SNAFU; high performance 318is build that lives up to the name, Turbo M42 ➞ Turbo M20

[gearheadE30]

Nice! I'm still puttering along at 7 psi, but the EBC parts and solenoid just showed up in the mail... always good to see another turbo M42 on the road. I'm surprised your small case diff has lasted as long as it has. Mine went about 1000 miles with boost before it got bad enough for me to be afraid of driving it hard.

[AbsorbantNut]

Yeah those subframe bolts suck! It was nice meeting you the other day

[Dj Buttchug]

cool build!

[ForcedFirebird]

To be fair, in 1990 I had never heard of anti-seize - but - I was only 15 and just started wrenching :(

[pandaboo911]

Z3 racks are a waste of money. E46 racks are 3.0 turns instead of 2.7 and cost much less.

Keep it up dood

[varg]

Spring break was car repair time for me, and now it's over, way too short.

The subframe bushings were really corroded to the body. Thanks a lot BMW, it's not like anti-seize existed in 1990 or anything.

My removal tool was a 5/8" bolt with notches cut in the end of it, so it would self-tap into the aluminum.


Then, using extensions (didn't have a punch long enough or sacrificial rod strong enough) went ape on it with a 3lb sledge and beat them out. They left aluminum fragments in the holes, which took about an hour of scraping and picking to remove. That was a serious pain.


The subframe fought me every step of the way. The emergency brake cables were also corroded into the body, I also had to remove the driveshaft to get it out of the subframe tunnel, because it refused to collapse at the splines. Note the subframe bushing washers, covered in corrosion and fused to the centers, I heated them up and persuaded them off with a hammer. Thanks again for using that anti-seize, BMW.


The threads on the passenger side brake line were seized up, so some serious galling took place. Couldn't locate a spare in a timely manner so I just bought a 30", 3/6", M10x1 bubble flare brake line at napa and bent it up to fit. Good as new and cheaper than a bubble flare tool.


Press? What press? I can't afford a press. These are proper kludged subframe bushing removal tools. Heat the subframe with the torch until bubbles of rubber start coming up around the bushing, then whack it out with a hammer.


Kludged TAB removal tool, also torch-assisted.


The leaky axle stub.


It won't be leaking any more.


The new bushings, installed. Yes, the subframe bushing is upside-down in this picture, I realized it and switched it around before raising the subframe. I was a little unsure of the correct orientation because the pictures on the website were a little unclear, but verified that the thick section goes on top.


Here you can see the coated stainless steel brake lines. I haven't had a chance to install the front lines yet so the improvement isn't drastic.


When I installed these, the mounting plate wouldn't line up, and I was concerned about just cranking down on the subframe nut until the bushings squished enough for the plate to fit since they're so stiff. I contacted the people at Condor and they said that's the way to do it, so I cranked away with the big ratchet.


Bushing installed, with anti-seize.

I also fixed my worsening oil leak, and as far as I can tell my engine is now leak free, which is really nice. The steering rack still leaks, though, and I can't afford to upgrade it to one of the Z3 racks at this time so I'm going to just replace it then do that later. The leak was coming from the oil filter housing, the o-ring was hard and squared off, but the gasket was fine.

Installed a new o-ring and cleaned the mating surfaces.

Cleaned up, sprayed the new gasket with copper spray and re-assembled. No more leaks!

The car handles much better now, with bushings that aren't soft and almost separating and new sway bar links. It really feels like a new car compared to when I bought it, aside from my worn out steering rack. The condor bushings are really stiff, and transmit more road noise and harshness, but I have stock shocks and springs so it's barely noticeable. We'll see how it is with some stiffer suspension and better struts. What is noticeable is the diff noise. I recommend these bushings to anyone who wants better handling and a more unitary feeling car, as long as you can tolerate some added noise. I will probably pull the back seat and carpet, strip out the stock noise dampening and lay some dynamat. I like having a quiet car.

On the agenda: custom AC line, AC flush and fill, steering rack replacement, LSD installation (as soon as I get one), and bigger, wider wheels with better tires (mine suck, really bad).

[varg]

Ive got a thermostat housing. If you can wait till my spring break (March 13th) Ill hook you up.

Thanks. I'm trying to source one locally but I'll definitely keep it in mind.

[MF DOOM]

Ive got a thermostat housing. If you can wait till my spring break (March 13th) Ill hook you up.

[varg]

Since I found out this past Wednesday that this week is my spring break (I have been so busy I lost track of unimportant things like breaks ), I get to use it working on my suspension and drivetrain. I'm going to be using Condor Speed Shop UHMW subframe and diff bushings and RTABs. They should sharpen things up in the rear. As is, my car is really twitchy with the tail out since the subframe bushings are pretty much rotted through, and on a wet road if I get into boost the rear end breaks to the right without fail.

