aBur project and engine swap

[westaussie323i]

Hi All
Been a long time since I was online about the eE21 but time to look at the forlorn old girl sitting n storage . I have moved back to my home state of Western Australia and I am planning to drag the 1982 320 Baur out of storage and give myself something to tinker with. It was a 320/6 but engine long since disappeared and I am considering my options. I have a roadworthy 323ia Baur and will keep that stock but would like to do a bit a sleeper with this car. I may the opportunity to purchase a complete M52B28TU with ESS supercharger and manual box for around $11K AUD with about 280whp and I also have an LSD for the car. I drove an E21 "335I" back in the day and always wanted one but am I looking at it through rose coloured glasses?

I am going to stick with the original black but do a bumper delete front and rear and possibly look into getting the hardtop section made in carbon fibre for both cars. I am also thinking about a hard tonneau cover over the rear deck and back seats and removing seat altogether and bracing the car a bit more or fitting E24 seats in the rear and doing a nice interior fitout. Then finish it off with a set of dished wheels with polished lips and black centres 15-17" Hoping around $25K finished so that might make my engine options less dramatic

I am a salt and pepper old fart (maybe more salt) of 53 but love to go for a blast through the hills with no roof......your learned and considered opinions please. I should stop watching Petrolicious on youtube

[jaredmac11]

This is gonna be a fun thread. I'll be following.

[Adrianl]

Very cool!

[hotdish]

I drove an E21 "335I" back in the day and always wanted one but am I looking at it through rose coloured glasses?

I had an E30 "335i" convertible and the lack of top end compared to an m20b25 or s50b30 was the worst part. The low-end torque was ridiculous but the stock m30b35 didn't feel as willing to rev up to the red line. It was an insanely cheap power upgrade considering the swap was cheaper than another m20b25.

[westaussie323i]

Hi Hotdish thanks for the feedback. I was talking to my mechanic back in Tasmania and he thought both options had merit but thought the 3.5 was more of period swap. MetricMechanic have some good horsepower options but will get pretty pricey by the time it lands in West Australia.....but depends on the new job as to how much I spend