cameras ready prepare to flash

[s14brent]

I luv this thread. It's honestly the one I look forward to the most these days. Great work man!

Amazing work man, respect!

Thanks guys'!!

----------------------



got my spare all mounted and balanced!



I tried to pass smog and unfortunately failed. Turns out the gauge cluster in the car was replaced and is not coded for the cars' VIN. So it does not flash the SES/CEL lights on startup. Visual inspection failed, but I passed emissions, however there is a DTC for auto trans solenoid or something. I decided to get the AC recharged and replace the rear hatch and window shocks since they were sagging. Two things that would probably irritate me when it gets into the 100+ weather here in vegas, but i must say the weather this year has been super unpredictable! I almost refuse to wash any of the cars due to these random storms every other day!
So after the cluster is coded to the car, the auto dme must be unhooked and have the transmission adaptation values reset
(basically all things that need to be done in multiple bmw programs that costs a ton of money, so I'm probably going to buy a rebuilt cluster and have that programmed to my LCM/EWS (blackknight530i on bimmerforums offers this service), and have a local shop reset transmission adaptations for me) this is the part you don't expect (esp on newer cars) and throws the project budget a little higher than expected.
------------------------------
E30!!

Since the "530i wagon" is on hold, I've started to throw the e30 back together!
I got the shift carrier bracket from ecs, and went to install it.....turns out the z3m shift knob no longer fits someho....I have no idea wtf is going on...this is why you shouldn't leave projects sitting around for months at at time!! Anyways, here's a picture that shows the shaft selector rod angle and how it hits the driveshaft when connected......I ordered a z4 shifter for now, I'm just not ready to spend $400+ on a shifter setup like AKG or bimmerworld. especially since I still need to do registration fees on the wagon whenever that's done!



5 minutes in, and i'm waiting for new parts again....Meanwhile I've been plugging everything back in on the motor side, spacing the motor mounts with just plain washers, 2 on top, 1 lower for the same 5 or 6mm clearance for the headers, rerouting o2 sensor wires, etc. I can't wait to bolt up the drive shaft/exhaust and actually mount the fiskes and play with ride height and drive the thing!

I was trying to go to speedventures at spring mtn motorsport park on the 22nd, but apparently they are all SOLD OUT

-------still waiting on shifter to ship out from fcp....mean while I bought new nyloc nuts for motor mounts and steering rack. I don't know why but the engine oil pan to skid plate clearance is what it should have been in the first place (about an inch using m20 hikfab).




already thinking of moving my oil cooler & ps cooler and making my own -an lines....because I'd need the current area for an intercooler....you know...making room for more mods basically!

[parkerbink]

Trump was right, there is so much winning in this thread I'm tired of winning!

Amazing work man, respect!

[jeenyus]

I luv this thread. It's honestly the one I look forward to the most these days. Great work man!

[s14brent]

That should be a pretty nice wagon when it's done. Are you going to keep it?

It's going to be the new daily! the e36 m3 has been up for sale for the past month now! I'll at least be able to use the wagon to transport gear and equipment with no worries!

Fuck, a 330i wagon on Mpars? that's going to look fucking sexy

Technically, it would be a 530i wagon on mpars! ;)

---------------------edit------------------------------

so I think I'm going to have to get 15mm spacers for the rear, 20mm is just a bit too much and will rub & scrape when the SLS is aired down.



also...i finally swapped the zf trans on the e30 today!! HUGE!!! I am waiting for a new bracket (that holds the shifter assy to chassis) and then I'll reinstall driveshaft and exhaust and finally dial in ride height!

[CorvallisBMW]

Fuck, a 330i wagon on Mpars? that's going to look fucking sexy

[2mAn]

That should be a pretty nice wagon when it's done. Are you going to keep it?

[s14brent]

another wagon update:

Did a few of these upgrades a few weeks ago, then had a death in the family and haven't been in the garage until this last weekend. I had a massive vacuum leak and i'm glad I found it before spending any money at random parts. (thought it was a bad maf for a bit). e39's use those hard plastic lines with the built in clip. the line from the OSV going to dipstick tube was probably not fully "clicked" and worked its way loose. Really glad I could fix it without taking off the manifold again!


I was going to bleed the clutch slave, but after getting access to reservoir, decided a brake flush would probably be a good idea. I'm glad the previous owner included these lines, the car really needed them all replaced!



The rear lines were a super tight fit, I feel like they're almost stretching...not a huge fan of the design and almost wanted to leave them hanging. I feel a slightly longer line would probably add a few years of life to the lines.



