jestahead 0 Report post Posted April 23, 2012 Hi there, I'm new to BMWs but looking at upgrading from my Honda Prelude and going through the options an E30 seems like a really good one. I've had the Prelude for a while and it's been great but there's no aftermarket support whatsoever and mine is carbed so there's not much I can do in the way of modification. The only real option is an H22A swap and that means custom mounts, new ECU, rewiring the whole car, I think you see where it's going - massive time and money for not much gain. Doing some internet research I've seen all kinds of swaps done to E30s including 1JZ, RB25, SR20, F20C, 13B, 4AGE, GM V8s and one guy even managed to fit a 5.1L V10. Seems there's a lot of room to work with in that respect if that much is possible. I also figure that the BMW straight 6 is/was popular enough to have lots of parts available, but really I want to ask the experts (you) if this is actually the case. Also, I recently bought some wheels for my Prelude, a set of 17x7 alloys with a +45 offset. Would these fit an E30? Trying to figure out if I should hang on to them in the event that I make the switch. Thanks a lot guys. I appreciate any and all replies and look forward to hearing back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
_ethrty-Andy_ 2122 Report post Posted April 23, 2012 Ill try to stay off the Honda jokes.... if you dont feel like rewring the car to make the swap you mentioned worked, you wont be doing any 13b or 5.1L V10 conversions on an E30 either. the M20B25 engine (the 2.5L straight 6 in the E30) is a good engine, but there isnt much aftermarket performance support. most people that want more balls out of thier E30 swap a M50 or M52 engine into it, from an E34/E36 Also those wheels wont work unless you have like 30mm spacers, so no dont keep them. E30 factory wheels are et 35 and you cant go much lower than that. the best E30 wheels are between 15 and 25, though you can go as low as 0 on a standard body with the right tyre combo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jestahead 0 Report post Posted April 23, 2012 Ill try to stay off the Honda jokes.... if you dont feel like rewring the car to make the swap you mentioned worked, you wont be doing any 13b or 5.1L V10 conversions on an E30 either. the M20B25 engine (the 2.5L straight 6 in the E30) is a good engine, but there isnt much aftermarket performance support. most people that want more balls out of thier E30 swap a M50 or M52 engine into it, from an E34/E36 Also those wheels wont work unless you have like 30mm spacers, so no dont keep them. E30 factory wheels are et 35 and you cant go much lower than that. the best E30 wheels are between 15 and 25, though you can go as low as 0 on a standard body with the right tyre combo Thanks. The conversions I mentioned were academic anyway, it was more a point of "if that much can be done then there must be a lot of potential for the chassis" than anything else. In truth I have no idea whatsoever how involved any of them are. The reason the honda swap would be difficult is converting from carbs to fuel injection, but I understand that the E30s come injected. At this point I'm still weighing up options really, no hurry to change cars, but an E30 definitely seems like the best so far. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotwire 352 Report post Posted April 23, 2012 Original carb/ fuel injection is irrelevent anyway, every engine will have a different system, so integration will be required regardless Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
