M52 powered e30

[Ghost Chip 188]

Not sure if you’ve seen my endless posts about hunting down a car, which started with an e36 and somehow got diverted to an e30. Finally bit the bullet with what may actually be a bit of a 🍋  in hindsight 😅 (I’ll explain later).

A bit about the car first. She started her life in the land of the rising sun in 1988 as a 320i coupe in alpine white and migrated to the land of the long white cloud in 1997. It’s had extensive service history that I can see up until October 2018 when a m52b28 + 5spd (haven’t jacked up yet so don’t know what box) found its way in the engine bay.

On viewing and a quick test drive:

Pros:

 - Mechanically sounded and felt well: quick turnover on a cold start, idled well, power felt fine, no knocks or ticking, transmission was smooth.

 - Wof, reg, and also certed for engine, seats, brakes, suspension

 - Pretty straight body. Doesn’t look like it’s been in an accident at all.

 - Central locking with an immobiliser

 - 2dr and a slick top 

 

Cons:

 - Has the usual e30 imperfections: some rust / corrosion in the common spots (except for the passenger door which may end up being pandora’s box), cracked dash, and paint fade

 - Wiring’s a bit of a mess in the engine bay and under the driver’s dash

 - AC deleted

 - Windows only go up/down if a door is open (some problem with the wiring from the alarm apparently)

After some thinking and asking around, I decided to just go for it so I bought it. Picked it up yesterday and that’s where we get to the to the potential lemon part. After a few stops and a bit of time driving around the tron (got some kai, gas, and pumped up tyres), my mate and I noticed a bit of white smoke coming out of the exhaust that kept going (noticed it when I first viewed it 1-2 weeks ago but thought it was just the cold and picked it up late arvo/evening yesterday so initially thought it was also just the cold). By this point we needed to top up the oil as it was sitting low so did that and after a few mins it went away. On the drive back my mate couldn’t tell whether or not smoke was coming out of the engine while driving (I drove the other car) but had his eyes on the temp gauge, which didn’t move. In saying that, we made it back to Auckland with no issues, even with a few moments of ‘spirited’ driving, and had no smoke coming from the engine bay when he was parking it at my place.

Another worry is that this morning, I saw that the radiator had been slowly leaking coolant, at least overnight (see video below, have also put pictures of the oil cap, and the coolant reservoir cap)

 

So it looks like the urgent things to do:

 - New rad (any recommendations?)

 - Get it to a mechanic to test if the head gasket’s blown

 

I’ll take some photos of the car when I finish getting over the fact that I may have made such a dumb decision 😂.

 

Cheers

[Sammo 2550]

Great stuff mate - guessing this is the white Coupe off Trade Me?

Should go like stink once you sort a few niggles (hopefully just niggles).

 

[Ghost Chip 188]

3 hours ago, Sammo said:

Great stuff mate - guessing this is the white Coupe off Trade Me?

Should go like stink once you sort a few niggles (hopefully just niggles).

Yep, that’s the one.

Fingers crossed eh. On that note, I’ve had a skim through m52 e30s here in the forum and can’t seem to find details on fittings, radiator wise.

Will be doing a cooling system overhaul so looking at getting one of those oem kits from FCP Euro for an e36 328i but obviously some parts may not apply. Anyone here have any insight about those things?

[nick496 269]

The oil cap looks standard for one that hasn't been replaced. 

Probably best to get a leak down test done before you throw a new rad in there. 

In terms of radiators, since you've got a fl expansion tank, you should be able to run a 6 cylinder rad off an e36. Most common upgrade is the e36 Z3M radiator which is a bit thicker, though if your swap somehow has a viscous fan that might case fitment issues. 

In terms of hoses, I think I used e36 stuff for everything but the heater core pipes, and the overflow bottle, which I think are stock e30 ones, or a mixture. 

[Ghost Chip 188]

@nick496 Thanks for that! I was planning on getting this one https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-cooling-system-kit-e36-e36coolingkit#description

Yeah, I was just thinking that I may just borrow/buy a used stock rad just for it to hold the coolant on my way to the mechanic to get a leak down test. I think the rad is just the stock b20 rad - can’t really tell, have attached some photos if anyone can identify it.

