cameras ready prepare to flash

[2mAn]

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

[CorvallisBMW]

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

[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!

[jeenyus]

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

[parkerbink]

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

Amazing work man, respect!

[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!

[s14brent]

so the z4 shifter did not work, and I decided to order a pmc shifter. unreal shipping from those guys, got it in 4 days all the way from poland!



I kind of love that the shifter arm is not needed any more! so much cleaner of a setup!



stuck the condor shift knob sticker up on top



so another issue I ran into...I'm going to need fender flares for the car if I wanted to run the fiske fm5's. UGH




I'm pretty bummed about it....its about 1.25" - kamotors standard flares (fronts) are supposed to be exactly 1.25" (inner lip trimmed) so maybe with a little camber and trimming I can squeeze by. The rears aren't a problem and will probably require spacers to fit the flares. I'm not a huge fan of the ultra-wides on a bronzit sedan.

specs: e36 m3 LCA - 5lug, 17x8+12 235/40 dunlop star specs

3 week wait for the flares....it's too bad I don't like dtm's or ebay flares....I really wish I could get them ASAP. I have some fender welting for the older style kamotor flares. I hope I can use that.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I tore down the e39's original m54b25 because I was wondering about that 4th cylinder. I thought it was a bent valve, but I was wrong!!



I got the new gauge cluster that's coded to my car's dme. I have an appointment monday to get the transmission adaptations cleared. I should finally be smog ready by then!! FINALLY!!

[thedivision]

Does the PMC shifter just sandwich between the sheet metal?

[s14brent]

Does the PMC shifter just sandwich between the sheet metal?

yes. it's a pretty solid design. I was going to purchase AKG but I needed a shifter on somewhat of a smaller budget. I still can't get over the price and the quick shipping. I read somewhere the PMC shaft was hollow but it is not. I'm guessing they may have been talking about the older design.

[s14brent]

been busy with life, e39 touring is still not registered/smogged. :ugh:

While the car was sitting for a while I tried to get rid of the gap in the front, but failed miserably. I ordered some H&R front springs (29791-4) from germany thinking it would at least level the car to match the rear. I'm not sure if it's actually settled in yet, but it looks the same to me....def not a 40mm drop as promised. I did put some KYB bump stops and new rubber boot kit from ECS, and new lemforder top hats and drilled out a pair of m3 reinforcement plates I had laying around from my e30's 5lug front setup.



I ended up switching back to stock dme since the chipped dme apparently has a EU2 tune which i guess disables all of my CEL/SES and basically all warnings. I had local shop southwest bimmers re-code the dme to a 530i manual, and pulled out the auto dme finally! Big thanks to blackknight530i here for selling me another gauge cluster that wasn't all tampered with, and more importantly matched my vin so it could communicate with my DME. This car is such a headache, it's getting back to its once former glory.

I do have the trifecta of lights going on though (brake/abs/tcs) not sure if its a coding thing or if my abs module needs to be replaced or rebuilt. I'll get to that eventually, I kept getting p0491/0492 codes and thought it was a bad pump, so I got a SAP simulator and did a sap delete.



removed the pump and kept the cage for now to hold the fog light HID ballast and simulator.



also deleted the valve with the oem block off plate. The codes went away but eventually came back while trying to clear my drive cycle (used to come back on instantly after clearing before).



Turns out the sap plug wasn't getting any power, so I checked the relay and the 30a side was getting power...which led me down to the fuse.
super convenient location for fuses.



got a replacement from napa....new one is clear so you can check if it's blown visually.



Now things are working again, I will start the drive cycle all over again tonight and try to smog early next week!
--------------------------------------------

as for the e30.....since the pmc shifter is a sandwich type mount I made another reverse light harness. I cut the pigtails off 2 cars at the junkyard (which has been terrible lately, no new cars for months!) ordered a roll of 4.5mm shrink wrap and used some 16 gauge wire I had laying around (same stuff i made my e39 reverse wiring from). This is the one from my e39 which got wired to a pin behind the gauge cluster.



I did not take any pictures as I was putting the harness together in the car, and ran it from the shifter to behind the glove box, through the dme grommet, and across the engine harness then down and back over the trans to the switch. reverse lights done. going to do a few modifications to the exhaust, then hopefully fire her back up and dial in ride height with my varrostens on shit tires. until the kamotor standard flares arrive.

[2mAn]

How much of a pain was it to install the PMC shifter? Do you have to get under the car to install it since it sandwiches in

[s14brent]

How much of a pain was it to install the PMC shifter? Do you have to get under the car to install it since it sandwiches in

wasn't a huge pain because my car car never leaves its jackstands LOL!!

I also did a trans swap maybe a month ago, so my exhaust and drive shaft were already off. It is definitely easier if you have a second person to help out, but i used painters tape to hold the lower plate in place and going back in up top to put the screws in place - if that makes any sense

[2mAn]

wasn't a huge pain because my car car never leaves its jackstands LOL!!

I also did a trans swap maybe a month ago, so my exhaust and drive shaft were already off. It is definitely easier if you have a second person to help out, but i used painters tape to hold the lower plate in place and going back in up top to put the screws in place - if that makes any sense

That makes complete sense, thank you

[CorvallisBMW]

Wow, never seen fuses in that location before! What a PITA.

[AwakenNoMore]

You are going to love the PMC shifter. My brother has it in his car and its insanely fun to bang the gears. Thinking about getting one for myself.