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Old 12-29-2016, 01:24 AM   #16
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Lets get this swap started!!

Part of it is in!




Just block is in, the rest is moving forward too!
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Old 12-29-2016, 01:49 AM   #17
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Update on Concept #2:

It seems like before I get to my initial concept the 318ti will be converted to what I would imagine what a OEM performance version of a 328ti would be. I need some clearance (ride height) and plain reliability/comfort for daily use, also with where I have to park now I don't need extra attention.

***Once this mid stage portion gets done, we can get back to the concept.***

Engine/Drivetrain:
-m52 swap w/s52 head/valve train (Done/Have)
-TRM swap DME (Done/Have)
-ZF trans with z3 shifter (Done/Have)
-3.46 Med Case LSD w/ e30 axles (Done/Have)
-Getting it CARB legal! (still working on it)

Suspension/Misc:
-z3m coupe oem springs all around (Done/Have)
-z3m front/rear sway bar (Front needs install,rear done)
-Koni's all around (Still need front inserts)
-12mm subframe risers (need install)

Brakes:
-300mm vented brakes all around
-e46 Calipers (325/328i) all around
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Old 01-01-2017, 02:21 AM   #18
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Default Progress!

The backstory to how I decided to go with the swap.


***Don't worry it won't be quick. *****

Around the start of November I was really thinking if it was even worth keeping my ti. Even though I had replaced the clutch/guibo/oilhousing gasket and it was running better then ever, I just wondered why I should keep it. I still think the rear looks awkward after owning the car for four years, the e36 coupe looks a lot better and comes stock with a m52/s52 (I would go OBDII for sure) then there is also the more complex rear suspension. Other then weight and "uniqueness" there isn't really much going for the 318ti in my opinion.

Besides why should I keep a car, keep investing in it when the value probably won't really ever go up, I mean its not a ///M and it isn't rare enough. Lastly when I bought the car I was actually looking for a e30.

The e36 is can look nice for sure, but it when it comes to styling it seems the awkward teen phase between the boxy and tough e30 and sleek and stylish e46. So I started looking at craigslist and forums, spending hours looking at cars and considering going back toward a Japanese car.

The only problem with going to any other used car is that in my price range (3k~4k) I know I would have to do maintenance and start over with a unknown car. But I was open if it had good maintence records, so I ended up driving only driving three cars:

- 2.8l z3 with hardtop. Talk about lack of space!! Not practical but kind cool... with my head close to the roof . (6'2)

- 95 318ti with 302 v8 mustang engine. Now that was awesome!!! But the work to make it smog legal, and it was nose heavy, and MPG's... (I want to do this someday though )

- 318ti w DASC & NickG Stg2 tune, this was a members car and was also fun, kind of weird that everything feels exactly the same but with more power. Some work was needed though with maintenance/bushings etc.

Basically no matter what I was going to spend money... and I didn't want to. In mid-late December I had two weeks with more free time then usual before the full swing of things started so I needed to make sure I had whatever I was going to do done with. The only reason to keep my car was familiarity and also because what I had imagined for it was not completed. So that bugged me.

Then I thought well if I swap in a m52 on a budget it could be done around 3k hopefully and it would also increase the value of the car if Reffed to be smog legal. That way I get some more power, keep it reliable and get it one step closer to what I had imagined years ago. I asked around, got my budget set and decided to go that route.

One of my concerns was proper brakes/suspension and with the adapter for 300mm vented rear rotors by SRS-concepts, the brakes could be done in a more or less OEM bias, and using Z3M suspension would keep it decently well balanced.

Then came the swap, and getting parts. But that is coming in another post, I will also be posting up the actual cost... I went way over budget... , but! I think its worth it. I will explain later.


It runs!! So close to complete:

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Last edited by anassa; 03-23-2017 at 05:32 AM.
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Old 01-07-2017, 06:57 AM   #19
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Exclamation Swap Complete!!!

Initial Impressions:


Well that was a disappointment!! First the front seems wwwaaayyy heavy. Completely lost its nimble feel it had before. Then the power delivery was lacking, it was on/off switch at 4k RPM, throttle was mushy, and clutch engagement horrible.

