A Tale of 2 Sedans M42/S52

[eternal24k]

The 318i overhaul continues, new exhaust (Magniflow cat and Bosal muffler), the Bosal components and hangers left some to be desired, but overall very happy with how quiet the car is. Just waiting on FCP for the front hanger off the trans, the car didn't have one and I would like to give some support up there.



I also went with a coil over plug conversion and new Hitachi coils. Of course the back bolt came out of the head with the threads, so I had to bust out the Helicoil kit. The spring got a little funky feeling on insertion and was a little hard to catch the threads, but the bolt caught and it is strong, much stronger than any of the aluminum threads. But the wonky insertion tool has me wanting to get a Time Sert kit to have, i just never love the helicoil feel.


That being said, the car has had a new AGM Group 94 battery, but always took a few cranks to start, but this started first crank, fastest starting car I own at this point, blew me away.


Once I get the exhaust hanger I can get this back on the road, then vinyl wrap the roof and get the roof rack for my wifes bike on it.

[moatilliatta]

Looking good. A timecert is a much more solid thread repair.

I never herd of hitachi coils, had to look that one up. Which COP kit did you go with? Sorry if I missed that detail.

Are the hitachi better than the bremi?

I redid my COP for the bigger square Bosch coils as the Bremi / STI are problematic.

[eternal24k]

Looking good. A timecert is a much more solid thread repair. I never herd of hitachi coils, had to look that one up. Which COP kit did you go with? Sorry if I missed that detail. Are the hitachi better than the bremi? I redid my COP for the bigger square Bosch coils as the Bremi / STI are problematic.

Thanks. Hitachi is OEM for a bunch of Toyota models, or at least they used to be, it’s why I tried them out. I haven’t been happy with Bremi Chinese made coils so I tried these out for $35 a piece from Rock Auto, was disappointed to see they were also Chinese made, but then again, so were my last set of NGKs... COP kit came from Tangent Innovations

[moatilliatta]

Ill have to keep Tangent in mind, cool stuff of their website, must be owned by a crazy enthusiast, perfect!. I used GDK sportscars years ago with a cut down M52 ignition harness. Mine is for E36 318Ti though. I had to pretty much redo the coil holes in the bracket in a mill to fit the Bosch coils because of their size. I ended up keeping a spare cut down #1 coil in the trunk in case I ever had to swap it out. I wish there were a coil cover option. I wonder if tangent would make that complete package.

Strut bar doesn't fit probably because your towers have moved inward. Active aged camber!

[Northern]

I always have to jack the car up to get a strut bar to fit right, just relieve the force from the tower and they should relax enough to get the bar on.

[eternal24k]

I always have to jack the car up to get a strut bar to fit right, just relieve the force from the tower and they should relax enough to get the bar on.

that works when the struts need to go further apart (how i installed my $50 BavAuto on this car), on my S52 car, i had the opposite problem.

Speaking of which, I've got the S52 swap back, dissapointed to say that it is not painted. Spent 5 months at paint shop, never happened, so I picked it up to work on it and then drop it off when I deploy next month.
The summer 4 wheel fleet, the CRX being my wife's favorite and just averaged around 50mpg on a trip to Maine



First thing I got to


Wow, what a massive PITA, but I ordered some MT2 trunk springs to help with the under sprung trunk, even with both springs at strongest point the trunk would always slam. Huge PITA, but I got them in and still have all my fingers.
For those who do this, the small socket was a lifesaver, gave leverage while keeping fingers safe:


Also, for this spoiler (Hartge), I think i could have gotten away with just one of the MT2 springs, both at the most relaxed position is very strong, but better than slamming

[Northern]

that works when the struts need to go further apart (how i installed my $50 BavAuto on this car), on my S52 car, i had the opposite problem.

Ah I missed that. Weird problem to have.

Also find it weird that I clicked the notification for this thread and see the same images I was just staring at on facebook lol

[downforce22]

ill have to try that socket solution, Ive had a trunk that wont hold itself up for a while now but i like your solution

[eternal24k]

speaking of solutions...
I wasted hours messing aronud with bolts and other bits trying to re-install the bitch clip while installing my Autosolutions Madman shifter. Every piece of that kit is tight, and getting the clip all the way through both sides of the mount was absolutely killing me. Until i realized that I had an old clip, so i turned it down with a nice taper and drove it in with the new clip right behind it, and it worked so well.





New rogue trans mounts (nothing exciting to look at, trying to track things in this thread for my future self)


Topped it off with a weighted Blackforest Industries shifter, hoping this turns out to be worth some hype, was a bit more work than i originally budgeted....

[eternal24k]

Finally got wiring for the bixenon conversion. I had gotten an open barrel crimper that i've been wanting to try out, so i took my time with all splices to not only crimp, but solder and then heat shrink, overkill, but looking back at some wiring i have found from the PO, better than the alternative...








Initial impressions- Very happy. At first i was worried the HID were too blue, but they warm up to the 3800k bulb temp rather quickly. The cutoff looks amazing, and the audible "click" of the shields when going from low to high is very satisfying

I'll snap some output photos when i get the exhaust back on and out of the garage.

[eternal24k]

weather took a turn which has really slowed things down.... But I did finally get the exhaust back on the S52 after the Autosolutions shifter swap and finally threw my Compomotive wheels on, sneak peak:

[eternal24k]

Finally mounted my TH2s and couldn’t be happier, and the Autosolutions shifter is great. I did just put Pentosin MTF2 (my ZF320 has a MTF sticker) and it was pretty notchy, I forgot how much I chased smooth shifting fluids in my E36 M3, but if it doesn’t improve with warmer weather I’ll probably go back to D4 or mix D4 with MT90...

[bimmer630]

What are the F/R piston sizes on that E83 master?

[eternal24k]

What are the F/R piston sizes on that E83 master?

No idea mate

[eternal24k]

been doing a ton of wiring, starting with Komfort Relay from Skudak Rennsport (Kyle's doing god's work for the E30)


End results are super handy, I love the tap-to-signal feature

I also wired in the new cluster, oil temp, volt meter, still need to hook up the coolant temp, but overall super happy with the cluster



Not sure if this video will work...

Untitled by M K, on Flickr