This is Sofie- Now w/ 5 lug and MT-2!

[M-technik-3]

The triangle thing... I need one

Triangle thing? Talking about the oil level switch or block off plate.

[glucklich21]

It's PN 11131726357 and the seal for it is PN 12611277129. ;)

[dnick]

holy.crap. what a good build so far! i love all the detail and pics! subscribed.

[Vtec?lol]

What yards do you go to? and don't tell me that was the M42 you were sposta sell me years ago...

Keep up the good work!

[JeST]

Just went through the entire thread. Amazing build so far!

[glucklich21]

What yards do you go to? and don't tell me that was the M42 you were sposta sell me years ago...

Keep up the good work!

Yes and shall do.


Giant Imports & Auto Parts
9592 New Laredo Highway
San Antonio, TX 78211-5502
(210) 623-5044

If you're looking for 5 lug stuff, they still had the control arms and struts on or in the M3.

[samiam3356]

Hey man, can you get a pic of your motor mounts from the top? Want to see how much stud you have after you bolted it down. Yours look like they aren't very long on top like mine. TIA

[glucklich21]

Will do^^

[glucklich21]

Alright to pick up from the last update I had oil and ATF soaking inside with the pistons to clear up some surface rust on the cylinder walls. With that being a success, I hooked up the battery and let the engine pump it out through the spark plug holes.



This process = ATF and oil all over you nice clean engine bay.



However, there's another outlet for the fluids to go I completely forgot about. Luckily I had some cardboard....



With that done I moved onto the new spark plugs. Cleaned up the holes first tho.



I know they aren't NKGs, but they are cheap and are only going to be in there for 100 miles or so till all possible crap is cleared from the engine.





I reinstalled the coils afterwards. Note the studs for the grounding strap for the coils. The S50 calls for two studs, but only one ground strap. I have zero clue why.









Here we have the intake. Sanding the fins didn't turn out the way I had planed, but it works. I can always replace it with another down the road if it bothers me enough.






I took out the 21.5 # injectors to install the old 17#ers as I lack my 540 maf and my TRM chip. Don't want to drown the engine in fuel.



Friday this came in. Basically the last things I was waiting on to button up the engine.




Here we have new PS steering lines, a new res, rear head coolant hoes, and hardware for the new lines, plus belts. Thanks Autohaus!




Then there's this. I wonder what it could be.....































Why a new parallel AC condenser. :) I will be doing a write up for 24v AC systems once everything is said and done.

[glucklich21]

Spent $43 on coolant because I had enough people question my motives with the Prestone. After doing some research they had valid reasons and made a trip to the stealer.



I had mounted the intake to check clearance.



Used a zip tie and a nitrite glove to cover the outlet to the booster till I have the right hoses for it.



Hooked up the coolant hoses to the heater core. The spider hose goes on TOP and the hose coming from the head goes on the BOTTOM.





Pics of my starter's E36 leads. The two small gauge wire have different size openings on the eyes so you can't screw that up. The large terminal is shared with the wire leading from the alternator (black wire) and the wire hooked up to the battery terminal (red wire).







Next up was the old foe, power steering. On my other E30 I had nothing but problems with it. I intended to fix that with this one. I grabbed the main high pressure hose from the other E30 since it's relatively new and cleaned it up a little. Didn't really do any good.







At this point, I still don't have a pump for this engine, so I stole the one off of my M50.




I had previously painted it after giving it a good cleaning. Paint and grime do not mix, so it looked like shit. Since I didn't want it looking like that in my bay, I decided to soda blast it.

To do this I need to remove the pulley with a gear puller, remove hardware, and seal everything off.






Anyway still not much better, but at least it is clean.



See the bracket that goes to the oil pan, take note E36 pump users, you do not have this. You need it



I had also installed the E34 oil sending unit a while back.



To put on the belts, take your ratchet and turn clockwise on the tensioner to relieve tension.



Everything just slips on after that.



New power steering stuffs. Do not buy this stuff from BMW. They recently updated their catalogue and up'ed the prices on a few things. PS lines and the res being one. The res use to be $18, it is now $60! That main hose I reused, that was $70, now $108 at the cheapest online.



