10k RPM – 1991 Diamantschwarz 318is Slicktop – 231hp NA M42

[Musij]

I swear, ever since I bought my diamondshwarz 318is I've seen like 3 other ones I never even noticed in my commute. Hey either of you guys have a fog light delete cover plate? Passenger side. Mine fell off on a drive.

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[chriso]

I swear, ever since I bought my diamondshwarz 318is I've seen like 3 other ones I never even noticed in my commute. Hey either of you guys have a fog light delete cover plate? Passenger side. Mine fell off on a drive.

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Fortunately I have both fogs, so no delete plate!

I haven't seen a single other DS 318is since I've purchased mine - but I also don't get to drive it much, spend most of my time on BART.

[mike.bmw]

Due to all of the seals needing replacement, I'm seriously looking into and considering an S50 swap.

Tough call. How bad is everything leaking? I'd recommend steam cleaning the engine and tracking overnight drips with cardboard. M42s all seem to leak to some extent.

The upper oil pan gasket and timing case gasket are labor intensive (costly if a shop is performing the work). Once that's opened up you'll want to take a look at the timing chain guides, cam sprockets, water pump, and seals. The guides alone are $400+ so the cost adds up VERY quickly.

[Butler]

Nice clean up man! That was an impressive feat considering that you had no other transportation lol. Keep us in the loop and post some more updates!

[eternal24k]

Considering I just paid more for a 318i with some upgrades and no slick top, i think you are doing very well.

Currently looking at my leaks to figure out if swap is going to be easier than reviving and boosting

I wish someone made a whole silicone hose kit for these, but alas, I knew the m42 didnt have a fraction of the support.

[chriso]

Nice clean up man! That was an impressive feat considering that you had no other transportation lol. Keep us in the loop and post some more updates!

This actually isn't my only vehicle. I also have a 135i, but I rarely drive it. I'm probably going to sell it. You don't get to drive over 15 miles per hour in the Bay Area anyway.

I received a lot of help with it so far, and I'm definitely going to be receiving more with all the repairs I need to do. Looks like the plans to do cosmetic work have been pushed out quite a bit!

I'm now in the research phase to decide what I want to do to it. I have decided to keep an M42 in it, though!

Currently looking into the MM 2.1 Stroker kit.

[chriso]

Alright, looks like it’s been a while since I’ve posted any updates, and things have gotten a little wild.

I actually ended up snapping my front subframe, which caused me to go a bit crazy on the car, as it was right before I was preparing to move to Vermont from the Bay Area.

So, since my last update, a LOT has changed with the car.

Replaced Brake Calipers
Replaced Brake Rotors
Replaced Brake Pads
Replaced Brake Lines
Replaced Brake Fluid, Flushed, Bled
Replaced Wheel Hubs
Replaced Wheel Bearings
Replaced Eibach Springs on the Ground Controls
Replaced Control Arms
Replaced LCABs with 95a Poly M3 Bushings
Reinforced Front Subframe
Replaced Motor Mounts
Replaced Guibo
Replaced Center Support Bearing
Replaced Tie Rod Ends

All Brand New OE/M

I was really excited to be able to drive my car to Vermont and get it all set up to start resealing the engine. The reason for much of this work was to be able to make it safety to Vermont with nothing actually breaking off the car.

However, as expected, around Amarillo, Texas, we started to hear a rattle coming from the front of the engine: Timing Chain Rattle.

After speaking with a few M42 experts, the solution was to send it. I bought a gallon of Lucas Heavy Oil Stabilzer and as I leaked oil out of my Rear Main Seal, I replaced it with Lucas Heavy Oil Stabilizer. For those of you that haven’t been in the unfortunate scenario of using it: You’re lucky. It’s the stickiest lubricating maple syrup consistency you can imagine.


We averaged 46 Miles per Gallon over 3,700 miles, and averaged 55mph (to keep the RPM low) to Vermont. When we arrived, I grabbed my old car buddy that I hadn’t seen in 7 years, and he came over to check it out with me, and as soon as we drained the maple syrup out of the oil pan, we saw the metal chunks of Timing Chain Guide and Slide. It also took a chunk out of the metal guide on the inside of the profile gasket, so there was a decent amount of metal making some good rattles.



Not wanting to just replace the timing guides, I did some reason on converting it to a Late Model M42 with the E36 Timing Cover, and by the time I specced it out, I was over $2,000 in parts, and the amount of time to do it all meant I should just do the RMS and all the other gaskets as well, and just pull the motor.

Well, that price was nearly $4,000 in parts, and at that point, I was furious with the engine, almost just sealed it back up and ran it until I blew it, but decided I should just pull the motor and save it, as it was the original motor with the car.

So, after asking around, I was offered a Rebello Racing build M42 that made 231 Crank Horsepower, Naturally Aspirated 1.8L, Full Electromotive ECU and Coils, with Headers, for a deal I couldn’t pass up.


I jumped on it, and I am currently in the process of getting that into the car. It should be in in about 2 weeks. Waiting on the new clutch to arrive first.

So, in the next two weeks:

4.10 Medium Case LSD
Condor Speed Shop Solid Diff Bushing
ClutchMasters Aluminum Flywheel
ClutchMasters FX350 Flywheel
Rebello Racing M42
RHD ITBs
Electromotive ECU
Electromotive Coils
Wideband O2
Tune

It’s been a long road. He's some photos we took the morning I moved away from the Bay.

[Joeyz31]

This is sick. Can’t wait to see it in the car.

[freeride53]

WOW. I have so much to say after that last post.

