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5+ years later, an Update!! Last year I managed to pick up a mostly complete M30 conversion package from another E30 enthusiast. After having much difficulty getting engine management sorted few years earlier, I sold on the b28 and turbo gear. M30B35 I picked up was in pieces so decided the refresh as much budget allowed. I kept the bottom end together, cleaned up the sump, block and had the head checked over. New gaskets, seals and headbolts. New water pump, thermostat…etc Couple pictures: Removed M20b25 and trans from car over the weekend, relatively painless process. Left the loom intact for now, but will likely remove as the wiring was pillaged during my megasquirt episode. Unfortunately hoist tipped and damaged drivers guard - after removing the engine without issue! Cracking into cleaning and removing anything unnecessary from the engine bay and prepping for respray this weekend. Also ditching the power steering in favor of a manual rack, didn’t mind it in my old M325i so happy to do this now. More updates to come!

Will be selling some stuff off it soon

0 to 100 vid

Yup goes from tanker style handling to M3 handling at a push of a button ?

yea Na , maybe if it was a 750i

The box of parts did finally arrive after many delays. Now I could finish up the engine. Oil baffle modified. Bolted back one, along with the e34 m50 oil pickup, and sump. Installed the cam sprockets and timed the engine. All buttoned up.

Nick (W.industries) is excellent to deal with. He imports cars (M3's) from the UK and wrecks them, I've had one of his gearboxes in one of my cars and no issues. Clutch kit can be had for roughly $1100 from NZAD (including pressure plate/flywheel I believe but I may be wrong). Also recommend replacing gearbox oil (as if it's imported he has to drain them anyway) with Redline D4 ATF, shifts like butter.

Looking good Lucan! Watching with interest

That is a pretty car Brent. Very nice!

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Pics

Got some pictures?

Bought one. Thanks

Hurray. Suspension repairs

Our 99 Jap 525i IS a 2.5L M52TU (correctly badged) - same engine as the equivilent Euro spec badged 523i Also it shows on RealOEM as a 523i. The 525i badge is just a Jap thing but incidentally correct

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.

Hi & welcome to the site Firstly I need to let you know, you live in my old house!! i drive past almost daily & have been meaning to stop in, there is also another BMW nutt up the road further, who appears to have three cars including a nice dark blue e30 Regards Barry

I agree

No interior pics yet, the insides a mess, but once I sort out my new seats and harnesses etc and get the paperwork done I'll grab some. It's a 6 point rollcage with no side intrusions. In the mean time, new (very old wheels I've had sitting around for years) are on, as are the new lights all around. Still needs a good clean and polish before the weekends show.

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.