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Old 08-19-2010, 07:27 PM   #1 (permalink)
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E30's in here

So, I've got 3 E30's to choose from in my quest to make one of them acceptably efficient:

-1986 325es: it's a step away from being parted out. Motor still ticking strong but it's got some rust issues and 3rd gear synchro is totally shot. I'm totally willing to run some wild experiments on this thing, but in my eyes it's hardly worth the insurance to keep it on the road. It's my emergency backup / loaner / etc.

-1987 325es: chipped, runs good. My DD. I want to make this one "nice". I plan to megasquirt the ECU for both power and efficiency gains. Mods that don't present a large sacrifice in functionality or reliability I would do to this. Out of pure luck the autozone thermostat I just swapped in runs just a shade on the hot side, about the maximum I am comfortable with. It's getting around 30mpg which I think is good considering how I drive.

-1988 325is vert: megasquirted, turbo, auto-x machine. It actually gets better MPG than stock if I don't race it or drive with an attitude, but that is pretty much never. I've removed plenty of weight including the AC but it was all in the name of speed. Aside from trying some things in megasquirt I don't see any point in ecomodding this, it all goes right out the window the second I hit the gas and put down 2x the power the motor was rated for.

What do they have in common? Manual transmissions. The aero of a brick. The fabulously outdated SOHC inline-6 M20.

So, any ideas? I know there's a few E30 guys on here, I saw one report about 3mpg increase off a power steering delete. We did this to our lemons racer, car is lightweight enough to not need PS in the first place.

megasquirt is kind of a big deal on this car, the stock 80's ECU leaves a lot to be desired.. aside from dumping the AFM for a free-flow MAP sensor, the spark map has a LOT of room for improvement, plus having the fuel map there I can see how lean it will go and stay drivable.
Once this is installed there's some things I'd like to try with the fuel system, higher pressure for better atomization, closed loop conversion to avert pump loss..
outside of this most of my money is going towards an electric vehicle project so adding a turbo with a miller cycle cam is not happening.

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