316i touring 2.5 coversion

[superman]

Hi all,

I'm relatively new to all this and need all the help I can get!

I have a 1987 325i sport which I'm breaking due to it's many problems and have just bought a 1992 316i touring as a daily runner.

Stepping out of the sport and into the touring the lack of power is painfully evident so I have decided to drop the 2.5 lump and running gear into the touring.

Problem is I don't know who to turn to for the conversion and how straight forward it is ( or isn't which ever the case may be) and how much it's likely to cost.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

[jmc330i]

Hi and welcome.

Ive just converted my 318i touring to 325i and as long as you have the donor car, it will be easy as its pretty much swapping bits over. I basically did mine in 2 days from jacking the car up on blocks to driving it down the road.

Having said that, the thing Im not sure about, is you say the Sport is an '87. Im guessing thats a Tech1 Sport, so I dont know how interchangeable the parts are between that and the facelift E30s, although I cant see why there would be a problem with it.
Im sure someone who knows more about the Tech1s will be along to give some advice.

On the upside, if you have a Tech1 Sport you will have the higher compression engine and the 3.64 LSD

You will need to change the front springs for 6cyl springs due to the extra weight, but the rest should be fine.
Im pretty sure you should have rear discs and vented front discs as its a touring and these are the same as the later 325i.

Have a look at the '318 to 325' thread in this section, as that should give you an idea of whats needed.

[gcorky]

r.e the sprin gs think touring has 51mm struts,as sport but mayaswell swap over to the sport struts......(gain vents over solid discs at same time.)
engine, box,prop diff rear disc conversion,ecu ,loom,exhaust.
couple of brackets to weld expansion tank ,relay box etc.

got on here that is done.

edit aarrgghh touring dunno if they are vented standard plus rear discs???

[jmc330i]

All the tourings have the same vented front brakes and rear discs as the 325i anyway.

Brianmoooore said that the tourings have "M Tech" suspension as standard, the only difference is the front springs - my 318i touring sits 5-10mm lower on 4cyl springs with the M20 fitted and is very bouncy at the front

[gcorky]

r,e the post/pre facelift dont matter as hes got the lot and is taking out an m40 so not much stays.

[jmc330i]

Thats good. I know my M20 went into the 318i easily, but both were late cars.

I wasnt sure how easily the early engine would swap into a late car, thinking of the water hoses and header tank for example.

Get on then superman, you wont regret it

[superman]

Hey guys,

Cheers for the advice so far (keep it coming) It's great to know there's a host of people out there willing to share their knowledge and help out.

I look forward to meeting some of you at future events.

I'm deffinately going to go for it as it sounds to good not to.

All that remains is for me to find someone to carry out the conversion as I lack the technical skill and space to do it myself (although I'm always willing to give lesser tasks a go)

Cheers

Superman

[jmc330i]

I'm deffinately going to go for it as it sounds to good not to.

A quick touring is always good, epsecially with an LSD - Ive surprised a few people in mine and its only been on the road for 3 days.

Theres enough people on here to help out if you have any problems, so you dont really have any excuses