318is --> baby M3

[Artem]

Since the costs of the venerable E30 M3 have recently gone to the moon, the hopes of me ever owning one became slim to none, but since it was a car I've always wanted to drive since I was a kid, I figured I'd get the next best thing and modify the car I've owned for almost 2 decades (which unfortunately sat for half the time) to be as close in characteristics to a stock E30 M3 as possible.

My main priorities to do this are:
* ~192HP Target figure
* 280mm Front brakes (rear TBD)
* 19mm/14.5mm Sway bars
* 15x7-15x8 wheels
* Limited Slip diff [I got conflicting figures of 4.10 being the stock M3 ratio, some saying in mid-3s, I got 4.10 since it was stock on a 318is]

The most tricky part of all this was going to be getting more power out of the engine, to do this I teamed up with getting the HYDE E36 kit working in an E30 chassis. I've swapped a low mileage E36 318ti motor ouf of a 1995 318ti into it, keeping the E30 oil pan, intake and exhaust, along with all the cooling stuff. And I will be detailing the rest of the process as well.

Slightly Modified Motor (for now):
Intake - OE E30
Oil Pan - OE E30
Exhaust - OE E30
Internals - OE E36 1995ti M42
Serpentine Micro-V Belt setup from a 1995 318TI

Supercharger Kit:
BOSCH 30# Injectors 0280150785
AMR500 Kit from HYDE MotorWorks (Smallish pulley), Looking at about 5-8 PSI of boost
Innovate MTX-AL wideband gauge
Innovate MTX-A Analog 20psi boost gauge
Innovate MTX-A Analog Oil Temp Gauge
Custom Fuel Map for Bosch motronic ECU (To be iterated)

Suspension:
HR Sport Springs
Bilstein Sport Shocks Front + Back
OE E30 318is Sway bars 20mm Front/12mm Rear

Brakes:
OE For now, 260mm OE Rotors + OE Pads
Future: Front Wilwood Calipers + 280mm Corrado 4x100 Rotors

Wheels:
Ronal LS 15x7.5" ET25 4x100 Wheels
Kumho Ecsta AST Tires 225/50 R15

Differential:
Mid-case 4.10 Limited Slip Differential

Audio (Inconsequential to driving):
Alpine UTE-73BT Bluetooth Mechless Headunit w. 24-bit D/A Converters
A/D/S PQ10 Amplifier
Pioneer/Kenwood 4-5" Speakers fit in speaker spots

[Artem]

Pics for attention :)

[jsnppp]

Subscribed! Looks great and should be a fun project!

[82eye]

nice project. it will probably be even easier to live with than an m3 when you are done.

[bmwman91]

Awesome project, I am interested to see how it goes!

I wonder if you could stick with the E36 ECU (M1.7.2) so that you retain knock sensing capability, but have a tuner remove the DISA functions / related CEL? Knock sensing is not super important on an NA engine, but obviously with FI it becomes a bit more important even if you are running low boost since the M42 has a 10:1 CR. Anyway, I posted a little info about my thoughts on tuning over in your thread on M42Club too. But it is your project, so of course approach it however you feel is right!

[hozzziii]

Sweet project. Subbed!

[Artem]

Thanks guys! That's a good point about the knock sensors, unfortunately, I dont have the E36 ECU, but it may be possible to in the future retrofit something that that - its definitely a good idea! I'll keep everyone posted on here with pics and stuff as well as on the M42club board, and maybe a few others. If anyone is interested in the detailed list of components required for the serpentine belt swap, I can post those too, biggest hiccup is the dip stick as that needs to be removed (since its now missing its mount and doesnt route around the belt accessories, but I'll figure it out one way or another :)

[Artem]

Hey I got a question for you, bmwman91 - I was looking through your posts about the innovate wideband install, and first of all - holy crap, what a WEALTH of information! [http://www.m42club.com/forum/index.php?topic=14851] Thank you for documenting it all so well!!! But from reviewing that I wanted to check on something - my wideband sensor (Innovate MTX-AL) setup doesnt have a separate ground for the narrowband signal, would it be ok to ground the ECU O2 ground signal to the global ground and use the sensor out for the O2 positive sense or is there a danger of screwing up the ECU in some fashion? It seems like you were battling some minor offset as a result of that on the LC1...

[Artem]

Updated pics of the project :) New wheels and tires: Ronal 15x7.5 ET25 + 225/50R15s

[Artem]

So after getting new wheels and tires on I noticed that the car felt super squirrely above 50MPH, and that the alignment was way off in the back (toe), and as a result, since I wanted to put the differential in anyway I decided to go all the way and swap the subframe with a fresh new unit, getting all new bushings in the process. The whole thing took way longer than expected, and I ended up cutting a hard line on one of the trailing arms, and the subframe support bolts got sheared on both sides, so I am still waiting on the replacement parts to come in, but at least the lion's share of work is done.

Status update:
*Engine - Unchanged (for now)
*Suspension - All new bushings installed, new rear subframe from a low mile CA car
*Brakes - Rear brakes completely replaced, front 280mm kit fully assembled, waiting to be installed
*Driveline - 4.10 LSD Differential installed
*Wheels + tires - Installed

After buttoning up the car I am planning on swapping the front brakes since I have to bleed the whole system anyway - I figured this is a good time to do that. Next few weeks I am planning on getting the wideband sensor and 30lb injectors into the engine with a modified fuel map. Stay tuned :)

[bmwman91]

Nice work! The rear subframe can definitely be a hassle if it has never been removed or you live somewhere with snow and salt. You will definitely be feeling the road with poly in the rear end!

[jsnppp]

Any updates?

[Artem]

Hey guys, sorry meant to bump the thread a bit earlier. Over the past month I did quite a bit more work on it. Ultimately, I did the following:

* One of the rear calipers was stuck, so I had to replace that one and pads as well - they glazed over...
* The wideband + water temp + boost gauges were installed and are running alright, just need to hook up the water temp gauge after the supercharger plumbing is installed
* The front brakes I installed the 280mm rotors and wilwood calipers and everything seemed to be running well, but I did have to battle the dust shields a little bit - everything it TIGHT in there
* The engine got new 30lbs injectors and the updated ECU firmware
* The supercharger is physically mounted to the engine with belt and output plumbed to the intake

Pics follow :)

Cheers,
Artem

[Artem]

More pics of the beginning of the supercharger install

[jsnppp]

Exciting progress! Looks great.