Elias’ E30 project

[elias 303]

With my 135i being more or less completed (for the time being) I decided to pick up another project. 
 

was looking for a little while, as most e30s are very rusty nowadays, but managed to pick up this prefacelift 320i sedan for a good deal, due to the fact that it has a cracked head. Paint and interior appear to be in good shape and has minimal rust. 
 

I also picked up an m52b28 engine, a getrag 220 box, m20 flywheel (machined to fit sump), m50 front sump, pick up, dipstick, shift carrier, linkage etc, loom and ecu. ecu will need the ews deleted. 

plan is to pull the m20 out in the next few weeks while I begin refreshing the m52. So far planning on doing sump gasket, valve cover gasket, oil filter housing, aluminium thermostat housing , thermostat, waterpump, pulley bearings, spark plugs and ignition coils. But keen to hear if there’s any other bits that are worthwhile doing while I’m there. 
 

If anyone has any tips/tricks, recommendations or advice let me know. Also will probably have some questions regarding coolant line routing, ccv system and Evap on the m52 as it was already partially disassembled when I picked it up so not sure what parts I’m missing/what goes where. 
 

plans so far apart from what’s lifted above is to do a purple tag rack with slim linkage, e90 or clio brake booster not sure which way to go yet. Will also need a manual pedal box, interior trims for the shifter (currently auto) clutch line master slave etc so if you have anything that might be useful you want to get rid of let me know and I’ll buy it off you. 
 

[Eagle 1707]

Vanos seals are fairly easy with engine on the stand, there's a way do to it by leaving the gear on the cam so no need for timing tools. New CCV valve and pipes couldn't hurt since its all apart.

[deedub 72]

Nice to see you landed one. Look forward to seeing the progress.

If you don't mind me asking... What did the m52b28 set you back? I'm looking to get one at some point in the near future and keen to know what ballpark figure is to get one.

[elias 303]

2 hours ago, Eagle said:

Vanos seals are fairly easy with engine on the stand, there's a way do to it by leaving the gear on the cam so no need for timing tools. New CCV valve and pipes couldn't hurt since its all apart.

Are those seals best ordered from beisan systems? Yeah going to have to try figure out the whole coolant line, and ccv situation I bought the engine somewhat disassembled so no clue what goes where and what bits I’m missing. I’ve seen some people delete the ccv in favour of a catchcan, is there any merit in that? Want to keep things as simple as possible the less hoses and valves etc the better. 
 

 

[elias 303]

38 minutes ago, deedub said:

Nice to see you landed one. Look forward to seeing the progress.

If you don't mind me asking... What did the m52b28 set you back? I'm looking to get one at some point in the near future and keen to know what ballpark figure is to get one.

Thank you! I paid $2300 for engine, loom, ecu, g220 manual box, shifter, linkage, e34 front sump, front pick up, dipstick, m20 flywheel (machined for e34 sump), m20 starter motor, clutch, and some other odds and ends. So it’s hard to say what I paid for the motor. 

[Eagle 1707]

2 hours ago, elias said:

Are those seals best ordered from beisan systems? Yeah going to have to try figure out the whole coolant line, and ccv situation I bought the engine somewhat disassembled so no clue what goes where and what bits I’m missing. I’ve seen some people delete the ccv in favour of a catchcan, is there any merit in that? Want to keep things as simple as possible the less hoses and valves etc the better. 
 

Probably, not sure who else sells them. They sell the cut down sockets as well if you dont want to make your own. 

Should be a big metal pipe under the intake which routes a lot of coolant pipes, parts diagram show it whole layout reasonably well. CCV attached to the manifold and has off it 3 pipes - one from valve cover to CCV, one from CCV to oil dipstick for drain, one vacuum line from CCV to FPR.

Factory CCV setup should last the life of the car at this point provided decent parts are used and is set and forget. To me a catch can is more hassle in many ways and i never liked the aftermarket look and layout of most setups i see. Preference thing really

[elias 303]

7 hours ago, Eagle said:

Probably, not sure who else sells them. They sell the cut down sockets as well if you dont want to make your own. 

Should be a big metal pipe under the intake which routes a lot of coolant pipes, parts diagram show it whole layout reasonably well. CCV attached to the manifold and has off it 3 pipes - one from valve cover to CCV, one from CCV to oil dipstick for drain, one vacuum line from CCV to FPR.

Factory CCV setup should last the life of the car at this point provided decent parts are used and is set and forget. To me a catch can is more hassle in many ways and i never liked the aftermarket look and layout of most setups i see. Preference thing really

Awesome thank you that’s very helpful information. Yep I’ve got a big metal coolant pipe that splits into a few different ends that sits below the intake. Will start there. Sweet will keep the ccv oem in that case particularly if it’s mostly under the intake manifold anyway. Would you swap to an m50 manifold? Is it worth the extra $? Apologies for the many questions this m5x stuff is fairly new to me, mostly been spending my time on the n54/55 engines. 

