed - there's a red 535i Sport in a breakers yard in Bloxham (Banbury) with a 3.5 and manual boix waiting to be plucked out.

mmm.....sports box would be nice as would the oil cooler and pipes....so many goodies and not enough money

[Ziggy]

Which fifties/sixties America chariot for you Mr Zig? I can see you in a 63 split window 'Vette.

Hell yeah - that's the one as far as 'vettes go

Otherwise, I could punt around in a '65 Tbird quite happily... Or a Charger... Or a '68 Cougar... Or a '68 GTO... I'm really not fussy! 's all about the late 60s though

[Simon13]

or an impaler i love them! but you would need a haircut like this

[Demlotcrew]

And 320 Touring - I expected as much from you as well. When a 1989 320i Touring is worth Ԛ£40'000 I'll take your comments on board!

When your house is worth Ԛ£40.000, we will come round and build you a garage with electricity!

[Simon13]

ouch

[Ziggy]

or an impaler i love them! but you would need a haircut like this

Nah, if it's gonna be a chevvy, gotta be a 63-67 'vette. Admittedly I wouldn't say no to an impala though! Gotta get me a 'proper' car sometime...

[TW166Y]

i've driven an M50 2.5 and it's not better really than a good 2.5 M20 on the road.

2.7 mate proper ones deliver good performance and economy to shame the other options. M30 will be 15-20mpg thirsty old lumps

simon mate i dont mean to sound blunt but thats a pile of horse shite mate! who evers m50 you drove must have been fahoooked! a decent m50 engine inserted into an e30 will put a big smile on your face and are a LOT perkier than a m20 2.5 all day long! sound better too. it makes sense especially when you can do a complete conversion for around Ԛ£500

[Jhonno]

1st generation Mustang all the way...

[Jhonno]

Sorry Twig, but Ԛ£500 aint gonna get you a decent M50 conversion..

[Demlotcrew]

Sorry Twig, but Ԛ£500 aint gonna get you a decent M50 conversion..

It aint gonna buy you a decent E30!

[TW166Y]

Sorry Twig, but Ԛ£500 aint gonna get you a decent M50 conversion..

i beg to differ...... all will be revealed in good time

[TW166Y]

Sorry Twig, but Ԛ£500 aint gonna get you a decent M50 conversion..

It aint gonna buy you a decent E30!

and whys that then?

[Davenotouring]

And 20bhp isn't a massive difference.

The delivery between an M20 and M50 probably makes it feel pokier than it is.

[TW166Y]

So you are seriously telling me a m20 engine is better than the m50? HHHmmmmm

[Jhonno]

Sorry Twig, but Ԛ£500 aint gonna get you a decent M50 conversion..

i beg to differ...... all will be revealed in good time

I thought my engine conversion would cost a little more than the cost of the engine... 2k or so later

If your doing it properly Ԛ£500 will cover a 1/2 decent engine and box and maybe a few odds and sods

[TW166Y]

c-mon jhono mate, you think im giving some tool Ԛ£500 for an engine? doubt it mate, ive got a 5 series lined up as we speak, not actually bought it yet but i may! 525i, 87.000 genuine miles, with history, no tax or m.o.t though hence the price! Ԛ£300 once i sell the poxy engine and box out of mine, that will re-coop some cash bringing the 5 series down to around Ԛ£200! that leaves me with Ԛ£300 to spend on other bits and im not even doing it on a budget! thats how cheap this conversion is, obviously ill have help from my machanic friend.... if your not doing the conversion yourself add Ԛ£700 for labour!

[SPADGE]

spadge have u a large hammer at hand to modify certain areas of your chariot to make the 3.5 fit lol

Shoe-horn, air chissel and mahoosive hammer are all to hand should they be required

[Jhonno]

Ԛ£250 for a 3.25 LSD...

Mounts are Ԛ£50

You need e36 alloy arms

New box mounts Ԛ£15

Prop - Ԛ£100

Exhaust/Manifold Ԛ£---

Dont get me wrong, you've got a nice lump there if you get it. But the cost adds up.. Im doin an S50 conversion by myself, its in awaitin wiring, rad and oil cooler and manifold and exhaust.. Its the little bits that add up!! Manifold work is Ԛ£590 unless i get it in the group buy, spent 2k+ so far to get it where it is, plus original cost of the engine/box.. Need to buy an oil cooler still and a backbox

[TW166Y]

yeh but yours is a beast, mines only a poxey m50 but its by far better than a m20 thats all i was saying! your conversion sounds the nuts jhonno! i couldnt justify spending Ԛ£3000 on an engine though, dont get me wrong if had had the money i probably would but at this particular moment in time i dont. i just dont like it when everybody jumps on the band wagon slating the m50 conversion when its a top mod "for us with not so much money" you get me?
All the hereo's suddenly come from nowhere saying, do this, do that... its ok if you have 4k in your arse pocket to do it but not everyone does! im ranting on i know but i thought forums were here to cater for us all. just my 2p

[Jhonno]

Yeah - m50 is a good mod, relatively cheap now with better mpg than the m20 - to be fair not disagreeing with you, just trying to make you aware that Ԛ£500 is difficult to achieve when dropping one in. Ok ive spent extra cause ive replaced most stuff on the way with BMW parts like mounts/bushes etc but if your gonna do summat do it right

my 2p addeth

[DRIFTBOY]

I don't have to hear talk about the price of e30 engine conversions!

My Mazda RX7 got me into debt to buy and even more debt to put petrol in!

I bought an E34 535i with the thought of putting the engine in an E30, saving money by buying a cheaper car to buy and run. Stripped it, rebuilt the engine, bought an E30, lsd, roll cage, Corbeau seats, many other bits and pieces (some of which I didn't really need, I admit), and sold some parts.
Tonight, I sold my beautiful, immaculate, reliable, very fast, yellow RX7 Twin Turbo on Ebay -- for LESS than I have spent on the rusty bucket E30 335i ! And it's not even finished!

I don't think engine conversions are EVER as cheap as they first seem or Practical Performance Magazine say! You either forget things, break things along the way or get carried away with 'goodies'!

[Simon13]

twiggy u are a loser sometimes. I've driven an M50 engined E30 hard and it was one of the better converted cars out here. It was wil318iS old car which i believe is still on the zone now. It was converted by Parkside bmw specialists. The only real gripe with the car was the suspension and exhaust manifold was not the best.

M20 is better low down revs, more torque. M50 is better top end.
Why because 2valve technology is in fact better than 4 valve below 4000rpm. only above this does a 4valve engine strut it's stuff. but as Dave said the extra 20bhp and 5lbs of torque is sweet FA in 2 cars which weigh the same.

If i gave u slap a few times u might come round and fit a 2.8 instead if your going to all the aggro of bodging an M50 in. but i suppose u can't do that for a monkey! lol

can u take tiggers place as zone plank, i think your nearly there anyway

[M5pilot]

I drove Will's car aswell.

Boy did it sound wierd with that manifold.

It defo was not as good as a 2.7 to use nor as quick. I initially thought it was until I took the GUG for an extended test drive.

M50 is not something I recommend to anyone, minimum 2.8 with some engine mods. If your going to go through the hassle of doing an engine conversion like this save up for an S50 motor. Then you'll have some serious power.

I;ve been in Ian Haynes's car - it is truly devastating on road. Acceleration above 100mph is simply insane.

All that work for 20bhp on the M50 conversion - not worth it.

Sal

[Simon13]

ditto cam up your M20 and be done with it

[M5pilot]

Add a 6 branch aswell and your M20 2.5 will really come alive.

There is a massive surge in people buying cams and Manifolds right now. Most will hit around 185bhp quite easily.

[oze30]

how much difference will there be without decking the bock. Been quoted #80 to deck it, but I need to strip the crank out of it and bearings.. and then rebuild the whole lot.

I got a 6 branch, and looking at getting the BBTB ( have the prices gone up on these???) so it will be a decent engine when finished.

It means I have to run it in again.. but over a 3.5, which already has a few thou miles on it with the risk of the engine throwing a bearing or rod. I'd like to know that an engine is in good nick and not been run ragged for a bit.

I'll be doing that bit later!!!

[Simon13]

if u don't deck the block u will end up with a really low compression ratio, and it will be pants Colin

[dazleeds]

whats the best way of doing the 2.7 but still using as much as poss off my sport engine

ie keeping my block etc

just want to it as original as possible

[Simon13]

just get an eta/324td crank.320 rods, plus a vernier pulley. get the block decked and the bottom of the pistons shaved as the skirts will hit the crank and basically thats it Daz. Some new shells and rings and off u go.

eta/325i blocks are the same.

[dazleeds]

just get an eta/324td crank.320 rods, plus a vernier pulley. get the block decked and the bottom of the pistons shaved as the skirts will hit the crank and basically thats it Daz. Some new shells and rings and off u go.

eta/325i blocks are the same.

cheers simon

assuming i do it all properly would this way give good power??

or are there better options

if im gonna do it i wanna get the most power possible out of it

[Project_E30]

I don't believe in wasting my precious time or money so i done the right thing, i went and bought a 261 bhp M30 with an Alpina B6 3.5 attached to it for Ԛ£1500, the digital gauge cluster is a sight to behold at dusk !

Andyboy you hero, it don't get much better than a '59 coupe de ville ,back in '59 weren't BMW still figuring out where to put the 4th wheel !

Any pictures?

[Ant]

eta/325i blocks are the same

Be careful here, they are not the same !!

325 block is 206mm from crank centreline to deck, ETA blocks are 206.5mm, make sure and factor this in before machining anything, the rest is same as though apart from the realy early ones, with the extra core plug but I've yet to see one in the metal myself.

as I said earlier, the 2.7 is a worthwhile conversion as its the only one to offer a complete engine rebuild in the costs.