M M

She's back on the road.

Had a few small issues today while getting it going. The rear calipers that I put on from the e34 were actually seized so I had to swap the e28 ones back on. While not a big deal, it's something I want to get sorted so will look for other e34 ones later. Might be luck to get some vented ones.

Other than that, everything was pretty straight forward. I had to make a temporary bracket for the accelerator cable as the e34 sleeve is not quite right so didn't reach with the factory mount. So I will try to find a cable that does work.

Next jobs will be tidying up the wiring and finishing that off and wiring the fan in. Also need to install my new cluster. Also going to order a new heater core and redo flaps as I currently get no hot air. Does anyone know if they are RHD and LHD specific? Can't find any information on this.

Overall I am very happy with it, goes so much better then the eta ever dreamed of. It has a slight miss and a bit of a bog on take off, I think this motor needs a proper service such as new plugs etc. But even with this it goes very well. And does mean as burnouts.

And that concludes this weeks episode: How to do an M30 swap in 2 weeks (and a day if you want to be picky).

Up next: Conclusion is an illusion; nothing's ever 100% finished. Also might have a special live appearance from Highway Patrol.

They grow up so fast.

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

Got the car started today. My friend has the first start video so will post when I have that off him.

All that's left to do is:

Bleed clutch and brakes

Hook up one final coolant hose I forgot to do

Wire in electric fan

I'm planning to drive it home tomorrow, will try get some videos of it driving.

Are those black leather M-tech seats I spot? Nice looking E30.

Wiring pretty much all done, also made a mount for the e36 power distribution block in the engine bay.

However, I have a question. Can anyone tell me where the wires circled in the picture go? I am fairly sure they are grounds but would be good to know for sure. The ones on the end of that loom are for the coil.

Really liking this car, hah let me know how you get on with wiring, that's where im stuck on the rusta

Will do man. Shouldn't be a big issue on this car.

Nice - I should bring the e30 round for a visit.

Definitely man, do so. Just send me a text message.

http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/bmw/5

the only 16" of style 5's are the ones off a e30 m3 (which these are probably not) or the 16x7.5 off an e28 m5 (probably not either) or the e34 5er (i think probably this)

so its most likely going to be ET20 offset. which is pretty good and fits a whole range of bmws

They also came on e38.

If they are the 8" wide versions like mine they will most likely be 23 offset.

I apologise for the lack of updates over the last few days, I've been busy working on the car. It is now all physically back together, drivetrain, exhaust, brakes, engine etc all done. All coolant hoses etc are hooked up. I have also relocated the battery to the trunk using e36 parts.

Tonight and over the weekend I will be doing the last few small jobs and doing the wiring. The plan to have it driving by the end of the weekend looks very realistic. More to come soon.

This came out of a 4 cylinder one, not sure what the difference is size is. I just went with a tape measure to Upick and found one that fit.

Hey man, what radiator did you use? Out of an E36...?

Yep, e36. Fits like it was made for this car.

Well, it's out now.

Thanks guys. Made me think I put them too cheap, haha.

I think this is where these new-fangled electric welders aren't much help. this is where you need a gas set, and if I recall correctly, the flame trimmed orange... slowly heating up the area till it's glowing orangey-red, cooling (naturally), then another cycle or two.

I first tried a blow torch. The welder thing was just as a "if the blow torch didn't do it, this should have" remark. Interesting point though.

Update for the thread. All I have to say about last night is this:

Throw a v8 in while you are at it. Haha.

Looks good. I think it needs a twin tip exhaust though.

Sold pending payment.

I hope it doesn't turn into a... Cluster f**k.

Sorry couldn't help myself

Hahaha. Good one.

Thanks. Sorted.

Very good condition Bilstein shocks and H&Rs springs for E34. Came off the 535i that I wrecked. That car rode beautifully and I can confidently say these are in very good condition. I would happily use these if I had an E34.

Fronts will include shock sleeve/hub.

$400. Pickup from Penrose.

gotta use lots of heat sometimes that breaks up the rust etc

That was the first thing I tried, but it didn't work. So I hoped that the heat from the welder would be enough but even that wasn't.

I might be doing this swap to my engineless m535i soon, so I'll probably need some tips.

Feel free to ask me anything you need, I'm happy to help but I am not the most knowledgeable here by any means.

Bad luck re stud. Making good progress nonetheless!

Thanks.

I decided to put my Sunday off to good use and do some work on my new cluster.

Pulled it apart and removed the batteries. I don't care if the SI lights don't work if it means the cluster lasts longer. Unfortunately the batteries have already leaked a bit so I'm hoping this cluster works fully, I haven't tested it.

Painted the needles red and polished the clear cover on the front.

I wanted to remove the red lense for the lights that light up the cluster to get a white light, however I found out that it's moulded into the top of the cluster so it's going to take some work to do. I'll work on that once my other cluster is out so I have a spare to mess with.

Bloody hell, that's unfortunate!

Do the older engines have the copper exhaust nuts as well? I chickened out and drowned the ones on the project engine in AC-90 for 48 hours before I removed the studs. Worked a treat

Don't think these were as they were rusted. I blasted these in good penetrating fluid before trying to undo them but it didn't work.

Went in on Friday afternoon to do some more work and things were going well, on track to have the engine in the car this weekend. Until I went to swap the exhaust manifold to the e28 one. This is where things came to a halt, much like a stance car that has hit an unforseen bump.

So 9 of the studs came out nicely, either stud and nut or nuts came off. But 3 didn't want to play along, snapping under the nut. There was some stud protruding so I thought it was in luck. However this was not the case.

I tried doing the double nut trick, welding the nuts to the studs, vice grips etc. Either the stud would not budge, or it just snapped, leaving me nothing to work with. Still, not the end of the world, time for the drill.

So I went about trying to drill them out, which went well on 2 of them, however on the third, the drill bit snapped inside the hole.

If my emotions at the time could be expressed in an image, I think this would be fitting:

The offending obstruction that will need extraction:

If this wasn't enough to set me off, I went to try and buy some tools I thought might work to try and resolve this sinkhole of a situation, such as carbine tungsten drill bits to hopefully drill through the drill bit, every shop I went to was either closed or had nothing.

So not only do I now have extra expenses and the awaiting of a very unpleasant task, but my weekend is also wasted as I couldn't do anything further. Which has also delayed my driveshaft as I can't drop it off to be modified until I am sure how long it needs to be, which I need the motor in for.

So there you have it. Here I was hoping I could show you all how to do an M30 conversion in a week. Might be 2 weeks now.

This needs a GTR widebody and NFS Most Wanted stripes.

Found an E36 radiator that fits perfectly between the chassis rails so made some mounts and now it's in.

Also fitted my engine mounts and adapters. The adapters needed a couple of small alterations before everything lined up 100%, somewhat like a custom-made suit, if you will.

Also sideways mode has been activated with the installation of the LSD:

I also replaced the center bearing in the driveshaft but the front needs to be modified as it's not the same as the e34 one, meaning it doesn't like up with the guibo.

And this one's entitled "A new perspective":