M52 Swapped E30 Build - SPANNER RASH

[SPANNER RASH]

I went all-in and booked an MOT inspection for the M52 swap E30! In the UK, a car needs an annual MOT inspection to be road legal, and knowing I want to be shaking this car down ahead of summer, I decided to book her in.

Diving into a long shift in the workshop, I got stuck in refitting all of the old front-end parts to the E30 as in theory, now we know the car can move under its own power, all it should need is the old parts slapping back on for it to pass MOT inspection, right??

It was all going so well until we came to the first drive. Looks like I've got a lot of work to do before I can even think about taking it for a test... Gutted is an understatement! :(

If anyone has any ideas about why my clutch is slipping so bad, please let me know!

[Northern]

Probably one of the things I hate most about the e30 body part attachment is that stupid front valence bumper clip.

The screws that go from the inside of the car, thru valence, fender, and eventually valence clip is such a pain in the ass every time.
I ended up attaching 4 "camloc" receptacles to the valence, and use quarter-turn camlock studs to install from the other side.

awful news about the clutch, hopefully it is just some TOB/slave issue that is easy to resolve

[zoona]

I was about to write a post on here about suspension stuff and then I saw your video... Just watched it, but looks like you are not having the same issues as me...
As a reminder, I have basically copied you... on the suspension, wheel and brake setup.


First one is that the rear inside edge of my front wheels is rubbing on the chassis rails at full lock. Did you find anything similar?
Second is that the suspension is crazy stiff. It feels like I’ve got the cheapest nastiest coilovers on it. It hops and skips down the road… How did you find the ride?

One thing I would say (that I am sure you know already) is that a decent alignment will sort out your handling issues. When I put it all together it was so sketchy that I thought something was seriously wrong. But a trip to my friendly independent BMW shop sorted that immediately and it steers beautifully...

Keep up the videos, all good stuff.

P.S. fortunately (i think) there is absolutley no imspection of vehicles older than 1995 here in New Jersey. Absoltely crazy as you get some complete death traps driving around. But it makes my life a bit easier... But i feel for your MOT woes.

[SPANNER RASH]

Probably one of the things I hate most about the e30 body part attachment is that stupid front valence bumper clip.

The screws that go from the inside of the car, thru valence, fender, and eventually valence clip is such a pain in the ass every time.
I ended up attaching 4 "camloc" receptacles to the valence, and use quarter-turn camlock studs to install from the other side.

awful news about the clutch, hopefully it is just some TOB/slave issue that is easy to resolve

Agreed, what a bloody messy design they came up with for that. It's like they were trying to make it as awkward as possible!

Thanks, I'm still hoping its something minor like that.

[SPANNER RASH]

I was about to write a post on here about suspension stuff and then I saw your video... Just watched it, but looks like you are not having the same issues as me...
As a reminder, I have basically copied you... on the suspension, wheel and brake setup.


First one is that the rear inside edge of my front wheels is rubbing on the chassis rails at full lock. Did you find anything similar?
Second is that the suspension is crazy stiff. It feels like I’ve got the cheapest nastiest coilovers on it. It hops and skips down the road… How did you find the ride?

One thing I would say (that I am sure you know already) is that a decent alignment will sort out your handling issues. When I put it all together it was so sketchy that I thought something was seriously wrong. But a trip to my friendly independent BMW shop sorted that immediately and it steers beautifully...

Keep up the videos, all good stuff.

P.S. fortunately (i think) there is absolutley no imspection of vehicles older than 1995 here in New Jersey. Absoltely crazy as you get some complete death traps driving around. But it makes my life a bit easier... But i feel for your MOT woes.

Cheers mate, and yes based on a brief drive, I need an alignment ASAP, it was so darty it was ridiculous. To be expected really..

About the front wheels rubbing, yeah I have noticed a small tyre mark on my chassis rail when I was investigating the steering noise. I really wasn't expecting that to be honest.
I guess it's a combination of the Z3 rack, SRS Concept FCABs and the fact I've opted for 215 section tyres rather than stretching 205s (which I didn't like the look of). I've got a bit of a plan to solve that, in the form of a simple steering rack limiter. Looks like it barely touches to be fair, but shame.

I will make sure to cover that in the next vid as I think the tyre touching the chassis would be an MOT fail too. :D

In terms of the ride, it did seem stiff, which I anticipated with sporty coilovers, but not sure it was crazy stiff. Have you slackened off the adjusters on them to see if that makes a difference? Also if you are running them super low you might be hitting bump stops if there's very little travel. Let me know if you figure that one out.

