ok so i was wondering what would be the best motor to swap into a 318is.

I've been looking at small turbo 4-banger power for my e30. I was thinking along the lines of sr20det or ca18det catagories. Cheep, plentiful, and small and light. That's the important part, wouldn't want to mess up the desirable ballance of the famed 91 318is.


~Zar4

yea i was thinking of the sr20det i was just wondering if there was anything else i should know about

I have the problem of not having a lot of money.

I've heard of it being done for about $8K. You might be able to do it for less. I'm thinking the CA18 would go in a bit cheaper.


~Zar4

m52

tdoes the sr20det fit in a 93 318i? using the same motor mounts?????

I'd say use an F20C, that's what I've always wanted to do.

m52

+1

s50 or s52

I did S50...it's the easiest one to do (M50 also).

bmw motors are the easiest and cheapest to do of course. less fab

I'd do an all alu m52, maybe stroked a little with some s50/s52 pistons, crank and some nice cams. Could make for a light weight (light than s50/52) powerful engine that would work well with the 318is.

Otherwise for e30s s50/s52 can't be beat.

If you have money s14 would be cool, but you'd be better off in an e30M3.

Ya, I say m52, especially if you can do it yourself!

Since we're closing in on summer 2007 I would vote S52, as if you could fund the entire swap right now you shouldn't have any trouble getting her done by the end of spring.

If you're going for a solid power increase, and want to keep it simple, go with an M52 or S52, converted to OBD1.

If you'd like to do something more unique, and more incredible in performance, go with a lighter, more economical, more powerful, cooler sounding* V8 - the LS1.

-Evan

*stated as my personal opinion, not as fact

THere is a guy local running around in his E30 with an sr20det swap , th car runs vy nice and h had to fb the mounts.

I wil be doing an F20C on boost swap into mine (honda S2000). I'll keep everyone posted .

Right know have at my hop an E30 M3 with an "04 M3 swap and we just finish building the mounts s all we have left is the exhaust.

Right know have at my hop an E30 M3 with an "04 M3 swap and we just finish building the mounts s all we have left is the exhaust.

Please post pics of this!

Please post pics of this!

I tried to post the pictures but the forums won't let me , if you want i can email them t you and you can post them for me.

THere is a guy local running around in his E30 with an sr20det swap , th car runs vy nice and h had to fb the mounts.

I wil be doing an F20C on boost swap into mine (honda S2000). I'll keep everyone posted .

Right know have at my hop an E30 M3 with an "04 M3 swap and we just finish building the mounts s all we have left is the exhaust.
Screw pics of the M3 with the M3 in it. Show us the F20C! From what I hear, that engine doesn't boost very well. But who really cares.


~Zar4

Screw pics of the M3 with the M3 in it. Show us the F20C! From what I hear, that engine doesn't boost very well. But who really cares.


~Zar4

my car is a work in progress not done yet , but the F20 motor runs great on boost, i've done a dozen of them and the most we got so far is 540whp@24psi on a STOCK bottom end,.

I tried to post the pictures but the forums won't let me , if you want i can email them t you and you can post them for me.


Sure, send me some and I'll try it

Pics of the E46 M3 to E30 M3 swap....
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/1012756_6fta3/misc%20066.jpg

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/1012755_vsjtd/misc%20065.jpg

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/1012754_g1a1v/misc%20047.jpg

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/1012753_udit0/misc%20045.jpg

^^^^Nice.

........E30 S54 Swap......

What a few days worth of reading, check this out

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=359200&highlight=e30+s54

thanks man that site has like 30 pages just saying good luck

well thanks to you i spent 2 hours reading that thread and its 3 a.m. and i have work in the morning and i decided that he overcomplicated it by going with smg so yea

well thanks to you i spent 2 hours reading that thread and its 3 a.m. and i have work in the morning and i decided that he overcomplicated it by going with smg so yea

Your welcome :). I agree with you with the SMG. I personally think that BMW SMG, Ferrari FI and the Maserati version, VW DSG etc are really cool and all but real drivers drive a manual transmission. Both my parents and my wife drive stick and you could bet my kids will learn to drive stick also. Wow went off on a tangent there. Sorry....

If you're going for a solid power increase, and want to keep it simple, go with an M52 or S52, converted to OBD1.

If you'd like to do something more unique, and more incredible in performance, go with a lighter, more economical, more powerful, cooler sounding* V8 - the LS1.

-Evan

*stated as my personal opinion, not as fact
+1

edit: holy hell that S54 E30 swap looks complicated and TIGHT!

edit2: I read a bit of his "MIT-E46" website (rolleyes) about his initial 4-door E46 S54 swap. What a monumental waste of time, money and energy. :D The 3 LCD screens, skinny 20" wheels and airbag suspension forced me to quickly close the browser and purge my history file!

hahaha i woke up at 3 in the afternoon wow i hope i dont get fired i will just say i was sick

Well... here I am back into this thread. That S54 makes me uncomfortable how tight in there it is. Especially towards the firewall. But man, what a ride.

Anyways, bang for the buck like some folks were sayin. S52 or S50b32 is going to be your best bet. Ease of install is the S52. Its going to have enough power to compete with most of the engines said in this thread. S52 is also going to require a 5 lug swap and decent size wheels to ever even hook up. You would not be displeased with it.

I would say either an OBD1 S52 or go with an LS1 for greater power and uniqueness.

-Evan