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Codym42's M52 318is UPDATE: Added a ZHP to the collection

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    Codym42's M52 318is UPDATE: Added a ZHP to the collection

    I've always wanted to do one of these threads. Now that I'm making progress on my engine swap, I think now is the perfect time. This is my 318is. It's my first car that I've been driving since Junior year of high school in 2010. My father bought the car in the fall of 2005. We've had this thing for nearly 12 years altogether!

    He bought the car in North Carolina from a guy that was OCD about this thing. My father said that when he bought it, the guy had just finished cleaning and polishing the inside of the wheels!! Anyway, the only things done at the time were: H&R sport springs, Bilstein sport struts and shocks, E30 M3 aluminum control arms and bushings, Ronal LS wheels, Euro plate filler, and basic maintenance. In the 5 years my dad owned the car, he did quite a few minor upgrades to the car such as Suspension Techniques sway bars, rear strut brace, 4.10 LSD, Mark D chip, "Mess under the intake" hose delete with Mustang injectors, Z3 short shifter, Momo steering wheel, Euro grilles, Bosch Smileys, front splitter, tweeters, and a Blaupunk headunit. There are a few other things but those were the big items.

    I started driving it back and forth to high school in 2010. Honestly, I didn't know much about the car before I got my license. All I saw was a cool, old, faded BMW. Shortly before I got it, I started browsing r3vlimited and realized the car was basically a blank canvas for any and all of my automotive dreams.

    Just to get this thread going, I'm posting the pictures of Spring 2011 before I did anything. I took it to the Mitty at Road Atlanta and parked it next to a beautiful E30 M3. There were quite a few e30s there that year, including Ryan Sermonet's gorgeous Calypsorot car (still one of my favorites). The only things done to it in 2011 was a cooling system overhaul, window tint, and I had the A/C recharged. In 2012, I got started in Autocross.

    Stay tuned for more history of the car and future goals (think paint and a “special” 24v swap)!




















































    Last edited by Codym42; 03-27-2019, 09:31 AM.
    '90 325i - 5 speed coupe
    '05 330ci 6MT ZHP

    #2
    In 2013 I did a few things. I installed smoked front turn lenses, installed poly RTABs, a Volvo lip, got a roof rack for my bikes, and went to some car shows. 4ngiefest was a huge highlight that year. Oh, and I made a HUGE mistake. I plasti-dipped the car matte red to hide the fading paint. The front was tired single stage and the rear was repainted after an accident in the ‘90s. I tried everything to revive that single stage paint but the shine never lasted long. I jumped on the plastidip idea and it was the WORST thing I ever did to this car. I don’t like to talk about it. That shit baked on the car in the hot Georgia sun, and by the time I tried to remove it, it didn’t want to come off. More on that later… At the time, the car looked a little more presentable to me but I missed the gloss of Brilliantrot.

















    Last edited by Codym42; 06-18-2017, 11:45 AM.
    '90 325i - 5 speed coupe
    '05 330ci 6MT ZHP

    Comment


      #3
      2014 - Many things happened that year. I started off by attempting to do an electric fan conversion. I swapped out the aux fan for a 14" pusher and the lower temp switch. It never seemed to work right and I put the clutch fan back on later that year. I retrofitted some e36 window switches, lamin-x'd my high beams, installed fog lights, and replaced the blower fan twice (bought a new one finally). In May, I took the car to SoWo in Helen, GA and had an amazing time. And, on the 4th of July, I got stuck in some fireworks traffic and almost blew up the engine because I was low on coolant lol. In December, I installed pop out rear windows and got my front seats reupholstered.



















      Last edited by Codym42; 06-18-2017, 11:39 AM.
      '90 325i - 5 speed coupe
      '05 330ci 6MT ZHP

      Comment


        #4
        In 2015, I installed a 10" lukebox and a set of component speakers up front and also repainted my rear deck shelf with some paint from the auto parts store (not recommended, does not match at all). I installed an aftermarket water temp gauge to confirm my cluster was inaccurate. I also did a COP conversion and installed a real electric fan setup - 16" puller with a relay/temp sensor harness from Summit Racing. When I replaced the valve cover gasket, I learned that my timing chain sprockets had a lot of wear.

