Chapter 3 - 84 318i m-tech - M60 powered.

[paynemw]

- car is a bit loud inside, but kind of expected as I am using poly / bolt through engine/tranny mounts and added a 2nd diff mount that's also poly with a bolt through. BECAUSE RACE CAR? LOL

I can't recall, but did you remove your doorcards, or rear seat? and any transmission tunnel/firewall padding?

If so it's normal. I'm full derlin/poly and I have significantly more transferred sound, however, my wife will still ride and doesn't complain about the noise.

But yes.... #bcracecar

[Jean]

Got wiring under the hood cleaned up and installed my spal fan. Unfortunately it's too big to install as a puller so I had to install it temporarily as a pusher using spal brackets.

Fitted airbox in the engine bay, damn thing barely fits but must be in there to keep this swap California legal . Also got the check engine light wired, just need to solder some wires under the dash for vss/ tach and mpg .

Also need to figure out a way to securely mount the DME, good thing the dme harness end is just long enough where it should be doable .

After installing airbox , it really made the sound of exhaust more defined imho .

[Jean]

Congrads man! 2nd gear traction loss is nothing, wait until you're hard in 3rd, grab 4th, and have it try to pitch sideways on you!! I'm running the Getreg 420g and a 3.24 from a clown shoe....

Haha, it's just been so long since I've driven it and last time it was when it was m30b35 so I can't even imagine what she is going to feel like driven hard !

[delamaize]

Congrads man! 2nd gear traction loss is nothing, wait until you're hard in 3rd, grab 4th, and have it try to pitch sideways on you!! I'm running the Getreg 420g and a 3.24 from a clown shoe....

[Jean]

First impressions, keep in mind this was an easy drive to see if everything as in gears/brakes/steering etc are working as they should :)

- using a "virgin" 540i/6speed manual DME, fires right up and finds its idle
- shifter is very precise and mechanical, not sure how else to describe it. If you've ever driven a Miata or S2K, its similar but even more precise.
- clutch pedal is right there, feels good
- steering is working, no unusual noises or anything
- car is a bit loud inside, but kind of expected as I am using poly / bolt through engine/tranny mounts and added a 2nd diff mount that's also poly with a bolt through. BECAUSE RACE CAR? LOL
- I forgot how low my car is, it doesn't seem low but I already scratched exhaust pulling out of the driveway onto the street DOH
- exhaust sounds good at idle, and car isn't loud outside unless you get on it which is exactly how I wanted it to sound so glad it worked out.
- all gauges are working expect for tach, need to get one of those modules or make one of my own if I find a schematic for it.
- I am still using my custom built 4clutch disc 3.46 lsd, moving in 2nd gear and then rolling on power maybe 60% and it's braking traction . This will be like learning the car all over again, it's quite noticeable power increase over my previous m30b35 swap.

Need to install cooling fan and find the right expansion tank cap that actually works with the early tanks.
Please ignore the late model tank I am temporarily using, it's only there so I could test drive this thing.







Two quick videos to show how it sounds
slow take off - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVyP0Lvtz0U
drive by - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzchRCGRS6k

[Jean]

Well, today was a big day... I was able to drive her for the first time in years!

I cleaned up the wiring, my idea of extending the DME end went out the window after I chopped up a spare harness to see what I'll have to do. There are a quite a few wires that aren't individual, but shielded wire looms so that's what stopped me from attempting this.

I opened up the firewall hole to match the shape of the harness plug that I removed from the spare harness to use as a template. I cleaned up the wiring harness from the ASC wires and the secondary throttle body TPS sensor etc that some cars utilized and some didn't.

I think it's long enough where I can make it work, I kept the wiring harness connectors for the temp sensor and fan connector as I plan on utilizing them in my install.

Here are some photos







The white black black connectors are literally not connected to anything else on the engine harness, so you can pull that off. This is for optional 2nd throttle body.








Here is how far into the cabin I was able to get the DME end with relays.

[Jean]

Plan for tomorrow :

- run the wires for the charcoal evap valve
- run the wires for cluster check engine light / speed sensor
- clean up the engine bay wiring
- try to fit the DME under the dash, most likely will extend all the wires on the DME side :/ REALLY looking forward to that.
- install my SPAL cooling fan, it won't fit behind the radiator so I'll have to temporarily install it as a pusher vs puller. Still need to order 2 smaller / thinner fans to install benign the rad, as I want to run them as pullers and make an actual fan shroud around them.

- fuel, speedo, temp gauges work, just no tach yet so will need to tackle that as well. Anyone got a schematic for a tach module? I bet it's not more than $5-10 worth of components to solder one together.

Take the fucker for a spin around the block :)

Exhaust engine idle sound - https://youtu.be/K3RvW9u4H1M

[Jean]

Replaced the water pump gasket last night as there was a small leak, ran the engine to 1/2 mark and no leak this time!

Ran into another issue, the expansion tank I was trying to use isn't working out with the radiator cap that I got. The cap isn't sealed on the top seal, only the bottom seal is actually creating a seal with the internal "neck" of the expansion tank. Of course early and late model expansion tank caps are not interchangable, so as a temporary solution I had to install the late model tank just to get it running again and test the cooling system and exhaust system for any leaks.

[Jean]

So far I've only gotten as far as shoving the DME connector through the hole in the firewall.

Gotcha! Well, I'll keep you posted tomorrow on what happens !

Slightly modified the mounting plate for the Garagistic 2nd diff mount, enlarged the bolt holes, round off the bolt heads and got them welded together. This way the stack height isn't too much to interfere with my battery tray in the trunk.

[jpod999]

Gotcha, my backup plan is to extend all the dme wires and have long strips of heat shrink tubing for it (I got a spare automatic 740 harness I can scavange for wires lol). Also was thinking about adding a small heatsink to the back side of the dme and low rpm fan.

Did you have to cut or modify backside of the glovebox for the wiring harness for the dme side to clear?

So far I've only gotten as far as shoving the DME connector through the hole in the firewall.

[Jean]

I've loosely pulled it through but it doesn't look long enough. I'm going to try and get out to the garage tonight, my time has been greatly diminished with the new baby though.

I need to get my second diff mount installed but I lost the hardware pack somewhere along the line

Gotcha, my backup plan is to extend all the dme wires and have long strips of heat shrink tubing for it (I got a spare automatic 740 harness I can scavange for wires lol). Also was thinking about adding a small heatsink to the back side of the dme and low rpm fan.

Did you have to cut or modify backside of the glovebox for the wiring harness for the dme side to clear?

[jpod999]

I take it you tried and it doesn't work ? I am going to tackle wiring clean up tomorrow , today I dealt with coolant system and exhaust some more and got the 2nd diff mount installed .

I've loosely pulled it through but it doesn't look long enough. I'm going to try and get out to the garage tonight, my time has been greatly diminished with the new baby though.

I need to get my second diff mount installed but I lost the hardware pack somewhere along the line

[Jean]

Jean- what are you thinking of doing in terms of DME mounting? The wiring doesn't look like it will accomodate the M42 mount unfortunately.

I take it you tried and it doesn't work ? I am going to tackle wiring clean up tomorrow , today I dealt with coolant system and exhaust some more and got the 2nd diff mount installed .

[jpod999]

Jean- what are you thinking of doing in terms of DME mounting? The wiring doesn't look like it will accomodate the M42 mount unfortunately.

[Jean]

Last few, engine bay shot...got some work to do with wiring clean up.

And shot of the stupid coolant leak under water pump :/






Ugh