First, I saw you zooming down Fourth Street in Berkeley a few months ago. My Diamantschwarz 318 was parked next to Peet's (you probably didn't see it) :-) Bummed that I didn't get to see this thing in person, but hope to see it next time I drive my E30 out to the East Coast (drove my original M42 around the continent including through Quebec and Vermont - back to Oakland, CA, Summer of 2016).

Second, extremely jealous of the built M42. I ended up taking the former path: when my timing chain idler sprocket broke off (without throwing the chain off), I swapped the timing case to the E36 M42, and refreshed every single timing component.

Look forward to following this build as it progresses.

Sina

[BUDNUNTA]

specs on the new motor?

pretty impressive numbers

[chriso]

specs on the new motor?

pretty impressive numbers

So, I don't have the exact build details, because I wasn't the original owner.

The details I have gotten from Rebello and the previous owner are:

It was an SCCA EProduction Engine. There were two of them built, originally for someone in Colorado. One of them had ITBs (because it had an E36 intake manifold) and one had the stock E30 Manifold.

The one with ITBs was identical except for the ITBs and made 276hp.
The E30 Manifold made 231hp.

12:1 Compression
Custom Cams (Schrick, if I remember right)
Solid Lifters
Upgraded Springs
+40 Port
M47d Crank
J&E Pistons
450cc RC Injectors
Heater Core Delete

Electromotive Tec3R ECU
Electromotive Coils


I'm sure there's more, but I don't have the paperwork for the engine yet.
There is some photos taken from an old for sale ad on M42Club, as this engine was actually for sale for years.

[chriso]

WOW. I have so much to say after that last post.

First, I saw you zooming down Fourth Street in Berkeley a few months ago. My Diamantschwarz 318 was parked next to Peet's (you probably didn't see it) :-) Bummed that I didn't get to see this thing in person, but hope to see it next time I drive my E30 out to the East Coast (drove my original M42 around the continent including through Quebec and Vermont - back to Oakland, CA, Summer of 2016).

Second, extremely jealous of the built M42. I ended up taking the former path: when my timing chain idler sprocket broke off (without throwing the chain off), I swapped the timing case to the E36 M42, and refreshed every single timing component.

Look forward to following this build as it progresses.

Sina

You know, I actually think I saw your car, and I may have taken a photo of it. I think I walked my dog past it right before driving by it, I’ll have to sort through my phone and find it.


I was living on Fourth and University at the time. Unfortunately my company was acquired and I spent way too long putting all my eggs in one basket on my job search. After contracting for 6 months, I got an offer that was pretty incredible back home in Vermont, and at the same time was offered a spot in a house with a 4 car heated garage, so I had to jump on it.


Also. I think you were suppossed to go to Kronus’ Garage one day with McGyver and myself, but you ended up going on a bike ride or something and couldn’t make it? Was that you? Either way, I’m sure we’ll cross paths next time I’m in the bay. I was actually just there selling my 135i about 2 weeks ago.

[chriso]

I know a lot of you are looking to get a bit more into the dirt of these builds, so I have a few photos of the tear down.

A little bit of a Before shot before we dive in:



While it looks good from the top, it was quite obvious as we started tearing it down that this was the right decision. Overall, though, taking the engine out is probably the easiest part of all of this build.

There wasn't many hurdles or unexpected issues while getting it out, really.



The hardest part of removing the block was probably disconnecting the throttle cable.

I'm pretty convinced it's impossible to do so without breaking it, so that's what we did, but it's still usable.



The scariest part, was getting down to the alternator to remove it, and realizing there wasn't any need to remove the retainer bolt, because, it had already decided it didn't want to be in the engine.



And it looks like it was in the processing of staging a coup with the Drivers Size Engine Mount Nut



Luckily, neither of those fell off completely during the trip across the country, but I have no idea how they didn't. The Alternator Retainer Bolt was completely stripped, and the Motor Mount Nut loosened because (while it hard to see) the washer slid off next to the motor mount stud instead of going around it when it was installed, so the vibration eventually ejected the nut. The washer was still sitting on the subframe!

Next, the engine came out relatively easily (after the crane hit the ceiling and we had to drop it and decrease the arm length a bit, that is).



Once the engine was out, any illusion that it was clean in any way was gone. And this is after a few cans of Brakleen.



Next came the Clutch and Flywheel.

Or lack thereof.




This is what lead to the decision to upgrade to a Single Mass Flywheel and Performance Clutch, which is on order.

I decided to go with the ClutchMasters 15lb Aluminum Flywheel and FX350 Clutch Kit. They recommended the 6 Puck FX400, but I decided to try out the FX350 first, and upgrade if needed, but I don't see myself dropping the clutch often enough to justify the increased harshness, and would like to be able to drive to and from events.

Overall, this wasn't too bad to get here. This whole process took about 3.5 hours, not counting the issues we had with Pressure Plate Socket Bolts stripping due to being a super soft 8.8 Rating. We'll be using 12.9s next time around with much deeper sockets. Every time we welded anything to the 8.8, it would just snap the bolts just below the welds. Eventually we just cut the heads of the bolts off.

As for the new engine, I haven't take it apart for gaskets or anything yet, but I have a few external shots.

Injectors


Front


Back


Mocked with RHD ITBs

On a side note with these: I've been chatting with Rama about upgrading them to 45mm for increased flow. This is still a few weeks out, as we want to get everything sorted without ITBs prior to introducing new variables to the mix.

4.10 LSD (Picked up from Kronus just before moving away from NorCal)


And everything else just hanging out waiting to be finished up in the coming weeks


Obviously the hardest work is yet to come, but much of it is stalled until we get the clutch in, which unfortunately is taking much longer than anticipated.

[robrez]

subscribed, great project!

[Blake B]

Subbed

In for more m42 race car goodness.

No pressure.