        Later in the year, I started removing the plastidip...ugh. Then, I rewired my (aftermarket) moonroof. The wiring was in horrible shape. Also, bought a junk 318i to get the super rare Style 10s.

















        Last edited by Codym42; 06-18-2017, 12:05 PM.
        '90 325i - 5 speed coupe
        '05 330ci 6MT ZHP

        Comment


          #5
          2016- I installed H&R Race springs, new motor mounts, reinforced the front subframe with Garagistic weld-in plates, and installed new tie rods. After that I converted the A/C system to R134A. I don't have pictures of that but I replaced pretty much everything except the lines and the compressor. There is still a leak somewhere but that will be addressed after the engine swap.

          The Race springs are probably one of my favorite upgrades to this car. I installed thinner spring pads up front with E90 drop hats. The stance is perfect and it handles so much better than the Sport springs. 10/10 would recommend unless you don't like scraping. It will scrape.

          '90 325i - 5 speed coupe
          '05 330ci 6MT ZHP

          Comment


            #6
            Summer of 2016 - I purchased a m52 out of a '97 Z3 since it's an aluminum block engine. Refreshing the m42 just isn't worth it. It's $800 in parts just to reseal it and do the timing chain components. I figured I'd rather just do a swap and keep it somewhat light with the Z3 engine. This particular engine only has 83k miles and came out of a wrecked car. I didn't start tearing into it until January of this year.

            Progress so far:
            e34 m50 pan. Unbolted the pan windage tray and kept the m52 windage tray
            Safety wired the oil pump nut
            Achilles oil pan baffle welded and dipstick welded for the CCV drain
            replaced oil filter housing
            New A/C pulley, new alternator belt tensioner/pulley
            Installed m50 oil filter housing, power steering pump, 140A alternator
            Oil level sensor delete plate
            air pump delete plates on manifold - ***BMW delete plates fit horribly, required much grinding
            New water pump, ECS water pump pulley, thermostat, and tstat housing
            Harness already modified and ecu tuned

            Currently, swapping on an m50 intake manifold with the m50manifold.com kit.









            '90 325i - 5 speed coupe
            '05 330ci 6MT ZHP

            Comment


              #7
              Cool!
              Paynemw
              1986 Toyota 4Runner SR5 - Sold!
              the ebb and flow of 325is ownership - In RVA
              1988 BMW 535is - RIP but my dream BMW

              Comment


                #8
                Did you get this in the car yet?
                1990 Brilliantrot 325iS Build Thread
                1989 Zinnoberrot M3 Build Thread

                Comment


                  #9
                  thanks for sharing i think i bought some parts from you
                  318iS Track Rat :nice: www.drive4corners.com
                  '86 325iX 3.1 Stroker Turbo '86 S38B36 325

                  No one makes this car anymore. The government won't allow them, normal people won't buy them. So it's up to us: the freaks, the weirdos, the informed. To buy them, to appreciate them, and most importantly, to drive them.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by AWDBOB View Post
                    Did you get this in the car yet?
                    Yes I did! The car has been painted and the engine is in and running. It's currently at the exhaust shop. I really need to post some updates.

                    Originally posted by downforce22 View Post
                    thanks for sharing i think i bought some parts from you
                    Thanks for reading! And yes, I believe you did.
                    '90 325i - 5 speed coupe
                    '05 330ci 6MT ZHP

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Codym42 View Post
                      Yes I did! The car has been painted and the engine is in and running. It's currently at the exhaust shop. I really need to post some updates.
                      Great news! I am interested in an update since I am heading down the same path and always looking at the details of similar builds.