Then I took a step back, eat something, then went back to drive. The power is definitely better I need to drive and drive to get a real feel of it. I know power is not great, but it is okay, suspension needs to be revised, the front needs to be lightened. Shocks feel soft.

Issue: throttle sensitivity: motormounts need to hold more weight, so stiffer ones needed for more direct power delivery, tighten throttle cables? BBTB?

Clutch engagement mushy? Proper slave cylinder? CDV really deleted?

Shift is SUPER long!! : Need to find the z3m shifter/shifter bushings refresh

Cluster, back light is purple!!! mileage is too high 212xxx, rpm needle sticks? No CEL, Brights icon not lighting up.


That was the initial reaction the day I picked up the car. Now that I have driven it for ~250miles and tanked up some other thoughts. After putting in some fresh gas and ~130miles the low end came alive. Now instead of a on/off switch at 4k RPM its a smooth powerband all the way through, its a LOT better. It definitely is more powerful and now that I am slowly accepting that this is the new normal I need to figure out how to balance it to try to regain the light feeling I so enjoyed previously.

I have gotten used to the gas/clutch engagement but it needs some work.
The muffler seems gutted so it is too loud and drones on the freeway too much, very annoying, so that will need to be fixed.

The Take Away (So Far)


For me the biggest take away is that, sure the m44 318ti is under-powered. BUT, the front is light and tossable and with some decent suspension and a tight drive-train for a responsive throttle, it is a lot of fun. It takes time to build the speed, but maintaining the speed is great. It is a great base to learn on to utilize momentum and safely push the car. The 318ti offers something not often seen:

- MPG - Even when driven hard I would get 27mpg

- Practicality - Four seats and a hatch/radio/A/C etc.

- Reliability - m44/getrag is very solid . . . with 176xxx miles and lots of high rpm driving, it still had 180psi across all cylinders. (Maintenance is key!! *cooling*)

- Aftermarket - there is tons of support between e36/e30/z3 there is more then enough parts to upgrade or replace, only part maybe lacking to a degree is engine support and that is for a good reason as building a m44 is not a real fruitful endeavor.

- Under powered but fun car to drive. Seriously. *With refreshed suspension* . . and z3 shifter..

- RWD - YES!

I think even now there are not many cars that offer all of those things in a single package. Now my MPG's will suffer and the balance that I so loved is lost. I will consider the MPG's a lost cause, but will see what I can do to get some of the balance back that I so enjoyed.

More to come!
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Old 01-07-2017, 07:14 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by anassa View Post
Initial Impressions:




Well that was a disappointment!! First the front seems wwwaaayyy heavy. Completely lost its nimble feel it had before. Then the power delivery was lacking, it was on/off switch at 4k RPM, throttle was mushy, and clutch engagement horrible.



Then I took a step back, eat something, then went back to drive. The power is definitely better I need to drive and drive to get a real feel of it. I know power is not great, but it is okay, suspension needs to be revised, the front needs to be lightened. Shocks feel soft.



Issue: throttle sensitivity: motormounts need to hold more weight, so stiffer ones needed for more direct power delivery, tighten throttle cables? BBTB?



Clutch engagement mushy? Proper slave cylinder? CDV really deleted?



Shift is SUPER long!! : Need to find the z3m shifter/shifter bushings refresh



Cluster, back light is purple!!! mileage is too high 212xxx, rpm needle sticks? No CEL, Brights icon not lighting up.




That was the initial reaction the day I picked up the car. Now that I have driven it for ~250miles and tanked up some other thoughts. After putting in some fresh gas and ~130miles the low end came alive. Now instead of a on/off switch at 4k RPM its a smooth powerband all the way through, its a LOT better. It definitely is more powerful and now that I am slowly accepting that this is the new normal I need to figure out how to balance it to try to regain the light feeling I so enjoyed previously.



I have gotten used to the gas/clutch engagement but it needs some work.

The muffler seems gutted so it is too loud and drones on the freeway too much, very annoying, so that will need to be fixed.



The Take Away (So Far)




For me the biggest take away is that, sure the m44 318ti is under-powered. BUT, the front is light and tossable and with some decent suspension and a tight drive-train for a responsive throttle, it is a lot of fun. It takes time to build the speed, but maintaining the speed is great. It is a great base to learn on to utilize momentum and safely push the car. The 318ti offers something not often seen:



- MPG - Even when driven hard I would get 27mpg



- Practicality - Four seats and a hatch/radio/A/C etc.



