E28 SETA Build

Rowleym

jc43089 said:

Good info, so it's a different computer and harness then. So what parts combo is an "i stroker"

A regular old eta bottom end and 885 head if i am correct. Or if you want high compression you use the seta bottom end.

RamRod E28

So swap heads from the super eta and keep the regular eta bottom end?

jc43089

The seta already has an 885 head. Is the cam different?

Rowleym

Paging snap.

RamRod E28

SNAP!!! also cyoung I looked at the trans and the 2 holes for the old m20 crank sensor are filled in and will have to be drilled out if im gonna stay with the old m20

YoungCR

jc43089 said:

The seta already has an 885 head. Is the cam different?

Yes SETA's have the 885 head but it has the eta cam and single valve springs. Read this page if you wanna know all about 2.7i or "e to i" builds

http://www.strictlyeta.net/technical/328i_1.html

The other problem I ran into last night while talking to Mike was that his transmission bell housing has to have the provisions for the speed and reference sensors for motronic 1 which use the flywheel. The bell housing needs those two holes on the drivers side as circled below. I don't think it will have those holes though because the SETA has motronic 1.1 which moved those sensors to the crank pully.

So the options for your manual swap are:

Swap G260 onto the ETA along with the motronic 1.1 harness and required sensors (which would included fixing your harness)
Swap Complete SETA drive line into the car (again requiring fixing the harness)
Find a compatible G260 from 1987 or earlier 528e/325e

RamRod E28

Mr Menard and I will see what's what once we pull the 84 drivetrain. I'm sure we can figure something out!!!

jc43089

They had to make it different for one year... This probably also means that the flywheel from the seta doesn't have the toothed ring either. Ideally it would be nice to leave the eta in and build a 2.8i from the seta to swap in in the future.

Also before you take the parts car down from the stands, get the shifter linkage out, the carrier and shift lever/rubber boot and the wire that goes through it can just come out as one piece. The clutch master needs to come out too. Just mentioning what I forgot while we were working on it.

RamRod E28

we also need the pedal box as well kind sir so idk what im gonna do about the brakes to get it out lol

B C

I am here.

jc43089

Ramze46 said:

we also need the pedal box as well kind sir so idk what im gonna do about the brakes to get it out lol

You should try to get as much of that stuff out as you can before next Tuesday, then we can get started on the good car then. I'd be up for starting pretty early. With a long day we may be close to getting it done. Probably going to end up swapping everything from the '88 into the '84. Any other option will need a bunch of different parts/time. There wasn't much bad on the harness. And the '88 engine seems like it was taken care of decently.

jc43089

So after a bit of thinking today this might be really simple.

Swap seta and manual into car using seta harness etc.

In the future find an i cam and springs to swap in to make it an "i stroker" Am I missing something or is it that simple? What pistons are ideal? And the head could also be shaved and worked over as a "next winter" project to raise compression ratio and flow a bit.

YoungCR

jc43089 said:

Also before you take the parts car down from the stands, get the shifter linkage out, the carrier and shift lever/rubber boot and the wire that goes through it can just come out as one piece. The clutch master needs to come out too. Just mentioning what I forgot while we were working on it.

Also you will need the bracket welded to the inside of the transmission tunnel that supports the end opposite of the transmission of the shifter plate. This is what I need to fabricate for my car since previous owner removed it and I forgot to take it off my last E28 before scrapping

RamRod E28

Anyone else chime in about this i cam swap?

jc43089

Did some reading on Strictlyeta.net and the future cam/spring swap is the way to go. Even better if you can find a hotter than stock cam. Engine swap coming to a garage near you on Tuesday! I think with an early start we can get most of it done, I have some leftover seals/shifter parts and stuff from other builds that I will bring in case we need it.

B C

While not the best hp/$ quotient id run a 272 cam with stock compression ratio. As you research you will discover that many people end up with piston to valve interference when the duration gets above 280 degrees. Interference will need to be checked and corrected with an adjustable cam gear. To make proper use of a cam with more lift and duration than the typical 272 will require portwork and an increased redline which will send your mean piston velocities into the "not quite so long lasting" range (The Metric Mechanic 2900 M20 is rated for ~65k-100k mile service life "when driven hard") and the inertial forces increase by the square of the rpm. Going from 4000 rpm to 8000 rpm results in 16 times the tensile stress in the connecting rods and hardware.

The cost of the tuned length headers, cam, rockers, springs ,cam gear, stroker parts, machine work, and port work, would get you a VERY nice forced induction setup. An extensive NA build and a FI build will both require upgraded EFI and clutch so that is a wash.

NA builds are great, but you become used to the 15-20hp you can gain with reasonable investment quite quickly and to extract more becomes a mechanical and financial domino rally.

My biggest fear was dumping $8000 into a hot rebuild on an M20, making about 215-225whp, being somewhat underwhelmed with the hp/$ and or dropping a valve/cracking a head/some other mechanical failure rendering it nearly a total loss.

In contrast I could spend $3000 on a FI setup on a stock top and bottom end, make 300-350whp and for the small cost of a used m20, ($800 or less) be back up and running if anything failed.

And thus you can see why I, eternal lover of the naturally aspirated engine, have caved and decided to do the whole turbo bullcrap thing.

RamRod E28

welp gonna b running to madtown to meet up with cyoung to get my stickers finally who wants to meet up this afternoon

jc43089

Get me an extra red one, I will pay you back. I only got one and I want one on both sides.

RamRod E28

MASSIVE UPDATE thingy.... so Mr. Menard and I did some major work on the e28 we got the engine and trans out of the blue e28 but it was easier said than done lol. It was a ton more easier to pull the engine out of the parts car due to it having no front end on it and i didn't care if it got banged up or not. here are some pics for your viewing pleasure...

Here she is parked in front of her new heart and soul a 88 super eta i cant wait to see what the higher rev limiter and extra 6hp feel like!!!

Some bay shots before we pulled the engine

Dr. Menard evil bmw scientist lol

Right after this photo was taken I had to get the car off the stands and my jack decided to not wanna lower with the handle so I had to get under the car while it was teetering off only the jack to lower it down nothing like a situation like that to get your adrenaline pumping!

For sale 84 bmw m20b28 eta with 184k on it comes with harness and motronic 1.0 ecu!!! (cough... snap)

Such a big ass engine bay

I couldn't resist...

54A91988-E1F8-484E-A8FD-DD4BB16B9E99zps

With the engine out she was sitting at stock height again haha

Ram Powa!!!

And now I'm doing all the little piddly detail crap like putting in the manual pedal box and getting the old auto shifter out of the car and cleaning the engine bay up while the engine is out and then I gotta order some new trans mount bushings. new water pump due to the old one was broken off at the impeller when it was in the head on collision. Then get a new timing belt and tensioner the old belt was so bad on the seta that the belt ripped in half with a simple yank! but the car did run like a dream before we pulled it. other odds and ends to get as well. does anyone have any suggestions on what i should upgrade at this stage if im missing anything???

jc43089

Yea the eta is solid, runs very well. Lucky that seta didn't break the belt while running, there was a tear halfway across the belt and it just ripped apart when I pulled at it. Pretty good progress so far, get the parts you need and with another day it should be ready to turn the key!

WIBIMMERS

E28 SETA Build