E30 M50B28 Turbo Build

[slybma 38]

took advantage of the nice weather this weekend and rolled the car out of the garage and gave it a bit of a clean







the 5 stud conversion starts this weekend more pics will follow

Edited April 24, 2014 by Slybma

[CSET 564]

Wow that paint is shiny, respray or original? Looks good!

[Phil-540i 166]

Nice - looks great!!

[slybma 38]

It was a full respray it used to look like this

[e30ftw 396]

Any of engine bay, Doing the m50 swap weren't ya? Going now?

[slybma 38]

Any of engine bay, Doing the m50 swap weren't ya? Going now?

Have had it running but i keep distracting myself with more stuff, I was going to leave it at the M50 swap for a while but i found a spare T3/T4 turbo gathering dust so ill rebuild for a turbo setup, have an LSD and a 5 stud conversion setup to fit so it will keep me busy for a few months. Also still trying to find a drive shaft and selectors to suit I had mine shortened but i'd still like to find some originals to keep the conversion tidy.

[e30ftw 396]

Did you use an m40 getrag 240? You will need a 320i manual driveshaft and the selector linkage.

Looking good though, big improvement from the matte black.

[slybma 38]

Did you use an m40 getrag 240? You will need a 320i manual driveshaft and the selector linkage.

Looking good though, big improvement from the matte black.

Ya I'm still using the 240 which will no doubt crumble with the turbo setup going on, I've been trying to find them but not many people want to sell them separately from the manual conversions

[slybma 38]

Video of the engine start up, no exhaust and still needs a tidy up, but nice to hear it fire up.

http://youtu.be/5c58k-lhnLM

Edited October 9, 2013 by slybma

[2052NV 43]

cool!

[slybma 38]

Thought i'd update with some pictures of the cars progress, the pictures are of the rear 5 stud conversion with a medium case LSD swap to help handle the M50. I haven't taken the photos of the front yet will post them up when i can take some better ones. New rotors on order for the rear used ones are a bit ugly. The wheels going on are Style 32's thanks to QUBE. The fronts are 17x8 38 offset and the rears 17x8.5 41 offset.

Edited November 5, 2013 by slybma

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

how are you doing the 5 stud setup? especially interested how you are doing the front

[slybma 38]

how are you doing the 5 stud setup? especially interested how you are doing the front

For the rear I am using E36 Ti arms and brake setup, as it all bolts in the exact same; springs, shocks, axles, brake lines, handbrake cables and subframe mounts are all the same. It gives the car a wider track on the rear so the offset changes a bit.

For the front I'm using E36 325i brakes and shocks with the original E30 top hats. The lower arms were the pricey part I'm using E36 EVO M3 parts with new castor bushes.

Its all fairly straight forward now that I'm doing it, I read so many different things online it confused me a bit.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

For the rear I am using E36 Ti arms and brake setup, as it all bolts in the exact same; springs, shocks, axles, brake lines, handbrake cables and subframe mounts are all the same. It gives the car a wider track on the rear so the offset changes a bit.

For the front I'm using E36 325i brakes and shocks with the original E30 top hats. The lower arms were the pricey part I'm using E36 EVO M3 parts with new castor bushes.

Its all fairly straight forward now that I'm doing it, I read so many different things online it confused me a bit.

are the Evo M3 arms longer than the factory E30 arms?

[slybma 38]

Ya they are, not by a great deal but enough to make the difference, next time i get away from work for a bit im going to take some comparative photos of how the wheel sits with and without the m3 arms. Ill tidy up the car and take some more photos of the swap then.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

Ya they are, not by a great deal but enough to make the difference, next time i get away from work for a bit im going to take some comparative photos of how the wheel sits with and without the m3 arms. Ill tidy up the car and take some more photos of the swap then.

great, looking forward to seeing it, I have seen many swaps over the years, but always interested in the hub location. Very often people will post pictures before and after both with the wheels attached, so the wheel is sticking further out, is it because of a lower offset on the new wheel, or the hub moved further out, or the negative of either cancelled by the other.

[qube 3568]

Keen to see the finished product when it's all done!!

[slybma 38]

great, looking forward to seeing it, I have seen many swaps over the years, but always interested in the hub location. Very often people will post pictures before and after both with the wheels attached, so the wheel is sticking further out, is it because of a lower offset on the new wheel, or the hub moved further out, or the negative of either cancelled by the other.

Ya I found the same. If I ran a wheel with the same offset as my previous wheels which was an offset of 7, the wheel would stick out by about 30mm, which when putting the old arms and new arms by each other looked about that much difference in hub positon.

So i'll take a hole bunch of photos when I go back in. If there is anything anyone wants to see let me know and ill take some pictures.

Keen to see the finished product when it's all done!!

Cheers Kyu, the wheels look good sitting on should look pretty good once they've been all painted up.

[slybma 38]

I got the wheels back from the painter today, turned out pretty good

[qube 3568]

Looking good! Can't wait to see them on

[hybrid 1039]

Its all fairly straight forward now that I'm doing it, I read so many different things online it confused me a bit.

Its the Americans .. they're a confused bunch when it comes to 5lug conversions. I even piped up a post from a long time ago which turned into the definitive 5lug discussion only to find that even people who where suppose to be experienced in conversions where spreading wrong information. I corrected them on my own experiences only to have them cry BS. Unfortunately there are a lot of arm chair modifiers out there who hear things on the net get it wrong and re tell stories. The worst thing is they sound like they know what they're talking about.

Also e30s are a dieing breed as other countries make it hard to own older cars so the modifications have stopped and there for the threads have started to disappear.

[slybma 38]

The main difference between the lower arms. Not my pics, came from the guy i bought them off but saves me the hassle

E30 arm

M3 evo arms

Without the rear castor bushes there isnt a noticeable difference in the hub location

[slybma 38]

Front suspension in and Style 32s on will get some better pictures up soon

Also thought id add a picture of the E36 leather seats

[qube 3568]

Good fitment on the wheels! Tyres need some shine though lol

[Tristan 338]

Looks good man, reckon a spoiler would set the rear off nicely.