[Eagle 1707]

54 minutes ago, elias said:

Is it worth the extra

Down to the use case of the car and budget. From all the dynos ive seen it works well and provides good gains when done along side other breathing mods (ie cams, exhaust, TB's etc) and tuning. Slapping it on a stock engine without tuning results in low-mid range torque loss\flat spot with a minor hp gain in the upper rpm ranges.

Personally it think E30's go pretty well with the stock M52 and the money is better spent else where( eg rear adjustable toe\camber) if you dont have an open cheque book.

[elias 303]

1 hour ago, Eagle said:

Down to the use case of the car and budget. From all the dynos ive seen it works well and provides good gains when done along side other breathing mods (ie cams, exhaust, TB's etc) and tuning. Slapping it on a stock engine without tuning results in low-mid range torque loss\flat spot with a minor hp gain in the upper rpm ranges.

Personally it think E30's go pretty well with the stock M52 and the money is better spent else where( eg rear adjustable toe\camber) if you dont have an open cheque book.

Yeah that’s a fair point might just leave engine as is for now, was looking into doing m54 intake cam swap and m50 manifold later down the line potentially. Will probably do exhaust though as I don’t want to use the m20b20 exhaust. Definitely not an open cheque book as the 135i isn’t going anywhere.

Still trying to figure out the clutch situation too, I have a m20 flywheel, that has been machined to fit the m52 with front bowl sump, but not sure which clutch kit to use to work with the m20 flywheel and g220 box.  
 

diff is another concern not sure what to do about the diff as the e36 box is 1:1 5th unlike the e30 boxes. 

Edited Monday at 09:04 PM by elias

[Eagle 1707]

3 hours ago, elias said:

Yeah that’s a fair point might just leave engine as is for now, was looking into doing m54 intake cam swap and m50 manifold later down the line potentially. Will probably do exhaust though as I don’t want to use the m20b20 exhaust. Definitely not an open cheque book as the 135i isn’t going anywhere.

Still trying to figure out the clutch situation too, I have a m20 flywheel, that has been machined to fit the m52 with front bowl sump, but not sure which clutch kit to use to work with the m20 flywheel and g220 box.  
 

diff is another concern not sure what to do about the diff as the e36 box is 1:1 5th unlike the e30 boxes. 

Used to be that you would run an M20 clutch kit with the taller E21 323i throw out bearing. Might be other options these days idk.

Diff ratio is the same as range the E36\Z3 manual cars, 2.93-3.45. A ~3.15 188 medium case out of a Z3 is a nice ratio and is just about plug and play with maybe some output flange swapping, maybe a bit hard to find one. Otherwise you have to swap gearsets etc over from another 188 diff. Not sure how smaller axles on the 320i hold up behind the M52. 325i used beefier ones.

[nick496 269]

I'm running the Sachs m20 clutch in mine and it's great for daily use. 

Haven't had any issues with the axles on my swap, but aside from a few track days it's seen mostly daily use (though now it's more of a Sunday driver). 

I have a clio booster, and after testing someone else's e30 with an e90 one, I want to swap mine. 

[elias 303]

1 hour ago, nick496 said:

I'm running the Sachs m20 clutch in mine and it's great for daily use. 

Haven't had any issues with the axles on my swap, but aside from a few track days it's seen mostly daily use (though now it's more of a Sunday driver). 

I have a clio booster, and after testing someone else's e30 with an e90 one, I want to swap mine. 

Awesome thanks for the info. Are running an m52b28 with a getrag220 e36 box? What was needed to make the clutch work, I’ve got a m20 flywheel but not sure which clutch kit I’ll need as it’ll have to fit the e36 box input shaft, the m20 flywheel and have a sprung disc, and hold b28 power. Car will never see the track. Have another car for that. 
 Yeah have heard that e90 booster is the way to go, so will do that. 

[elias 303]

On 3/3/2025 at 8:36 PM, deedub said:

Nice to see you landed one. Look forward to seeing the progress.

If you don't mind me asking... What did the m52b28 set you back? I'm looking to get one at some point in the near future and keen to know what ballpark figure is to get one.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1ANaiwceBb/?mibextid=wwXIfr

[nick496 269]

19 hours ago, elias said:

Awesome thanks for the info. Are running an m52b28 with a getrag220 e36 box? What was needed to make the clutch work, I’ve got a m20 flywheel but not sure which clutch kit I’ll need as it’ll have to fit the e36 box input shaft, the m20 flywheel and have a sprung disc, and hold b28 power. Car will never see the track. Have another car for that. 
 Yeah have heard that e90 booster is the way to go, so will do that. 

