dokidokidoristar
New Member
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.
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.
Last edited:
