Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted October 4, 2007 As some of you may have already guessed, I am swapping an E34 M50B25 Motor into my E30 318i Facelift. For now I will upload the images I have so far will write more up when I have more time.... Parts etc... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted October 4, 2007 The M50 + Manual Conversion... This is the vehicle the M50B25 is going into: This is the old motor which was nearing death: Out she comes (motor is ceased at this stage): Empty engine bay, M50B25 here we come! Out With the old: In with the new, not quite... damn! Cleaned the top of the block ready for new headgasket & head: What a mess... Thought id strip it down and paint the block Thats more like it! Shinny The correct mounting arms so now I can mount the motor in place! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted October 4, 2007 All ready to go into the car now.. Alot of people have been known to struggle dropping the motor and gearbox in, only took me 20mins max to have it down in place ready to be bolted up... hmm Engine mount on drivers side all bolted up using the E28 Engine mounts... Passangers side bolted up also... Bolting the transmission up into place... Everything bolted into place... Decided to see if anything would short out with the new loom adaptor i made, no signs of fire so it must be all good right? Wont know until i have the head bolted on and fire her up. The Idle Speed Control Valve was vibrating though so unplugged it grrr... Plugging up all the E34 Loom to the block and getting it all in place... Had to swap radiators as the E34 one was far too wide... E34 one is for sale by the way Now ya gotta have some source of power... Finally got around to mounting the clutch fluid reservoir into position, clutch all blead now too works mint! Connecting the power steering lines was no sweat, they bolt straight up to the E34 Power steering pump, a little bending was needed although in the steel part of the lines... Gear shifter in place, not actually mounted to the tunnel yet though... waiting for mounting bracket, rubber seal and gear leather boot which is comming from Ray at HELLBM tommorow hopefully Had to run wires from the reverse light plug to the switch on the manual transmission. Also because the car used to be automatic I had to connect the two wires that are normally connected together by the Auto Selector when selected into park and neutral, this will allow the car to start now even though there is no selector there... My manual pedal box installed this i admit was the most frustrating process i have faced so far! If I could count the ammount of times i swore my memory would be pretty damn good! More pics to come once i have made more progress... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gus 5 Report post Posted October 4, 2007 looking good, didnt realise you were so far ahead! good to document it a lot, as not many people have done this swap on here. would also be interested to see the performance vs a normal 325i. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Rick James Report post Posted October 4, 2007 looking good, didnt realise you were so far ahead! good to document it a lot, as not many people have done this swap on here. would also be interested to see the performance vs a normal 325i. Gary's RAPED my E30 2.7 and Tony's E36 2.8... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BMW POWER 2 Report post Posted October 4, 2007 Thats fricking cool, well done. Im all for naturalswaps. BTW - Too much Lift+ will kill you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonty m50e30 0 Report post Posted October 4, 2007 Ahhhh yes brings back memories - great job so far mate - stoked for you with the ZF box fitting up, I had to significantly modify the selector arm on the 260 to get it to go in the hole. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drifty325i 0 Report post Posted October 5, 2007 Bloody nice job mate! very impressed Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew 30 Report post Posted October 5, 2007 Good work - nice thread Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted October 5, 2007 (edited) Yea I kinda need a car so not mucking around, although skating to work has done me some good im sure lol! I wasnt gonna post anything till id finished and just come out and say it was done but since u asked Gus haha. I take it your Gary, Gus? Yea theres little information on here about the swap but theres so many of you that are willing to help out which I think is great thanks to you all so far! And if I didnt have bimmersport then i wouldnt have found the likes of r3vlimited, bimmerforums and AKG Motorsports just to name a few Lol yea mate theres 88 bottles of lift plus in there! And yea natural swaps for the works. Everyones saying 'aww why didnt you put an RB in it' or 'put a rotor in it'. Would rather do something a little different as everyone rotorys or RB's their cars... Haha been there done that aye Jonty, cheers! Yea the box fitted perfect (Length and all) And thanks Drifty and Andrew. Got the bill for the head rebuild today, $1250!!! Also received the gear lever seal which seals the cabin off from the tunnel, shifter leather boot, shifter mount and the E36 Throttle cable today so work to be done! Will keep you all posted. Luke Edited October 5, 2007 by Boost Junky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gus 5 Report post Posted October 5, 2007 (edited) haha no im Gus..gary did an m50 swap before buggering off to oz really sam? i wasnt there so didnt see...by how much? my car keeps up with tonys till 3rd thats $$ for the head! where did you get the box from and how much was it? nice to see the correct box being used, they hard to find! looks good, keep updated also, whats everything costing? i have no idea what M50's cost Edited October 5, 2007 by The Gus Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted October 5, 2007 (edited) haha no im Gus..gary did an m50 swap before buggering off to oz really sam? i wasnt there so didnt see...by how much? my car keeps up with tonys till 3rd thats $$ for the head! where did you get the box from and how much was it? nice to see the correct box being used, they hard to find! looks good, keep updated also, whats everything costing? i have no idea what M50's cost Ohhh haha my bad so Gary is Jonty then? or am i wrong again... Yea oh well atleast it will be mint again all the exhaust valves, valve seats, valve guides are being redone and replaced. Full Head set and head plane and other bits and pieces. The block still has hone weave marks on the sleeves and the rings are mint so wont need to address that. Got the box from some place in tauranga cant remember what they are called haha. Was really lucky i got put onto them by continental autos was like my 2nd phone call and wat do ya know they had one. The car it came from had just come into the country and the whole rear sub frame had rusted out so i got