The little black e30 M3 build (euro s50b32/6speed)

[Bimmerteck]

It all starts with an e30 m3 with a spun rod bearing, I said to Evan *"if I had an e30 M3 with a bad s14 I'd probably just go nuts and throw a euro motor in there or something. . ." *A few weeks later a euro spec s50b32 arrived ready for install. *




The motor and trans went in . . . but the intake manifold wouldn't clear any decent booster we could find.





Well lack of clearance led to the conversion to manual brakes via Massive's manual brake conversion.




The brake master cylinder is 6 3/4" long so we only have about 1/4" to spare.



We have also modified the brake pedal assembly for the manual brake conversion and bent the last of the new hardlines.







Pedal ratio should be 6.21:1 by my math.


More to come. . .

[Bimmerteck]

Reserved.

[Zic]

mmm, shame that you guys did not get the euro s50 standard.

this build should be exciting to see.

[Bimmerteck]

mmm, shame that you guys did not get the euro s50 standard.

this build should be exciting to see.

I'm confused, "standard"? Are you saying we should have sourced a 3.0L? This is only my 2nd euro swap and with the recent price drop on donor s54 motors lately it will likely be my last due to the lower mileage/parts availability on the s54s here in the states.

[bostongrnM3]

hes probably thinking its a shame, we didnt get that engine in our e36 m3, he probably missed the fact that your an e30 lol

[Bimmerteck]

hes probably thinking its a shame, we didnt get that engine in our e36 m3, he probably missed the fact that your an e30 lol

Ah, that would make more sense. I've grown to like that the e36 M3s in this country were craptastic, it makes for interesting looks when the owners realize they were just beat up on by a little old e30. The owner of this car actually sells Porsche's for a living so he can't wait to get it to the track to mess around with some of his customers that poke fun of him driving BMWs.

[Bimmerteck]

over the last few days we've been working on making the euro headers fit. Quite a lot of work/blood went into it but there all in there now. >

[Bimmerteck]

Haven't stopped working on the builds just took a break for some minor surgery and the holidays.


Wheels are almost ready for it.

[Zic]

I'm confused, "standard"? Are you saying we should have sourced a 3.0L? This is only my 2nd euro swap and with the recent price drop on donor s54 motors lately it will likely be my last due to the lower mileage/parts availability on the s54s here in the states.

no i meant standard, as in the USA s50/s52 should never had bin created in the first place. And you american fellows should have gotten the s50b30 and b32 stock in the m3 cars.

looks great as always.

[los02]

I picked up an E30 last month. Very interested in this.

How much did you pick up the swap for?

What exactly did you do to the headers? Why not just get some made? I"m guessing that they were hitting the frame rail?

Does the motor bolt right up to the factory mounts?

What are you going to do as far as management?

[Bimmerteck]

I picked up an E30 last month. Very interested in this.

How much did you pick up the swap for?

It's a friends car and I believe the swap was around $5800 shipped, that included motor, 6 speed transmission, harness, DME, EWS, transponder, driveshaft, headers, ect.

What exactly did you do to the headers? Why not just get some made? I"m guessing that they were hitting the frame rail?

The headers weren't really modified much at all, a minor dent to clear the subframe( almost all e36 headers need this to go into an e30) and a little heating and bending down just a hair to clear the body under the floorboards. We did modify the firewall behind the 6th cylinder due to the way the rear pipe bends back to achieve equal length. Otherwise as to getting a set made, these are pretty much the best headers power wise for any s/m50 varient motor and we had a perfectly good set sitting here why reinvent the wheel.

Does the motor bolt right up to the factory mounts?

Yes and no, if you remove the old motor, brake booster, brake master cylinder, oil pan, heater hoses, radiator, sway bar, ect. it will technically "bolt right up" but the rear of the 6 speed will fall in between body mounts so you will need to create a new crossmember, the oil pan interferes with the subframe so you either invest in a dry sump, modify the pan and subframe, or run it on an e34 m50 oil pickup and pan setup. The list goes on and on. . .

What are you going to do as far as management?

the modern stock management runs the motor very well from the factory, so again why reinvent the wheel?

[TeckniX]

So you can just splice in all of the e30 wiring to the s50 wiring? Pretty cool, been looking around on swaps for e30 and this always seems to come up.
Anyway you can pm the source of the euro provider?

[AlpineM3 503]

Nice!

[Bimmerteck]

So you can just splice in all of the e30 wiring to the s50 wiring? Pretty cool, been looking around on swaps for e30 and this always seems to come up.
Anyway you can pm the source of the euro provider?

Engine and accessories were purchased from www.ebay.co.uk and I believe shipped DHL freight.

[Bimmerteck]

Tires came in, waiting on spacers. . .