Andrew's Sterlingsilber 90 325iS -> 318iS

[Andrew325is]

I weighed the car on the truck scale nearby and it's ~2,700 lbs. So that makes it the same weight as a Z3 1.9 and about 100 lbs more than a stock original 318is, due to the 325is chassis sound deadening, larger fuel tank, and other options like CC, OBC, & check control. The M44 will make up for that extra weight and it should have the same performance as the Z3. Car and Driver achieved 0-60 in 7.9 seconds with their Z3, so it might actually be a hair faster than an original 318is. Either way, it's right in there. Here are power diagrams comparing the E30 M42 with E36 M42 and also the E36 M42 versus the M44. The M44 has quite a bit more mid-range power compared to the E30 M42.

[Albie325]

Car looks great, lots of good work here in the last few months. Congrats, glad you're out enjoying the car again!

[Andrew325is]

Thanks. :)

Well I think it revs past 5500. I've rev'd it up and it hasn't seem to hit a ceiling. Update: Yep, it revs past 6k rpms.

[e30sh]

I just wired it to the E30 speed signal (C101 #14 to X20 #9) like on a OBD2 24V swap. It seems to be fine with it.

it will rev past ~5500? I read about some other guy dioing a conversion like this. Don't recall the exact details but the E 36 uses the ABS sensor and the E 30 uses the diff signal. He had to run a signal converter to get past 5500 or so.

Either way, nice work

[mike.bmw]

Wooohoooo! Awesome work!

[Andrew325is]

I got the car running just in time for Thanksgiving. Have about 300 miles on it and loving it! It feels faster than it was with the M20. It's like 24V. It's incredible! One big test for it was going uphill at highway speed. It goes right up in 5th gear without having to downshift and can accelerate. I'm very impressed. I didn't think it would be so great for the highway. Fuel mileage is also impressive. I haven't calculated it yet, but there's still over 1/4 tank left. Most I could get out of a tank with the M20 was about 250 miles.

[Andrew325is]

Nice write up. How are you going to handle the speed signal to the DME?

I just wired it to the E30 speed signal (C101 #14 to X20 #9) like on a OBD2 24V swap. It seems to be fine with it.

[e30sh]

Nice write up. How are you going to handle the speed signal to the DME?

[jeenyus]

great work! Looks like it turned out really good.

[Andrew325is]

It was a little frustrating doing the hoses for the power steering, but after I got it figured out it's pretty simple. Since I'm using the Z3 pump the high pressure line connects to the rack just fine without being modified. The only hose that needed to be modified was the low pressure hose from the rack to the reservoir. The write-ups I've seen on the forum here are evidently for early E30s that have a banjo fitting that connects to bulk hose. On late E30s that hose is pre-assembled. The early banjo fittings are also NLA. So what I did was cut the hose off about an inch and a half or so from the fitting and I installed a 1/2" brass PEX 90 degree elbow. Then I got the bulk hose and connected that to the reservoir. The Z3 pump doesn't use a banjo fitting for the hose so I just replaced the short one with a longer one I cut to fit. I ordered the proper size hoses (using the part numbers for the early cars), but the larger one was very difficult to slip onto the port/nipple on the reservoir. I used the Oetiker crimp clamps I picked up from the BMW dealer.



I decided to install all the emissions equipment so I don't have any trouble codes and to make the car California legal in case I ever go to sell it. Since this M44 is the TLEV version there are 2 extra components for the fuel vapor emissions system, which are the larger charcoal canister with shut-off valve and the fuel tank pressure sensor. There is a thread on the forum here that shows how to install the E36 charcoal canister that goes in the spare tire wheel well and I was planning to do that, but I don't really like the idea of drilling holes in the side of the car, so I was able to find a spot to mount the charcoal canister from the Z3 under the car. It's fits pretty well between the right rear wheel well and the spare tire wheel well. I repurposed the bracket for it and mounted it using a U-bolt to the fuel filler pipe along with a couple zip ties to help keep it from moving around.




I fitted the fuel tank pressure sensor in-line with the hose going from the filler neck to the vapor expansion tank using a y-adapter like on an E36 318ti.



I found a little spot to put the 3/2 valve with FPR.

[Andrew325is]

Pretty good progress, good job!
I guess it's too late to tell you about the 6-speed conversion method for an m42/m44 that recently crossed my path...
Excited to see more!

Well, I don't think there is much benefit to doing that, unless you wanted a stronger gearbox for boost, because the gears are different in those so you'd need to use a lower ratio differential. 5th in those is 1:1 like 4th in the E30 gearbox, with 6th as the overdrive instead of 5th and I think you'd end up with a basically unusable 1st gear.

[dmanb2b]

This is awesome!

[gnmzl]

Pretty good progress, good job!
I guess it's too late to tell you about the 6-speed conversion method for an m42/m44 that recently crossed my path...
Excited to see more!

[Andrew325is]

Yeah, I had to enlarge the hole in the firewall on the lower corner. I made the plate out of some steel the same thickness as the original. It looks like the column rubs just a little on the grommet so I could have made the hole go over even farther, but I think it's fine. The firewall definitely needs to be notched. If you didn't it would rub pretty bad.

That's what I was thinking with the 4 cyl too. BMW 6 cyls are great engines, but they barely fit in the E30 engine bay and kind of throw off the balance of the car. I want it to be like the M3 with the S14, but lower cost for daily driver duty.

[downforce22]

great build, the e30 with m42 is a great powerplant, curious to see how the m44 does for you. having a 4 cyl may be the 'right' engine for the chassis as the successor to the 2002