The little red e30 M3 build (s52/5speed)

[Bimmerteck]

After delivery and a little quick cleanup, ready to meet the steam cleaner and pressure washer tomorrow. Should be ready for a heart transplant next week. 8)




Well got the engine bay cleaned to get it ready for some light rust repair and modification to accept an e36 radiator as well as steam cleaning all the connectors and wires to simplify identification.(funny how an hour spent cleaning on the front end can save many hours of head scratching later down the line.

Before-


After-



Also readying the car for an e36 steering rack swap to shorten the steering ratio. I'll post pictures of the modifications to the steering coupling when I do it.

s52 and zf 5 speed dropped off the next afternoon. Should have it in the car as soon.

[Zic]

love your work. this will be awesome.

[Njdub]

Yes!

[Steve]

S52 in an E30 M3 makes me sad

[Bimmerteck]

S52 in an E30 M3 makes me sad

Priced a drive line rebuild for the s14 and it came to $14k, customer declined. s14 is a great motor for it's time but much better motors have been developed since. My last s52 build cranked out 273hp to the wheels which is much needed a to be able to push the e30 chassis to it's limits and keep it competitive with more modern track cars. I did also try and get the customer to OK a new Cosworth built 4 cylinder race motor which would have kept the feel of the car nearly the same(high revving and lightweight) but again a $10K+ price tag isn't in most people's budgets these days for car maintenance.

[blowntwofive]

Priced a drive line rebuild for the s14 and it came to $14k, customer declined. s14 is a great motor for it's time but much better motors have been developed since. My last s52 build cranked out 273hp to the wheels which is much needed a to be able to push the e30 chassis to it's limits and keep it competitive with more modern track cars. I did also try and get the customer to OK a new Cosworth built 4 cylinder race motor which would have kept the feel of the car nearly the same(high revving and lightweight) but again a $10K+ price tag isn't in most people's budgets these days for car maintenance.

I agree with you on this while the s14 is a great platform its just not really competetive these days with all the new swaps and cars and so on i feel while the s52 takes away from the aspect of the vintage m3 setup but it willll be a very fast and very manageable and tunable car with way more reliable modifications

[hi its me alec]

S52 in an E30 M3 makes me sad

Nonsense! Get your head out of your ass!

[Jesus Christ]

S52 in an E30 M3 makes me sad

i would have sr20'd it...come at me.

[parttimeprojectionist]

s50 is what it should of and couldve come with from the factory, nothing wrong at all with that swap. s14's belong in 2002's!!!!

sr20 would be fun too...fo sho

[Okin]

An SR20 in their would pack a premium @ RaceWars.









I DO like where this is going. And I'm with you OP:

Cleaning up the connectors can cut down the install (or even when merging the new wiring) time. Some just blast the bay itself and call it a day. Kudos to you for taking that extra step.

[Bimmerteck]

Was off today so I did a little work.

e34 Oil pan, oil pickup, and a fresh gasket were installed.


e36 motor mount arm was, cleaned, inspected for cracks, and installed.


New thermostat, aluminum housing, new water pump and associated gaskets were installed.


Water pump pulley was swapped to OE metal pulley from an early M50. (removes failure prone plastic late model pulley from equation)



PS pulley was swapped due to damage from the motor being pulled/stored.



Also swapped out the oil stand gasket, oil level sensor gasket, and removed the AC pulley and compressor due to damage from removal/storage.

[slimadi]

Like what you are doing so far

[Mikeymikes]

Niceee.

[MadMax]

I love the E30 M3 Bodylines and I love the Engine