So it's time to sell my 6-speed TL (buyer is supposed to pick it up tomorrow), and I've been looking for E30's with S50/S52 (E36 M3 engines) for a while now. The one I wanted that was extremely clean, BAR'd, built by a BMW certified tech who does absolutely top-notch work was sold about a week ago. So I'm looking around CA and outlying states for one.

The S50/S52 is pretty much the most reliable (other than maybe M50) engines BMW has ever built. They were made before BMW's slippery slope into E46 unreliability. From my research, they're about as reliable as S2000 engines, and even simpler to work on. They are cheap to fix if you do break something because they're based on M50 parts. M50's cost like $300-500 at a junkyard.

S50 is the '95 M3 engine, S52 is the '96-99 M3 engine. The S50 is a 3.0L inline-six making 240 bhp, the S52 is the 3.2L version also making 240 bhp (underrated) but about 13 ft-lb more torque at the crank than the S50. Think of the difference between the AP1 and AP2 engines and you're not far off. Of course, Europe got a 3.0L S50 variant that made 320 bhp (yes, almost as much as the E46's S54 engine). USA ftl.


So why would you want one of these in the beautiful E30?

1. Reliability. S50/S52 are very reliable, easy to work on engines and dirt cheap to fix/maintain. Just change the oil and make sure your VANOS doesn't rattle.
2. Horsepower/torque. Very similar to the J30/J32 V6 Honda engines, these are high-revving I6's that make good downlow torque (S50 with bolt-ons makes 200 wtq at about 2.5k RPM) but also lots of whp with a good rev range. Bolt-ons give you a solid 30-40 extra whp if done right. They also take really well to boost, supercharging or turbo.
3. 2600 lb, good handling RWD car + bad-ass 6 cylinder = lots of fun
4. Good fuel economy if you use the right rear end, over 30 mpg on the highway.
5. They can be used for daily driving, track, autoX, or drag. The diffs and transmissions are nice and strong, dirt cheap to replace, and parts are plentiful for suspension, wheels, etc. Can be converted to 5 lug for extra wheel selection.
6. E30 is drop-dead gorgeous and fun to drive.
7. Can be BAR'd (legal swap) in California.

I basically summarize E30's as RWD, German Honda's. Simple to work on, reliable, cheap, very fun to drive, and lots of nice engine swap/suspension options. All the parts are cross compatible from various BMW's in the 80's and 90's (and even newer), most of the E30/E36 engines drop right in, and they've got a very cool look and feel to them, something that BMW lost a long time ago.

The reason it appeals to me so greatly (other than the above reasons) is because it's a car that'll appeal to what I love about the S2000 and the 6-speed TL, best of both worlds so to speak:

A. The horsepower and torque of the TL in a relatively high-revving, sweet 6-cyl engine, plus the practicality and extra seats.
B.The rear wheel drive, raw feel, 'fun drive' and nice handling of the S2000
C. The reliability and cheap parts/easy to work on aspect of both, plus good gas mileage!

I am hopefully going to pick up a clean example of a swap and do some suspension work to it and make it a great daily/occasional track car. If anyone else has any experience with these cars, would love to hear your stories.

 

I just bought an E46 M3... I take offense to your comment about reliability. You didn't complain enough about it lol. But seriously... why not go all the way and get the european S52?

 

an e30 is nothing like either the tl nor s2000 - the suspension on those cars is a horrendous strut up front and a can't remember what they call it but it's when the rear spring isn't captured by the shock - oh yeah a ford focus rear suspension. I'd buy a 1st gen tsx to replace the TL. I remember driving an old Warsteiner touring car about 6-7 years ago and thinking gah this this is horrible then setting a faster lap in my old eh sedan with a b swap and toyos.

 

Porsche uses struts as does the new BRZ... LOL. It's the geometry of how they set it up. All of the old datsun Z cars utilized struts as well.

And the rear suspension is a rear trailer arm setup. It experiences dynamic toe change similar to AP1s. It's a 25+ year old car - actually, 28, since the first E30 came out in 1984 and was produced until 1992 with minor changes here and there.

All of that said, I'm looking for an E30 as my DD as well. I've found a few that I like, but I'm trying to sort some stuff out before jumping in to one.

Anyway, it's a Honda forum, haters gonna hate.

To the OP, GL. Check craigslist, there's quite a few to be found locally in the great Los Angeles area, OC, and Inland Empire. I'd also check out the R3vlimited Forums and E30tech.

You could just get a 318 with M42, add ITBs etc. etc. - make an S42 motor. The S14 motor sounds so awesome and is better balanced than an S50 or any 6-cyl would be.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQeNEQCACzg[/media]

OR, you could go ballz out and do this...

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93EevkOjnk[/media]

 

Love the E30!

Regarding the engine swap, there are better power/weight options.
At the same weight or slightly less vs. S50/S52, with less on the nose, with at *least* 100 more hp, LSX V8!
Or for less weight, better weight distribution, still with great power potential SR20DET!
Or at the same power level as the S50/S52, but much lighter-weight, F22C w/ 8600rpm limiter! (aka, build-yer-own E30 M3+)

That said, S50/S52 swap would be cool, just seems like a lot of engine size/mass for the output...

 

Euro S50 is extremely expensive and not as reliable/cheap to maintain/fix as the US S50/S52. For thousands less than a Euro S50, I can have an S50/S52 supercharged with 350~ whp. The Euro S50 is an insane engine though, and I'd love to throw one in.

Sorry about the E46 M3, watch out for the subframe on that thing. I love the cars, would hate to actually be responsible for paying for the maintenance.


Why the hell would I buy an inferior TSX to replace the far superior TL? The TL has LSD, Brembos, 80+ whp more, similar gas mileage, only weighs a bit more, handles better, much sexier... the TSX is a piece of shit. It's a 4-door RSX. Most people don't know what they're talking about when they try to say a TSX is a good car or even remotely comparable to a TL, especially a 6-spd TL.
And the E30 has a good suspension setup if you modify it correctly. And the E30 is actually very similar to an S2000 in driving feel/response. Your response reeks of ignorance.

Yeah, I've looked all over. I think I've finally found the perfect one in LA. If I do end up getting it, it'll be in a couple of days and I'll post pics.


I WISH I could thrown in an LSX variant, as that is one of my favorite engines of all time. Unfortunately it's a pretty expensive swap, whereas the S50/S52 swap only costs $2-3k. If I was ready to burn money and didn't feel practical, I'd do an LSX all day. I love your LSX FD btw, that's one of my most-lusted after swaps.

 

Cool story bro.

 

Wow, now you're gonna start harassing me in my threads? Get a life, dude. Reported, maybe you should do something other than accusing people of scamming you and acting like a little baby.

 

A daily driven "reliable" car that's 28+ years and engine swapped, good luck with that.
You must still be in your teens.

 

I'm 22, thanks. And try doing your research. First, the car I have in mind is an '89. Second, the S50/S52 are very reliable swaps, if done right it's as reliable as the original engine and has no issues, much like swapping a B20/B16/B18 into any Civic or Integra. I guess those are 20+ year old cars with unreliable swaps too, right? The S50/S52 actually IMPROVE reliability since they're newer, stronger engines built off the same technology as the M10/M20/M50. But if you don't know shit about older BMW's, then one would most likely have the same viewpoint that you have. Old does not mean unreliable, swapped does not mean unreliable.

Try not to be so condescending when you're ignorant of the facts.