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do you have a plan for the sump - sits pretty low?

It's not as bad as it looks, but yes it will probably be modified somewhere down the line.

can you not jack up the engine a bit on the nearside engine mount to raise that sump up a bit, and just move the servo over a little? what prop shafts are gonna be used? and when u say you used 323i engine mounts did you mean e21 323 or e36 323?

I'd rather not jack the engine up as it would rotate the gearbox. In 323i's and 320 you use whatever gearbox and therefore propshaft that came with the car, this is the beauty of the swap. I didn't even remove the gearbox/prop and bolted the M50 in with the gearbox at the correct angle. Bellhousing backwards it can remain as standard, as long as the diff holds out...

E21 323i, E36 323i mounts barely fit between the chassis legs and won't bolt down (I've tried).

I'd keep it as is too personally. You can always try another sump anyway. I think the 02 guys used an e34 one? Either that or dry sump it?

Cooling issues could be solved with another rad and an elecric fan in the space you have left couldn't they?

it might be interesting to see how much can be taken of the sump to atleast make it look level, and then i guess manufacture some sort of sump protector.

out of interest if you weld a diff up can i handle more power? what are the weak points in the diff, cos i guess 200 bhp is about the limit before you start doing it some damage

Yeah the engine is straight out of an E34 525i so it’s got the right sump, I wouldn’t even try an E36 sump as they don’t fit E30s and the sump fits perfectly over the subframe. IIRC the oil pick up is in the middle of the sump so there is definitely scope to get it flatter. The sump isn’t a concern for now, I know the lowest point of the sump will be higher than the sump in my E28 and I didn’t smash that to bits, so if I’m careful on the road I’ll be ok for now. This car is a track/drift toy and the sump will be less of a concern. Since the conversion is so simple it will work with any car with an M20 so my E28 will be getting one since I killed the M20B25, then I really will have to mod the sump!

Talking of rads, I know a 318is one will fit though this is arguably borderline. I’m going rad hunting soon, especially eyeing up E36 rads. The E34 one that came in my donor won’t fit between the chassis rails! I have a kenlowe to go in front so it should be all good.

There’s a lot been said about the strength of these diffs and I don’t really know. I already have a welded 3.91 diff ready to go on so it’s really a case of wait and see what happens. The diff is going to get abuse and I’m stock piling the open diffs I already have! If I do break them a lot I’ll be seeing about a rear subframe conversion from an E30.

sp whats the plan with the zorst then? front bank looks like its gonna interfear with the steering rack, you gonna chop the 2.8 manifold back a bit and weld pipe and go round the rack?

That's pretty much the plan, but both pipes will go through the inside of the steering linkage though.

i always found aswell that if you go on ebay and look up alloy rad there are loads of cosworth ones kicking about which will prob do job better than standard bmw unit, will have a look

do you think if the brake servo was removed there would be room for one of those top mount turbo kits in there????

wizor ive been looking into that inlet manifold issue. i reckon you might have a couple of options that dont include cutting into the inner wing!

Im thinking about making a 90deg elbow to mount the TB to. From doing a quick search ive found some even section the runners and join with silicone hose. Not sure yet if this would have an effect on the standard tune.



MS Paint to the rescue;

Might be able to use a cossie plenum elbow as theyre fairly tight, at least one flange needs to be changed.

this may sound like crazyness but what about cutting the manifold and shortening it. plastic weld the joints back togther. or less extreme just cut another throttle up to make a flange and then find a 90 degrere alloy tube bend, loads on ebay! and get someone to mig the flange and the tube and the throttle body, will bring the bend tighter then and eliminate the need of the elbow.
run throttle bodies
ohhhhhh i have a good idea for my next project