What's the newest BMW engine that'll fit an E30?

[Dr Firefly]

Pretty much as the title really. At what stage do they get too complicated electrics wise to be able to communicate with all the rev counter, ignition etc on an E30?

Seen E34 engines in E30s, seen E36 engines in E30s, but not seen E46, E39, E38s etc transplanted yet. Was just thinking it would be nice to get amazing performance and decent mpg with a new engine, rather than going down the 327 route with an old M20 and always being stuck around the low 30s as regards mpg.

I mean I used to get 50mpg on a good motorway run out of my dad's diesel E46 330d and it accelerated like s**t off a shovel. So if it went into an E30 I'd have thought both acceleration and performance would improve... but is it possible?

[appletree]

There was a thread a long time ago with a csl engine going in a e30 with the SMG box.

deisel might be hard coz of turbo down pipe!

[Dr Firefly]

deisel might be hard coz of turbo down pipe!

Was just using that as an example, please guys don't restrict answers to my mention of the E46 330d engine!

Really, a CSL? Got a link to that thread? Did it work out as regards all the electronics?

[Gortour]

Stick with an E30 engine...
The newer ones had Nikasil problems, and the newer diesels eat their swirl flaps and destroy the engine...

[wiledw]

Seen turbo'd E46 m3 engined e30 m3.

[kuntz_de]

e46 M3 engine and csl (s54) have both been fitted. how ever both use a stand alone mangement system

there is an e30 M3 with the m5v10 being built in the states

e38/39 V8's have made there way into e30's

its all possible, but cost is a factor unless you are a very good auto electrician who knows your way round wiring maps and a wiring harness.

the biggest issue is that there modern engines have multipal ecu's and the associated wiring. thats why most people end up using stand alone, and usually a good system from motec autronic dta etc is used

[Dr Firefly]

Stick with an E30 engine...

Just asking out of interest - not planning on doing it, just wondering.

ough as regards the diesel comment, my dad's 330d (at the risk of beginning to sound like Maxfield there ) has done 165k with no issues whatsoever. That's 5 years old, so fairly recent. Actually on 2nd thoughts it is beginning to leave a little smoke behind when flooring the throttle... is that what you're referring to?

[Gortour]

The diesels have two issues, one with turbos at an average of 100k needing replacing on the diesels and another whereby the plastic carburetters break and deposit the swirl flaps into the engine, causing it to cannibalise itself...

[Dr Firefly]

e46 M3 engine and csl (s54) have both been fitted. how ever both use a stand alone mangement system

there is an e30 M3 with the m5v10 being built in the states

e38/39 V8's have made there way into e30's

its all possible, but cost is a factor unless you are a very good auto electrician who knows your way round wiring maps and a wiring harness.

the biggest issue is that there modern engines have multipal ecu's and the associated wiring. thats why most people end up using stand alone, and usually a good system from motec autronic dta etc is used

Ok, I see the sense in the standalone system. What does that mean then in terms of the basics then (sorry, not that good on electrics) - how does the signal for the rev counter, ignition, oil levels, temp etc get put out - is it all processed by the standalone ECU and then outputted in a format that the E30 guages etc will understand?

What's the weight difference with those engines you mentioned and the M20? I could go and look it up I suppose, just being lazy... Thanks for the info tho

[Dr Firefly]

The diesels have two issues, one with turbos at an average of 100k needing replacing on the diesels and another whereby the plastic carburetters break and deposit the swirl flaps into the engine, causing it to cannibalise itself...

Oh well it seems to have avoided those issues so far then - had a minor blip where it idled really rough, but I ran some injector cleaning fluid through it and it sorted itself out within 100 miles.

[Dr Firefly]

Ps I bet the CSL engined one flies - must have to uprate the drivetrain fairly substantially to deal with that...

So basically in answer to my original question, there's no absolute barrier to modern engines going in, it just gets more complicated and you have to go with standalone management? And you can have the benefits of good performance, consumption, but increased weight in the front and all the complications of one-off electrical wiring solutions if you're maintaining it longterm. Cool, thanks guys... got to love the zone for speedy info.

[kuntz_de]

they have both used aftermarket display system, like stack

i dont trust e30 clocks for engine temp and any of its "warning systems". if i invested into a £5000 into an engine, ( that doesnt take into account the cost of instalation) i'd make sure i'd have a fully indepandant warnig system to show me if something was wrong

[kuntz_de]

and yes drive line has its issues and needs to be upgraded again for reliability

[maxfield]

A new 535D engine in an E30 with a remap would be awesome!

I'm still waiting on that though

[Brianmoooore]

M50 and M52 fit into an E30 OK without any serious electronic headaches. The problems start with the M52Tu double vanos engine, where it all gets VERY complicated in the electronics department, and then gets worse with the M54 fly by wire throttle.

[DanThe]

M54 is a waste of time IMO

I have one stripped down here with a blown head gasket, compared to the M50 the inlet/exhaust ports are tiny.

[old_skool]

I think the problem with most of the newer stuff is the Can-Bus electronics where everything is integrated. Imagine having to have the right resistance from the rear sidelights in order for the engine to start, or something equally as frustrating!

The M50 & S50 related stuff is all relatively straightforward to wire in. I'd love to get my hands on one of the new diesels. I wonder what the wiring would really be like??

[Dr Firefly]

Hi Dan, just looked at your sig and realised I'm copying your car's trim, sorry! Just organised SE sideskirts fitting, mtec1 spoiler, and changing my black bumpers to the ones with the smaller black trim and colour coded upper and lower bits. Sorry! Thought I was being original... don't tell me you've got an IS front splitter too?
Ian

[1an]

anything is possible, just depends how deep your pockets are.

[Dr Firefly]

anything is possible, just depends how deep your pockets are.

Very philosophical. And how much money you've got