butters 318i project, S54door...

[2mAn]

I went ahead with a test fit of the subframe and motor mounts, and was not happy with the fit using E28 mounts. I couldn't even get everything tightened up, I think the weight of the motor would be required to totally seat the mounts.

These images show the gap between the subframe and mounts with the motor mount arm snugged and sitting flush on top of the mount.

Left side (driver's):



Right side (passenger's):



I did try with the stud in the hole rather than the slot just to be sure, and it was worse.

I can't accept this, so I'm sending the E28 mounts back and I have AKG poly swap mounts en route. The E28s can work, I know firsthand, but I won't be able to relax now that I've seen just how much bending is required to get them seated. The extra $150 is worth it to me, not to mention AKG providing a lifetime guarantee. The S54 does put out 100 more horsepower and nearly 50 additional lb-ft of torque over the US S50.

I went with the AKG to begin with, you will not be disappointed.

[butters]

Excellent stuff.

It's funny to see how similar the S54 is to previous M engines (apart from vanos obviously), and how well they organized all the stuff that goes on under the IM.

Thank you sir. I agree, there's much more to it than the old OBD1 stuff I came from, but they package it in such a way to make it pretty manageable - especially with the IM off and engine on a stand in front of you. It's interesting to see the evolution in design, with internal oil supply for the vanos, improved head cooling with the water distribution pipe, etc.

Another packaging marvel is under the ignition cover, where there is a lot more than plug wiring. They stashed the O2 sensor connectors - all 4 of them - plus the EGT sensor wiring and even the PCV oil separator! Check it out below:

Final look at the cams



Final installation of the valve cover with obligatory RTV dabs









Plugs and coils in:



along with O2 sensor sub-harness:



and the front O2 sensors installed along with EGT sensor:



The forward female plugs remain empty as I am not running rear O2 sensors.

The top "beauty" cover goes on last, and there are even rubber grommets to seal off the areas where the harness enters as well as the oil fill cap:

[butters]

I hacked up the left side motor mount arm for the intake support bracket:



Cleaned and painted it in the block's blue color, no reason to have it stand out. I would have cut more material if I were better equipped, but this fits fine above the E36 motor mount arm.



I also hacked the cats off the M3 headers and loosely put them on after installing all new studs.



From here I'm test fitting the intake and all vacuum connections, the harness adapter will go on, then the subframe and front axle components. The weather looks to be turning very cold from Sunday on, so Saturday is my plan to put the motor in. For the rest of the week I hope to get the brake booster and MC mounted up, as well as the AC condenser and radiator. Oh and the coolant pipe still needs to be tapped for the E30 temp sensor...

[butters]

The intake manifold is comically large from this angle...



I think I have a handle on all of the vacuum and electrical connections at this point, after some confusion when I had a 2-pin connector with 2 possible plugs. Turns out I was missing another 2-pin connector, which is off the main DME loom.

At the right side of the image above, there is a Y-connector for vacuum that runs up to the idle air pipe. The missing connector goes into the valve or sensor between the smaller hose and the hard plastic hose that connects to the side of the intake, while the other larger hose goes to the brake booster. I cut that off and I'll cap the open port since I'm going to use hydraulic brake assist.

The routing of the hard plastic air line should work, but from factory it actually runs over the top of the intake elbow. I'm hoping to hide it better. This also requires re-routing another connector from the M3 harness which wasn't mentioned in the DME mount discussion, but maybe it's a component that is coded out, related to DMTL? I'm not sure but I'd rather just re-route and extend it now to be sure.

I finally drilled out my Technica water pipe adapter and threaded it to M14x1.5:



Used a slight amount (2 wraps instead of 3) of Teflon tape to help prevent any leaks, and torqued to 85 inch-pounds:



Then routed the adapter wiring and installed the pipe with the thermostat and housing. I just realized I forgot a pic of the t-stat, save that for next update.

Looks good in there! Too bad it's well hidden from view..



My AKG mounts came in and I now have the subframe installed. I'm very happy with the quality as well as the fit - the E28 mounts have way-oversized studs on top too.





Tomorrow is a big day, hope to get the motor and front axle in the car.

[MR E30 325is]

Good luck on the install!

Beautiful stuff.