Regarding the fan situation viscous seem to be the preferred option and according to this thread 

it looks like it’ll fit with some careful planning - just need to get details on the planning part 😂

Edited July 12, 2021 by Ghost Chip

[nick496 269]

Yeah, you won't end up with too many spares from that kit.
Most likely 
-Engine Coolant Recovery Tank
-Engine Coolant Recovery Tank Hose

I've tried to fit in the viscous fan, but even with the thinner E36 rad I would only have had a few mm of clearance. 

[Ghost Chip 188]

Some updates:

Got gifted a second hand b20 radiator from a fellow bimmer enthusiast (massive thanks to him). Has some cosmetic differences but doesn’t leak so definitely a plus!

Managed to finally fit it this week, transferred the electric fan, and got the coolant in.

Still smoking, so definitely still due to go to the mechanic for a leak down test. But the coolant that leaked looked dirty but didn’t seem to have oil mixed in with it, so hopefully nothing too significant!

Realised that the fan wasn’t engaging at all and the temp was climbing more and more when idling (definitely can’t use during the week at the moment in Auckland traffic!). So hopefully will have time to suss that out this weekend!

 

Upon reflection on this past week, although there’s been setback upon setback, I’ve actually been quite thankful  that I’m physically able to work on a car. Have been thankful for fellow enthusiasts that I can ask/hassle about car problems and good old google (A little context to that is my CV in working on a car is very short. It literally has only been changing oil, putting a spare tyre on, and replacing a head unit). Another highlight of this week has been a mate of mine teaching me how to drive a manual car (yes I bought a manual car that needs work without knowing how to drive one and without ever really working on a car 😂). Definitely put a smile on my face being able to finally drive the car and cruise back home. Even ended up doing some accidental burnouts on the way 😆.

Excited what else is to come and learning experiences to pick up. I’ve been compiling a list of what I want/aim to do to the car - feel free to chime in your 2cents. (In no particular order and still not final)

 - Engine rebuild (gaskets, etc.) + m50 manifold

 - Cooling system overhaul

 - Retrofit AC

 - Coilovers vs spring/shocks

 - Stainless steel brake lines

 - Fix the wiring

 - Strip, treat rust, repaint to dark green

 - Clean all surfaces and replace all fluids

 - Wheels and tyres (? RE-003)

 - ? replace sound system

 - ? Tech 2 fibreglass kit

  - ? 5 stud conversion (mixed feelings about this, seems too expensive for just expanding wheel options. Also apparently caster is all wrong even if done properly)

[Sammo 2550]

Good luck with the smoke!

Whats the wiring issue? Something swap related?

What are these seats like, I remember it having some buckets?

I think Dark green would look better as Tech 1.

[Ghost Chip 188]

5 hours ago, Sammo said:

Good luck with the smoke!

Whats the wiring issue? Something swap related?

What are these seats like, I remember it having some buckets?

I think Dark green would look better as Tech 1.

Thanks mate!

Yep, it’s just very messy and it seems like the fan’s not working, rear speakers not working, windows only go up/down when the door is open, side mirror windows are not working, defogger on the rear window is not working. Definitely feel like I’ll need to take it off the road soon, and start stripping it. I’m planning to do it maybe in 2 months time when I’m hopefully less busy.

Yep, was thinking about replacing the front to normal sports seats (cloth if they exist). But certed for bucket seats so not sure how that’s going to go with cert if I remove it.

Why’s that? Kinda going for this kind of green or something close. I saw a wagon on one of the fb groups with dark green exterior and brown(ish) interior (can’t find the photo now though). It looked great so was hoping to replicate that. Unsure what kit it had.

Edited July 24, 2021 by Ghost Chip

[Sammo 2550]

Nice, you could get some cloth recaros in a finish not too out of place to the stock trim? Or retrimmed recaros but that would be $$$.

I feel dark green is a more classic colour a little better suited to the older school tech 1 look?

 Let’s be real though, Tech 1 and tech 2 are both stunning in any colour 👌

Edited July 24, 2021 by Sammo

[nick496 269]

My advise is to think about what you want to achieve with the car, be it a certain look, or performance goal.

Then choose what wheels and size tyres you want to run, and go from there.

You should also take note of what your current cert plate states in terms of maintaining legality for insurance purposes, but if you're considering coilovers and a 5stud, then you'd be looking to recert anyway.

 - Retrofit AC
--This is quite an involved processes, and requires a heater core swap from an AC equipped car, along with some extra wiring.

