2.8L M20 9.8:1 stroker build: my 323i reincarnated

[betz]

Happened to have a DA polisher lying around so I thought I'd try my hand in some paint correction.

Washed, clayed, took before pictures, medium cut 6" foam pad + Harbor freight DA + Meguires 205, then wax.

Results



Hood before



Hood after



It looks even better in person, super deep and shiny. I dropped it off at the shop right after, not sure what they'll think lol. Some fine quality turd polishing

[AC_Schnitzel]

the base color is beautiful

[2mAn]

the base color is beautiful

totally agree.

I want to see this thing with tags and a dyno!! Im waiting to start buying and building

[betz]

totally agree.

I want to see this thing with tags and a dyno!! Im waiting to start buying and building

My car was at the shop- it's done now! I was getting the AFM readjusted but also getting the transmission dowels put in so my starter will be better aligned, it was noisy before, now it's nice and quiet.

Apparently I had set it too rich, so the oxygen sensor was overcompensating and leaning it out a ton. Now everything is good, and apparently pulls waay harder above 3k. Am super excited to check it out after work! I might just take it straight to the smog place after.

[2mAn]

My car was at the shop- it's done now! I was getting the AFM readjusted but also getting the transmission dowels put in so my starter will be better aligned, it was noisy before, now it's nice and quiet.

Apparently I had set it too rich, so the oxygen sensor was overcompensating and leaning it out a ton. Now everything is good, and apparently pulls waay harder above 3k. Am super excited to check it out after work! I might just take it straight to the smog place after.

Make sure you warm up the cats by... spirited.... driving

[betz]

Make sure you warm up the cats by... spirited.... driving

Yes... to warm up the cat...

[betz]

Failed again... Damn. This time it passed the 15mph but failed the 25 mph even worse.

Going to try plugging in the stock ECU and take it from there.

[2mAn]

Failed again... Damn. This time it passed the 15mph but failed the 25 mph even worse.

Going to try plugging in the stock ECU and take it from there.

Ive heard that this is a good reason to go with the Miller MAF setups because you can have a tune specifically for smog and another for performance. Of course its a lot of time on the dyno so its not a cheap solution and then you have to hope that the smog guy doesnt notice that its a MAF conversion

[betz]

UHHH another fail. I'm so freaking close dammit! Below's the results of the three tests

It seems a big part of the failed smog checks was that my temp gauge has been going to about 3/4 pretty consistently even when driven fairly normally. I replaced both the thermostat sensors and now the needle stays dead center.

After fixing that, I first I tried putting in the stock ECU (spare 179 ECU w/ E30 chip). It was shaking a ton at idle and super lean at the stock setting. Putting the AFM wheel back at the setting the shop had set it and it was fine. I changed out my AFM for a spare that hasn't been tampered with. Started up the car and it just dies immediately. Elbow for the ICV popped out changing the AFM - no big deal, but that could be the source of a vacuum leak. Pop it back in and it runs totally fine, maybe a little bit of shudder at idle that goes away given any gas. Surprised since the seemingly stock setting of the old AFM it was shuddering like a mofo. Drive it around and it's very slow but I have experienced this before and it's just the ECU doing its learning thing. After driving it a bit it seems perfect. A bit slower than with the Sssquid tune, but that's what I think I would want for smog.





Way I see it, I have three options-
1- Put the ECU with the tune back in, since it will probably deliver more fuel. Although, it will have advanced ignition timing and that could push it over the edge. Will probably do this regardless.
2- Let the shop play with the AFM again, possibly messing up the AFM again but possibly richening it up a bit to pass smog.
3- Use the stock ECU and up the fuel pressure, either with the bavauto or the 944 regulators. Or an in-line screw that some Mercedes have for adjustment, if I can find one. This way the timing is still retarded a bit but there's more fuel at all RPMs.

If anyone else has any other ideas, I'm all ears.

[digger]

Custom burnt chip tuned on dyno or Ms pnp....

[betz]

Custom burnt chip tuned on dyno or Ms pnp....

No idea where I'd find someone who does custom burnt chips on dyno in California.

I have been considering the MS PNP. Dear Santa...

[betz]

Headers in (finally)! Ceramic coating took forever.

I'm going with S52 injectors to rule that out and hopefully have more than enough flow. At this point running too rich would be a welcome sight.

Going on snowboarding trip, so probably won't see any more progress until next year.



Beer for scale

[betz]

Hoping some spark plug whisperers can chime in here.

Here are what my 6 spark plugs look like

Cylinder 1 looks different from the others. It appears to be either rich or oil contaminated. Not too sure, nor do I know what it means for me...

[KIRIEIW]

It seems a big part of the failed smog checks was that my temp gauge has been going to about 3/4 pretty consistently even when driven fairly normally.

Considering excess NOx is caused by the combustion temp being too hot, that's a good place to start :). I had one hell of a time bleeding the cooling system on a buddies early style cooling system last weekend. The car would start to creep to around 3/4 only at idle after a few minutes. After bleeding the car over the course of a few days, letting it sit over night, try again the next day, ect. it seems I finally got all the air out of the system (fingers crossed anyways, seems to be OK now). I've bled at least 10x e30 cooling systems over the years but this was the first early style cooling system I've dealt with. Not sure if I just got a stubborn one or if early cars are just a bit trickier, but if the temp continues to climb even after replacing those temp sensors you mentioned, its just a thought. Awesome build man keep it up.

[TrentW]

Thankful no emissions testing required for my E30 here in Illinois. You West Coast guys must get awfully frustrated trying to get a passing grade.

Thanks for a thread that's making me eager to start my 2.8 stroker build this Spring.