Well well well, didnt think I'd be back on driftworks forum but here we are... Time for me to start a bit of a major project by my standards so i thought it proper to document the process as i found it quite hard to find solid info and pictures on this conversion in to e30. Seems like its a cheap bombproof motor for drifting but going to require some fiddling to work but once the conversions done it should be cheap to maintain and replace any parts that I inevitably blow up. This is the reason i chose the zf box instead of the omega gearbox, this zf should take 3 times the NM and cost 1/3 of an omega box. The only major headache i can foresee is going to be the sump, the standard b204 sump sits towards the "front" of the motor but may require additional chopping and rewelding to enable the motor to sit far enough back to let me use an e36 328 prop as i said bit of fiddling around but going to be all "off the shelf" parts once i have it all figured out. Parts acquired so far. BMW E30 saloon shell. Saab 9-3 b204 engine/loom/ecu and ancillaries. BMW E90 320d ZF gearbox (larger output version) gearbox adapter plate. Manual steering rack. Shopping list. e36 328 prop B235 flywheel and pressure plate 320d clutch saab 9000 inlet and exhaust manifolds 13 row oil cooler (an10) Currently waiting for my gearbox adapter to arrive so i can attempt to mate the engine and box and see how that goes. Next job will be getting a 328 prop and measuring or bolting it up to the diff and getting the engine in to position, the engine has been drilled and tapped for rwd and came with some plates so fabbing the mounts is half done for me. Using a zf box will mean its mounted clocked over to the passenger side so gearbox mount may have to be remade. any suggestions there are welcome. Other than that it'll be wiring in the saab motor to the e30 loom (which I'm not looking forward to) then i can move on to styling which I'll leave for a later post but safe to say its going to be low with tucked japanese wheels (yaj and re-drilled 4x114 e36 hubs) I have a few potato phone picture but will upload plenty more as i progress also will be sharing my musings on the Saab engine so excuse the waffling and bravo if you are actually reading this far. Being an aircraft manufacturer and all round scandinavian powerhouse I wasnt that surprised to find that they have made an amazing engine package here. The Ecu is tunable to the moon and back so its almost capable of triple the factory horse power numbers without even opening the motor. Simply slap on a bigger turbo and injectors, maybe fuel pump, then let the computer know what you've done and it will do all the mapping for you. Can even add inputs so you could run a "mental mode" off big red button on the dash! Its got front and rear oil and water temp sensors, knock sensor, adaptive fuel compensation when running bad fuel. The oil filter housing has threaded fixings for the oil cooler so ive added adapters to an-10 for an aftermarket 13 row cooler.
thanks mate. Gearbox adapter plate came today so I'm gona try mating the engine to the box this weekend. Still need flywheel and stuff but at least I'll know if I have the right gearbox to move forward. Should be good to 1000nm I heard
Where did you you get the adaptor pmc have adaptor and there just finishing up there flywheel to suit
There's a guy on Facebook selling adapter plates that he had an engineering company make. His name is Mark Nelson, UK based. He says it's made for getrag and zf but they've only been tested on a few boxes. This diesel one will be a first for him if it fits too
Cool cant wait to see it adaptors poping up everywhere now and i could barley find 1 a while ago ended up getting a pmc one 279 euro and it's going to be another 3 to 4 hundred for the flywheel to expensive but awell
B235 flywheel is thicker to take up the difference from the adapter. Need to use a spigot adapter I think tho. Then a B235 pressure plate and bmw 320d clutch to work with the gearbox. That's the plan anyway
Got the bellhousing adapter through in the post yesterday and test fitted to see if my box will fit and to my delight the bolt pattern matches! Also came with a little adapter but we aren't sure if the diesel box might have a shorter shaft so will have to get the tape measure out next time. {} {} {}
I've also got a Mark Nelson adaptor plate here but I'm using a GS6-53DZ (6 speed from a 123d) which has been a bit of a ball ache actually. Firstly it's got a different bolt pattern on the bell-housing so I've had to drill and tap that, and the input shaft is so short the thicker 9-5 flywheel still gets nowhere near! Oh the spigot bearing is actually inverted (inside the input shaft!) so the spigot adaptor was no use either lol. Will keep an eye on this, do like a B2x4 rwd conversion
Hey man. You doing a b204 e30 too? Luckily for me the bolt pattern at least matches so that was a massive weight off my shoulders. Think the fact I'm using a box from an e46 might make it a bit easier for the deal but yeah probably going to need to make a new spigot/throwout adapter though
threaded an-10 to m20x15 adapters came in and had to test the on there. race car things fyi I'm going to use copper washers and threadlock to seal them in {}
Test fitted my old mx5 wheels since they were 4x100 but 14s are too small. Rears look okay but fronts just looked swamped by the huge arches. Didn't even want to take a photo Probably go up to a 15inch wheel as there are a lot of options out there for cool 4x100s. Getting my bolts ordered for the gearbox conversion on Monday so should have that together by the end of the week. Also need to find a local company to chemically clean my sump and a few other bits before o cam modify them Any recommendations close to Harlow Essex? {}
the box and adapter plate fitted a few weeks back. got some high tensile hex machine head bolts {} BMW bell housing had to be "clearanced" to allow the saab starter motor {} Still needs a little bit of work to fit up on the other side as it was also fouling on of the rear cover bolts on the b204. {} rear mounts seem to be in the correct orientation to use the stock e30 gearbox mount so that will help the get a "stock' positioning to use the e36 328 prop i got recently from a friend. {} {} The e30 finally got some pedals. I didn't realise how much of the e30 was missing until i had a good look over it last month. Worst part is the accelerator pedal has completely rusted off so going to need to do some surface prep and probably use some kind of aluminium DTM style pedal that bolts through the floor. {} Japanese spec wood screws throughout. definitely going to need to get some por15 on that rust patch {}
Missed this, no mines not in a BMW but an Audi of all things. Just looking at your more recent posts, I also had to clearance the adapter at the top for the 2 rear cover bolts.
Great project ! I'll Follow this, cause i have a e30 4door myself, but i'm not sure which engine to drop in. Got the 204 or 234 on my swap options list already. Good Inspiration, thank you. Why did you choose the 4 banger instead of the more common bmw six cylinders? What power are you Aiming for? Greetings from Germany
What will you be doing with water outlets and sensor at the back of the head? Haven’t fitted mine in yet (e36) but just think they’ll be in the way...
I wanted to keep it light weight and bmw 6cyl swaps have been done many times. plus I wanted turbo noises for £500 not 3-4k. hoping for a reliable 250hp
