The 3.6L e30 project

[aMisfit]

Gah, I love this car.

What wheels are those?

[Token]

still waiting for a sound clip Johnathan
aha great project though

[frink84]

looks like a cool project. what did you do to get from 3.5 -> 3.6l?

[schroedin]

I love those Azevs, nice work!

[jcbe34]

Finally got everything bolted up after tons of small set backs... Now of course I can't get fuel or spark but no time to chase the gremlins because car goes in for exhaust tomorrow. when it gets back i'll get some sound clips, then cut/polish/seal and photos..



hmm.. This floor has a dip in the middle too for the drain. I already know I'm going to have problems with this


Stay tuned for sound clips, i promise they won't disappoint

[Jules_W]

Nice project , love your e30 !

[jcbe34]

Progress!


Only got a little work done tonight, mainly just routing hoses and wiring. STILL waiting on my headers, hoping to get them first thing next week and I'm trying to sort the driveshaft dilemma, I thought I had what I needed but it's definitely not going to work.Going to try to pull the driveshaft out of my old e28 parts car thats been sitting in the back lot at work for 2 years or so, if I don't post again soon I was probably attacked by the hoard of rats that lives inside it, wish me luck!

[Zic]

Oh nom nom, should be a very fun little car. Any more pictures of the progress?

[jcbe34]

Well the motor and transmission are in the car finally, unfortunately I didn't have the right trans crossmember or selector rod so I'll be picking those up locally tomorrow. I did get something in the mail that I'm really excited about though:

A stock m20 ecu?





Plug n play megasquirt! No more closed loop at WOT so I can finally make the power that I should be making.

[jcbe34]

Nah everyone complains about bleeding m30's but I've never had a problem.

My steps:
Raise the front of the car up so it looks like its doing a wheelie, fill the system with the bleeder screw out until coolant overflows the, uh, overflow or until it comes out the bleeder. Run it with the bleeder closed until it gets up to temp then shut it off and open the bleeder. Rinse and repeat . Squeeze the top hose while doing this too.

With the e30 tank, it helps to unhook it from the fender and raise it as high as you can because the e34 heater core lines and the bleeder have higher points in them than the m20 system did.

Thanks man, I'll definitely give that a try. My temp sender or guage is on the fritz, so the bleeding issues I've heard about definitely worried me with the e30 tank.

I'll try to get a couple videos when it's done. I tried to put the drivetrain in it this past weekend but was owned by my cheap leveler that only has ~10" of travel. Going to try again this weekend, should have my headers back from the powder coating as well so I'll add a few pics

[Byron]

My engine is mounted pretty far back, but i already have an e28 radiator so I'll probably just stick with that. I guess my only choice is to run the e30 tank, have you had any problems bleeding the system with it?

Nah everyone complains about bleeding m30's but I've never had a problem.

My steps:
Raise the front of the car up so it looks like its doing a wheelie, fill the system with the bleeder screw out until coolant overflows the, uh, overflow or until it comes out the bleeder. Run it with the bleeder closed until it gets up to temp then shut it off and open the bleeder. Rinse and repeat . Squeeze the top hose while doing this too.

With the e30 tank, it helps to unhook it from the fender and raise it as high as you can because the e34 heater core lines and the bleeder have higher points in them than the m20 system did.

[loxxrider]

Very nice, I love it and the way your M30 sounds!

Better get some vids when its done

[jcbe34]

Yeah it does but that would be even harder to run lines to lol.

I'm running a late model expansion tank in my black car. I used the stock e34 hose from the thermostat housing to the heater core and where the hose curls up to meet the e34 tank I just adapted a piece of hose and ran it forward to the tank.

Depending on how far back you mount the engine you might be able to use an m42 radiator and use its built in expansion tank. I test fitted one with my mounts (Joe Funks) but the alternator was too close for my comfort. But my engine sits really far forward, so you may have different results.

My engine is mounted pretty far back, but i already have an e28 radiator so I'll probably just stick with that. I guess my only choice is to run the e30 tank, have you had any problems bleeding the system with it?

[Byron]

Yeah it does but that would be even harder to run lines to lol.

I'm running a late model expansion tank in my black car. I used the stock e34 hose from the thermostat housing to the heater core and where the hose curls up to meet the e34 tank I just adapted a piece of hose and ran it forward to the tank.

Depending on how far back you mount the engine you might be able to use an m42 radiator and use its built in expansion tank. I test fitted one with my mounts (Joe Funks) but the alternator was too close for my comfort. But my engine sits really far forward, so you may have different results.

[jcbe34]

Looks sweet! How far down on the adjusters are you up front?

Lmk if you have any m30 swap questions; I've done 3 now.

Probably a little less than 1/4" left to go down.


I do have some concerns with coolant hose routing, I think I'm going to run the e30 expansion tank now and I don't know what to use for the heater core. I was planning on running the e34 tank with all of the e34 hoses, which looked like it was going to work beautifully until I actually mounted the tank and realized it sits too high and will hit the hood. Doesn't the e30 m3 have a coolant resevoir on the front battery tray?