S52 Brilliantrot 318is from Australia

[jsta1109]

Thats awesome man. Sucks about the oil leak on track :/ hopefully didn't cause any troubles for other cars on the day.

More seat time and better brakes will get your times up to scratch for sure, make the most of the extra power.

Very cool car man.

Thanks, seat time would help for sure, still need to build the confidence up. Brakes were horrible, don't want to have that as an inexperienced excuse, but they genuinely sucked. The leak itself wasn't bad, but definitely wasn't good. It is now fixed and back up and running leak free.

What's the hard bit about the starter when in an E30? Is there not much room?
I did one on a friend's M50 E36 and it was surprisingly easy. Few extensions in over the transmission and a flatblade to hold the nut on the engine bay side and it was out

It's pretty cramped with the M52 in there, not a whole lot of room getting to it, really helps having two people. Also, manifold has to come off, which again, not exactly hard, just a huge pain with how cramped it is.

[jsta1109]

Hello again, it's been a while. Here's a photo from a recent cruise.



Been really quite busy over the course of the past few months, I am about 3 weeks away from graduating uni at this point, doing anything car related has been a real struggle with time. So, after sorting out the oil leak, the car has been running rather well. Recently spoke with a friend of a friend to sort out aircon lines, appears as if 318is lines have the correct fittings and an almost bolt on fit. Due to the motor moving forwards, the cabin to compressor line is too short (also flipped 180 degrees out), and the compressor to condenser line is too long.

All up for the aircon work I will be looking at around $200 for gas and soft line changes, re-using current fittings and replacing any O-Rings that we encounter. Before I can run with aircon, there were a few changes that needed to be made.

- Needed a puller fan
- Going to size up a larger radiator
- Need to mount S2 overflow



So I purchased one of the only fans that will fit between the radiator and m52, SPAL 30100400. Cheapest place for me to get it was through Summit Racing, even being halfway across the globe worked out to be half the price of anything I could get locally.

To get the fan to fit I had to chop the water pump nut off, this was a fun job, requiring the whole front end to come off in order to get a cut off wheel in there. It was at this point I regretted not going with a diesel clutch fan.



I tried cutting it without taking anything out, once you get past the threads the metal is far too hard to be cut with most hand tools.



This was the clearance that I ended up with, so far I've been driving for about a month with it there, no touching thus far which is great.



For wiring, I just mounted it to the harness cover, for now, couldn't really find a better place for it. I plan to eventually get a relay holder that will clip in under the harness cover, I made sure to leave enough wire to sort that.

Currently, the fan is wired to come on at 88c along with the high-speed fan, it cools very quickly even with the M42 radiator. I don't think this radiator will support the extra load that Aircon places on the cooling system, so I will eventually purchase a brand new 328i radiator.









Scored a rather nice exhaust system for $500, ended up selling my MagnaFlow and additional pieces for $300, so I was out of pocket $350 fitted for this system. Has greatly improved the sound, quiet when I am not on it, no drone but plenty of volume at full tilt.



Bought a boot trim piece really cheap, fitted that and dyed it black, looks great! Sure beats nothing at all.

Soon to come, with the ZF320 install.

[2mAn]

Not sure how hard it is to get, but the Z3M radiator is a direct bolt in and is the best one . Congrats on graduating uni

[jsta1109]

Not sure how hard it is to get, but the Z3M radiator is a direct bolt in and is the best one . Congrats on graduating uni

Can get one locally brand new for about $279, not sure about clearances with the fan though, being that it is a thicker core.

Thanks too btw, has been a fun ride, glad it's coming to an end.

[jsta1109]

Well hello there... It (as always) has been a while since the last update, things have slowed down now I've graduated and been working full time.

Aircon

My focus for the current moment has been trying to get the Aircon sorted on the car, which with limited time hasn't been the most productive thing. I originally tried to use the E30 318is lines, but the cabin -> compressor line isn't suitable, which lead me to buy 328i lines.



I've now mocked my lines up properly and got the all clear by my aircon guy to have those spliced together, just need to wait until after the Christmas period to get that sorted.



Decided during the Black Friday period that I would buy myself a parallel flow condenser to really help with the aircon efficiency, given we get some decently hot summer days here. (Already have seen 40c/104f days here and it's only just ticked over to summer)

With the break period coming, I should have this installed at some point soon, may also decide to upgrade the AUX fan while I am at it, I know the factory one is a bit tired and could do with a helping hand.

Sway Bar Fixes

On an off topic, I tried replacing my sway bar mounts with some adjustable ones, as when I originally mocked my front sway bar up I could only go back so far, it ended up being too far forward for the factory mounts.



I didn't have much success with that as I was getting some decent noise coming through those exposed rose joints.

What I ended up doing was cutting the universal brackets back a bit and drilling some new holes for the sway bar mount to move it back another 10/20mm or so with some wiggle room and put some brand new stock end links on. So far that's been going great.

Charcoal Canister

I've kind of just left the whole charcoal canister idea unattached, the valve wasn't operating correctly and caused the car to stall when it did actually operate. It's something I want to address soon enough, possibly will just delete it entirely.

Fan Shinanigens

I got myself some Spal generic brackets and actually decided to mount my fan properly without those horrible zip tie mounts. I was pretty happy with the result.

I actually did this unintentionally as my drive belt tensioner decided to let go, and chopping those plastic zip tie mounts off is a pain in the arse, let alone having to replace them every time I wanted to take the fan off, at least with these brackets taking the fan off and on again should now be a breeze.