[zoona]

Cheers mate, and yes based on a brief drive, I need an alignment ASAP, it was so darty it was ridiculous. To be expected really..

About the front wheels rubbing, yeah I have noticed a small tyre mark on my chassis rail when I was investigating the steering noise. I really wasn't expecting that to be honest.
I guess it's a combination of the Z3 rack, SRS Concept FCABs and the fact I've opted for 215 section tyres rather than stretching 205s (which I didn't like the look of). I've got a bit of a plan to solve that, in the form of a simple steering rack limiter. Looks like it barely touches to be fair, but shame.

I will make sure to cover that in the next vid as I think the tyre touching the chassis would be an MOT fail too. :D

In terms of the ride, it did seem stiff, which I anticipated with sporty coilovers, but not sure it was crazy stiff. Have you slackened off the adjusters on them to see if that makes a difference? Also if you are running them super low you might be hitting bump stops if there's very little travel. Let me know if you figure that one out.

v interested to see what you do with rack limiter. Saw these (https://slrspeed.com/products/steering-stop-set) but feels like something you could do without buying stuff...

I agree on the 205 - stretch tyres look ridiculous. the 215s on the 16" wheels look just right. It's difficult to tell they are not the std wheels.

I turned them all to soft (or at least I think i did... i need to check i didn't turn them the wrong way, but having he adjusters on the bottom is bloody stupid.) and i'm nowhere near bump stops - in fact I am about as high as they will let you go.


If you could continue solving my problems as I get to them, it would be appreciated

[SPANNER RASH]

Another M52 swap E30 update and very big news! The clutch no longer slips!

I couldn't tell you for sure what fixed it, all we did was remove the slave cylinder to determine there was nothing obviously wrong with it, then put it back. I can only describe it as a miracle, but having taken it on a couple more test runs, it now doesn't slip at all. Any theories on that would be appreciated.

Aside from that, I found out some unfortunate news, which was that my drive shafts (AKA axle shafts for my American friends) turned out to be toast and the driver's side one was slinging black CV axle grease all over the underside. I have thrown on some aftermarket SKF driveshafts which appear excellent quality to solve that.

zoona Check the vid out to see my solution with the steering rack limiters, the solution to the fact the tyre touches the chassis leg. When I looked closer I also spotted that the alloy rim actually contacts the ARB on full lock at full droop, pretty sketchy I say. I basically used some aluminum tube to create my own steering rack limiters, details in the vid. It was a bit of a pain to do as I had to have them on/off a few times to get them just right without losing too much lock.

I also got the 6-cyl coding plug installed so my cluster shows me the correct RPMs now I've swapped from a 4-pot. There's still a few bits to resolve before I can put it in for another MOT, but progress is being made again.

[SPANNER RASH]

I turned them all to soft (or at least I think i did... i need to check i didn't turn them the wrong way, but having the adjusters on the bottom is bloody stupid.) and I'm nowhere near bump stops - in fact I am about as high as they will let you go.

Also worth mentioning, yes now I've taken the car on a couple more test drives on back roads (which are poorly surfaced), I do agree, from a few more miles, the suspension definitely feels too stiff. On a billiard smooth road it would be great, but not on a British B-road. That's a little worrying as I think I have mine set more towards the soft side too. It's not the highest thing on my list of priorities right now, but seems like this will be something I need to come back to. Some more miles to break them in seems like the correct first step.

[zoona]

I was just watching the vid when the notification for you post came through.

zoona Check the vid out to see my solution with the steering rack limiters, the solution to the fact the tyre touches the chassis leg. When I looked closer I also spotted that the alloy rim actually contacts the ARB on full lock at full droop, pretty sketchy I say. I basically used some aluminum tube to create my own steering rack limiters, details in the vid. It was a bit of a pain to do as I had to have them on/off a few times to get them just right without losing too much lock.

I've ordered some of the cheap plastic ones that i can just clip on to get a rough measurement, then may make somethign like you did. BTW i was very dispaointed to see that the old man didn't have a secret workshop with a lathe...

I also got the 6-cyl coding plug installed so my cluster shows me the correct RPMs now I've swapped from a 4-pot. There's still a few bits to resolve before I can put it in for another MOT, but progress is being made again.

Ah... this may help expain something. I have been very confused about the revs shown in mine. Is there any way of telling from the chip if it is a 4 or 6 cylinder version?

Also worth mentioning, yes now I've taken the car on a couple more test drives on back roads (which are poorly surfaced), I do agree, from a few more miles, the suspension definitely feels too stiff. On a billiard smooth road it would be great, but not on a British B-road. That's a little worrying as I think I have mine set more towards the soft side too. It's not the highest thing on my list of priorities right now, but seems like this will be something I need to come back to. Some more miles to break them in seems like the correct first step.