the box. Cost $1200 and that came with pressure plate, clutch plate and flywheel. The box is mint so far and the clutch plate has plenty of compound left on it and its not glazzed so hoping for the best. And yea they are very hard to find so really stoaked on that score and that it fitted all up perfectly! So far its cost: Motor, ECU and extras $600 Head Repairs & Service $1250 Gearbox, Clutch & Driveshaft $1200 Driveshaft Customization $230 Manual Conversion parts $610 Radiator $150 VW Brake Booster $50 E36 Engine mount arms $50 E28 Engine mounts $50 Thermostat $49 16" Fan $78 Total to date: $4317 Thats so far still more to do yet like exhaust and a few other little bits and pieces. Luke Edited October 5, 2007 by Boost Junky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gus 5 Report post Posted October 5, 2007 (edited) haha nope Gary is gary..rarely posts currently nice to have a fresh head for peace of mind if nothing else thats not too, when you consider all the new things and it was a 318 auto before...makes a lotta sense for a 318, you really should enjoy it after! its a bit harder to justify for a 325i owner however...still if Sam is saying its that much faster... thats a cheap engine, where did you pick that up from? Edited October 5, 2007 by The Gus Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted October 6, 2007 (edited) So I finally mounted the gear selector in place last night and put the rubber seal in and leather boot. Had a spare gearknob in my boot, tacky but will work until I find a nice one that I like. Also Installed my E36 Throttle Cable onto my accelerator pedal (Clips straight on with no modification)... E36 Throttle Cable... The last of the manual conversion parts... Fitting the parts... Edited October 11, 2007 by Boost Junky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted October 6, 2007 There's your problem - the exhaust is supposed to go on the outside of the car. Looks good luke - awesome stuff. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted October 6, 2007 haha nope Gary is gary..rarely posts currently nice to have a fresh head for peace of mind if nothing else thats not too, when you consider all the new things and it was a 318 auto before...makes a lotta sense for a 318, you really should enjoy it after! its a bit harder to justify for a 325i owner however...still if Sam is saying its that much faster... thats a cheap engine, where did you pick that up from? Haha aite ill shut up now lol! Yea definitely and should last a little longer one would hope. Yea the difference going from a 318i to a 325i M50. Got the motor from a dude in Rotorua on trademe, not a bad deal aye! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted October 6, 2007 Oh dear now i know why my cars so loud haha! Thanks Bravo lol the motor turns over now Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ED1RTY 2 Report post Posted October 6, 2007 Nice dude. We need to talk. Whos the hotty in your sig?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted October 6, 2007 Nice dude. We need to talk. Whos the hotty in your sig?? Chur bro, we do haha? That would be my friend Brooke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted October 10, 2007 So today i got my modified drive shaft back and bought me a descent pod filter. Had to use the E34 front half drive shaft as that is the one that fits to the E34 gearbox. However this is obviously not a direct fit, I had to have it shortened to 715mm from the face that mates up with the gearbox mount to the end of the spline on the other end. The spline going into the half shaft had to be cut of the original E30 front half shaft and welded to the end of the E34 front shaft as it has a different setup than the E30. Couldnt be bothered setting up the factory E34 air box in my E30 and to be honest it didnt look like it would fit anyway so i bought a FRAM Air Hog Pod Filter which are in direct competition with K&N filters in the united states and perform identically but only cost half the price & then theres of course my discount through work will eventually make up a cold air box for it if i dont head down the forced induction road, no doubt i will as its in my nature It seems that the dude rebuilding my head is going on vacation for two weeks in oz and wont have the welding done till he gets back! Hes known to be real slow and slack but does an exceptional job so going to be delayed on starting her up! Cheers, Luke New front half of driveshaft made up from E34 & E30 front halfs... E30 Uni joint welded to E34 front half shaft When I had the modified shaft made i allowed it to be 20mm shorter so to allow for movement of the gearbox and diff... looks like my measurements were a little more than 20mm im hoping theres plenty of spline inside the rear shaft im pretty sure there is though Bolted to the gearbox doughnut... FRAM Air Hog Pod Filter with bracket... The mounting bracket for the pod filter simply clamps behind the hose clamp on the pod filter, the other end you bolt to a desired place on the engine bay... Finished Wiring Harness... Will keep you updated Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted November 1, 2007 Well its been a while and I have been slack so havnt got alot done in the last 3 weeks. Waiting a month and a half for a simple head to be fixed doesnt make a good motivator! So I got round to mounting the new 16" fan, pollished my rocker cover and a few other little bits and pieces like mounting the ECU. Im having issues determining which wire going into the back of my gauge cluster is the Engine Speed Signal AKA RPM. Anyway heres some pics to bore you guys.... Where my radiator and fan will be placed, not alot of room... Fitting the fan to the radiator, I opted out for using the bolts for a stronger hold. The E30 radiator having no overflow reservior is relatively large anyway so a few fins sacrificed here and there wont hurt... Here you can see the bolts comming through from the fan side with the washers to stop the bolt from pulling through... Fan mounted... Radiator and fan all in place... Heres some images of my rocker cover pollished... Stage 1: Stage 2: Stage 3: Finished product: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hybrid 1039 Report post Posted November 1, 2007 tuff dude ... just moving this to projects section. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted November 1, 2007 Shot man good idea has this section just been made? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hybrid 1039 Report post Posted November 1, 2007 Shot man good idea has this section just been made? yeah we came up with it yesterday cause TBH I got sick of hunting out everyones stuff and missing updates ... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boost Junky 1 Report post Posted November 1, 2007 Yea hard out, annoying trying to find projects thru the performance section... more for questions in there eh shot man good idea Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