Those are the original rear lines in all their cracked up glory.
I used a motive pressure bleeder to get all the air out, and i'm not very impressed with the stock clutch pedal feel, for some reason I thought it would feel like a stock sachs e36 m3, but it feels more like a na miata....::le sigh::

so i made a trip to the junkyard to cut out a few plugs to wire up the reverse lights. I only found one manual trans switch cut super-close to the plug, so unfortunately that's what I have to work with. soldered/extended and heat shrinked (3rd pic). cut off a few plugs at the dme which worked perfect, I actually only needed to cut one since all the pins there are the same style/length.



but then we get to the blue plug behind the gauge cluster. Not sure what happened here, but the donor car at the yard was an 01 525 sedan. The top pic with the grey plug is from my (02 525i) touring, the bottom is the one cut out from the donor vehicle. Turns out the grey plug has a slightly longer pin and doesn't raise high on one side like the black plug pins do. Kind of confused and disappointed since the 5 series are kind of lacking at the junkyards. I wasn't aware of the differences in clusters and hopefully I can find one with a grey connector.



I ran all the wiring through the engine bay dme location, firewall, and through to the gauge cluster. All connections soldered and heat shrinked, all i need is this last pin and hopefully I'll see the reverse lights illuminate!

I ended up getting the right gauge cluster pin out of an 01 540i part out from a local shop. After some help i got my reverse lights working. (Ran wiring from reverse light switch straight to the back of the gauge cluster, apparently all e39 is this way but people want to do it the hard way and do additional coding)



I ordered the little plug for where the automatic shift linkage goes.



A friend of mine had a staggered set of e38 Mpars collecting dust. I ended up getting them for free since they weren't in great shape. I dropped them off to get refinished, and I ordered new Hankooks that should fit the wagon better.



Decided to run studs and spacers that step down the hub from 74.1 to 72.56 so I can run the Mpars after they get refinished! (15mm front and 20mm rear)



Decided to replace the fuel filter since I had no idea when or if the p/o did this. To my surprise the filter was stamped with a 2014 date. (not bad!) I replaced it with a mahle stamped 11/16.



Picked up the wheels from getting refinished...threw on some non-e38 tire sizes (235/40/18 & 265/35/18 hankook ventus evo2's) HUGE dfifference!



and I ended up trading a subwoofer that was sitting in storage for an 18x8 full size spare.



pretty stoked! going to burp the coolant and power steering tomorrow, and finally take this thing out for a test drive!

[s14brent]

looks pretty good with all the plastics on. (it looks identical to my stock m54b25 just a slightly larger intake manifold)



I got extremely lucky. There was a local guy trying to swap a m54b30 into his e36, but ended up scrapping the project. Anyways, he had a chipped ms43 DME with ews delete. It fired up on the first try!! 3 liter manual wagon FTW!! I have to wire up the reverse lights next, and finish the exhaust - open header is a bit loud but sound awesome!!

[s14brent]

planning on putting the m54b30 in the wagon end of this week! meanwhile, trying to replace a few things that were broken.

the cup holder for one was broken.



The fill hose for the washer reservoir in the driver side wheel well was broken in a few spots.....turns out this hose is $48!! I went to a junkyard with 5 e39's on hand, and all of them were in pretty bad shape or just missing completely.....damn. Waiting for this thing to arrive!



I ended up finding a pair of headers (brand new) local for under $100, ended up going that route vs welding on new flanges (just don't have the time right now unfortunately). Transferred over the o2's and put oem m50/s50 gaskets since the cheap ones are the worst. (I decided not to go with the m54 ones with the heat shield because I've heard it can collect oil (leaks) and be a potential fire hazard.)



I had to clearance one of the runners to clear the o2 sensor. ::enter:: BFH



shifter carrier installed. Can't wait to see how all this feels!! delrin shifter bushings, ETA aluminum dssr, e60 shifter...yum! (new guibo installed also)



I also found a local guy who has chipped ms43 dme for sale (with ews delete), he was doing a 3.0 swap but into a 325. Thinking about picking it up, since it's local and can get me up and running without downtime!

---update----


$50 plastic hose came in



installed all nice



after some frustrating moments, I got the motor in place with the help of a friend! I had to swap over the m54b25 coolant temp sensor and the SAP check valve that bolts onto the head.




after figuring out the wiring and vacuum lines under the intake manifold I mocked up the 528i AFE intake that I picked up.



radiator, clutch fan, with a new oem fan shroud and febi radiator hoses installed, fluids filled! (you can see the difference in check valve in this picture)



I just need to weld up two or three sections on the exhaust, and get a hold of that local guy with the m54b30 chipped dme (or just get my dme reflashed). Battery is back on the battery tender so i'll be ready to fire it up when the time comes!

[Kershaw]

Only since the early 2000s. That's why none of us (I certainly didn't) know that.

[ngampleh]

Me too... thanks for write up Brent !!

[CorvallisBMW]

Interesting, I had no idea BMW used SACs.

