I was going to put a m54b30 in my e30 however i'm thinking now of staying period and sticking a m20b25 in it with ITB's as they sound great.
My car has 85k on the clock but as it's a 320i more door i'm assuming a non original engine isn't going to effect the value?
Is this a good idea, and is there any zone approved places to buy ITB's from when the time come?
ITB's
Moderator: martauto
Don't get me wrong I am a big fan of originality but costs come into play. Getting an M20 up to the power of an M54B30 will be expensive.
Are you buying a B25 or converting your B20?
A B20 moredoor is one of the cars at current prices will not make a huge difference what you put in it, give it time it may. You could keep your original engine to sort that issue.
ITBs, there are Dbilas and RHD. I don't have experience of either but I have heard the RHD are better (and priced accordingly) You would really need a B27, B28 or B29 to make the most of the ITBs and the run a standalone management. That is a lot of work and cost to get to the output of a M54. N/A gains are hard to come by.
It would sound great and be period correct, I would love to build one like this but I am already into an expensive B27 and for my other E30 a M54B30 is a cost effective solution, especially as I have a 330i already.
You will likely not recover your costs no matter what you do so do what takes your fancy
Are you buying a B25 or converting your B20?
A B20 moredoor is one of the cars at current prices will not make a huge difference what you put in it, give it time it may. You could keep your original engine to sort that issue.
ITBs, there are Dbilas and RHD. I don't have experience of either but I have heard the RHD are better (and priced accordingly) You would really need a B27, B28 or B29 to make the most of the ITBs and the run a standalone management. That is a lot of work and cost to get to the output of a M54. N/A gains are hard to come by.
It would sound great and be period correct, I would love to build one like this but I am already into an expensive B27 and for my other E30 a M54B30 is a cost effective solution, especially as I have a 330i already.
You will likely not recover your costs no matter what you do so do what takes your fancy
RHD are the only ITB worth getting for the M20 IMO unless you want something purely cosmetic. While you are swapping in a new engine it would be madness to keep it a 2.5L when you can relatively easily do a 2.7/2.8/2.9.
Be aware you basically need to run a standalone ECU as well.
Be aware you basically need to run a standalone ECU as well.
E30 325is with M20B31