[butters]

I got the other connector extended, and got cold feet with the crimp-on butt connectors. I picked up some heat shrink insulation and broke out my old soldering iron, and re-did all the wiring I had modified.



On Saturday I tidied it all up.



I dropped in a fresh filter kit with a little oil to prime it, then drained any remaining coolant from the block and put a new washer on the drain. The oil distribution block got new washers, and I put the stock oil pressure switch on the rear port. The control arms will need weight on them in order to tighten the nuts, but I put them on loosely anyway.

From there I hoisted the motor off the stand and onto the dolly, then tackled the rear main seal as a while-I'm-in-here item. Next I installed the new flywheel and clutch kit. I went with the OEM S54 Z3 parts, for that stock drivability I've missed with the South Bend stuff I had on the S50. Oh and I did put a new fork lever, spring clip, and steel pivot pin into the trans.



That priority mail box holds the harness adapter - Andrew's instruction says to start in the engine bay, but I wanted to get the temp sensor connected ahead of time.

Putting the transmission on is never easy, I sure wouldn't want to deal with that under the car. I forgot the plate between the bell housing and block, which set me back an hour and brought us to darkness. At this point I knew I wouldn't get the subframe bolted up, but wanted to just get it all under the car for another day.

Here's my angle of approach:



My driveway needs work, but this is very easy in concept.

And here it is under the car at last:



I'm now at the mercy of the weather, which has degraded to blustery and cold here in southeast PA. I have a friend who will do the exhaust work and offered to pick the car up with his trailer, we've agreed on Wednesday. So it looks like Tuesday afternoon/evening I'll get the car rollable and hope that he lets me finish up some things indoors at his shop.

[FredK]

It's morning. Where the pics at.

:p

[jeenyus]

This was a great read for the day. Thank you for documenting this process for us. I feel like i forgot this was even an e30 build by about page 7. So much great engine porn.

[Eric Giles]

I 100% completely approve of this thread. Subscribed.

[butters]

Thanks guys. I played around with it this afternoon trying to see if I could get things lined up by myself, but that was an exercise in futility. It's just too difficult to get small position adjustments out of crappy casters on such aged asphalt, I'm sure it would be doable on concrete.

Tomorrow my plan is to get new front subframe bolts, then cut the heads off the old bolts so that I can use them as studs. That, plus the help of a friend, should allow for an easier time getting it bolted up. Then I can work towards being ready to roll onto a trailer.

[iwantspeed]

One trick is to cut heads off the subframe bolts and dremel a slot into the stud so you can use a flat head screwdriver to remove it once you get everything lined up and ready for a real bolt

[R3Z3N]

A rubber mallet was my friend to help line up the subframe.

Good luck! On my wiring harness/ Z4M I did not have the firewall side vacuum solenoid that connects to the airbox and idle air pipe...interesting. Car started fine without it.
As seen from your pic:

[butters]

Putting a flathead slot into them is a great idea, I just kinda knurled the OD at the end of it so I could grab with pliers. I was able to get it lined up and installed with new bolts, which is probably a good thing because my original subframe bolts were heavily oxidized and pitted.



I also have the trans bolted in along with the driveshaft, and the shifter is in place. The slave cylinder is on with just the lower nut, I need to get creative with applying pressure and then threading on the upper nut. Next is the steering rack and lollipops and she'll be ready to roll onto a trailer.

[iwantspeed]

Woo hoo. How long till it's making noise?

[butters]

Woo hoo. How long till it's making noise?

Hopefully not more than another week. The wiring has me a bit confused - while the e46 harness is pretty neat and straightforward, the adapter harness is a bit of a rat's nest to manage. I am not very familiar with the wiring diagrams etc.



I've started at the C101 and worked my way over to the firewall opening, and I think the main thing now is understanding what goes on the battery terminal and where the main fuse goes.

There's really not much under the 318 harness cover!



This photo shows two things:



One - there are two ring terminals shown, which I believe need to get fastened to B+.
Two - I think I made a big mistake and assumed the main engine loom should run just above the bellhousing. The problem is, that doesn't allow enough length to reach into the cabin, let alone plug into the DME. With the engine installed, there is no room to squeeze this loom between the insulation and the cylinder head... so I'll have to drop the subframe

I'd love if I can just lower the subframe without completely unbolting it, but I can't imagine that's going to be enough.