M20 E30 engines are flat-tappet engines that require periodic valve adjustments. The beloved and distinctive sound of M20 ticking, especially when cold, is due to the flat-tappet design. Reasons to adjust your valves include increased compression (as both intake and exhaust valves fully close), improved fuel economy, and overall enhanced performance. Remove the valve...
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Changing the engine mounts is a fairly simple concept, however knowing some tips and tricks makes the process a lot quicker. I found it easier to lift the engine and change one mount at a time. I did not have to lift the car to do this job. Both sides: Undo the top nuts...
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  Transmission mounts are fairly easy to change. Do not attempt to change the mounts unless you have a car jack handy to support/lift the transmission (just a normal jack, im not referring to anything special; scissor jack, hydraulic jack, whatever). The reason you need a car jack and cannot use a jack stand...
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On a 25 year old E30 it is hard to know what options were original to the car and what options were added later by previous owners. Take for example my E30, it has the original white exterior with a cardinal red interior. However after decoding my VIN I discovered the cardinal interior was not original to my...
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I recently acquired another E30 and am officially back in the E30 scene. Unfortunately the car had an overheating problem among other things, and facing a 2500 mile trip ahead of me, this overheating problem needed to get sorted. Basically at idle and while driving the heat gauge would climb right around the 3/4 mark (should be at 1/2)....
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  My first car, an E30, being excited to get it safetied and to broke to buy OEM parts, I purchased an after market tierod from my local auto parts store.  After getting the car back I heard a grinding/swishing noise that went with the pace of how fast the car was going (the faster I went the more frequent...
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It is no surprise that an M60 / M62 requires more cooling capacity. There were two styles of radiators in M20 e30’s 1988+ and pre 1988. If you have 1988+ then an e36 or a Z3M (e36/4) radiator will fit without modification. If you have a pre 1988 then ‘it drops in, no mods,...
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So your thinking, man I really dont like those bottle caps (stock rims) on my E30. A mistake a lot of people make is they intuitively think that a bigger rim automatically equals a bigger overall wheel diameter. Tire sizing is determined by calculating the mm width of the tread, percentage of that width...
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It has long been the norm to use subframe spacers while preforming the m60 / m62 v8 swap into an e30. Where did this norm start? Well basically as far as I can tell it started with an old-er swap guide which you will find somewhat translated here.  So for the sake of convenience...
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A few days ago I was researching if it was possible to run a boosterless setup (only master cylinders), and still have leg input force that was daily drivable. When swapping in different engines into an e30, often times the brake booster has to be relocated upfront just behind the left headlight (as with...
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