E30 Engine options opinions wanted

[elias 281]

Hello,

im looking to buy an e30 in the very near future, and have come across a couple different options. I’m not looking to spend a massive amount of cash as the 135i clubsport car eats all my money, so a manual 325i is out the question. 
 

that being said so far options are (all manual or will be swapped to be manual), m20b20 or a m44 swapped one. 

Anyone have much experience with these engines? What suits the car better. I don’t need fast (the 135i is plenty fast for when I want that) but I want fun and rewarding to drive, something that you can wring the power out of. Open to modifying the engine too cams etc but no forced Induction, want to keep the N/A revving character. 

if I went m20b20, b25 swap is something I’d consider doing. 
 

but yeah looking for recommendations, experiences etc with m20s, m44s, or even other budget friendly options in an e30 specifically. 
 

cheers!

[gjm 3276]

If you can find/sort a manual M44, that would be a lot of fun.

[Eagle 1702]

As is id take the M44 over the B20 for sure. Id rather do a M50\M52 conversion on a M20B20, i love the B25 but engine prices seem ridiculous to me for what you are getting.

M44 vs M20B25 is a hard choice for me because they got their both strong points. M44 is probably the cheaper option with less maintenance. IMO they are more fun to wind out (in stock'ish form at least) with a light weight flywheel, more modern EFI, DOHC and decent factory headers. Modding support for M20 is greater but both can be made into N\A screamers if you want to dump money into them.

Drive a few different ones and im sure you will a better idea though.

 

[Harper 579]

M44 imo. Can't wait to finish building mine for my E36.

[e30ftw 419]

You're better of going with a 316/318i and m54 swapping it. The price on m20b25s these days is ridiculous. You can pick up an m54 half the price and have a more modern engine with a better power band that is more than enough for an e30. 

 

[deedub 57]

53 minutes ago, e30ftw said:

The price on m20b25s these days is ridiculous.

I'm not on facebook (or any social media). What are they going for?

[e30ftw 419]

24 minutes ago, deedub said:

I'm not on facebook (or any social media). What are they going for?

2.5k upwards. 

[Sammo 2553]

I'm a big fan of the M20's character / sound (I'm assuming B20 vs B25 isn't too different - I may be off the mark there).

M42 / M44 however will be a little quicker than a 320i and should also feel lighter / pointier up front and more eager to rev - I suspect it would a better contrast to your beast.

While the weight balance of a 325i / 318is may not look much different on paper, I was genuinely surprised how much less 'push' there was driving an M42 swapped car vs mine back to back - mine felt clumsier once you started to push on a bit.

[m325i 715]

K swap!

[elias 281]

Yeah sounds like I will have to drive a couple different cars and see what I like, and I agree k swap would be the way. Have driven a fair few k series cars, always fun. 
 

that being said I’m trying to avoid going too far down the rabbit whole so probably not looking to do a m50/52/54 swap. 

[Jacko 2185]

I did an M50B25 swap in my old E30 and liked it, its not hard at all (I did it all myself, including wiring) and is well documented... they like to rev so its quite a fun swap, kinda like a 6 cylinder 4AGE (not as peaky as a 20v or something, but rev happy)

If E30 prices werent stupid, I think id be playing with an N52B30 E30. Would be a pretty sweet machine and would be lighter than M20 and M50. 

[elias 281]

12 minutes ago, Jacko said:

I did an M50B25 swap in my old E30 and liked it, its not hard at all (I did it all myself, including wiring) and is well documented... they like to rev so its quite a fun swap, kinda like a 6 cylinder 4AGE (not as peaky as a 20v or something, but rev happy)

If E30 prices werent stupid, I think id be playing with an N52B30 E30. Would be a pretty sweet machine and would be lighter than M20 and M50. 

Yeah m50 swap is something I would consider down the line but gets expensive quick with needing, diff, gearbox, engine etc 

[Driftit 2125]

Much of the manual conversion kits for the M20 and M4* motors were sucked up by the E30 race series many years ago.  You could maybe pick up a Series car cheap which could have rebuilt running gear in it.

If I was to own another E30 I would N52 swap it.
https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/forum/e30-technical-forums/24v-engine-swaps/n54-n52-swap-forum/9977503-n52-e30-build-thread-for-the-sophisticated-gentleman 

How about a manual E87 instead?  I've had many E30's.  I like my crappy manual E87 more than all of them bar my series car.

[elias 281]

51 minutes ago, Driftit said:

Much of the manual conversion kits for the M20 and M4* motors were sucked up by the E30 race series many years ago.  You could maybe pick up a Series car cheap which could have rebuilt running gear in it.

If I was to own another E30 I would N52 swap it.
https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/forum/e30-technical-forums/24v-engine-swaps/n54-n52-swap-forum/9977503-n52-e30-build-thread-for-the-sophisticated-gentleman 

How about a manual E87 instead?  I've had many E30's.  I like my crappy manual E87 more than all of them bar my series car.

Yeah there’s a few e30 series cars for sale, but not really wanting a race car wanting something comfortable for the street. I’ve already got a half caged manual 135i with solid mounted engine, gearbox, diff subframe etc which is great fun but not the ideal street car.