1991 318ic M42 and transmission to 1996 Z3 M44 and transmission?

[sopicki]

Hello all,

I'm in need of some GURU advice.

I LOVE my E30 318ic with M42 engine. Sadly the engine is getting tired. It has 238,000 miles which isn't too bad for this engine, it doesn't use much oil, still has good compressions but....takes 10 minutes for the lifters to stop ticking, has a noisy timing chain and pretty low oil pressure at idle (around 18psi). I'm sure overhauling the head would go a long way to solving these problems (unless my main or rod bearings are worn).

I have an opportunity to purchase a Z3 engine and transmission from someone doing a kit car from a 1996 Z3 chassis. He's selling the engine and transmission with 62k miles pretty cheap. This is hard to pass up since it's probably what it would cost me to just rebuild the head.

I've done some research on the M42 to M44 swap. Looks pretty straightforward, cam sprockets swap - front cam gear cover - temp sensor mod - manifold swaps - valve cover breather - rear water hose - crank sensor...

Of course ANY advice on the engine swap is appreciated.

I don't know anything about the transmissions though. I could just rebuild my old one and bolt it to the M44 but it's so tempting to have such a low mileage transmission available.

Any advice on the transmissions? Do they have the same gear ratio's? Shift linkages? Anything else?

Thank you in advance for taking the time to reply!

Bob
Massillon OH

[sopicki]

Anyone?

[BimmerBreaker]

M42 and M44 transmissions interchange freely. Any gearing differences will be minor... they both came bolted to 1.9's in similarly weighted chassis