 - Coilovers vs spring/shocks
-- I think coilovers are great if you're wanting to achieve a specific ride height or are tracking it, otherwise springs/shocks are the way to go

 -  5 stud conversion 
-- You can get the caster right if you use the E36 M3 Evo arms up the front, but my understanding is that some of the other parts for the swap you can no longer buy new.
-- And I believe it's with the non M3 options that have issues with getting the caster correct.
-- Still recommend you figure out your final goals for the car first.

[Southerner 146]

As others have said there needs to be a final goal in mind when  doing modifications otherwise your piddling into the wind so to speak!

With the the 5 stud it needs to be worth it/what you really want. I done mine the E36 m3 way, this costs alot and as @nick496 mentioned some can't be brought new anymore. This is the knuckles, the rest can. With this swap you gain bigger brakes and the wheel options. My plan is to do the odd track day so this was worth it for this, and I have several sets of wheels to choose from. If you only plan on one set of wheels and they come on 4x100 it's not really worth the swap for the swap (several thousand). 

There's a few things in my build thread showing it but if you need more info feel free to PM me to get more details.

The adjustable suspension also needs to be thought about long term. If your just wanting to lower it and never going to adjust it then some good springs and shocks will have better results.

[Ghost Chip 188]

@Sammo It currently has blue cloth door cards and rear seats. I thought, there was something specific about the kit that made it better haha. The other option for the exterior is this sort of colour (turquoise/teal) or a light blue (similar to the one in the bmw photos thread that Graham posted, it’s not coming up for some reason though so can’t link)

@nick496 @Southerner Very true, I guess my goal for the car is for it to be a street car that I’m hoping can be almost dailied but that I can do some ‘spirited driving’ in and maybe to the track (but probably rarely - maybe once a month?). From what I’ve seen it looks like 16” wheels seem to be the best fit for the e30 - will probably need to look into this more.

With regards to the AC - it looks like it won’t be an actual retrofit as the car came with AC but got deleted, even the fan isn’t working. However, when I press the AC it sounds like something is intermittently whirring - unsure as to what/why that is.

Coilovers was because I thought they would be better than shocks and springs in terms of being able to adjust it so that I can find a sweet spot between daily drivability and performance. Happy to be wrong though as it does affect cert

5 stud was because I heard that I can then get bigger brakes. However, someone that raced the e30 race series said that it’s really not needed and good pads and tyres should do the trick. That’s why I’m a bit torn as it might not be worth it for my use of it.

For reference I was going to follow this for the 5 stud if I was to do it:

Rear

Edited July 25, 2021 by Ghost Chip

[nick496 269]

 

23 hours ago, Ghost Chip said:

@nick496 @Southerner Very true, I guess my goal for the car is for it to be a street car that I’m hoping can be almost dailied but that I can do some ‘spirited driving’ in and maybe to the track (but probably rarely - maybe once a month?). From what I’ve seen it looks like 16” wheels seem to be the best fit for the e30 - will probably need to look into this more.

With regards to the AC - it looks like it won’t be an actual retrofit as the car came with AC but got deleted, even the fan isn’t working. However, when I press the AC it sounds like something is intermittently whirring - unsure as to what/why that is.

Coilovers was because I thought they would be better than shocks and springs in terms of being able to adjust it so that I can find a sweet spot between daily drivability and performance. Happy to be wrong though as it does affect cert

5 stud was because I heard that I can then get bigger brakes. However, someone that raced the e30 race series said that it’s really not needed and good pads and tyres should do the trick. That’s why I’m a bit torn as it might not be worth it for my use of it.

Hawk HPS pads are good for spirited street driving.
I think 16's are the right size, but it's really a personal preference thing.

Hmmm, the whirring is probably it attempting to engage the ac pump? (so something wrong with the system) Or does the sound occur if you have the fan on low speed as well? (in which case, it's probably the fan rubbing on something)

Coilovers I'd suggest driving some others to see if you can find a setup that you like, and then attempt to copy that directly.
I have moved to an H&R setup with Bilstein's, which I find the sweet spot for me, but some people are fine with even stiffer springs. 

The race series guys are correct, and the stock brakes are fine. I think even the E30 series in Aus runs stock brakes, and they run 325i's.
I've personally found them to be fine when I take mine out on the track with race pads and race fluid, though I start getting inconsistent after about 4-5 laps, which is likely just a me and my poor driving.
That said, for that purpose I'm looking at upgrading the fronts to a larger disc for the heat, but staying 4 stud.

