From digest.v7.n534 Tue Nov 4 00:36:38 1997
From: Michael <sasha_at_ram.net.au>
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 22:17:55 +0000
Subject: E30 318i 2 litre conversion - the whole story

Due to many interested people wanting to know about the 2 litre conversion I had done on the car, here is the whole story....... My 318i (200696 kms) was loosing coolant bad, no obvious leaks. One day, I took off the oil filler cap, shon a torch inside and saw the green stuff.
The mechanic takes the head off (my car has had a cracked head before and thats what I thought it was), but finds 5 cracks in the block (across where the head bolts go in, leading to the water jackets) I couldnt believe it so I had to go see for myself. I now have the block at home.
Anyway, so I was faced with getting a new block. A few calls to local parts suppliers who had fully reco 318i blocks selling for $1800, $1900 didnt make me feel good at all. Turns out that the mechanic himself had fully reconditioned a block for a customer. New high compression pistons, bearings, every single moving part is new. Unfortunetly however (not for me), the customer wrote his 02 off during the reco process, and the block has been in storage for 4 months. Then I came along..... The mechanic himself used to actually have an 02 with a 318i head. This is why he suggested the conversion to me as he knew it would work. No modification was needed to fit the 318i head (which is already fully reco) to the 2 litre block. The power difference however is amazing, and the mechanic has also said that after 1000kms ( when I get the head retentioned, mobil 1 in the sump and the final tuning done, it will have even more (cant wait!) Anyway, in terms of Australian dollars, the whole thing cost me $1800 (with $200 discount.BMW club) I think its a much better way to go than just getting the same 105hp 318 block, I was also cheaper too.
Please email if you want to know anything else Michael St.Clair
1984 318i (with 2 litre power)
P.S. Im pretty sure the compression is 9.5.1 P.P.S. It whips my parents E36 320i(non vanos) and my cars not even run in.