S52 Brilliantrot 318is from Australia

[bangn]

I really love the fat tyre look.. looks excellent!

[jsta1109]

Retrimmed my $50 ($38USD) second hand ZHP Knob
Followed the guide below, I think it turned out rather well, not perfect, one seam sticks out a wee bit and I scuffed up the aluminium area below, but overall it looks and feels much better than it did prior. Sorry, no prior pictures, but I will say the leather had worn away to the glue below and had that horrible tacky feel and look. The overall cost was $65 ($50USD) instead of $78-$80USD before the $35-$50USD for shipping for one, and it was a fun little experiment.

http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/47668-clubsport-gearknob-re-trim/

Also replaced a leaking door seal with some generic pinchweld seal from the local rubber outlet, I made a guestimate that left me 30cm short for one side (I am that kind of idiot who doesn't measure first)

Picked up an entire used rear subframe from an auto 318i for $100 (came with a 4.45 diff as well), taking the CV's off to re-kit and use to replace my torn tired ones. The rest of the subframe is getting an overhaul while it's off the car, new bushes and adjustable tabs welded in. Came with a heap of spares included a clean cluster that I've torn down and used the good bits on mine.



Incoming track day!
On the 13th of April I have a track day booked with a group from Uni, I live about 5 minutes from Willowbank, big dust bowl and the layout looks like a paper-clip. Nonetheless it's a track and I finally get to push the car to a high, and I will provide some GoPro footage from the day. Given the short straights I might even consider putting that 4.45 in ;)

Some shots from a recent local Cars & Coffee
Thanks to Nino from Winning Designs coming out and taking photos, the Blue E28 owned by a friend makes me envious, that plush interior ;D...





That's all folks
Till next time, probably the track day which I will provide a video of some kind. Engine swap is still coming along, organising a M52B28 as stated before but will be some time before I obtain it and actually drop it in. Thanks to the financial strain of casual work and university life! Hopefully I can go to a few meets soon and dump some more photos of the red red car.

[jsta1109]

First time I've ever done something like that, overall I did okay, could of been faster but I need some driver mod.
The brake fluid was quite dirty and I experienced pretty bad fade after a few laps, realistically I should of changed it prior. Pads + Rotors could do with an upgrade. Had an absolute blast though, keen to do it again.

One nice looking M52B28 - out of a 97 328i E36
More to come on it, but for now 180kms (110k miles),

Things I need;
-Engine Arms (already purchased)
-Power Steering Pump
-Accessory belt
-Aircon Compressor (maybe/maybe not)
-New Coilpacks
-DME

Pros;
-Manual harness which hasn't been butchered
-Have seen running
-Small leak at front of the case (can be sealed easily with some rtv)
-Relatively low ks/miles for age
-Comes with easily modified headers + o2
-Also comes with newish factory clutch + fw that I will probably ditch
-I bought some parts for my engine thinking it would fit, turned out it was an M44, but the parts fit this... win win.
-Guy selling will provide DME flash + tune
-I have an M50 intake

Then add everything required to fit the motor, mounts, booster etc.

I will be using my current G240, which is in really good condition. Numerous people have used this combination fine. This tied with 320i shifter linkage, I have a spare drive-shaft ready to be shortened, either that or use an E36 325i w/ the spare E30 CSB I have.
Currently aiming to have this sorted around end of July period, but that is being rather optimistic. More updates to come as I progress on the engine build.

E30 M52B28 daily coming soon...

[jeenyus]

heatin' up it appears.

[jsta1109]

Update

Engine is now up on a stand - we pulled the sump and I purchased a new subframe to get modified to run rear sump setup.

"Rebuilt" the CV's - new boots and grease and a good clean

- Bought an ECU which needs to be flashed
- Picked up a Clio Booster - if that doesn't fit up properly I will just relocate the stock booster - looks as if it will work
- Bought a re-threaded temp sensor

Here are some photos to enjoy

[ba114]

Clio booster will fit fine. You'll need to weld the E30 clevis onto the threaded rod at the same length as the original E30 booster rod though. I've just finished the same with my m52 build - check the project forum

[jsta1109]

I haven't posted in a while, but here goes. Part way through the hoarding process, I just need various gaskets and seals before I am ready to swap come holidays.
Things I have collected since prior update,
- Purple Tag E46 Steering Rack
- Sachs OEM Clutch and Pressure Plate
- M20 Flywheel (Machined to 6.1kg)
- E36 323i Driveshaft with new CSB
- 320i Shifter Linkage
- 3.64 Medium Case Open Diff
- My Custom Sump + Subframe
- Aircon + Power steering pump
- E28 M5/535i motor mounts (Black Cylindrical)
- Used 2.5inch Exhaust (Straight piped...That will change)

There is probably a heap I have forgotten about...

It took 3 months but I got my subframe back



That's a used exhaust from another swap car


Purple tag E46 rack


Overdue control arm replaced

There is probably a heap I've missed, I've been all over the shop trying to get things organised. I am one pelican order from being as ready as I can be, holidays start end of November which is when I plan on doing the swap at the current moment.

