E30 in Saudi Arabia

Post Fri Jan 28, 2022 6:04 pm

Hey everyone. Brit living between the UK and Saudi Arabia.

Im potentially going to pull the trigger on an E30 320i in Saudi to actually use on a regular basis. I have a different car going through a restoration which will probably need 6-12 months, so I want something fun which I can use now and restore later.

I will attach pictures, but it appears to have had an engine swap to a newer engine. Does anyone recognise which engine this is?

I drove it last night and it seems to be as slow as hell. The engine wasn't misfiring, but I think it needs a major service to get back to good health. All the oils, filters, brake and clutch job. I hate the alloys so will change those, and the thing is quite low so will fit better shocks, springs, and bushes etc.

Basically I want it to be completely reliable so happy to get things done and drive around. I also will be replacing the non BMW steering wheel, gear knob etc. Back to M Tech. Plus I'll be blogging the whole lot too.

Anyway thoughts, especially on the engine type?

Cheers
Andy

Post Fri Jan 28, 2022 6:12 pm

Post Fri Jan 28, 2022 6:40 pm

Looks like an M50/M52 engine, so could be 2.0, 2.5 or 2.8. If it's a 2.0 then it will be slow(ish) but the others are fairly spritely.

Post Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:46 pm

Cloggy Saint wrote: ↑
Fri Jan 28, 2022 6:40 pm
Looks like an M50/M52 engine, so could be 2.0, 2.5 or 2.8. If it's a 2.0 then it will be slow(ish) but the others are fairly spritely.

Many thanks buddy. Had the car meet me at a workshop today so I could check it out. I didn't even put it on a ramp as the car look terrible in the daylight. Decided to walk away and keep looking.