I'm getting some custom coilovers made up by my local garage. Not cheap, but I didn't want to risk any more mistakes. I'll let you know what they are like when i get them...

[benfidar]

Yes, the part number. Here is one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/154407188499?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-166974-028196-7&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=154407188499&targeti d= 2282310057278&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=902156 5&poi=&campaignid=20834026295&mkgroupid=16128507 06 02&rlsatarget=pla-2282310057278&abcId=9350652&merchantid=6296724&geo id=9021565&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwuJ2xBhA3EiwA MVjkVCo0Crc02GM-LukuGxY9dp7vl-0O8ctvJNq_2TvoS4qVC6c4DPO-1BoCM8sQAvD_BwE

[SPANNER RASH]

zoona If the plastic ones work, it will be far easier no doubt!

Regarding the coding plug, if the cluster you have is from a 4-cyl car it will have the 4-cyl plug and be reading way too high. I believe it reads the ignition pulses and it will be expecting 4 in a cycle, so when it sees 6 it shows much higher inaccurate revs on the gauge, I think 1.5 times the revs you are really doing. If the cluster was from a 6-cyl then it will be correct already.

Let me know how it goes with the coils, I am still hoping I can make these ones work with the right springs. I may have them fully stiff on the damper settings yet though, I've not given it enough thought or experimentation.

[zoona]

benfidar - Thanks for the part. Have ordered one.

zoona If the plastic ones work, it will be far easier no doubt!

Regarding the coding plug, if the cluster you have is from a 4-cyl car it will have the 4-cyl plug and be reading way too high. I believe it reads the ignition pulses and it will be expecting 4 in a cycle, so when it sees 6 it shows much higher inaccurate revs on the gauge, I think 1.5 times the revs you are really doing. If the cluster was from a 6-cyl then it will be correct already.

Let me know how it goes with the coils, I am still hoping I can make these ones work with the right springs. I may have them fully stiff on the damper settings yet though, I've not given it enough thought or experimentation.

The car was originally a 318. And the conversion has been 'patchy' in quality - so I am confident they will not have swapped this out. I took it out today and it looks like an old chip, so have ordered a 6 cylinder one.
While I still think my car is geared very short, it does help explain why the revs seemed to be so high... and the fuel consumption thing does work properly.

I like doing as much work as I can on the car, but on some things I have just given up and thrown money at it (the coilovers). Will report back.

[SPANNER RASH]

Ah hopefully your cluster will make a lot more sense when you switch that coding plug! If you still have the 4-cyl diff like I do, you will likely want to change that also for better cruising revs on the motorway for the 6-cyl.

Regarding the coilovers, hopefully you can get fair money selling them on, but I'm still expecting to make mine work. I don't think it would be too expensive to switch to the softer spring if needs be and that could make a world of difference on a road car.

[zoona]

Ah hopefully your cluster will make a lot more sense when you switch that coding plug! If you still have the 4-cyl diff like I do, you will likely want to change that also for better cruising revs on the motorway for the 6-cyl.

Regarding the coilovers, hopefully you can get fair money selling them on, but I'm still expecting to make mine work. I don't think it would be too expensive to switch to the softer spring if needs be and that could make a world of difference on a road car.

I hope so...
Pretty sure it is the 'medium' diff (8 bolts?). I counted the revs and i thnk it is roughly a 3.5 (so maybe a 3.46? i'm still learning about BMWs). It feels short whatever it is. But part of that may be incorrect revs being displayed fooling my brain.
I'm in so deep at the moment, that the cost of the coilovers isn't a massive blow... I just want to have a car that doesn't crash about and that somebody could use these ones.

[benfidar]

My 316i came with a 4.27. I would be surprised if you had a 3.46, which I think was the sporting diff.

I took a risk with my m52b28 swap and bought a 3.15 Torsen LSD because I wanted a freeway flyer. I was willing to give up some acceleration at lower speeds. I don't think I have given up very much at all. With the lightened flywheel it is very revvy and pulls strong and linear up to 6000. I don't think I would want to accelerate any faster since my shifts would be faster than the G260 is good for, and because 1st would be useless. Your mileage will certainly vary.

4000 rpm 1st:23 2nd:40 3rd:62 4th:87 5th:108. 80mph all day at 3000 rpm and 25 mpg.

Have some fun playing around with the gearing calculator. https://e30goodies.com/gearing-calculator/