                      MJ

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Ok, finally time for an update.... After the spring semester of school was over in April, I decided that I had to finish the BMW. I needed a daily driver and my Mazdaspeed Protege's differential had just broken. Step 1: Fix the Daily. So, I opened up the transmission and replaced the differential. It was a long process with a few hiccups along the way. After that nonsense, I decided I had to get the BMW painted. The first picture below is with my friend's Acura, taken on the Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina. After camping that weekend, the fun began. This update is all about the paint.

                        It's never a good idea to paint a car before you swap the engine. But in this case, I felt I had to. The car had an aftermarket sunroof that was installed when it was brand new. I've never liked it because it always had issues. It would randomly get stuck, the seal was worn out, and parts were NLA from American Sunroof Company (the manufacturer). It had to go. I contacted a few different body shops. The first gave me this outrageous price of over $8k to paint the car and get rid of the sunroof. They also seemed really unsure about patching the roof. PASS... I thought maybe I could replace the roof skin. I found a slicktop roof several states away, and also a factory crank roof about 30 minutes from my house. I talked to another collision repair shop about replacing the roof. They wanted $1500 to chop the roof at the pillars and replace it OR $4000 for replacing the roof and painting the car. It seemed risky to me for them to replace the roof and someone else paint the car. Because NO WAY was I paying $4k for a paint job. PASS

                        I played with the idea of "re-shelling" the car and I picked up a '91 325i Automatic, running, for $2500. It was the same color combo - Brilliant over Natur. More on that later..

                        Finally, I found another place about 30 minutes from my house. It was yet another collision repair shop that I had heard good things about. The guy quoted me $450 to patch the roof with a sheet of steel and another $1200 to paint the car. I decided to go with this guy. After it was all said and done, I paid $2150 out the door. That included patching the sunroof hole, painting the car, painting all the jambs (hood, trunk, doors, and inside perimeter of the hood), and even a new windshield!!

                        At this point it was mid-August and it took me 2 weeks to prep the car. I pulled off all the trim myself, including most of the interior besides dash, carpet and driver seat. I pulled the pop-out windows and rear window. I sanded the mirrors down too. After all of that was done, I drove the car, almost completely stripped, 30 minutes to the body shop lol. It felt like I was driving a car that came from the junkyard.

                        The body shop had to weld in the steel over the sunroof opening and then had to smooth it out with fiberglass and body filler. Then, they had to paint the car. All in all, it took about 5 weeks for them to finish. I had it back the last part of September. The paint came out pretty good for what I paid. BUT, I got what I paid for.... there is trash in the paint on the cowl, they taped around the windshield before replacing it (has a nasty tape line), they didn't repair ANY door dings, etc. You get the point. It still looks damn good for what I paid. 1000x better than before.

                        Hope you all enjoy the pics below. The next updates will include: headliner and glass installation, tint shop woes, finished exterior pics, and.....What you've all been waiting for... the ALUMINUM M52 RUNNING.

                        Stay tuned!




                        IMG_20170708_121857065_HDR by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        E30 pre-paint 030 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20170807_184124725 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20170807_192647801 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20170813_195657497 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        318is pre-paint and 325i 026 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        318is pre-paint and 325i 027 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20170819_120605239 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20170819_120546274 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20170819_120610618 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        318is pre-paint and 325i 015 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20170830_161525267 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20170830_161531390 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20170925_184512282 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20170925_184317742 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20170925_184147473 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        IMG_20171003_183741149 by cdygrubbs, on Flickr
                        '90 325i - 5 speed coupe
                        '05 330ci 6MT ZHP

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Wow looks great man! Can't wait to see it all put back together!

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Is the swap done?
                            NASA
                            BMWCCA member
                            PCA member 25yrs




                            1991 318IS slick top
                            1997 M3 sedan
                            2001 325CI DD

                            “whoever turns the wheel the least, wins"

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by ATL_E30 View Post
                              Wow looks great man! Can't wait to see it all put back together!
                              Thanks!

                              Originally posted by e30s50dan View Post
                              Is the swap done?
                              Yes. The car is actually at the exhaust shop right now.
                              '90 325i - 5 speed coupe
                              '05 330ci 6MT ZHP

                              Comment

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