E21 Swap

[Mohanad Hani]

Hey all
I am mohanad hani from egypt. i wanted to ask u some questions.
because i decided to make an engine swap to my E21 i wanted to know what is the engine that i can fit in easily without any modification ??

[e21-Mark]

An e30 m20/2.5 but you need a 320/323 subframe and dual pipe sender unit for the added fuel line. (assuming your car is a 316)

[Mohanad Hani]

i don't want to get a subframe i want to just remove the old and install the new. what do you think about an M40B18 ?
and what's better than that ?

[e21-Mark]

It won't fit unless you modify your subframe.

[Jeroen]

M40 doesn't bring much extra I guess. How about M42 with custom engine mounts?

[Mohanad Hani]

i want to easily fit an engine guys. M42 must make a modification and i don't like doing that cause it's never made safely here in egypt

[Jeroen]

Then there's only one option, modify your M10...

[Mohanad Hani]

ok thanks alot guys for helping.
so the easiest engine to be easily installed is the M20 then the M42 ?

[trash-berd]

M20 still requires a new subframe, there's a thread around here somewhere that has pictures comparing the two, showing the differences. M10's aren't bad engines, and if you do it right it'll still be a blast to drive.

[Mohanad Hani]

what do you think about an M20B20 ? is it good and doesn't have much proplems and have good fuel efficeny ?

[Jeroen]

Nope, power isn't much more that from your current engine, fuel economy isn't all that and you need a matching E21 M20 gearbox to get the speedometer to work. My suggestions: tune that M10 or if you really want to modify the subframe and if you can source an E21 M20 gearbox go for a M20B25 or M50B25. Cheap to buy, powerful and fuel efficient, but it will be more of a project.

[nas80]

I would also turbo the m10.

[Mohanad Hani]

my M10 died :S now i must go for a swap. M20B20 or M40B16/18 ?!

[nas80]

Get another m10?

[Mihajlo]

M10 + turbo.