MyE28.com

Im looking into fixing up my 1988 528e and i would like fix up the engine. Im looking make it faster and am not sure what my best options are. Any help upon this would be greatly appreciated.

The best upgrade for a 528e is to sell it and buy a 535i.

But, if you absolutely must modify your 528e. . .

If you have an automatic transmission, your 528e already has a 3.46 diff. If you have a manual, it's got a 3.25. If you have the 3.25, you can go with a 3.46 diff to make it a little bit quicker.

AFAIK, only Dinan made chips for the Super Eta, and I seriously doubt he sells them anymore, so you may be SOL on a performance chip.

The biggest thing to do on a Super Eta is to get an E30 325i head -- the whole thing, complete -- and plop it on your Super E. You can use many combinations of intake manifolds and throttle bodies, but you may want to go with the 325i pieces since they're sure to work with that head.

After that, you'll need to find some kind of way to raise the redline. Some people say running an E30 325i ECU with a 325i chip is good enough for the e-to-i converted Super Eta. You may want to give that a shot.

Other than that, there's not much you can do to make it faster unless you want to spend $3k+ on a stroker motor rebuild. But then, you'd probably have been better off selling the car and buying a 535i to modify if you really want to spend $3,000 to make your Super E faster.

HTH.

BTW, I'm not trying to discourage you from trying to make your car faster, and I surely don't think I'm better than you. I'm on my 2nd 528e, and I had a Euro 535i in between the two cars. So, I can tell you that a 535i is definitely the way to go if you want a modifiable E28 that's quick to start with.

EDIT: Searching the archives on the old MYE28.com board and on the Roadfly.com E28 board will get you a lot of information on modifying your 528e. Just remember that your '88 528e has the Super Eta engine, which is quite different from the 82 - 87 "normal" eta engine.

[Edit by Shifty on [TIME]1109555002[/TIME]]

Oh, Shifty, you M20 traitor!
Super eta-s are easy to modify. New cam with a head rebuilt will do most of it.
As to the Dinan chip, why would he not sell it anymore??? It is only software which he has already deleloped at great effort, all he has to do is to burn a chip.
Unless you make challanging decisions like me to convert to M1.3. I am sweating it now!
Yep, you can go all out and do this....

2 questions, where to get that done, and what would be a fair price??

[QUOTE="GreddyPlayer"]2 questions, where to get that done, and what would be a fair price??[/QUOTE]

Where to get what done? The head work or the complete engine rebuild that Madhungarian is doing? If you're talking about doing the head work, all you need to do is get an E30 325i head, complete, and slap it on your short block. You can run whatever combo of intake manifold and throtlle body you want, but the 325i parts would match up to the ports best.

There's the "e" to "i" conversion as described rather fully by Fred Kim of the SF Bay area.

Then there's Ireland Engineering who have 2.9 and 3.0 stroker motors and other interesting goodies. :p

Let your pocketbook be your guide. #)

[QUOTE="Shifty"]Where to get what done? The head work or the complete engine rebuild that Madhungarian is doing? If you're talking about doing the head work, all you need to do is get an E30 325i head, complete, and slap it on your short block. You can run whatever combo of intake manifold and throtlle body you want, but the 325i parts would match up to the ports best.[/QUOTE]

Actually, you do not need a new head, since the casting is the same as the "i" head except two of the oil journals may not be drilled out. In my case they were, even though the cam did not have a bearing there. So all you need is a good cam and new springs. Find a machine shop that works on BMW heads by asking around at independent mechanics. They usually send out their head works.
You can keep the old intake and stuff as is. The TB and AFM is smaller in diameter, so it won't bread as well as an "i" setup, but still you will have a big difference vs. standard isue eta.

Look for the "i" parts at a salvage yard Got mine for $300.00(Cyl.head,intake w/fuel rail & reg.,) but had to have the head rebuilt So far have around $1,000.00 in my "e" to "i" on the former 88/Super eta Now know as BlueThunder m528i LOL!!!!! Randy/Fla.

The best upgrade you can do to a car is to adjust the nut behind the wheel.

Once that is done, you wont have to ask us what else the car needs.

[QUOTE="Madhungarian"]Actually, you do not need a new head[/QUOTE]

For the Super Eta, you're right. It's SO much easier to just swap out heads, though, if you're short on time and the head you purchase is in good enough condition.

If you have another car to drive while your Super E is out of commission, and you have the money to do a head / bottom end rebuild, then by all means use your existing head.

It's usually easier to find a complete 325i head than to find just the cam and valve springs.

For the normal eta head, the head to look for is a Euro E30 323i head. It has the same casting as the eta head in the same way the 325i head has the same casting as the Super E.

I probably won't do anything to my 325i engine, but that 3.0 stroker kit from Ireland Engineering sure is catching my eye. I'm fighting the urge.