my e30 build m50 shaved bay

and im e30addict:inlove:

my current build.
As some of you know, I have been extremely busy with cars lately, mine being one of them thats getting some much needed attention. There was nothing wrong with my car to begin with, but had a few bruises here and there. The m20 was running nice and strong, but I just got tired of it. Anyways I decided to with the m50b25nv motor, because it is known to a a very strong block (will see boost in the future.

Drivetrain
M50b25 non vanos
255/245 cams
10lb flywheel
Custom clutch
ACL race bearings
Mahle rings
Polyurethane motor mounts
Polyurethane tranny mounts
zf short ratio tranny
3.91 LSD (considering a 3.73)

Suspension
M3 CABs
E90 M3 spring caps
all new ball joints, etc.
ATE pads and new discs
205/40/17 front
225/45/17 rear

Bodywork
roll rear fenders
shaved engine bay
fix all imperfections
new undercoating

The idea is to build a really clean (emphasis on clean), daily driveable, decent handling, quick (not fast at the moment) e30.

transporting the motor (mk1 parts getter


motor before rebuild


before picture of engine bay


How the bay sits currently



strut assemblies (before rebuild)


and the parts collection



cut out battery tray



made stencil


cut out of steel


test fit






Got some primer on the bay today, the right side turned out ok, but im not happy with it



still need to finish up the left side, but I did get some primer on it


sad sight




back on the ground


gotta LOVE clean engine parts!



parts!

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Car back from paint!!



picture doesnt do it justice, its too shiny

Welcome bud!

Saw the car again on Saturday, man these pics dont do it justice! there are NO wires to be seen and its just the engine sitting there. this is gona be one awesome car when its done!

PS: you are right, the M50 was meant for the E30, it HAS to be, looking at that bay:rollsmile: great job!!:inlove:

WOW... looks great! Awesome conversion! Looking forward to seeing a lot more.

Love the e30!!!!

Looks like you have done some fantastic work there Sir.
Well done and thanks for posting.:thumbs:

more e30s :rollsmile:
im just wondering why you did not go for a 2.7l seeing as the same amount of work is involved...

moranor said:

more e30s :rollsmile:
im just wondering why you did not go for a 2.7l seeing as the same amount of work is involved...

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gotta love the e30. A s50 also requires the same amount of work, doesnt mean I can afford it tho, plus I havent heard of anyone taking a m50 to 2.7... 2.8 yeah, but with it seeing boost in the future, the NV block can handle the extra power.

I always wanted to see an e30 with either a m50 or m52 engine on the forum :thumbsup:

What gearbox you plan on using for this car ?

slowe30 said:

moranor said:

more e30s :rollsmile:
im just wondering why you did not go for a 2.7l seeing as the same amount of work is involved...

Click to expand...

gotta love the e30. A s50 also requires the same amount of work, doesnt mean I can afford it tho, plus I havent heard of anyone taking a m50 to 2.7... 2.8 yeah, but with it seeing boost in the future, the NV block can handle the extra power.

Click to expand...

you right just looked it up the m50 did not have a 2.8l you would have to go for a M52B28, but if you boosting you dont really need more than 2.5l to make good power and in the light e30 shell you dont need much power to make it fast :rollsmile:

Doomsdaya said:

I always wanted to see an e30 with either a m50 or m52 engine on the forum :thumbsup:

What gearbox you plan on using for this car ?

Click to expand...

This is my M50 e30

Running 5 speed M3 gearbox. There are quite a few of these conversions in CT

Looking really good :thumbs:

damn saturnz it must be a pain to work on that engine...

Actually not, I worked in much tighter engine bays, you should see my supie. But ja, I don't actually work on this car and since the picture was taken quite a lot of work has gone into the motor and car- with forged internals, bigger turbo, other intercooler, boost pipes, addition of VANOS and 4 door M3 brakes front and rear.

Anyway I forgot to say that its good to see you kept the e30 Yazeed, work so far looks good.

I supply log type turbo manifolds for that motor if you do decide to go that route, and will soon be supplying cast manifolds. They are bolt on so you won't have to remove the head to fit the manifold.

raise: wicked :thumbs:

PrevanP said:

raise: wicked :thumbs:

Click to expand...

Brilliant report - keep it coming!!:rollsmile::rollsmile:

you did a flippen neat job, great stuff

Dude,

Utmost respect,

So often you find the guys "restoring" these old cars with the first thing done a turbo and a set of 22" wheels while nobody could actually give a crap about the work.

Ultimate respect for somebody taking the time to work on the body and actually doing quality stuff.

Major :thumbs:

:thumbs::inlove:
M50 non vanos motor but tappet cover gasket in pic was for vanos motor ! .
I can vouch for the M50 motor , my e36 325i will start first time every time , shame I rode the poor thing to the rev limiter so often at the end , pensioned off due to rust above rear screen and boot area at bottom of screen . Its such a hassle in East London to get parts , battle to get a e30 body without 100 kg rust :roflol: .problem is whether to run M20 with 2.8 M52 crank or M50 with 2.8 M52 crank .

Awesome work :thumbs:

To answer some questions, Im running the zf e30 tranny with a 3.91lsd, i had this setup on my m20 and it moved lovely, with the extra power though I want to run a ratio around 3.27 especially when the turbo is in, but that wont be for a little while.

I first wanna get a bit creative with the interior, maybe fitting some e46 sport seats, and getting the rear bench done to match them...some coilovers and attention to the rear subframe (AKG, camber plates, etc.) still need to be done for the suspension.

Yea, I didnt notice I got the wrong vc gasket until I went to install it, was a late night fo sho. :argh:

In other news, I got all the wiring done for the dicktator (ugh) and the viper 791xv with remote start, final positioning of the engine and some shaving of the manifold fins were done, as im still running the e30 booster.

The car is looking so badass:thumbs: at the moment and the excitement levels are high as the last finishing touches are being done:joy:. I will post up pictures in the morning.

:rollsmile:Its the morning! Post pics!!