Back from death- the revival of a 74 BMW 2002

[Simply Classy]

Well that just took a wicked turn! Loving the look of the rear fender and the swap should be awesome! Good luck with that.

[CubbyChowder]

Interested to see you pull this off, M30 in a 2002 is quite the task. Good luck!

[MGW]

What happened to the insane rear flares????

[rhoderacer]

Interested to see you pull this off, M30 in a 2002 is quite the task. Good luck!

It's going to be a tight squeeze. I hope the power/torque will be worth the swap.

What happened to the insane rear flares????

I loved the look of the old fenders but they simply didn't work. What's the point of having a m30 in a great handling car if it rubs every time I make the slightest turn? My plans have changed with this car. It's still going to be stanced but hopefully with some meaty tires in the rear and a little more torque.

[kylefav21]

Oh man! I saw that e28 on craigslist and considered buying it for the 5-speed in it, glad it went to a good home!

[rhoderacer]

The m30 is out of the e28. It surprisingly has no oil leaking from anywhere. Next step is getting the tranny off the motor and fitting them in to the '02 to see how many clearance issues I'll have. From the looks of it, I'm going to need to make the first 6 inches of the tranny tunnel wider and possibly notch the front subframe to work with the oil pan. A e30 325is rear subframe and diff should be able to harness the torque and the rear caliper upgrade will help stop the extra weight and allow a hydro e-brake to lock up the rears. The original driveshaft is way to small for the m30 so I'm sticking with the m30 driveshaft. I have tons more to change but its a long time til spring.

[parttimeprojectionist]

ive done few 02 swaps and if i can pass some knowledge down,
make a new front subframe,
if you can do power steering swap it will solve a lot of your problems. the steering box and its associated linkage are whats gonna kill your engine bay spacial issues
you could even do a depowered rack if PS is unappealing

[rhoderacer]

after cutting the front radiator support off, the m30 fits in the bay with millimeters to spare. I still need to notch a front support to get the motor level. The steering box and assembly doesn't seem to be in the way. I have found one problem... The radiator. I'm going to have the radiator mounted against the back seat wall. I will need to make air ducts in the rear fenders to channel fresh air to the electric fans. I'm going to mount 2 more electric fans on the back side to bring the used air out of the trunk.










I plan on running a e30 rear end/ subframe. does anyone know what diff ratio I should be running? I was thinking 3.73? I don't need to be doing more than 100-125mph. opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[Queef|Chief]

Great! Keep the work going my friend

[rhoderacer]

This week I cut out the windshield wiper tray. It gave me another 2 inches to work with but not enough to fit the radiator up front where it needs to be. Next I cut most of the firewall out and a good portion of the tranny tunnel face. I'm going to be pushing the motor further back to compensate for the weight of the m30. Now I have 4 of the 6 cylinders behind the front subframe and should be able to run a big ole radiator up front to cool the "Big Six". A local e30 guy has a 2.93 lsd for sale for very cheap. Hopefully I can snatch it before it sells.
I also have a shiny pair of s54 headers that I may "make" fit the m30. The dimensions are correct but the flanges need to be swapped from a 3 bolt to a two bolt flange. After the headers I plan on just running a dump pipe out behind the front passenger wheel.

[deutschman]

Woop Woop! I am getting excited. Not to many m30 swapped 2002s out there. I know of one in LA.

[danielsahhhn]

those rear fenders are nasty as! Good luck dude it looks maaaaaaaaaaad!

[rhoderacer]

Out of the old mill garage and into a brand new up to date automotive garage. Its smaller but much more usable for what we are doing. The m30 is getting a well disserved refresh. More cutting with the fenders and firewall to fit the bigger rubber and motor. More pics/ work tomorrow.

[Dylanhat]

Please post about the rear subframe setup and how you build it to fit. Awesome build

[JackDatBoi]

I you want to be different... I wouldn't bag it! I don't understand why people do that to such classical cars...