"i" head on an eta motor..

[Morningview265]

ok so i am hearing very conflicting stories.. what is all involved in running an "i" head on my "eta"...i have heard that you can just put the head on.. then i have heard that you have to get all new internals.. someone want to clarify??

[SpunkyE30nOk]

ok so i am hearing very conflicting stories.. what is all involved in running an "i" head on my "eta"...i have heard that you can just put the head on.. then i have heard that you have to get all new internals.. someone want to clarify??


many many many threads on this topic but to sum it up...yes u can put an "i" head on an eta block, but only on the 88 super eta b/c that is basically an "i" head already.... to do the swap w pre 88 eta requires alot more work b/c the head design is diff and so is the shape of the piston top. In short is you have an 88 eta and wanna do the swap no worries but if you have a pre 88 eta Id go either turbo or just swap another motor in...m30, m50 or if you have the cash s50, s52

[Morningview265]

i also talked to a guy about a turbo on my m20b27 and he said it wouldnt do anything because its a high compression motor.. in other words you could get some but not alot out of a turbo..?? elaborate

[Morningview265]

anyone?

[SpunkyE30nOk]

i also talked to a guy about a turbo on my m20b27 and he said it wouldnt do anything because its a high compression motor.. in other words you could get some but not alot out of a turbo..?? elaborate

dude you talked to must not know jack shit about e30s....m20s are NOT high comp motors...8:8.1 for the "i" and i think the eta is the same if you put an "i" head w an eta block it should give you 8:5.1 which Id say anything under 9 comp ratio is perferct for boosting...check out e30tech.com and r3vlimited.com for more info on turbo charging the m20

ps and you can get some wicked numbers from turboing a m20...even enough torque to twist the driveshaft if aren't careful

[Vin Diesel]

shoot me an email offline at jspec20 @ hotmail dot com if you wants gobs of info. i sell kits for this stuff myself.

You need a super eta for a direct bolt on really, the production dates can be found at www.realoem.com

for the super eta, you will need everything i sell here:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=724792

the ones at the bottom.

Once you get those things, thats what helps bring out some power in the engine, you will need to get the camshaft reground to 272 duration from www.bmw2002.com or www.racetep.com for the budget build.
Then on the head, do some port work on the intake and exhaust, 3 angle valve job, deck the head up to .020 from factory specs.
After that you will have 8.5:1 compression plus whatever the .020 gives you i forget which, it doesnt interfere with the valves or pistons. Dont deck it that much if you go to a schrick 284+duration camshaft however.

For doing on a regular eta is not worth it, you have to change SOOOO many sensors, the entire motor....its not worth it. Even wiring harness.

The best you can do for a pre super eta is just a chip and machine work which would be pointless. You can go ahead and boost anything, you would be sacrificing a lot of engine life with higher compression anyways. Stock eta compression is 9:1.
Some guys have booster 10 PSI with 9.5 and havent had an issue.

If you do something like the E2I swap on a super eta, its best to tear down the whole motor, get the forged crank (i have 3 at all times usually for sale), get everything dynamically balanced, that will effectively increase HP by around 7 or 8, not kidding. That allows the engine to rev faster, higher, and have more longevity.
The forged cranks and assembly have withstanded 8500 RPM from me driving them but i wouldnt trust the rocker arms at that engine speed without shot peening or getting the stronger ones from www.vacmotorsports.com

You can shave the crank down from teardropping, knife edging, the counterweights, making all the parts the same weight etc...and be able to hit 8 grand for days, its a reliable motor, but dont do it on a pre-super eta.
Buy a straight frame super eta with a blown motor and have some fun :)

NOTE: Vin Diesel has done over a dozen E2I swaps and 325i strokers :)

[Morningview265]

yea..thanks for the help.. didnt really understand half of it.. its too late ill read it tommorrow. my friends does turbo setups on VW's and he said he will help me out..he knows someone in dallas who does a whole setup for like 2G's

[Vin Diesel]

yeah best option is a moderate turbo if you dont want to do an engine/wire harness swap, or get a super eta.
besides turbo is unfair really, so much faster than N/A

[Nefarious79]

Its not that bad you dont have to change any sensors or even the wiring harness Mark D has a chip if you email him just tell him Nefarious sent you. I would recommend going with the I intake and tb, and you are going to have to figure out if you want to keep the CSV(i would) and what you are going to for a vacuum for fuel pressure reg, I am going to tap a hole and jb weld in a brass nipple. But as far as compression, the numbers are all over the place. There is a good thread on E30tech, but I was originally led to believe it was 7.9 but now I think that after some calculations its around 8.6-8.7. But the low compression numbers and conservative timing is what makes chips shine on these cars, because when you start advancing the timing they start making decent power gains.