E30 daily driver LS swap

[jon volk]

Just pulled the motor so I guess it's time for a build thread. Car is a 92 325i Mtech convertible. It's been my daily driver for 3 years and will continue to serve as such once the swap is done.







The motor is nothing extraordinary. Just an 01 4.8L with a plate kit for good measure. The stock 2.5L inline 6 would be lucky to make 140whp on a good day. Engine management is an MS3 gold box. Oil pan is a modified GTO piece.







I'm using mounts from Garagistic since the intro price of $300 was more attractive than pulling the motor in and out a bunch of times. I immediately thought something was wrong as the mounts did not line up side to side with the holes in the subframe. Turns out they chose to utilize the rearward mounting bosses that are only present on aluminum blocks. So within the first day one was cut up to. The trans crossmember also needed some trimming to sit flush against the body. The holes for the trans mount are also at a spacing that doesn't line up with either the rubber or poly mounts I have. I'll most likely just punch a single center hole in and use that.









Im fucking done with T56s so the trans is a TH400 that I hope to source another gear vendors overdrive one day, as I really like the one in my M3. I'll be swapping to 2.79 gears to make highway driving livable with the 24" tall tires on the car. Fitting the trans took some massaging with a 10lb sledge but it'll go.



That's about all for now. I've got some fairly minor rust repair to take care of before dropping the motor in. Luckily this panel is still available new from BMW for $90.

[doktor b]

you're an unstoppable force of nature.

[LSxDreamer]

I like where this is going! Oh, and noob question but what's a "plate kit"?

[schema]

That's a purdy e30!

[jon volk]

I like where this is going! Oh, and noob question but what's a "plate kit"?

A type of nitrous kit.

[LSxDreamer]

Ah that makes more sense now. The 4.8 stock (incl. heads)? What FEAD did you swap on?

[jon volk]

Yup, just a stock 4.8 with an fbody intake and fead. Since it's a daily driver I just wanted to get the motor in on a fairly small budget. I may swap the cam down the road. This 4.8 was $270 delivered.

[LSxDreamer]

Sounds good. That's the same thing I was thinking of with an E46 swap; quick n dirty (cheap).

[jon volk]

Got some more basics done today. Removed the brake booster and installed a 944 master cylinder with a plate from Massive Brakes. Removed the ABS pump and trimmed/reflared the existing lines. Also installed a vette fuel filter/regulator.



Started scrubbing 25 years of grime and whatever the yellow shit is that BMW liberally applied to the engine bay. Still got a ways to go before it's ready to start dropping the motor in.

[squashman702]

Nice work as usual.

[jon volk]

Got it clean enough for the intent and purpose of the car. I can always touch it up a bit more later. Next up is drilling out the spot welds for the rusty battery tray...or whats left of it and put some new sheetmetal on order. Going to apply some phosphoric acid on the few spots that have surface rust to neutralize it, then treat it with POR15. Since those spots are low and out of sight, Ill just hit it with some Duplicolor Arctic White, since its a close enough match for Alpine white. Then its time to drop the motor in.

[jon volk]

Dropped the motor in. I'm gong to need to shim the mounts a bit to make the modified GTO pan work. While the mounts have two position "options", there's really only one. The further back choice and even that seems like it could go rearward a bit more. Modified ebay header cleared the steering shaft so that's a positive. Going to cut about a 1/4" off the water pump about for additional radiator clearance. I'll probably get the trans bolted up before attempting any more mock up.

[garretvs]

LS2-LS7 water pump has a much shorter pulley.

[jon volk]

They are, but cutting half the snout off is $free.99

[jon volk]

On a positive note the transmission fits with room to spare after drilling a center mount hole and trimming some extra material to get it to sit flush against the floor.



I'm just going to make my own motor mounts now that its positioned in the car. I'm sure they work with the canton pan but I prefer the cast OE pans with the integrated filter mount. I'll probably be selling the motor mounts themselves shortly if anyone wants em. Im thinking $150?

[jon volk]

Much happier with this fitment....

Motor is 1.25" further back than it was before. Just waiting on some 1/4" laser cut mount plates to finish them off. Did t have enough scrap material to make my own today.

[bimerok]

Looking real nice.

[squashman702]

Looking real nice.

Agreed.

F Body FEAD?

[jon volk]

Agreed.

F Body FEAD?

Yea, Fbody stuff. I cut half the snout off pump after that pic was taken. It think it'll even be able to fit a small puller fan.

[jon volk]

Installed the B&M Quicksilver shifter today. Had to make a recessed housing in order to get it low enough to clear the stock console but it worked out well.











- - - Updated - - -

My old exhaust happens to fit as well, so all it needs is a y-pipe to the headers. With making my own mounts, the block hugger header will fit on the passenger side so Ill have a total investment of $150 into the headers. Need to order a shift kit and deep pan for the trans to get that all squared away.

[schema]

Blazing through this thing. Nice work man.

[bimerok]

I just noticed, what are the 2 fuel pump looking things on each side of the intake manifold?

[jon volk]

Solenoids for the nitrous plate.

[jon volk]

Started working on a coolant expansion tank. Stole the idea from Samberg and making a tank that will bolt to the passenger side cylinder head.




Also bought a Paxton blower inlet to use as a throttle body elbow. Its 3.5" in/out and just over 3" tall. I needed something super tight due to the added intake length of the nitrous plate.

[bimerok]

Wow. Did you measure each bead with a ruler? Super cool welding!