E30 M52 Swap + Turbo

[BrockosBeamer 1]

Hey Team,

Im wanting to put an M52B28 into a 4 door 1986 E30 and then turbo it, was just wondering if anyone has done this and wether they bought a kit or diy and what troubles they ran into,

 

Cheers

[elias 387]

16 minutes ago, BrockosBeamer said:

Hey Team,

Im wanting to put an M52B28 into a 4 door 1986 E30 and then turbo it, was just wondering if anyone has done this and wether they bought a kit or diy and what troubles they ran into,

 

Cheers

I’m currently doing m52b28 into pfl Sedan. But keeping it Na. I’d imagine for a turbo set up steering column clearance will be fairly tight trying to get a decent size downpipe down there without the manifold getting in the way. 
 

You’ll obviously need a front sump, dipstick, pickup tube, e34 m50 parts. You’ll also want to use a zf 5 Speed box, which means you’ll need a lower ratio (~3.15) medium case diff. Not sure how strong axles are either with holding up to boost, maybe 325i ones will be strong enough?
 

may even want to look into reinforcing rear arms, front subframe etc.
 

don’t know if you have the e30 already or not but budget a decent amount of money to just get the shell up to spec, most likely will need rust work, and you’d want to replace all the 40 year old bushings under the car and refresh the brakes and suspension as well. 
 

definitely not a cheap exercise to do properly, mine being NA is already getting rather expensive…

[BrockosBeamer 1]

1 hour ago, elias said:

I’m currently doing m52b28 into pfl Sedan. But keeping it Na. I’d imagine for a turbo set up steering column clearance will be fairly tight trying to get a decent size downpipe down there without the manifold getting in the way. 
 

You’ll obviously need a front sump, dipstick, pickup tube, e34 m50 parts. You’ll also want to use a zf 5 Speed box, which means you’ll need a lower ratio (~3.15) medium case diff. Not sure how strong axles are either with holding up to boost, maybe 325i ones will be strong enough?
 

may even want to look into reinforcing rear arms, front subframe etc.
 

don’t know if you have the e30 already or not but budget a decent amount of money to just get the shell up to spec, most likely will need rust work, and you’d want to replace all the 40 year old bushings under the car and refresh the brakes and suspension as well. 
 

definitely not a cheap exercise to do properly, mine being NA is already getting rather expensive…

Okay Awesome to know thank you, might leave the whole plus turbo but for now then and just worry about the engine swap, will have to look into where i can get those oil sump and bits from but thank you for your advice

[elias 387]

5 minutes ago, BrockosBeamer said:

Okay Awesome to know thank you, might leave the whole plus turbo but for now then and just worry about the engine swap, will have to look into where i can get those oil sump and bits from but thank you for your advice

Yeah, I think it should still be fun NA. Have a look on Facebook, there’s a couple of e30 groups where there’s usually someone that has what you’re after.  
 

if you do decide to go with a zf box, prepare to pay good $$ for driveshaft and diff. 
 

as far as wiring goes, if you’re in Auckland, Luke from skunk works has done plenty of these swaps and offers a wiring service if you supply the m52 loom to make it work in an e30. 

Edited Sunday at 11:58 PM by elias

[BrockosBeamer 1]

Just now, elias said:

Yeah, I think it should still be fun NA. Have a look on Facebook, there’s a couple of e30 groups where there’s usually someone that has what you’re after.  
 

if you do decide to go with a zf box, prepare to pay good $$ for driveshaft and diff. 

Manual is the plan eventually, for the sake of money and headaches at the moment i am going to leave it auto, yeah ill chuck something up on facebook, Thanks!

[MD13 538]

Did this sell?

[Driftit 2193]

17 hours ago, MD13 said:

Did this sell?

Yeah that is by far the best option.  HellBM will also have any other little bits and pieces you would need for the swap.

If you try and piece this together yourself it will take forever just to find the parts.