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duvey

Atlantis-blau E30 Sedan - M30 Swap

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Bit more driving and trouble-shooting. Had the driveshaft out multiple times trying to work out the driveline vibration issue. Rebalanced (was pretty much fine). Turns out the angle of the engine->guibo was a little too severe. Down to compression of the new OEM rubber mounts I suspect. Shimmed the transmission mounts slightly, worked a treat.

Shimmed the engine mounts slightly too as the sump was resting on the steering rack. Better again. Just been driving it around a bit. Awesome thing - so much torque immediately on hand.

Diff might be a tiny bit short, but not as bad as I thought it would be. It is pretty fond of the one wheel peel though with an open diff.

Gratuitous engine bay photo:

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Still to do:

  • Windscreen washers
  • Some electrical stuff
  • Thermostat controlled electric fan
  • Cert (& driveshaft loops)
  • New sporty muffler
  • Battery relocation
Edited by duvey
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Couple more problems solved.

As with all M30 loom swapped e30s, HVAC wasn't working and windows wouldn't go down while the doors were closed. Solved by grounding pin15 in the c101 on the body side.

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Solved the temp gauge not working by swapping in a brown m20 sensor.

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Just took it out to Muriwai, ~100kms all up. Went great! Love this thing.

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What's it like to drive with no PS?

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What's it like to drive with no PS?

Miles better than it ever was with PS. Used to be very vague on-centre, the PS delete completely got around that. Obviously heavy at low speeds, but really tight and responsive, and the feedback is really good.

At some point i'll do a sporty e46 rack swap with PS, but until then this is all good. :)

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Saw this car yesterday, you've done a very tidy job of putting that motor in. Nice work.

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Nice install, seems you planned everything out well! cars super tidy too!

You use the M30 engine loom?

What driveshaft combo did you end up using?

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Nice install, seems you planned everything out well! cars super tidy too!

You use the M30 engine loom?

What driveshaft combo did you end up using?

Thanks Lucan. Was really pretty trouble free from start to finish. Seems simpler than a 24v swap in many ways.

Yes, used the m30 engine loom. I've heard you can use the m20 looms too. Only things I had to do was to ground pin 15 to get the HVAC & windows working, and rotate the ECU under the dash 90 degrees, as the m30 loom is slightly too short.

Driveshaft is the standard 325i driveshaft, but with the front part of the e34 shaft welded on just in front of the front UJ order to provide the larger flange. Including a rebalance, this set me back about $350 from ADL.

Apparently you can also use a e36 328i ZF 5 speed driveshaft, or swap the output flange on the getrag260 to the smaller type and use an unmodified 325i shaft. My driveshaft in the end was exactly the same length as an unmodified manual e30 325i driveshaft.

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Wicked, well done Ben! Looking forward to seeing it in person. :)

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Nice, I happen to be making progress on my M30 swap too :D Got my head back from re-conditioners today. This threads keeping me motivated haha

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23 hours ago, Lucan said:

Nice, I happen to be making progress on my M30 swap too :D Got my head back from re-conditioners today. This threads keeping me motivated haha

Awesome! Let me know if you have any questions or want to take a look at anything.

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Went for a nice sporty drive today. No issues, did its thing very well. Next thing to look at is the brakes I think. Was getting a good bit of fade after a good thrash through the windies.

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So next on the list: 

- keep trialling different engine mount setups to get the NVH just right

- new rotors, some performance oriented brake pads, sporty brake fluid

- 3.46 or 3.23 lsd

- beefier front sway bar - add rear sway bar

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Since my last post:

  • New engine mounts from an e24 635i, new transmission mounts from an auto e21. Both beefier rubber but approx same dimensions.
  • New rotors, EBC redstuff pads. Big improvement.
  • New exhaust from downpipes. e46 M3 midsection and Audi S5 rear muffler.

Overall the new exhaust has improved drivability a lot - solved some funky vibrations due to the large stock midsection touching the driveshaft hoops, plus the removal of the restriction of a stock 2.5L M20 exhaust seems to have improved the pickup somewhat (obviously speaking subjectively). Unfortunately a nasty resonance about 2k RPM, but have a much larger Magnaflow dual>dual coming from the US which will hopefully help.

Love the new tips though.

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Edited by duvey
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Had some minor clunkyness coming from the front end.

New Lemforder control arms and tie rod ends installed this weekend. Seems to have solved the problem, feels much fresher too. 

nwpmygfn.ynn.jpg

Edited by duvey
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Do you have any pictures of which E46 M3 section you used? 

Am interested to see how it sounds. You taking her to the next BS monthly meet?

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More fiddling with exhaust stuff, still not quite right. Magnaflow rear muffler. Reduced the weird resonance a lot, but still a little too loud. Next step I think will be to merge into a single 3" central mid-muffler through a cat.

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Who does you pipe work and welding? Looks nice and tidy

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