My 24v 325iS

[ScHpAnKy]

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Picked this shell up during the summer in hopes I can turn it into something worthwhile, 88 325iS with plastic bumper swap, also had a bunch of parts that I used in my H2Oi eta build. Intake was cracked, but other than that,a dash and a missing driver side fender it was a complete car. I have the TSW Evo wheels from it on my iX currently since my euroweaves are bent :(


A picture of what's underhood when it was dropped off.


The interior when it was dropped off - spaghetti, anybody?


m20 and Getrag 260 out! Also my previous eta in the background


started sanding, shaving, painting and swapped in my E36 M3 rack (same as Z3 rack, but with more wheel travel, for those wondering.)


M50 in! Didn't paint the valve cover because I want to eventually do something neat with it... maybe powdercoat? maybe just paint texture? I'm not really sure, but no sense spending time on it now. Deleted ABS, power steering and A/C, I ended up going with the 325iX brake booster, Getrag 240 transmission, b25 clutch and pressure plate with 13lb shaved b25 flywheel.
The thing that's nice is that the 240 is a tiny and superlight transmission and every bellhousing bolt lines up. I love plug-and-play!


S52 exhaust manifolds, had to notch them to fit around the engine arms and subframe, however, I did a lot more work than necessary for an exhaust system I'm putting together: headers, modified e36 downpipe, cat, straight pipes into a magnaflow 2.5" pass-through muffler, this thing is going to sound great!


The interior so far, I actually swapped in a mint vinyl interior to save some weight (plus vinyl looks better than shitty leather.)
Linkage is closer to the dash because I'm using the 318is carrier with the UUC shoft-shifter kit and dual-sheer rod, it looks awkward but it works great. I also put in euro gauges, euro check panel, german 13-button OBC and it's even getting german stalks!


That's all I've got for now, I'm hoping to start it soon since it's pretty much done (from a driveline standpoint.)

here's my buildsheet:

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1YDPzx187QT_B71odcqL3cdeiS9_7e09FhC_twi0VBgQ

[N2MYE30]

Looks like a nice platform for a swap. Good save!

[ScHpAnKy]

Looks like a nice platform for a swap. Good save!

thanks! it's nice to have a car where every cable and hose is labelled :)
now I need the motivation to push it outside in the freezing cold this weekend so I can get this bitch started :)

[ScHpAnKy]

a couple more updates... I shimmed the driver's side motor mount by an additional 1" to tuck the oil pan clearance closer to the level of the subframe and at the same height as the exhaust downpipe, the problem with this is that the intake elbow is directly in front of the master cylinder's reservoir (which prevents installation of the intake elbow.)
To correct this you will have to run the e32 735i's master and remote reservoir, the going price for just the master cylinder is a ridiculous $115 from the local parts store, next weekend I'll have to hit the junkyard.



Below is the aforementioned downpipe, it's actually an e36 section that is cut at the cat (installing brand new universal cat) and the rest is still secret for now, as you can see the S52 pipes were notched to go around the subframe and sway bar which leaves me with a 3" gap on the rear exit and 5" gap on the forward exit, I bought a couple down-turn pieces, one straight and one with a 45degree bend to give me additional clearance near the control arm bushings.



and here I am cutting the pieces up in my cramped garage.



I'm going to try and return the galvanized sections of pipe that I picked up towards the beginning of winter as I don't want to risk inhalation.

[dnick]

do work man!

[ScHpAnKy]

got it running today!

Spent yesterday buttoning up some things like double-checking the electrical components and dashboard lights, finished around 9 or 10 and gave it a couple bumps to circulate the oil, I got fuel to the rail but it sounded dry in the block (but I definitely had compression!)



I decided to revisit it this morning...
here's the first signs of life, got the relays finally sorted and ran into some problem with two of my injectors pissing fuel everywhere except in the direction of the cylinders. Awesome. At least it was an easy fix, just cleaned the injectors.


Finally got it running with a bit of throttle help, ICV/TPS might be bad because I can't seem to start it without unplugging both the TPS or ICV, runs rough and sounds like a skip, I'm thinking I need to run some more oil through it and clean the injectors, all the coilpacks should be good.



Can't wait to run the brakelines and get my coilovers in :)

[JeremyE30autox]

Congrats man. Getting it running again is always a good feeling!

[dnick]

congrats! bet it feels good lol.
in terms of it running rough... maybe a bad maf too? Thats what happened to me.. I unplugged it, and it ran smooth. Plugged it back in and it ran all shitty. Now I have a new maf and its running well! But the icv/tps might also be the problem too.. I wish you were closer so I could give ya a hand

[TimKninja]

Make sure you have all of the injector harness plugged in. i had a missfire and it turned out to be one of the pins for the injectors plug was bent so it wasnt firing.

First start is always the best start.

Oh and i love all the lime green bits.

[dnick]

^ that too, just recheck stuff lol.

[ScHpAnKy]

Congrats man. Getting it running again is always a good feeling!

You're telling me! It's nice to find out that my electrical was in order, that was the major headache, all the mechanical bits were cake.

congrats! bet it feels good lol.
in terms of it running rough... maybe a bad maf too? Thats what happened to me.. I unplugged it, and it ran smooth. Plugged it back in and it ran all shitty. Now I have a new maf and its running well! But the icv/tps might also be the problem too.. I wish you were closer so I could give ya a hand

damn straight, MAF could be bad, I have a feeling it got wet during storage this winter, I'll pick a new MAF and intake elbow to eliminate those items as possibilities. I wish you were closer too! It sucks living so far from the car, can't just try a suggestion and report back :P

Make sure you have all of the injector harness plugged in. i had a missfire and it turned out to be one of the pins for the injectors plug was bent so it wasnt firing.

First start is always the best start.

Oh and i love all the lime green bits.

You might be right about the injector harness, I remember only double-checking the last three, that would be a nice easy fix :)

Also, I lime the green bits as well!

[N2MYE30]

You are hardcore for doing this in the cold! First start is killer but its the teething after the swap that will drive you crazy...at least me. My pesky problems were vacuum.

[dnick]

damn straight, MAF could be bad, I have a feeling it got wet during storage this winter, I'll pick a new MAF and intake elbow to eliminate those items as possibilities. I wish you were closer too! It sucks living so far from the car, can't just try a suggestion and report back :P

Let us know what the outcome is! and hahah sometimes thats all we can do if we live far away.. are you going to h2o this year? I know its kind of a hike for you..

[ScHpAnKy]

You are hardcore for doing this in the cold! First start is killer but its the teething after the swap that will drive you crazy...at least me. My pesky problems were vacuum.

Thanks, haha, the coveralls help. It hasn't bugged me yet, but I'm sure it's going to get brutal, especially later with megasquirt.

Let us know what the outcome is! and hahah sometimes thats all we can do if we live far away.. are you going to h2o this year? I know its kind of a hike for you..

Will do, most definitely!

Hell yes, H2Oi, last year was a blast - if you have your car in this video, then you saw my last build (bronzit early model.)



I'll be there this year for sure, likely in this car,too, and by that time hopefully it'll have a few psi through it :)

I've got a pretty nifty wheel setup in mind, too

[ScHpAnKy]

here's my build sheet for those interested in building this car, lots of really helpful information:

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1YDPzx187QT_B71odcqL3cdeiS9_7e09FhC_twi0VBgQ