Swapped guys with ebay stainless headers. How?

[Bill 84 318i]

I've been dicking with these things for the past 4 hours, and I'm having the hardest time. First of all, I don't recommend installing these with the motor in the car. My arms look like I tried to slit my wrists, and to be honest, that's not all that far from how I feel.

They come with these square 2x2" things with holes in them. Are these to space up the motor mounts? I haven't been able to bolt everything up yet, but the front piece seems like it comes dangerously close to the subframe.

My other fitment issue is that the front piece hits the motor mount arm. Once everything is tightened up, I can't see how they don't make contact.

What combos of parts have you used to make these fucking things work?

[TheRex]

BJ, Didn't you talk to a guy who had these swapped in?

[1990m3]

I heard they bolt right up in an e30 if the engine arm is removed and reinstalled after the headers are on. Is this not the car for you? Can you give any pics of your clearance issues?

[Bill 84 318i]

BJ, Didn't you talk to a guy who had these swapped in?

Yeah, I just PMed him with the same message. Apparently his rest on the subframe but don't rattle. I REALLY don't want that. I took the day off today, so I'm gonna try to space up the passenger side to see if that takes care of the subframe issue.

I heard they bolt right up in an e30 if the engine arm is removed and reinstalled after the headers are on. Is this not the car for you? Can you give any pics of your clearance issues?

Yeah, I had to take the motor mount arm off of the motor (and yank the heatshield off) to get the front piece over the studs...but to tighten that arm back up in place, I'm pushing it up against the header. I had already tightened the header to the motor though...I'll see if I can't loosen it and pivot it a little on the studs to move it a mm or two. Worse comes to worst, I'll dimple it, I guess. I just expected it to be way easier than this.

[TheRex]

Yeah, I had to take the motor mount arm off of the motor (and yank the heatshield off) to get the front piece over the studs...but to tighten that arm back up in place, I'm pushing it up against the header. I had already tightened the header to the motor though...I'll see if I can't loosen it and pivot it a little on the studs to move it a mm or two. Worse comes to worst, I'll dimple it, I guess. I just expected it to be way easier than this.

Well, considering the mounting arm to header geometry is all E36, maybe asking some E36 guys about mounting arm fitment. Obviously, that doesn't have anything to do with the subframe issues, but you could at least get some feedback on the mounting arm. Just a thought.

[Bill 84 318i]

Well, considering the mounting arm to header geometry is all E36, maybe asking some E36 guys about mounting arm fitment. Obviously, that doesn't have anything to do with the subframe issues, but you could at least get some feedback on the mounting arm. Just a thought.

That's the glory of buying a swapped car...I didn't do any of my own research for stuff like that. I figured it was the mounting arm from some other car, like an e34 or something.

If it's an e36 arm, then w00t. I might be complaining for no reason.

[DEV0 E30]

It's definitely not fun to put them on in an exhaust shop parking lot in the middle of the summer here... but me and Permit did. He had a few inches cut off of his at the end so it would clear the subframe. I'd suggest doing a mockup, then mark where to cut for someone.

Of course my terrible looking down pipes from my obd 1 headers look too close to my subframe for my taste. That's on the to-do list.

[TheRex]

That's the glory of buying a swapped car...I didn't do any of my own research for stuff like that. I figured it was the mounting arm from some other car, like an e34 or something.

If it's an e36 arm, then w00t. I might be complaining for no reason.

Yeah, it's an E36 arm, so you *shouldn't* have to dimple it there. Your mounting arms are Def. E46 bits, it's what keeps baby six swappers from having to buy 300 dollar custom mounts from Germany, unlike those poor big six guys.

[Bill 84 318i]

Just finished mine...man they're close. I have about 1mm from the header to the arm (which theoretically I guess will never get any closer than that), and about 2mm between the subframe and the front downpipe.

[dougsic]

Bill,

Can you post any pics? I am about to purchase some headers but unsure what is the best bang for the buck.

If installing the ebay headers was that difficult, I might look elsewhere.

Thanks!

[Bill 84 318i]

Bill,

Can you post any pics? I am about to purchase some headers but unsure what is the best bang for the buck.

If installing the ebay headers was that difficult, I might look elsewhere.

Thanks!

Sure thing. Pics aren't that great - I don't think I have a camera good enough (these were just with my phone) to take pictures of the close fitment areas though. I had them Jet-hotted black as well, because the one set I saw that had been mounted for only a week had already turned yellow.

From above:


From below:


DevoE30, I don't see how Permit cut them so they would clear the subframe better? The part over the subframe is the 3-into-1 collector.

As for my fitment, I have a 2-3mm spacer on the driver side, an 8-9mm spacer on the passenger side. There's about 1mm of space between the header and the motor mount arm, 2mm of space between the header and the subframe, and about 8mm or so between the header and the control arm bushing bracket (OEM).

I wouldn't say that these headers were more difficult to fit than any other headers would have been. Between removing the sway bar, twisting them in a bunch of directions, and raising the motor and removing the motor mount arm, it just turned out to be way more work than I thought it was going to be. I'm not gonna give them a thumbs down or thumbs up until the rest of the exhaust is fitted.

[golde30]

damn this sucks to hear. i was going to get a set of these for my s50, but i do not want them making contact with any part of my car. oh well, back to the drawing board...

[MR 325]

OT: Bill, what car is this anyway?

[EtaSport]

Hmm.. once I figured out which one to put up from underneath first I had no issue. You pretty much need to have no studs in the head so you can get them on too. I didnt even notice how close it was to the subframe until I put it on a lift. I never get any noise though, so im not worried about it. My car is ghetto though and i dont care much about it.

[kolunda]

I have some TMS shorty headers on mine, but I see the exact same headers on ebay all the time. They were a PITA to put on but not as bad as yours. Had to modify the strut tower to clear one part and jack up the other side of the motor to put them in.