[jsta1109]

Been a while, Uni is now over and holidays begin. Trying to catch a free weekend to carry out swap, as I've collected everything I think I need.



Hauling all the parts to the 'swap site' at a friends shed



I haven't seen many, if any, E30s with Work Meisters, but I decided to pull the pin on a set brand new. They are 15x8.5+13 with 205/55r15 RE003.








I will be documenting more changes, I've got two weekends coming up that I've decided would be the time to do the swap subject to other arrangements, either the 17th / New years.

Since my last alignment I noticed a huge amount of toe out in the rear, and odd camber. I knew I had poly bushings but was unsure of brand ETC. Ultimately I noticed the install job was pretty shit, one side was missing a nut, the tabs were bent over. I decided I'd borrow a friends hoist and go all new SuperPro subframe and trailing arm bushes.





Probably not the clearest photos, but the tabs were bent over quite bad, there was play in the arm where there shouldn't have been. From what I can tell the brand was Whiteline.





More to come, stay tuned.

[iwantspeed]

nice progress so far

[JeLani]

That wheel & tire combo looks good!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[efficient]

Nice thread.

[Haystack]

Any particular reason for the rear sump?

[jsta1109]

Any particular reason for the rear sump?

Purely peace of mind for ground clearance, there are a lot of rough roads out where I am. E34 setups fetch $300-$400aud here, this set me back $750aud + shipping.

[jsta1109]

So... A lot has happened since the last update. I am officially engine swapped, I'm sure you've all seen a 24v swap, so I'll save you the same read but share the problems encountered along the way.



Engine Fully Dressed awaiting its new home inside my bay, Alloy Block M52B28



We will skip the removal of the M42, had that done in half a day and honestly was the easiest part of the entire swap (maybe I was motivated to get rid of that lump)

Removed old subframe, thankfully that sheered bolt was barely finger tight and ended spinning out. Prior to me trying to remove it I produce a large brown stain the nether regions.



Here she is, empty and all



Glad I opted for a replacement subframe for rear sump conversion. Yikes!



Clio Booster mounted, new subframe in, barina linkage attached and mocked up with Purple Tag E46 Rack. (Might I add, this setup feels super stout, but I am getting ahead of myself here)



The new lump about to be dropped in, about to experience the worst pain and frustration I had ever gone through.... here's why!



Getting this lump over that subframe, whilst trying to have enough angle on the trans ended up taking 4 hours, dropped the subframe entirely and then bolted everything up in situ.



ANNNNNNDDDDD she's in.... wooo



Minor hurdle, had what I thought was a 320i shift linkage, turns out only the shifter assembly was, the rod was a 318i. Ended up phoning a friend and having something that was about right sorted.



New end crimped for power steering pump, bent E30 lines for E46 rack, pretty simple.



Temporary exhaust situation, we eyeballed the flange at friends shop and it's crooked. Magnaflow dual 3", many rice.



Front sway sorted

You might be thinking, "wow, this guy carefully planned this entire thing and orchestrated 100% flawless execution of this swap, had it running and driving in a weekend ready for work Monday"

I breezed over a lot of the hiccups a long the way but let me list what actually unfolded.

I started the swap on a Friday and had the engine in Sunday. This was three weeks ago, car still isn't driving 100%

The starter motor didn't match the flywheel, so I ran to a workshop which supposedly had m20 starter and it ended up being an m40. In the end traced one down.

I had a failed Crank Sensor, a broken cam sensor and an unflashable MS41 ECU.

I put the motor in and filled it full of oil, the oil pan weeps. I didn't RTV the four corners like you should, that was overlooked in the mad rush to get this all finished. Unfortunately the subframe had to come out again.

The shift linkage didn't work... luckily a friend with a bucket of old E28 parts managed to sort it.

Adjusting the booster I broke the locking plate inside for the clevis, had to pull the entire thing apart to fix it.

So I replaced all those sensors as stated above, I was able to get a VDO Crank Sensor which fixed the issue and a non-genuine cam sensor. I also had to buy a new to me flashable MS41, while waiting on shipping borrowed a friends and flashed it for him.

The replacement aftermarket cam sensor was expensive and didn't work. This is giving a maxed reading in INPA and throwing a 65 / p0304 code. Waiting on an OEM Replacement.



All those problems aside I had the car driving in less than a week, mostly solved in two weeks and currently about to tick onto my third week of it sitting in the garage with a suspected cam sensor failure (new aftermarket). If new sensor resolves it's off to the exhaust shop to get hangers sorted and muffler straightened.

Absolutely stoked with how it turned out, not as fast as I expected but it is only 180-190hp worth.

Here's a first start video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQbL...m-upload_owner

[lukeADE335i]

Nice work on the swap!

Who did you get to modify your cross member so that you could run the rear sump? Looks a little like the arc asylum one, but did you get it done locally?

Your GF looks to have treated the car with a lot of respect (rather than hooning as your video title suggests!) I was expecting some skids, and her wringing the motor's neck out to redline :D Sounds nice in the video.