E30 Coupe - Engine swap to M54B30 & too many other mod's

[BrentNZ 44]

Just purchased this 83 E30, always liked the shape and think it's screaming for a Engine and Manual swap. Currently has a the 2.0 6 cyclinder with Auto.

Certainly nothing to look at currently so will get the nessecary drop and wheels, possibly front and rear bumper as well... not sure what for that though.

Happy to hear suggestions or if someone has a suitable engine/ gearbox that may suit this.

Also if anyone want the engine and auto out of it then let me know as that will be coming out ASAP.

Brent

 

[BM WORLD 1283]

S54 , have a spare if needed.

I would if i had a spare tidy e30 coupe laying about

 

at least it would be worth something at the end of the project if done to a high standard

Edited December 30, 2017 by BM WORLD

[BrentNZ 44]

29 minutes ago, BM WORLD said:

S54 , have a spare if needed.

I would if i had a spare tidy e30 coupe laying about

 

at least it would be worth something at the end of the project if done to a high standard

Hmmm, nice... which one specifically?
Could you please text me so I can give you a call re price and gearbox options.

Thanks Brent

 

[BM WORLD 1283]

20 minutes ago, BrentNZ said:

Hmmm, nice... which one specifically?
Could you please text me so I can give you a call re price and gearbox options.

Thanks Brent

 

S54 3.2L from a e46 m3 343HP

 

my number 021433600

 

thanks

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

cant beat M52 for bang for buck, reliability, good power upgrade, light weight, easy swap, a million people done it so plenty of data on the internet what works and what doesnt. i can bang a conversion out in a weekend now once you have all the bits.

Really comes down to budget, and i defiantley run with the school of thought while the motor (regardless of waht you put in) is out, change all the gaskets, seals, o rings, spark plugs, etc. If not everything then at the very least especially the stuff on the bottom like sump gaskets and rear main seal, timing cover that are hard to get to once the motor is in (again, regardless of the engine you choose. makes it a lot more enjoyable once finished if everything works as it should, doesnt leave a mess on your freinds driveways, etc.

$5k will get you a fully certified M52/ZF swap including all the other stuff to think about

[Michael. 2313]

1JZ would be super easy to do.

Still I'd prob go S54, would be a fun machine either way.

I've often thought a 4 cylinder better suits the E30 chassis, an nice Vtec engine would be a good unit, K24A or F20C

[gjm 3258]

I spent a fair bit of time considering the merits of various engine swaps before deciding to stick with a 4-pot. It is typically lighter, better balances the car, leaves a lot more room in the engine bay (easier to work on) and means more space for future mods. It's simpler, so if I decide to do something silly with it, I'll have an easier platform to begin with.

JMHO.

And I couldn't afford this. 

[BrentNZ 44]

3 hours ago, _ethrty-Andy_ said:

cant beat M52 for bang for buck, reliability, good power upgrade, light weight, easy swap, a million people done it so plenty of data on the internet what works and what doesnt. i can bang a conversion out in a weekend now once you have all the bits.

Really comes down to budget, and i defiantley run with the school of thought while the motor (regardless of waht you put in) is out, change all the gaskets, seals, o rings, spark plugs, etc. If not everything then at the very least especially the stuff on the bottom like sump gaskets and rear main seal, timing cover that are hard to get to once the motor is in (again, regardless of the engine you choose. makes it a lot more enjoyable once finished if everything works as it should, doesnt leave a mess on your freinds driveways, etc.

$5k will get you a fully certified M52/ZF swap including all the other stuff to think about

Hey Andy,

Thanks for your input, yeah that is where I had thought I would go initially, 190HP wasn't really getting me too excited though  totally agree with changing other items whilst engine is on the hoist!

Do you have any leads/ tips for a M52/ZF and conversion parts that would suit this change?

Brent

[HELLBM 1552]

Something we have done with a couple of E30`s and an E34 is the M54B30 Conversion.

What we can supply is:

M54B30 with ancilliaries

ZF Box

E36 Arm

MS43 DME with ews delete/manual/EU2 tune

E30 pedal set with E46 Accelerator Drive by wire pedal.

Necessary wiring.

Not to dissimilar to an M52B28 conversion.

[BrentNZ 44]

Well bit the bullet and have gone the M54B30 route, sourced a motor last week so just need to swap sump and a few other mod's to make that happen.
Have a E34 sump ready to swap over, just need to mod the oil pickup and dipstick tube a bit.
Removed the Aircon unit as our 83 doesn't have AC

Ray from HellBM hooked me up with a Getrag 220 and pedals plus a few other items required. Ray will also remove the EWS in the MS43 ECU for me.
Picked up a M20 Flywheel, clutch setup off TM.

With Waitangi day tomorrow we will remove the old M20 engine and start prepping the E30, have a Z3 steering rack to swap over, install Clutch pedal, master cyclinder and Electronic Drive by Wire pedal ex E39. From what I've read will need to swap out the Brake Booster for a smaller OD, I read one post somewhere that they used a Porsche 944 item, I have a 911 SC left over from a earlier project so I'm going to look at that swap first, if not suitable will look into some other options.

