Standalone ECU worth the cost?

[Jos]

Hi all, I am new to the forums.

I have bought a 1985 e30 chassis and I am planning on fitting it with an M30B35 engine.

The mechanical aspect of the change doesn't really concern me very much, I have a knack of getting stuff to fit:) But.....

The electrical side does concern me somewhat, I have a Degree in in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, I also work as an domestic wiring electrican, but car electrics are more or less totally unknown to me. If I get an engine complete with ECU loom and ECU, how hard is it to put into the 318 chassis? I presume the only bit that would need changed is the connection to the fusebox (square plug on the M10 and round plug I think on the M30) and the rest of the wiring just goes to the senors on the engine. Is the plug on the e30 (M10) the same as the e28(m30) plug?

<snip> (Abandoned this idea)

Regarding transmission: which is the better manual gearbox, the Getrag 260 or the 265?

Thanks!

[winfred]

theres several people that have put a m30 in a e30, theres a guy that should be about done with the install of one in a e30 wagon on the board, bmw did it in a south african model called 333i (i think)

[bahnstormer]

yikes...what is the weight penalty for that kind of swap?
and mind you, the m30 isn't know for its power/liter =\

[Jos]

60kg up from the M10 I belive. If you mount the engine back a bit and relocate the battery and a washer bottle to the boot you retain the weight distribution of the 325i apparently (from www.e30.de).

http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/enumber.html shows the M10 that was in it at 82kg, the M20 at 117kg and the M30 at 143kg.

Agreed 210hp from 3.5l isn't exactly impressive, especially compared to the current e46 M3 which is 350hp from 3.2l .... but the engines are cheap, as are most of the rest of the parts. As the thread title says I had thought about a custom ECU to try and get a little more from it, but the gains from it vs the cost would be better spent elsewhere I think.

I did a little more reading after posting and Mr Project (from these boards and Bimmerforums pointed me at the e28 > e34 conversion. It looks like the e30 chassis has the same plug as the e28 had so that should simplify the ECU change.

What I am thinking of doing to improve power so far is just a custom exhaust (has to be anyway due to the engine/chassis), an induction kit and polish exhaust manifold. The only other thing to start with is possibly a MAF conversion to get rid of the AFM. Should there be anything else nice and simple (read cheap:)) that I should think about. A chip maybe too, any recommendations? EAT and J.C. seem to get favourable writeups.

Winfred I think you are right, I did read something about the 333i using the M30 engine in South Africa, a couple of them made their way to Northern Ireland as rally cars I am told, although I have never seen one.

[winfred]

i read in a old rondel it had 5 lug wheels and bigger brakes then the avarage e30. as for power i've seen in factory race cars m30s with over 400 hp without forced induction, so it shouldn't be a problem


Winfred I think you are right, I did read something about the 333i using the M30 engine in South Africa, a couple of them made their way to Northern Ireland as rally cars I am told, although I have never seen one.

[Jos]

400hp might be a little much :D

I do have do get some sort of fuel economy out of this thing, 95 RON over here is about £4/gallon ($7.50/gall) and anything less than about 18mpg is going to hurt a lot:)

Any comments regarding transmission? Some people say the 265 is the stronger box compared to the 260, others say the 260. What is the personal experience of people on the boards with these? Or should I just not worry about it:)

Thanks

[winfred]

i think ether box should do fine as it will not be stressed as much that by that little car. back in the days of the csl race car they made around 420hp on methanol, 250 shouldn't be too hard and still have some economy


400hp might be a little much :D

I do have do get some sort of fuel economy out of this thing, 95 RON over here is about £4/gallon ($7.50/gall) and anything less than about 18mpg is going to hurt a lot:)

Any comments regarding transmission? Some people say the 265 is the stronger box compared to the 260, others say the 260. What is the personal experience of people on the boards with these? Or should I just not worry about it:)

Thanks