[s14brent]

Self-adjusting clutch tool kit? Is that just for lining up the PP & clutch, or for something else?

a self adjusting clutch has a mechanism inside the pressure plate that automatically lowers the engagement point through the wear of the clutch so that the engagement point will be roughly the same throughout its life. The tool basically resets the diaphragm springs for correct operation. If not properly reset, there's a bunch of problems that could occur.

some info i found posted by uuc in an old thread somewhere which made me decide buying the tool would probably be worth it since I'm reinstalling a clutch that was barely worn. and these are a some "symptoms" in installed incorrectly. If I didn't owe a ton of money for taxes this year I would have converted to a non-sac setup to avoid this whole situation.


" SACs have a few basic failure modes:

1) Incomplete disengagement - you can never fully release the clutch. Symptoms include difficulty getting into or out of gear. Cause: Over-adjusted pressure plate. Final result: clutch failure from excessive wear, potential transmission synchro damage from forcing gear changes.

2) Incomplete engagement - clutch does not hold as strongly as it should due to insufficient clamp load. Symptoms include slipping, especially in high load/low-rpm situations, burning clutch smell. Cause: Under-adjusted pressure plate. Final result: clutch failure from excessive wear.

3) Inconsistent engagement/disengagement - sometimes engagement point is higher, sometimes lower (different than changing slave hydraulic fluid temp!). Cause: combinaton of #1 and #2 above, but adjuster sliders slipping back and forth. Final result: clutch failure from excessive wear, potential transmission synchro damage from forcing gear changes.

4) Juddering engagement - impossible to engage cutch smoothly, particularly in First or Revers. Cause: one or two of the three adjusters may be stuck. Final result: clutch failure from excessive wear, potential transmission synchro damage from forcing gear changes.

What causes these problems with the SAC mechanism? The mechanism gets fouled by normal clutch dust and the spring-loaded adjuster sliders get stuck either permanently or intermittently. Also, a "clutch dump" hard launch can knock the adjusters into a different position where they may get stuck.

SAC is a flawed design which causes many people to pay for prematurely-failed clutches, and also degenerates the driving experience due to a lack of feel. "

[CorvallisBMW]

Self-adjusting clutch tool kit? Is that just for lining up the PP & clutch, or for something else?

[s14brent]

so my m54b25 didn't have the spacer that goes between the motor and trans, ended up ordering one off ebay for a good price (really helped save time trying to pull one from the junkyard). It came in today, had a bit of surface rust on it - hit it with a wire wheel and threw it on.



Flywheel was thrown on, blue loctite used and torqued to spec.




I picked up all new pressure plate bolts (PO used 3 different length bolts - wtf) Both the clutch/flywheel (sachs/luk) are being reused. They were probably replaced when the PO did the 5spd swap. Clutch disk has a ton of life and didn't have the usual uneven wear. I had the clutch alignment tool from my s52. The M54 uses a self adjusting clutch (SAC) that needs to be "reset" if reused, and there's a special tool for that job. After flywheel was torqued, I used the flywheel stopper and torqued the crank down to 250 ft/lb's (as much as my torque wrench is able to go, I've read 250-300 is where you want it).

new selector rod shaft seal and rod joint. Should be nice with the e60 545i shifter....also ordered another pair of delrin shifter bushings.



I had a guy who makes 5lug caliper adapters for e30's (ig: @e30adapters) machine me a DSSR



one of the many hoses replaced (this one goes from brake booster to under the intake manifold.



replaced rear main seal, and pilot bearing (not fully seated)



replaced the output shaft seal and cleaned up the flange



and waiting for the input shaft seal here



removed the pioneer head unit that was held together with tape and soldered in a new stereo harness for my nakamichi cd400 from my e36 m3. also got a new dash kit for the headunit that has a small pocket vs the other one it came with. The dash kit is a POS and i had to modify it with a dremel to fit the faceplate trim



So besides waiting on a few parts, I'm not sure if i mentioned the exhaust was welded directly to the header flanges, started to cut them all off and grind it down today.

check out those PO booger welds!



and after some cutting and grinding it looks like this before throwing onto a belt sander (turns out i will just cut these off and reweld on new flanges - wasted entirely too much time on this already!)



input shaft seal came in, also installed the OEM steel pivot and a new sachs TOB (not shown).



My oval shifter bushings from garagistic arrived. They are a different design than the ones previously ordered from them. I had to put the inner bushings on a belt sander to fit in the given space correctly. The outer ones are thicker, i'll have to mock this up on the trans to make sure I won't have to deal with fitment issues under the car.



I bought the self-adjusting clutch tool kit from 8milelake. seemed like the best bang for the buck, but none of the alignment tool fit so I had to take the smallest one and throw it on the belt sander until it could fit into the pilot bearing.



and the tool in use:



will mate the engine and trans on my next day off - right now i'm waiting on the headers - ended up cutting off the flanges, but waiting for new 2" flanges to arrive and I need to probably refill argon.

Hoping to be able to throw the motor and trans back in the car next week!