The source of my axle leak, pictured below, is an odd one, and a frustrating one. The outer CV joint retaining cap is leaking at the seam where it is crimped to the axle stub. This is a problem, because apparently it's impossible to get a boot/rebuild kit that contains this cap. Someone please correct me and provide a link if I'm wrong. Really, I'd love to be wrong in this case. I'll have to take the axle out and clean it up to see exactly what's causing this joint to leak, CV axles are never fun to mess with. I will be replacing the boots and grease, and if it doesn't look like re-crimping will fix it, cleaning up and sealing the joint with epoxy (kludge alert!). I want to buy a good, leak free used axle to have as a spare though.



How about a picture where nothing is wrong for once? Oh, wait, you can see the cracked bumper and trashed paint from this angle.

♪♩ Something's always wrong ♪♩

Hey man, cool build! Cool to see that the fix for the turbo was easy(loose chra). I like the custom manifold too:p

The loose cartridge housing really threw me for a loop, I've never seen it before, and the bearing bosses did not appear to have been damaged in any way, almost as if the housing was bored for oversized bearings. As for the manifold... It's a kludge, at least it makes the car sound different with the unequal length runners.

Man I feel your pain and admire your tenacity...

I want to avoid all of those problems so I am having my engine fully rebuilt, no turbo. All I read on the forums is the trouble they cause!! Still, I understand their appeal.

Secondly, I've completely stripped my car and am rebuilding it to new. Everything.

It will cost around 20G but I will have a brand new 1991 318iS.

Cheaper than a Honda Civic.

About one year to go before she is done...

Nice! I would do that to my car if I could afford to. Boost it! Turbos don't cause any problems if you can afford to not take shortcuts and do everything properly. A brand new turbo, rebuilt engine and the budget to have the suspension and drivetrain completely refreshed from the start would've eliminated a lot of the problems I had. It's funny, work I'm paid to do always turns out better than my own cars because I'm not the one funding it and don't take shortcuts

I'm jealous of everyone who moves fast to turbo there cars. Keep up the cool build

Thanks!

[efficient]

I'm jealous of everyone who moves fast to turbo there cars. Keep up the cool build

[Split_S]

Man I feel your pain and admire your tenacity...

I want to avoid all of those problems so I am having my engine fully rebuilt, no turbo. All I read on the forums is the trouble they cause!! Still, I understand their appeal.

Secondly, I've completely stripped my car and am rebuilding it to new. Everything.

It will cost around 20G but I will have a brand new 1991 318iS.

Cheaper than a Honda Civic.

About one year to go before she is done...

[AbsorbantNut]

Hey man, cool build! Cool to see that the fix for the turbo was easy(loose chra). I like the custom manifold too:p

[varg]

I jacked my car up and ran it with the wheels off the ground the other day and heard my driver's side wheel bearing making some noise. I already did one without the proper presses and it was kind of a pain in the ass so I had the guys at WOT-Tech in Pompano do this bearing for me. It's the first time I've ever had a shop do any work on a vehicle I own.

While the car was on the lift I was able to see that my subframe and trailing arm bushings are pretty bad, so next week, my spring break, I will be replacing them. I thought something didn't feel right in the rear when I drove it hard, now I know what it was.

[varg]

I like this picture, and the turbo badge is awesome! I'm pretty sure I have that plastic piece for your bumper from a broken one I have laying around. That'll make a world of difference in my opinion.

Please... your car looks 1000000x better than my turd. I mean at least yours is all one color and your valance isn't all messed up.

Plus your car is actually working and making boost while I'm just sitting here in NY making brake lines for my car is the artic tundra of 0 degrees.... But seriously keep up the good work! you'll get everything sorted out soon enough.

Thanks. I think my little piece is laying around somewhere. I have new bumper trim strips that aren't cracked up but there's no point in installing them until I get some un-cracked bumpers. I'm still working on the megasquirt guide, I've been too busy with school, work and my car going wrong.

Thats a nice project you've got there !

may i ask you what did you do on your board for the pwmiacv ? i am one step away to be done with mine, guess which one is it ?

Thanks. I used the output of the Zeal daughterboard (Bottom of R19 -> Zeal -> Banded side of D8 ), it worked fine until my ICV packed up.

[fred.g]

Thats a nice project you've got there !

may i ask you what did you do on your board for the pwmiacv ? i am one step away to be done with mine, guess which one is it ?