JackBenny's 1991 318is Project

[Spaz]

Looking sharp Josh

[325ix]

17 X 8 Compomotive TH Mono.

I'd have to look back to remember the ET though.

Cool thanks. That looks like it is the perfect size for the car.

[jackbenny]

Looking sharp Josh

Thanks Cam. It's getting there

Cool thanks. That looks like it is the perfect size for the car.

I think 17" is a good compromise between the DTM look and reasonable ride quality. It has a different shape than the 16" TH Mono though. Dilsnick's car is a good example of that. I'm hoping Emre's MB 190 project gets some TH's or OZ's. That would look pretty sweet.

A couple of things. I need to take some more pictures in the interior. Levent and GutenParts supplied me some new switch gear (fog, window, window breaker) that made a big difference. Those who haven't done business with Levent, I urge you to support the community and consider Guten Parts. I asked him if he had any switches and they were in my hands in 2 days. You can't beat that. I'm sure others who have used Guten Parts would agree.

BluntTech has pretty much become my new part supply house. Blunt was kind enough to hold on to my nuts...for the foglights while waiting on an additional throttle cable part. Of course he labled the package "Josh's Nuts" so that was fun to explain when my wife brought in the mail.... :)

Still no kid yet. I thought that open headers would have scared him out. Oh well. I elected to go with Dude8383's fan arrangement and placed my order. Likewise I need to select my exhaust components and get those ordered. Still haven't figured out what borla to use in the middle as my "muffled resonator".

[flipper325es]

I elected to go with Dude8383's fan arrangement and placed my order.

Josh, can you provide details on your fan arrangement? AFAIK, M50 and M20 blocks have similar castings, and if you remove the mechanical fan, there is not enough room for a puller electrical fan between the block and the radiator (apparently there is more room in an E36 chassis to do that). You can go with a pusher fan, but then the AC condenser is in the way. On E30 track cars with AC removed, that's what folks do. On mine, I want to keep the AC same as you, and am therefore looking at the OE setup of the mechanical fan and the aux electrical fan.

Feel free to PM me, so as not to clog this thread.

Alex

[dude8383]

Josh, can you provide details on your fan arrangement? AFAIK, M50 and M20 blocks have similar castings, and if you remove the mechanical fan, there is not enough room for a puller electrical fan between the block and the radiator (apparently there is more room in an E36 chassis to do that). You can go with a pusher fan, but then the AC condenser is in the way. On E30 track cars with AC removed, that's what folks do. On mine, I want to keep the AC same as you, and am therefore looking at the OE setup of the mechanical fan and the aux electrical fan.

Feel free to PM me, so as not to clog this thread.

Alex

Wrong, if you take a look at my thread you can definitely fit a puller fan in between. Don't want to go o/t in a build thread.

Josh, did you end up ordering both FFD fans or did you purchase the 12" FFD and the 16" Spal?

[YetiX]

Wow. Envious doesn't begin to describe it. Awesome work.

[jackbenny]

Josh, can you provide details on your fan arrangement? AFAIK, M50 and M20 blocks have similar castings, and if you remove the mechanical fan, there is not enough room for a puller electrical fan between the block and the radiator (apparently there is more room in an E36 chassis to do that). You can go with a pusher fan, but then the AC condenser is in the way. On E30 track cars with AC removed, that's what folks do. On mine, I want to keep the AC same as you, and am therefore looking at the OE setup of the mechanical fan and the aux electrical fan.

Feel free to PM me, so as not to clog this thread.

Alex

Wrong, if you take a look at my thread you can definitely fit a puller fan in between. Don't want to go o/t in a build thread.

Josh, did you end up ordering both FFD fans or did you purchase the 12" FFD and the 16" Spal?

With the M20 radiator I believe you can fit a mechanical fan (there is a diesel fan shown earlier in the thread I believe) but with the E36 mishimoto, I just couldn't get it to fit. Too close for my comfort. I saw on the tech that Jordan modified the fan clutch and machined it down to get it to fit. I couldn't find any more technical detail on it or by looking at his pictures. Blunt said he was able to use his M20 fan with his M20 radiator initially on his S52 car but eventually went to an electric pusher.

Dude8383 used a 12" fan offset to the driver's side. I tried fitting 2 10" fans, but in order to fit the fans, I had to use such a low profile that the total CFM didn't equal what the FFDynamic 12" was putting out. It's less than ideal. Believe me, I made some cardboard templates and tried to get creative with the 10's but this arrangement seems reasonable.

There is a fan setup called the Sidewinder offered at the fan man. The motor is offset from the center and can be repositioned. This allows the fan to sit in front of the water pump. I believe it is 1 5/8" thick. It's a neat idea but the information was minimal (call for more information) and the cost was in the 400 dollar range. It did put out more than 2000cfm as a puller and only a puller. I wasn't brave enough to progress down that path. I think it was either a 14 or 16 inch fan.

I elected to go with both FFD fans since I know how long Dude8383 looked for his fans and did a lot of the legwork. The red plastic has me concerned but as it has been pointed out to me at work, my interior has red accents. Maybe I'll paint them black with krylon fusion or some other paint.

I've hinted at it before but EVO2 for this car is in planning which is affecting some of my choices as of late. As I look at the car, I'm finding places that I had wished I had taken a little more time or would do differently now that I know what I know. Subframe reinforcements, powdercoating, some cluster changes, my original center dash concept. All of these things require time and I'd like to enjoy the car a bit. I'm sure some shakedown will yield more opportunities to better the vehicle.

I will say that I'm watching Blunt's 318is thread with great interest...

[e30guydownunder]

I will say that I'm watching Blunt's 318is thread with great interest...

Excellent

[JoeyBones]

how bout you just come do my swap when it comes time? :)

[BimmerTim]

Nice build. You will love that S52.

[jackbenny]

I've started to try and figure out the exhaust system today. So far, the only know quantities are the JVT Headers (ebay special) that are wrapped in the hopes in might dampen the rasp and a 2.5" vibrant in the back. I still need a y-pipe, catalytic converter and an intermediate muffler.

Before I get the "you don't need a cat" speech, the cat is non-negotiable with the wife. I promised her I would get one. Piping is 2.5" all the way back. I started looking at the intermediate muffler and know I want to run a Borla. Sadly, I've narrowed it down to 3 choices.

Borla XR1 40942 - 16" case
Borla XR1 40941 - 12" case
Borla ProXS 40364 - 14" case.

My setup is similar to E30Polak's so I have been using his car as my baseline in terms of sound. I know BenM used an XR1 and liked it as well but I haven't been able to hear a sound clip yet. I am open to opinions on the intermediate muffler setup but I have my heart set on a Borla....

Likewise I am open to opinions on a cat as well. I would prefer something summit racing sells as there are a few items i need to get there anyway...save on shipping and they're quick to arrive.

thoughts anyone?

[JoeyBones]

intermediate muffler.... Burns Stainless all the way. They are rebuildable, straight through, and have a TON of sizes.

[jackbenny]

intermediate muffler.... Burns Stainless all the way. They are rebuildable, straight through, and have a TON of sizes.

I cannot dispute Burns Stainless build quality and products, they are very nice but unfortunately, out of my price range I'm afraid.

[Farbin Kaiber]

The wife won't know if you run a "Hollow" cat.

[JoeyBones]

Yea you're going to pay about 100 more, but the quality is really there and it can be re-built.... I bet if you call up and order the muffler and y-pipe from them they will cut you a bit of a deal.

I may actually be able to get a discount through work since we've bought so many u-bends from them. Want me to check it out? Probably still wont be as cheap as the borla :(