E30 M50 conversion

[mark247 39]

Thought I'd put up a bit of a write up about my M50 E30 project. At this point I haven't started stripping the old m20b25 out, but I have started collecting parts. Kerry and Troy ( the beloved 320guy ) have been giving me a huge hand. Both of them have M50 e30s so they know their sh*t. Kerry ( you da man ) has supplied a lot of the parts and given me some ideas from his own twin cam e30.

I have a non-vanos M50b25 lined up and plan to pick it up next week.

So far I have picked up these parts.

Pic One - Modified E30 gearbox cross member so it fits on the 15 degree angle that is caused by the M50 engine. Modified this today. Still needs cleaning up and painting but it's basically done. Should do the trick.

Pic Two - M52 oil pick up out of a 728i. E34 ones work as well. I got this for free off my mate along with an M52 728i sump which will fit. I need to change this over because the engine I'm putting in is out of a e36 which has the rear sump.

Pics Three and Four - My m52 728i sump I got for free.

This is the brake booster and master cylinder I need. They are the vacuum type set up out of a 7 series. The resivour is going to need to be remotely placed because it is not going to fit where it is now because it will be in the way of the throttle body. I plan on placing it where the relays are now, Troy did this and it looks tidy as. I am still trying to find a resivour to use, i know what type would fit, it's just a matter of finding one.

Here are the premodified m52 exhaust manifolds I'm going to use. Previous owner painted them, but im 99% sure it will burn off as soon as i start it up. Never mind =P

Modifying the exhaust to fit will do be the last thing I do and I will sort that once I get to it. I have the front half of an e36 exhaust to play around with to make it fit so shouldn't be a problem. Just need to find someone handy with a welder who is keen on a box of beers..

Other parts I have organised already but no photos of are

- E34 throttle cable

- E34 M50 rubber engine mounts

- E36 engine mounts

More progress will be posted when I make some...

I'm not replacing the clutch considering the one behind the M20 I have now has done less than 2000km.

[mark247 39]

Well, as everyone else is selling their cars I soldier on lol.

Picked up my engine and all the other parts I need for the conversion today. Will post pics shortly.

Plan to remove my m20b25 tomorrow night.

[antil33t 90]

Nice

Can't wait to see how it goes.

[APT 194]

Paint may burn off good to see that your going to use them

[Boost Junky 1]

Awesome man! This should be interesting, be good to see what you do compared to what i done like with your brake booster setup etc. I believe they are my old headers from when my car was not turbo. Enjoy the conversion its really not to big of a task. Any help needed dont be afraid to ask

[mark247 39]

Awesome man! This should be interesting, be good to see what you do compared to what i done like with your brake booster setup etc. I believe they are my old headers from when my car was not turbo. Enjoy the conversion its really not to big of a task. Any help needed dont be afraid to ask

What brake booster set up are you running?

I'm running a vacuum type booster off a 7 series with a e36 master cylinder. I still have to sort what I'm going to do resivour wise, I need to find some plastic elbow joints of some sort that will make it so i can run lines up to the resivour which I am going to be placing somewhere else.. I'm guessing on the old relay bracket.

Doesn't look like I'll have to modify any of my brake lines due to the car having ABS in it ( which doesnt work hehe )

My plan is to just get it running for now, then slowly get it up to certification standard.. and hoon around in it before i lose my licence =P

[mark247 39]

Paint may burn off good to see that your going to use them

Heh yea, I think she's gonna smoke like crazy for a while but that's fine lol.

[mark247 39]

Well I was hoping to have the m20 out tonight, but my plans for getting an engine hoist turned pear shaped. Not to worry, worst case scenario ill just get the engine ready to pull on the weekend, hire a hoist over the weekend to pull out the m20 and drop the mighty m50 in straight after. Thinking I might just have to hire a welder as well, not as expensive as I thought, so I plan to hire one on monday to make up my exhaust to fit.

Will take some photos of all the other parts needed sometime, but too lazy tonight.

[DRTDVL 0]

Didn't like the beer?

[mark247 39]

Didn't like the beer?

No no, communication is down

[DRTDVL 0]

[mark247 39]

Take back previous post. I got bored and went and took some pics.

This is the car after about 10 minutes work then realising I wasn't going to have time to get the engine hoist tonight... so gave up.

Here are some more parts needed for the conversion.

Front part of an e36 exhaust which Im going to use to make my exhaust manifold fit my original exhaust system

This is the throttle cable im going to use, I cant even remember what it's off, maybe a e36 but possibly a e34, who knows?! lol

This is the master cylinder with the connector things I need to make it so I can remotely mount the resivour. The e34 M50 mounts im using at in the background.

This is a loom I got off my mate who has a e30m50, he just took it out of his car because he is making a better one. This one isn't perfect, it just needs a tidy up, but it will just be plug and play for now..

Edited September 16, 2009 by Mark247

[RyanG 0]

Those barb fittings in the MC are fail

Edited September 16, 2009 by RyanG

[mark247 39]

Those barb fittings in the MC are fail

Shut up Troy. =P

[*Glenn* 854]

Shut up Troy. =P

You can buy right angle plastic fittings for the cylinders. B&T should have them. They are an ATE part

[westy 614]

What are those Hotwires bolted to??

[mark247 39]

You can buy right angle plastic fittings for the cylinders. B&T should have them. They are an ATE part

Could be a good idea..

What are those Hotwires bolted to??

A car that goes "brap brap brap brap brap." It's not mine lol.

[RyanG 0]

What are those Hotwires bolted to??

12a bridge port 323 hatchy m8

[Matty104 0]

Tell him to buy a 4k, worth its weight in gold

[mark247 39]

Tell him to buy a 4k, worth its weight in gold

Let him stick to that rotary pos, someones gotta drive them! lol.

Edited September 16, 2009 by Mark247

[westy 614]

Thought it might be something cool like an old 70's jap coupe.

Oh well, as you were.

[mark247 39]

M20 is now out of the car. No issues yet, had a tiny bit of trouble getting the engine to let go of the engine mounts and it kept lifting the car off the stands but sorted that.

Next job is to swap the gearbox onto the M50, and install the new brake booster.

[mark247 39]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eVtio58he8 fail.

[mark247 39]

Well all I had to do was sort the gearshifter out and the exhaust... now im back at square one...

I got my engine loom off my mates e30m50 which didn't have ABS, mine did. Turns out that is a BIG ISSUE. Turned the key and my wiring loom started to smoke like **** and ****ed the fuse box, burnt wiring at going back through the firing wall into under the glove box.

Looks like we are going to be rewiring a fair bit of the car now.... Shouldn't have the same problem again, we just ripped all the ABS wiring out... feck it.

We need to replace the fuse box and a few other pieces, which isnt a bad idea anyway because once opening the fuse box we discovered some muppet had already absolutely rangi'd it up.

ARRRGH. The joy of engine swaps eh..

[mark247 39]

Have tracked down the wiring fault to the crank position censor.

The wire that nearly made the car catch on fire was a dead short, some sites say it was for ABS, some say it was for airbag, I have no idea. But without that wire my mates e30m50 worked with that loom, so it's not needed.

Going to ply the crank position sensor out tomorrow and put in a replacement, then HOPEFULLY we will have some fuel and spark..