Coolant Bottle Woes

I've mounted the coolant bottle halfway properly, currently only have the one hole drilled for the plastic clip, this hole had to go through the compliance plate (sorry QLD Gov).



Because I'm too much of a waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles to make my own mount for the bottom, the zip tie method has been working rather well... It is something I'd like to address when I get the time. That and my intake is a bit howyagoin.

Mushy Brake Boi

Not that this picture is super clear, I replaced the MC with a standard 22/17 318is one, instead of the 20/20 one I had there instead. I've been dealing with a mushy pedal for a while, and in replacing the master cylinder I believe the issue actually lies with the brake booster. With the master cylinder not in place, the pedal feels rather notchy and makes a heap of noise. Something I will address in the near future, as well as the master cylinder, had little to no effect on brake feel, it did, however, solve the rear being biased too much. Also, I would like to invest in a power bleeder, I absolutely suck at keeping brake fluid away from everything else, I make a huge mess and I should probably just invest in the right tools.

To sum this entire post up, the car has been pretty reliable, I've just been focusing on the little things that I've let slip. There is still some quick and nasty things floating about as you can see. Given my new work position, I can afford to get myself a better daily (come at me Fiesta ST). With a better daily, I can focus on getting all those nit-picky things 100% and having a well-sorted car. Will also mean I can have the ZF (GS6-37bz maybe ;)) and Diff (of which I plan on getting rebuilt with 4 clutches) in the car by easter time. This also means it may be time for me to focus on getting the body of the car sorted, I've got a lip/side skirts awaiting purchase and a bit of paint/body that needs doing.

[lukeADE335i]

Good work on getting towards sorting your AC!

If you're looking for an Aux fan that's a bit of an upgrade, but still an easy fit, check out an e34 or e32 aux fan. They're 16 inch with curved blades and are both quieter, and push a lot more air than the stock e30 aux fan. I use one of these on my M30 swap as the only fan and it works well.

The e39 also has an excellent aux fan in it with a nice leuvered shroud that opens when you're on the move to increase airflow, but closes when you're stationary.

[ba114]

Get multiples of those AC lines made up and send them my way! This heat is too much, i've had to retire the e30 and daily the x3 now

[Skarpa]

Great project! Its interesting to see you tackle similar issues as I will face in my project. (getting the A/C to run with M52 and such)

[jsta1109]

Good work on getting towards sorting your AC!

If you're looking for an Aux fan that's a bit of an upgrade, but still an easy fit, check out an e34 or e32 aux fan. They're 16 inch with curved blades and are both quieter, and push a lot more air than the stock e30 aux fan. I use one of these on my M30 swap as the only fan and it works well.

The e39 also has an excellent aux fan in it with a nice leuvered shroud that opens when you're on the move to increase airflow, but closes when you're stationary.

Something I will keep in mind for the future, I will see how the stock Aux fan holds up.

Get multiples of those AC lines made up and send them my way! This heat is too much, i've had to retire the e30 and daily the x3 now

I totally would but I don't think it's much of a challenge if you have a competent aircon guy. The person I'm seeing for this isn't charging me a whole lot.

Great project! Its interesting to see you tackle similar issues as I will face in my project. (getting the A/C to run with M52 and such)

It's a must here, during the day we can see upwards of 40c, that coupled with 100% humidity means you've got one nice looking oven to drive in. I am very excited to get it sorted, already struck out on a heatwave once, not looking forward to a second one.

[jsta1109]

Quick update, I have functioning Aircon! Had the lines made up at a local shop, the system was filled and away I went. The aircon isn't bad, certainly not the coldest I've felt, but the car runs great and doesn't overheat. Once the high speed and Spal kick on it goes right back to thermostat temp. We saw 12.5c vent temps at best, the bloke at the shop reckons If I replace the expansion valve and Evaporator I should see a lower temp reading, but only marginally so it's probably not worth it.

I will update this post later with photos, the lines are really quite something, the work they did was pretty good.

[lukeADE335i]

Great work on getting the AC working!

I've been almost 6 years now with no AC on my swap. Pretty sick of the really hot days though (41C here today - I'm getting too old for this!)

[Codym42]

Nice work!

Were you able to wire up the idle bump for the A/C?

[jsta1109]

Nice work!

Were you able to wire up the idle bump for the A/C?

I haven't done yet, it was my plan to do so on the weekend. From memory there just needs to be a relay that grounds a pin out on the ecu once it gets a 12v signal from the compressor being on.

[Codym42]

I haven't done yet, it was my plan to do so on the weekend. From memory there just needs to be a relay that grounds a pin out on the ecu once it gets a 12v signal from the compressor being on.

Yeah, I saw a thread that talks about two wires on the ecu and a relay. The picture is gone and I'm unsure on how to hook it up. I'm planning on getting the A/C on my swap car sorted out before summer.

[jsta1109]

Yeah, I saw a thread that talks about two wires on the ecu and a relay. The picture is gone and I'm unsure on how to hook it up. I'm planning on getting the A/C on my swap car sorted out before summer.

To be honest, it gets a bit of a wandering idle, but it hasn't affected driveability as such. So I wouldn't say it's 100% necessary, would just be a lot nicer to have it hooked up.

My setup personally uses a 3.7kg flywheel, when the AC loads up and I have the clutch out I get super mad rattles, so I would like the bump to work for that to quiet down a bit.