Non-BMW Stuff on a BMW Forum

B C

Im glad that this car is being revived. There's not many cars that can give you the kind of driving experience that an E30 can.

gilber33

snap said:

Im glad that this car is being revived. There's not many cars that can give you the kind of driving experience that an E30 can.

The little bit I drove it this year was wonderful. Looking forward to getting a little more power/driveability out of it. Going to do a lightened flywheel while the transmission is out and then a chip.

Does anyone here have a lightened flywheel, and how low did you go?

GunMetalGrey

I would look at the RHD Flywheel.
It's a nice piece, inexpensive, and quite light!

B C

gilber33 said:

The little bit I drove it this year was wonderful. Looking forward to getting a little more power/driveability out of it. Going to do a lightened flywheel while the transmission is out and then a chip.

Does anyone here have a lightened flywheel, and how low did you go?

I like clamping force so I never take any material off the front face. I have had the ring on the backside machined down which got it down in the 12.5 lb range. It came with a tiny bit of gear rattle when idling in neutral but nothing horrible.

There will never be enough power. Dont be fooled by the power trap. I dont regret doing a turbo or the 24V swap but if I could do it again I think I would be happy with a 2.8 stroker, ITBs, coated headers, a mild cam, and megasquirt. The lower weight, response, and ease of repair and reliability (assuming megasquirt is setup and dialed in properly) are just the thing an E30 needs to be complete

gilber33

GunMetalGrey said:

I would look at the RHD Flywheel.
It's a nice piece, inexpensive, and quite light!

I saw that one in the other thread and that's what got me thinking about doing it. But at 7lbs, is that too much racecar and make for difficult daily duty?

snap said:

I like clamping force so I never take any material off the front face. I have had the ring on the backside machined down which got it down in the 12.5 lb range. It came with a tiny bit of gear rattle when idling in neutral but nothing horrible.

There will never be enough power. Dont be fooled by the power trap. I dont regret doing a turbo or the 24V swap but if I could do it again I think I would be happy with a 2.8 stroker, ITBs, coated headers, a mild cam, and megasquirt. The lower weight, response, and ease of repair and reliability (assuming megasquirt is setup and dialed in properly) are just the thing an E30 needs to be complete

I would never want to remove the clamping face of the flywheel.

And I picked up the e30 to get out of the power trap. I've had a few cars where my goal is power power power and it's either A) never enough or it's too much and unnecessary.

I picked the e30 because it's RWD and manual and for some reason have wanted to do an NA build after having all turbo cars. As I've worked on this car I have really grown to appreciate the M20 and the mechanical nature of the car. I really want to keep the M20 and maximize it. I feel like it needs a touch more power, and I think with the chip and some of these other bolt ons to improve the overall feel of the car it will be what I want. But I have 2 kids, I don't need a car anymore who's power band is only fun at 100+ mph (main reason I got rid of the S60R).

I also have a habit of picking up a car and then instantly modifying it to the point where it's a totally different car. Another reason I wanted to leave it mostly stock. I want to really learn how the car drives and be really good at driving it, before making it something different.

GunMetalGrey

I have never had issue with high clamping force clutches and lightweight flywheels. Does the rattle get annoying if it's in neutral with the clutch pedal let out? Kinda, but who cares.
I also ran unsprung discs on unsprung flywheels, never was bothered by that either.

Nothing is more fun than a super free revving engine that is happy to take abusive rev matched downshifts.

All that said, do what you think you will like most, I frequently find myself enjoying the raw mechanical side of things, that may not be the same for you!

gilber33

My friend's e30 that I drove out in California had a lightened flywheel and race clutch and the speed at which that engine revved was insane. I did stall it a couple times at first, but got used to it pretty quickly.

straight6pwr

gilber33 said:

And then snapped one of the studs on the rear manifold. Soooo, if anyone has a rear exhaust manifold for an m20b25, let me know!!!!!

is it one of the studs with enough clearance that you could drill/tap a new one in? as long as there is room for your drill, i think it should work.

i believe the studs are originally just pressed into hole in the flange, so drilling to that size shouldnt take a lot of effort.

jc43089

FWIW I have a UUC aluminum flywheel on an M50 and it is fantastic. Comparable weight is 11.5 lbs vs dual mass being around 26 lbs. Minor gear rattle, but totally worth it.

gilber33

straight6pwr said:

is it one of the studs with enough clearance that you could drill/tap a new one in? as long as there is room for your drill, i think it should work.

i believe the studs are originally just pressed into hole in the flange, so drilling to that size shouldnt take a lot of effort.

I think you are right. I found a few threads about people tapping the old one out and pounding a new stud in. However, all of them I read is that it took a lot of heating and an air hammer to get the old one out. I found a used set of manifolds for cheap. Easier and quicker than trying to get it out. And it sounds like the replacement studs are upwards of $20ea.

jc43089 said:

FWIW I have a UUC aluminum flywheel on an M50 and it is fantastic. Comparable weight is 11.5 lbs vs dual mass being around 26 lbs. Minor gear rattle, but totally worth it.

I'm not too worried about the rattle. It already rattles a little bit. How was daily driveability with the flywheel being that light? Something you got used to pretty quick I assume?

straight6pwr

gilber33 said:

I think you are right. I found a few threads about people tapping the old one out and pounding a new stud in. However, all of them I read is that it took a lot of heating and an air hammer to get the old one out. I found a used set of manifolds for cheap. Easier and quicker than trying to get it out. And it sounds like the replacement studs are upwards of $20ea.

i wouldn't bother punching out the old stud, or even buying the exact replacement bmw part. just drill out the hole/tap it. have a welder? drill out the hole and weld in a stud. no tapping needed.

HipMF

straight6pwr said:

i wouldn't bother punching out the old stud, or even buying the exact replacement bmw part. just drill out the hole/tap it. have a welder? drill out the hole and weld in a stud. no tapping needed.

Word on the street is that welding to cast iron is a bad idea. I'd stick to tapping.

gilber33

I just picked up a spare set of manifolds for cheap. I'll get it ceramic coated to match the other and call it a day. My evenings are limited when it comes to garage time (a 2yo and a 5mo old) so this solution will be much faster.

jc43089

gilber33 said:

I'm not too worried about the rattle. It already rattles a little bit. How was daily driveability with the flywheel being that light? Something you got used to pretty quick I assume?

No problem at all to daily, I liked it better all around. My wife also would drive it and had no problems. It is in the van swap now if I ever get that done.

gilber33

Exhaust and driveshaft out so the transmission can come out.

And started tackling the rust hole behind the rear wheel. This is after i trimmed it out. Going to cut some pieces out of sheet metal, tack them in, amd then coat it all with truck bed liner. Should be interesting.

B C

Did you mark the driveshaft halves before separating them? If not, try to find the balancing marks for reassembly

gilber33

Yeah, put some reference points on the splines and the threaded portion of the back half.

gilber33

E46 question. Anyone ever see a washer pump of this style? I can't find it on FCP or ECS. I'll keep looking, but wondering if anyone knows anything. It's a totally different plug than what I'm finding online.