I'm running my m52b28 swap with a 240 e30 box, M20 flywheel, clutch and starter. 

Pretty sure the e36 boxes have the same spline on the input shaft as e30s. It's only on the late e46s where they decided to have variations. 

[elias 303]

3 hours ago, nick496 said:

I'm running my m52b28 swap with a 240 e30 box, M20 flywheel, clutch and starter. 

Pretty sure the e36 boxes have the same spline on the input shaft as e30s. It's only on the late e46s where they decided to have variations. 

Right I See, I Wonder if my gearbox is potentially out of an e46. This is the input shaft it’s the one with more/smaller splines.

[e30ftw 422]

That will only work with an E46 flywheel / clutch / starter. 

[Eagle 1707]

Yep wrong box, thats late model E46 22 spline. Have to get the common 10 spline one.

[elias 303]

1 hour ago, Eagle said:

Yep wrong box, thats late model E46 22 spline. Have to get the common 10 spline one.

 

3 hours ago, e30ftw said:

That will only work with an E46 flywheel / clutch / starter. 

Wouldn’t work with e36 flywheel, starter and 22spline clutch disc? 
 

i understand that it won’t work with e30 clutch/m20 flywheel. 

[e30ftw 422]

Different size clutch disc, the flywheel also has the pilot bearing embedded in it instead of the crank, so the input shaft length may be shorter too.

[Eagle 1707]

You can get adaptors to allow you to use a 5 speed flywheel, but 22 spline clutch options are quite limited last time i looked.

Probably cheaper to buy another box than a flywheel\clutch combo?, they were about $~500-700 not along ago. The M20 flywheel is going to better and cheaper than most aftermarket options imo. I had mine lightened and balanced with the crank when i rebuilt my old M20B25, it was great with no noticeable added  noise. 

[elias 303]

12 hours ago, Eagle said:

You can get adaptors to allow you to use a 5 speed flywheel, but 22 spline clutch options are quite limited last time i looked.

Probably cheaper to buy another box than a flywheel\clutch combo?, they were about $~500-700 not along ago. The M20 flywheel is going to better and cheaper than most aftermarket options imo. I had mine lightened and balanced with the crank when i rebuilt my old M20B25, it was great with no noticeable added  noise. 

It is a 5 speed box from what I understand just out of a late model 325i e46. Upon doing some research it appears to be identical to the 10 spline box out of a e36 apart from the number of splines.

slave/master is the same between the two boxes, pilot bearing has the same part number. 
 

i can get a clutch kit for an e36 with a smf and the seller has a matching 22 Spline clutch disc for it.

https://oscardistributors.com/products/e36-e46-m50-m52-odp-smf-clutch-kit?_pos=2&_sid=c0412403e&_ss=r

Vendor says he has a 22 spline disc to suit instead of the 10 spline. From what I understand that should do the trick?

 

[Eagle 1707]

If thats right then yeah it should work. Not sure how great the clutch flywheel setup is though, not a fan of 'HD' stuff for normal usage.

[Vass 937]

I've driven a couple of my mates' E46's that run that exact SMF kit. It's pretty good overall, no real noticeable chatter and really quite enjoyed it. The only real thing that would prevent me from having it in my own car is the pressure plate, I believe it's running the E36 M3 one which makes the clutch pedal reaaaaaally hard. The fellas whose cars those were say they've gotten used to it and don't mind it but I imagine it would get real tedious daily driving like that. Definitely not ideal for a daily driver. Maybe worth asking if he's got other options for pressure plates to go with the kit. 

[elias 303]

Yeah hard to find out what exactly I need. Another alternative is a z4 clutch kit, they appear to use the same gearbox as the late model e46. Could be worth while, and keep the oem clutch feel. 
 

have a very light weight single mass and a unsprung clutch disc in my 135i, that cad is horrendous to daily drive. 

[elias 303]

Too much conflicting information online, spoke to Kayne Barrie on the phone who was super helpful and obviously one of if not the most knowledgeable guy when it comes to bmw gearboxes/diffs.

He confirmed that the late e46 getrag 220/250 whatever you prefer to call it that I have is in fact identical in every way bar the number of splines and the release bearing sleeve size to e36/early e46 getrag 220s.

the one I’ve got (late e46) has 22 splines rather than 10 and 40mm sleeve rather than 38. The sleeve can be swapped to use the more common release bearing. E36/46 clutches work, as long as you use a 22 spline friction disc.  Pilot bearing is still in the back of the crankshaft, Input shaft is the same length. 
 

So will be sticking with my gearbox and using an e46/z4 dmf and clutch kit, probably better anyway for a streetcar.