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I can haz BMW?

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bmw haz
14K views 155 replies 20 participants last post by  Elysian 
#1 ·
The victim:


The recipient:



Things are moving nicely on the swap. Need to find an oil pan from an older 530I, need an oil pickup fabricated, need a set of headers, and a 3" exhaust fabricated... its a long term project though, and I think budget constraints will show soon, because I need to replace the entire suspension, fabricate a 6 point cage, and replace every rubber part I possibly can...
 
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#55 ·
Completely randomly decided to search for M50 on CraigsList, and found the oil pan I need for my swap, for 150-200 less than it normally costs! Will be grabbing it tomorrow.


My Pathfinder also decided it no longer liked the transmissions it had in it. It's stuck in Drive, and the lever is working fine, so it's just borked. Tried running some Seafoam transmission flush through it, but no such luck. I'm going to be doing a 5 speed swap on it, probably sometime next month. I hate Auto's anyways!
 
#64 ·
Just got the engine back, the oil pump nut was loose, he welded it on. The pan is now attached and the oil pickup is made. I'll have to take the pan back off at some point though, I didn't get a chance to relay to him to leave the pan off it, no worries though, a gasket is cheap. I talked a lot of shop with him, threw some of my ideas out there. I'm probably going to go with a .85mm thick head gasket to bump the compression down a tad, I'll likely be going forged pistons and upgrading the rods as well. I talked to him about boring/sleeving it to 3.2, but the gains wouldn't really be worth the cost. I also talked ECU and tuning, and he's convinced I can run the MS43 without having to have all of the other stuff like EWS, meaning I wouldn't need to use the key, he's telling me there are ways to trick the ECU, so if he's correct, I'll probably still wind up running the stock ECU and tuning it for the boost. He also said it'd be a more reliable ECU than the older M50 and S50 ECU, and another benefit would be not having to hack up the wiring harness, and I could run both VANOS's that way. We'll see, I'm sure I'll be sitting down and talking with him more about this as the swap progresses. He also mentioned a cast exhaust manifold that's supposed to be excellent for these types of projects, but he couldn't remember the company name, so he's going to be looking that up for me. He seems as excited about my project as I am, and I'm not even going to be putting any money in his pocket besides the trade of the E46 shell with its torn rear subframe mounts :lol:
 
#65 ·
Well this thread is old as hell :lol:

So I towed the E30 down to Austin over Christmas, along with all the parts I was going to swap into it... But the engine I was planning to use was filled with water. Not wanting to rebuild it, and not wanting to spend a lot of money, I decided to change plans.

I'm putting a Ford 5.0 V8 into my E30. I just picked up one from a 99 Mountaineer, I'll add some new heads, valve springs, cams, and probably run it in my Megasquirt, or use an OBD1 Mustang ecu. I'm going to use a Borg Warner T5 manual transmission. I've already got the engine and transmission mounts, as well as a nice instruction/info cd. Hoping to be running in the next couple of months.

Engine:

 
#69 ·
Any small block E30 builds you've got linked, for reference? I'd be interested to see how that fits down in that engine compartment.

I had a '79 280ZX I briefly swapped a Ford 302 (carbureted) into but never got it running. Took the same engine back out and put it in a CJ-7, into a T4 (exactly the 4-speed version of the T5). Fun motor.
 
#72 ·
Most people install the drivers side header in reverse, that way it clears the steering.

I've ordered more things. Got the parts I need for the 5 lug swap on the way, got the front sump oil pan on the way, as well as the front sump pickup, and a new dipstick for the front sump pan. Going to really dig into the motor after the Dallas International Guitar Festival.
 
#74 ·
The 5.0 weighs about as much as the cast iron I6 that came out. I'll be doing aluminum heads eventually as well, so will be pretty close to even. The big I6 I took the the scrappers weighs more than the V8, and people put those in E30s all the time.
 
#76 ·


Got what I feel is a great deal today. 60k 99 M3 rear diff, the front rotors/hubs/calipers/springs/struts, all for $600. I needed a dual ear diff cover and a limited slip anyways, so I'll be combining the M3 parts with the 3.46 open diff I've got in the garage. I've not done differential work before, so I've got a lot of studying up to do before I attempt it. So tomorrow I'll have the last parts I need for the 5 lug swap, that being the two control arms and offset bushings. I love that I'm finally able to buy all the parts I've needed for years.
 
#87 ·
Picked up a transmission yesterday. Was originally going to go manual, but the pricing for Borg Warner T5's is ludicrous for how mediocre a transmission they are. Picked up a 4R70W yesterday for a good price, including torque converter.



The 4R70W can handle more power than the T5, and with a shift kit it's pretty nice. My truck has a 4R75W, and it seems pretty good. They're also a dime a dozen, so if this one craps out I can get another easily and very cheaply.
 
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