Benbmwster 0 Report post Posted July 23, 2016 Hi people I'm kinda new to this forum. Was just wondering if anyone has tried to put a newer Diesel engine into an old e30 ? The new diesel engine's seem to run pretty well. I've got an e30. Swapped the auto out for a manual and have run into issues with the electrics. So I am looking at other alternatives now. A whole new engine and box being an option. Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OP6 27 Report post Posted July 23, 2016 The new diesels are great, but, I do think you would be much better off sorting out your electrics with what you have, than adding a modern diesel and its requirements to the equation. I would think that no matter what engine / gearbox combo you have in your E30 someone else on this forum has done it and will be more than happy to help sort out your issues. There is a meet on this Sunday 24th July for E30 folk at The Groynes at 1pm, come along, you never know. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benbmwster 0 Report post Posted July 23, 2016 Ah gutted I'm flying to auckland tomorrow morning. I've taken the car to the mechanic and they reckon that I need to redo the engine electric's because I have an early '87 engine and a later model manual gearbox. The auto box had sensor's on it that later moved to the front of the engine. So I think i basically need another wreck for parts Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andre3000 55 Report post Posted July 23, 2016 (edited) As far as I'm aware there are differences in the crank pickups between pfl and fl. Have you looked into this? Edit: looks like you are durrr. Why not extend crank harness to the front and use the pulley of a fl? Edited July 23, 2016 by André3000 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30 325i Rag-Top 2956 Report post Posted July 27, 2016 Depends how recent you mean by a "newer" Diesel? Yes the latest generation of oil burners are great engines but the complexity (and cost) of the electrics would provide you with a huge barrier. If you think your E30 swap is an issue, then imagine that x 1million to get the diesel in there. The E30 engine ECU is pretty much stand alone from the rest of the vehicle electrics, with the newer model everything talks to everything else via CANBUS, so all the DSC, ABS, etc all feed into the engine management system. I'm sure it can be done, but it's a case of how much you want to get into.. Not sure if you could use an aftermarket LINK ecu to run a diesel though..? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1071 Report post Posted July 27, 2016 There are a number of guys running Subaru EE20 diesels off aftermarket ECU's in old VW vans :-) It's about US$2000+ for the Ecu's, last I looked! It's very expensive, time consuming and easy to make them go BANG (and other expensive noises) if you do it wrong! Go electric. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eliongater 718 Report post Posted July 29, 2016 What Jon said. If you've found the electrics problematic swapping from auto to manual then unfortunately a newer diesel engine swap is out of your league. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