The new hardware



Tools required: 19mm socket, 19mm ratcheting wrench (makes things easier), and a 22mm socket.



By the time I was working on this part it was dark and I had changed plans. Pics were also not coming out, so sorry in advance.

I was originally going to mount the res in the stock location. This wasn't going to happen because of the booster. I had already asked Sam about the E36 location and he said it works in an E30. So that's what I did. I used the E36 hose coming off of the pump to the res (this was replaced it looks like shortly before the M3 was wrecked), E30 high pressure hose, and E30 rack to res line with some bending to prevent a kink.

Anyway everything mounted up and filled. See the leak below?



Easy fix, but I was quite irritated by that point. Just tightened down some more. Both crush washers are present as it's suppose to be. Called it a night after that.





No leaks in the morning thank god.



You can see the set up in these pics.





All that was left for me to start her up was the fuel lines. The previous owner Brian had an OBDII set up in this car. As a result he needed a second pump, pressure regulator, I don't remember. Regardless I have a section missing out off my hard lines and 3 studs under the car. (New lines have been ordered) In the mean time, I'm just bridging the section with fuel tubing.



While I was under there I spotted this. Luckily it was just a small pool that had formed on top of the oil pan where some oil had run down when I squirting some into the valves.



Threw some zip ties on the boots for the E36 rack.



I had also decided to go ahead and replace the filter just in case. I would like to point out when I did this job on my 4 door, my Mann filter was made in the Fatherland, this one, China. Mann I am disappoint...






Then the intake was bolted up and I was able to do this. (This is the second start, filmed with my iPhone so not great).


SHE RUNS! -ish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GaYpkXgtvQ

See how it dies? Well apparently the best I can tell is my pump is bad. I discovered this when I changed out my filter. After putting in the new filter, it took forever so fuel to come out of the lines. So I went to the pump and removed the pressure in the lines. Turned the ignition on and nothing was coming out of the pump. Repeated that again and it worked. Basically it goes like this, posted from my help thread:

1st start: Starts, idle surges to 3k, then settles down and idles, I turn it off. (10 secs running)

2nd start: Starts, idling, then sputters and dies

3rd: Start, one pop from combustion, then dies. Every start after that is the same.

To get it to run again, I have to unplug the battery and the whole process starts again.

Everything is fine as long as there is enough fuel from that first prime, but after that the pump is worthless.

So I'm going to replace the pump as a "hopefully this will fix it" measure. If not, it won't hurt to have a new one. Then I will move onto the other fuel supply parts, mainly the regulator. I had cleaned it and installed new o-rings.




At night I've been messing around with the interior a bit. I tore down a seat to wrap my head around how it goes together and to get it ready for the new material.





The new material is a factory M-Tech Blue cloth set out of a cabrio. For being 20 odd years old, it's in very good shape, but it's missing headrest so I'm in talks with Kevin at Creative Options about getting new headrest and bolsters made. Since his father died a few weeks ago, he's been on leave so that's on hold for a while till he comes back. Sorry for your loss Kevin. :(



There you have it.

[samiam3356]

You'll never notice those fins or atleast I don't. Very clean build, done right!

[robrez]

Glad the m-tech blau interior is going into the cabby and not the M tech II sedan or you'd be my higher powered twin

[glucklich21]

I have a set in the works for the 4 door, but the elusive orange variant. :)

[glucklich21]

Small update:

My fuel supply issues have been giving me fits. I decided to settle it once and for all. I took another look at the ETM.

Power routing:



Whole power supply for the pump:



The part I eventually focused on






I tested everything to check for power. Relays, fuses, fuel pump connector, and DME pins passed. I was thinking at this point that it was just a bad pump. However after I was playing with the connector and turned on the ignition to test some wiring I heard the pump prime. After taking a closer look, the pigtails inside of the connector were not only loose on the pin, they were crumbling, causing the fuel pump to work randomly.




So I went by the dealer yesterday and placed a rushed order for new pigtails. Should be in by Friday afternoon.

Now that this and the blinkers not working is solved, I can wrap up the harness and focus back on the engine bay. Also my big order to finish up the front and the shifter will be in tomorrow.

[Wishno87]

I will be doing a write up for 24v AC systems once everything is said and done.

Yay!