[Ghost Chip 188]

@nick496

Ah, I’ll jot that down on the list.

Yeah, I feel like that’s the case. The fan doesn’t even turn on so definitely not that.

You’re right, I’ll need to really jump in an e30 with good coilovers to see how it feels.

Haha, maybe you just wear em out real quick! Would be keen to see what you upgrade to and the difference.

[Cammsport 391]

15 hours ago, Ghost Chip said:

@nick496

Ah, I’ll jot that down on the list.

Yeah, I feel like that’s the case. The fan doesn’t even turn on so definitely not that.

You’re right, I’ll need to really jump in an e30 with good coilovers to see how it feels.

Haha, maybe you just wear em out real quick! Would be keen to see what you upgrade to and the difference.

Come for a ride @Ghost Chip

 

[Ghost Chip 188]

8 hours ago, Cammsport said:

Come for a ride @Ghost Chip

 

For sure bro, have just been flat out lately so actually don’t have a lot of spare time.

[Ghost Chip 188]

Haven’t been able to do too much lately but probably worth updating where I’m stuck on as I’m planning to strip it down soon as well.

Main issue at the moment has been the overheating when idling too long. Got some help figuring out if the fan actually spun if it had power. It definitely works so will just need to make a manual switch temporarily until I get a bigger one as this fan is tiny! Unfortunately, I didn’t grab any materials before level 4 so stuck with nothing at the moment.

Just like an animal that’s been rescued, this little beast needed a bit of cleaning. I made the mistake of not taking photos of how bad the state of the car had been. While photos from far away looks good. It looked like it literally hadn’t been cleaned in years. So just think mould/mildew/moss in every crevice and a lot of random (?) stains on the outside.

Managed to coax the sister to help out with the reward of washing her car too. After a lot of scrubbing, blasting with a garden hose, and soap, we managed to get pretty much all of what we can reach.

But wasn’t happy with the water stains and some mild oxidation of the paint so decided to give it a polish while we’re there. A lot of polish and elbow grease later and she’s brighter than most people’s future. Very satisfying.

[Sammo 2550]

Looking fresh! anything scary lingering under those e36(??) side skirts?

[Ghost Chip 188]

17 minutes ago, Sammo said:

Looking fresh! anything scary lingering under those e36(??) side skirts?

Thanks mate! The front and rear valances will need to be restored properly when it gets stripped as they’re not looking great even from the immense scrubbing.

From what I could see, mostly just the same as all the other crevices, mould, mildew, and moss. I think even a cockroach jumped out. Do you know how it could possibly have been fitted? Keen to rip em off.

[Ghost Chip 188]

Project’s pretty much on hold as Aunty Cindy has grounded us Aucklanders for a while. On other news, managed to track down the previous owner before the owner who sold it to me and managed to find out some other things from the build which has been really helpful.

One thing that I’ll need to investigate further is the steering column, it seems that might be the main culprit contributing to the vibrations on the steering wheel. If anyone has any spares lying around, I’d be keen to take them off your hands. Either that or those revshift mounts for the engine and transmission may need to be replaced.

The other issue is the wiring for the tiny electric fan, apparently was originally done by someone at Apex Auto. Does anyone here know anyone that works / used to work there (2018-19)?

[nick496 269]

Is the vibration on the steering column happening on idle? On Straights? Or only on certain corners?

I had an issue with mine, which turned out the be the engine moving on tight corners on the track, causing the exhaust to touch the steering shaft.
Ended up getting the headers modified to be a bit further away, and it's been fine since.

[Ghost Chip 188]

49 minutes ago, nick496 said:

Is the vibration on the steering column happening on idle? On Straights? Or only on certain corners?

I had an issue with mine, which turned out the be the engine moving on tight corners on the track, causing the exhaust to touch the steering shaft.
Ended up getting the headers modified to be a bit further away, and it's been fine since.

On the motorway / high speeds. Just get a lot of vibrations from every bump / small rock it seems.

What mounts are you running?

[nick496 269]

I'm running the e28 round motor mounts, with a barina steering shaft. 

[Ghost Chip 188]

@BMTHUG Would be great if you could PM me (I can’t for some reason), just have a question about the fan. Cheers!