3SGE BEAMS converted 89 E30///Stock as a rock 88 E30 325i Touring///

[kameleon]

[Pete_E30]

Love the new touring. :)

[MPLFoster]

Me too.

[aitch]

Damn looks like I missed out on a good Melbourne meet. I could have added another white one to the mix.

[kameleon]

Cheers guys.

Yes it was a good meet.

[kameleon]

Diff is all done.

Decided to do a 4 plate after all, added the 4.10 gears, added a breather to the Z3M cover (always found it weird they never had them, but have a baffled area behind where it should be) and a full rebuild.

The original plates came out greeeeeeaaaaaaatttttt LOL

[kameleon]

Counting down to the next race for the BEAMS car and too a long drive into the country to my friends workshop on his farm in central Victoria to do the large list of items i had been wanting to do for some time.

We:-

* Replaced the gearbox with a rebuilt item
* Replaced the clutch/flywheel with a ORC racing lightweight flywheel and floating clutch combination (way WAY too aggressive but oh well)replacing the dual mass that was f#cked
* Fitted the rebuilt LSD diff (4.10 gears, 4 plate LSD etc)
* Added a breather with filter near the fuel filler for the diff
* Made a sleeve for the shifter so the knob does not twist in my hand
* Adjusted the valve clearances
* Replaced the VVTi solenoids
* Rebuilt the VVTi gears (one was leaking oil etc)
* Replaced the cam belt
* Resealed the water pump
* Replaced the thermostat
* Replaced both drive belts
* Resealed lower sump
* Replaced all fluids (clutch, brakes, engine, trans, diff)
* Removed and chamfered the brake pads
* Lock wired various things

Unfortunately did not have time to time to fit the E36 M3 steering rack or sort out the swaybar issue. To combat the swaybar atleast i am going to try and find a different set of front springs in a higher rate to help for this track day, but ultimately i need someone to make something PROPERLY to finally fix this part of the car that is a issue that keeps plaguing the cars outright track performance.

Anyway some pictures i took whilst doing the work. The table was full on day 1 with items we needed to fit/replace/rebuild. By day 3 the bench only had the steering rack on it.

[kameleon]

Purchased some strut braces also. Just cheapie from ultra racing. Will see how they go this weekend at the track.

Glad a off the shelf item fits the BEAMS, as the inlet manifold is in the way of most of the braces available. I wish the Sparco branded item would fit as it appears to be the strongest.

[kameleon]

Set the wheel alignment and ride height for the race this weekend today.

Shocked (not shocked???) to find all the adjustment bolts on the rear had come loose. The design of these is so flawed.....

Car is handling a lot better since and adding loctite and hanging off those bolts with a breaker bar should stop them from moving.

Bring on sundays trackday!

[remout]

Love this thread! I'm thinking of putting a 3SGE in my 1976 BMW 2002. Do you have any pics of the motor mount setup? Thanks!

[kameleon]

remout:- Check out the early pages of this thread for pictures of the front crossmember. We removed the factory plates/ears and welded a new set on that were then strengthened that facilitate the use of factory Altezza mounts in their entirety.

Do you also know of the 2002 from Australia that uses a BEAMS driveline also? http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/153342-3sge-beams-swap/


Realised i have not updated this since the last trackday. Good news is i got that new PB i wanted.

1:42.4 Next step is a 41

To get there i want the steering rack in and fix the niggling front swaybar issues i am having. Not as simple with the BEAMS as just fitting something off the shelf. I will be making a blade adjustable setup for the front.

Anyway here are some pictures. I took the Touring up there too as the support vehicle.

[kilian22]

beams

my name is wade, live in a small town in Central USA. couple hours south of chicago to be exact. i just wanted to write you and tell you how awesome your swap is. i studied it a lot right before i did mine. hell you could say you were a big inspiration on why i chose the 3sge. Here is my swap if your interested at all. no where near as clean and organized as yours but i did what i could without asking any questions and doing it completely by myself. http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ams-in-83-320i

reason i'm emailing you is to ask how it is running. i had so much problem with the factory ecu and the damn factory airbox that i actually ended up buying a Adaptonic unit from over there, not much support for this engine over here. Are you using factory airbox and ECU still? or did you end up going with the TBI setup? i am still in need of getting mine on a dyno which is probably my biggest problem. just never have been able to get it to run the way i think it should.

[kameleon]

Hi Wade,

Thank you for the kind words. I am pleased to hear you have been inspired to use the great 3SGE BEAMS in your E21 build.

The BEAMS motors were tuned very finely to the inlet tract and they have issues when they are in their natural habitats (Altezza cars) let alone in swaps.

Not using the factory airbag is a big no no on these engines and i have been in swaps using this engine with a pod filter and the cars end up with large flat spots down low. This is attributed to the air not flowing over the MAF as it was on the factory vehicle.

This was happening to me when using the factory ecu. I am now using a custom rom tuned Blitz plug in ecu. This has leaned the low end down alot and i rarely have a flat spot now.

However i know a standalone eco is the way forward along with ditching the MAF. I wish to do this but the funds are just not there atm.

Adaptronic is a good choice, as the BEAMS was one of the first cars the units were ever fitted to.

I hope your conversion is going well and you get it running well.

[2mAn]

I was just thinking about this car

[kameleon]

Yeah i have not added much here lately, will update soon.