{"id":128842,"date":"2025-03-10T18:04:50","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T23:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?p=128842"},"modified":"2025-03-13T21:41:17","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T02:41:17","slug":"m20-powered-bmw-e30-at-thunderbolt-raceway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?p=128842","title":{"rendered":"M20-Powered BMW E30 at Thunderbolt Raceway"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?attachment_id=118355\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-118355\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"118355\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?attachment_id=118355\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?fit=1660%2C1660&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1660,1660\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"BMW E30 with a M20B25 Inline-Six 01\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;BMW E30 with a M20B25 Inline-Six&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01-600x600.jpg?resize=600%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"BMW E30 with a M20B25 Inline-Six\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-118355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?resize=600%2C600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?resize=1536%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?w=1660&amp;ssl=1 1660w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@kimballracing974\">Kimball Racing<\/a> and their 1984 BMW 318i (E30) visited Thunderbolt Raceway at <a href=\"https:\/\/njmp.com\/track-map\/\">New Jersey Motorsports Park<\/a> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/TrackFest\/\">MassTuning Test &#038; Tune<\/a>. The E30 is no longer powered by a the factory 1.8 L M10B18 inline-four. It is now powered by a 2.5 L M20B25 inline-six making around 170 hp (125 kW) and 164 lb-ft (222 Nm) of torque. The factory transmission was also swapped for a Getrag 260 five-speed manual transmission. Watch Mason Kimball race around Thunderbolt Raceway in a point-by passing track event. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/UhutfO59LS8?si=s_bKdFSKcQwwjwAH\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LPHDQO-cgC8?si=QH6hlTYtkOc9hscl\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@kimballracing974\">Kimball Racing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kimball Racing and their 1984 BMW 318i (E30) visited Thunderbolt Raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park for the MassTuning Test &#038; Tune. The E30 is no longer powered by a the factory 1.8 L M10B18 inline-four. It is now powered by a 2.5 L M20B25 inline-six making around 170 hp (125 kW) and 164 lb-ft&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?p=128842\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">M20-Powered BMW E30 at Thunderbolt Raceway<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":118355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[121],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e30"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?fit=1660%2C1660&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118346,"url":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?p=118346","url_meta":{"origin":128842,"position":0},"title":"BMW E30 with a M20B25 Inline-Six","author":"swaptastic","date":"July 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Kimball Racing's 1984 BMW 318i (E30) competes in CampCar, 24 Hours of Lemons, and various trackdays. The car originally came with a 1.8 L M10B18 inline-four producing 105 hp (77 kW) and 107 lb-ft (145 Nm) of torque. It is now powered by a 2.5 L M20B25 inline-six making around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;E30&quot;","block_context":{"text":"E30","link":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?cat=121"},"img":{"alt_text":"BMW E30 with a M20B25 Inline-Six","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/BMW-E30-with-a-M20B25-Inline-Six-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":141926,"url":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?p=141926","url_meta":{"origin":128842,"position":1},"title":"M50-Powered BMW E30 Goes 8.1 sec","author":"swaptastic","date":"December 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Daniel Schien and his \u201cE30 Elvis\u201d attended Doorslammers event at Santa Pod Raceway. Daniel's BMW E30 (325i) is now powered by a turbocharged M50B25 inline-six. When we last shared the car in 2023, the motor was producing 1100+ hp (809+ kW) and 973 Nm (717 lb-ft) of torque on 2.2\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;E30&quot;","block_context":{"text":"E30","link":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?cat=121"},"img":{"alt_text":"BMW E30 with a turbo M50 inline-six","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-M50-inline-six-08.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-M50-inline-six-08.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-M50-inline-six-08.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-M50-inline-six-08.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-M50-inline-six-08.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105909,"url":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?p=105909","url_meta":{"origin":128842,"position":2},"title":"BMW E30 with a Turbo M50 Goes 9.27 sec","author":"swaptastic","date":"October 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Daniel Schien and his \"E30 Elvis\" attended the DAS GTi event at Santa Pod Raceway and set a new personal best. While there Daniel has several 9-second quarter-mile runs with the best being a 9.273 sec at 162.48 mph. The BMW E30 (325i) is powered by a turbocharged M50B25 inline-six\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;E30&quot;","block_context":{"text":"E30","link":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?cat=121"},"img":{"alt_text":"BMW E30 with a turbo M50 inline-six","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-M50-inline-six-07.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-M50-inline-six-07.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-M50-inline-six-07.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-M50-inline-six-07.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-M50-inline-six-07.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":145328,"url":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?p=145328","url_meta":{"origin":128842,"position":3},"title":"BMW E30 with a Turbo Volvo Inline-Four","author":"swaptastic","date":"February 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Jonas Dalseth Jacobsen from Jacobsen Motorsport competes in Rallycross with a BMW E30. The race car is powered by a turbocharged 2.0 L B4204T35 (T8) inline-four found typically in a Volvo S90, XC60, and XC90. In factory spec these produce 316 hp (235 kW). HillClimb Monsters reports this Volvo produces\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;E30&quot;","block_context":{"text":"E30","link":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?cat=121"},"img":{"alt_text":"BMW E30 with a turbo Volvo B4204T inline-four","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-Volvo-B4204T-inline-four-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-Volvo-B4204T-inline-four-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-Volvo-B4204T-inline-four-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-Volvo-B4204T-inline-four-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BMW-E30-with-a-turbo-Volvo-B4204T-inline-four-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":127041,"url":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?p=127041","url_meta":{"origin":128842,"position":4},"title":"Jessee Billman&#8217;s BMW E30 with a LS3 V8","author":"swaptastic","date":"January 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Jessee Billman was seeking another project after building his 2JZ-powered F-100. Last year he found it in a BMW E30 Touring. The red wagon came with a 2.0 L M20 inline-six and Getrag five-speed manual transmission. Jessee swapped them for a 6.2 L LS3 V8 and T56 Magnum six-speed manual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;E30&quot;","block_context":{"text":"E30","link":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?cat=121"},"img":{"alt_text":"BMW E30 wagon with a LS3 V8","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/BMW-E30-wagon-with-a-LS3-V8-01.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/BMW-E30-wagon-with-a-LS3-V8-01.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/BMW-E30-wagon-with-a-LS3-V8-01.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/BMW-E30-wagon-with-a-LS3-V8-01.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115305,"url":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?p=115305","url_meta":{"origin":128842,"position":5},"title":"Martin B\u00fcrki Racing his S50-Powered E30 in Switzerland","author":"swaptastic","date":"May 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Martin B\u00fcrki from Mattm\u00fcller Motorsport recently sold his BMW E30 race car. The car was powered by a naturally aspirated 3.0 L S50B30 inline-six making 370 hp and is paired with a Quaife six-speed sequential transmission. To commemorate the change in ownership Hillclimb Monsters put together a compilation video of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;E30&quot;","block_context":{"text":"E30","link":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/?cat=121"},"img":{"alt_text":"BMW E30 with a S50 Inline-Six racing hill climb in Switzerland","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/BMW-E30-with-a-S50-Inline-Six-03.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/BMW-E30-with-a-S50-Inline-Six-03.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/BMW-E30-with-a-S50-Inline-Six-03.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/BMW-E30-with-a-S50-Inline-Six-03.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/engineswapdepot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/BMW-E30-with-a-S50-Inline-Six-03.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128842"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129018,"href":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128842\/revisions\/129018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/118355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineswapdepot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}