Over the past week we have been working on fitting a Fibreglass Mtech2 kit, what a mission, front is too wide, need to narrow approx 30mm. Rears are too long in length towards the rear wheel arch so have shortened those by about 50mm... Rear is back in one piece, fibreglassing went great, will need some BOG work to make pretty

Want to locate a Medium LSD in the 2.93 range if anyone knows of one available?
Yet to start on the wiring which is not my favorite so if anyone has any recommendations for someone in CHCH that can do it on the cheap?

Will get around to putting some pic's up at some stage..

[Mr Vapour 76]

May i ask why you went with the Getrag 220 not the ZF? 

[BrentNZ 44]

2 hours ago, Mr Vapour said:

May i ask why you went with the Getrag 220 not the ZF? 

Figured ZF wasn't necessary, 220 was recommended to me and would be sufficient for street use.

[zero 1162]

What are you planning for brakes and suspension?

 

Sounds like a good project

[Gaz 1059]

Nice work! I've got some genuine mtech2 sides in chch if you are interested

[BrentNZ 44]

On 2/5/2018 at 7:57 PM, zero said:

What are you planning for brakes and suspension?

 

Sounds like a good project

Other than a Brake Booster change I wasn't planning on any brake mod's at this stage.

Suspension is looking like full adjustables, all shocks seem stuffed so not much different to put adjustables in compared to springs & shocks.

[BrentNZ 44]

On 2/6/2018 at 7:48 PM, Gaz said:

Nice work! I've got some genuine mtech2 sides in chch if you are interested

Thanks, will keep it in mind, only planning on bumpers at the moment... they are enough of a drama so far.

 

[HaNs 226]

JZ, M52 is sh*t

[zero 1162]

32 minutes ago, BrentNZ said:

Other than a Brake Booster change I wasn't planning on any brake mod's at this stage.

Suspension is looking like full adjustables, all shocks seem stuffed so not much different to put adjustables in compared to springs & shocks.

If you are roughly doubling the power, I suggest you do upgrade the brakes too. Even if its just decent pads.

What coilovers are you looking at? If spending some coin it might be better to import these yourself to save money.

 

[Jacko 2153]

On 05/02/2018 at 2:59 PM, BrentNZ said:

... From what I've read will need to swap out the Brake Booster for a smaller OD, I read one post somewhere that they used a Porsche 944 item, I have a 911 SC left over from a earlier project so I'm going to look at that swap first, if not suitable will look into some other options....

When I did mine used a Renault Clio unit (plastic finned flavour from rennojag for around $100), all the 944/VW units I could find  were rusty piles of crap. Renault unit bolted up fine, used a 1/4" HSS drill bit cut in half as spacer on the shaft to the master cylinder. Worked mint and looks OEM (and new) 

Edited February 11, 2018 by Jacko

[BrentNZ 44]

On 2/9/2018 at 9:09 PM, zero said:

If you are roughly doubling the power, I suggest you do upgrade the brakes too. Even if its just decent pads.

What coilovers are you looking at? If spending some coin it might be better to import these yourself to save money.

 

Will get there once I get it running, will give some thoughts to Brakes.

Yeah I import K-Sport Suspension so have that covered.

[BrentNZ 44]

On 2/11/2018 at 2:00 PM, Jacko said:

When I did mine used a Renault Clio unit (plastic finned flavour from rennojag for around $100), all the 944/VW units I could find  were rusty piles of crap. Renault unit bolted up fine, used a 1/4" HSS drill bit cut in half as spacer on the shaft to the master cylinder. Worked mint and looks OEM (and new) 

Already have the 911sc Booster and it's fine, bolts straight in stud wise, clevis and rod needs extending so just dealing with that now.

Have my steering rack spacers sorted for the Z3 rack, hope to sort revised power steer lines next week as they don't fit and the pump end fitting is wrong on the supply side.

[BrentNZ 44]

Wheels arrived today... 15x8.5 4/100 +17P Hyper Silver with Machined Lip

[hunter 407]

what are these gorgeous things? brand & retailer, please?

[gjm 3258]

On 2/20/2018 at 6:04 PM, BrentNZ said:

Wheels arrived today... 15x8.5 4/100 +17P Hyper Silver with Machined Lip

 

21 minutes ago, hunter said:

what are these gorgeous things? brand & retailer, please?

I think these are discontinued Ruff R358s?

TSW in NZ deal with Ruff.

[BrentNZ 44]

On 3/24/2018 at 4:46 PM, hunter said:

what are these gorgeous things? brand & retailer, please?

Hi Hunter, I Import wheels and Tyres as my business so added them to another container... ANZ Wheels & Tyres, only grabbed the one set, can check if they have more or would possible part with these if really keen.