- Reliability - m44/getrag is very solid . . . with 176xxx miles and lots of high rpm driving, it still had 180psi across all cylinders. (Maintenance is key!! *cooling*)



- Aftermarket - there is tons of support between e36/e30/z3 there is more then enough parts to upgrade or replace, only part maybe lacking to a degree is engine support and that is for a good reason as building a m44 is not a real fruitful endeavor.



- Under powered but fun car to drive. Seriously. *With refreshed suspension* . . and z3 shifter..



- RWD - YES!



I think even now there are not many cars that offer all of those things in a single package. Now my MPG's will suffer and the balance that I so loved is lost. I will consider the MPG's a lost cause, but will see what I can do to get some of the balance back that I so enjoyed.



More to come!


An M42 turbo would be interesting in one of these, I have to say. Although I am opting for a turbo'd M52B28 so we'll see.


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Old 01-09-2017, 05:34 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Johjamkep View Post
An M42 turbo would be interesting in one of these, I have to say. Although I am opting for a turbo'd M52B28 so we'll see.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I am not sure how that would effect the weight. Considering the piping/turbo/FMI etc. What I hope to eventually do (funding/time/length of ownership considered) is go with a aluminum m52 block, then with lightweight battery, cf hood would get it closer to stock balance.

The other consideration for me is that a turbo m44 wouldn't be legal here in California, so I am trying to get something I can get smog legal.

Did a compression to make sure the engine is actually healthy. Got 150psi all across (forgot to keep my throttle open . . .) so it is really healthy, it did get a 3way valve job/headgasket etc. I think once the exhaust is cleaned up and shifter/suspension is tightened up it should be fine.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update:

1st Tank of gas 21.7MPG (M52 w/s52 cams TRM tune and 3.46 diff, 195/60/15 tires)

2nd: 23 MPG

3nd: 23.4 MPG

4th: 23.7 MPG

5th: 22.5 MPG (swapped on DS1's 225/45/17)

6th?:22.8 MPG

Seems like ~23mpg is my norm now. This is with ~70% freeway ~30% city, but I would say ~30% of the freeway driving is after work, bumper to bumper stop and go driving.

** Switched to 89 Oct with Chev/Tech - I thought I got some better MPG with 89oct! first two fuel ups was 24mpg, but then third dropped to 23 again... sigh.

24.0 MPG
24.0 MPG
23.2 MPG

** Alignment, CEL (camsensor and intake temp) fixed.

24.9 MPG
21.5 MPG
24.8 MPG
23.5 MPG

Still seem to be stuck at 23ish MPG, if I drive around 70-65 on the freeway with mostly freeway I can think I can break into 25 MPG as I got really close above a few times.
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Old 01-15-2017, 03:12 AM   #22
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Complications!!


One day car down twice!!

Problem:
In the morning after a long night of rain I started the car, but it seemed to be misfiring for some reason. I needed to get to class so I drove a little more but it was fumbling all over the place. I didn't trust it and was worried so I brought it to the shop missing class.

Solution:
Apparently if the beauty cover (valve cover) is not over on the car and the ignition coils are exposed, with a lot of rainfall some might drip down into the plugs! Cylinder 6's spark plug was flooded. Once dried up it ran great again.

Problem:
Once at school at noon to try to get some papers/reading done I had to move onto work. Jumped into the car and pulled out of the parking lot, when all of a sudden there was snap and slapping sounds. I saw something had fallen out so I pulled over. My belts had snapped!!



Solution:
Seems like my power steering pulley had a piece that chipped off (old plastic!!) and took the belt with it! Once replaced it was fine... but there goes a day of work!


First Canyon Cruise

So much better! When I took it for a drive, having power in the mid range that is more then peak m44 power is great! It seems like my complaints are dying down as I get used to it and get to really feel the difference in power. I had also installed the z3 steering rack at the same time so getting my nose in a corner, despite the weight, so really great as it makes maneuvering the rear so much easier.

One part of the swap I did not expect at all but is a very nice side effect is that engine braking is also greatly improved. I am not sure if someone can explain it to me, but now on a spirited cruise just getting off the pedal slows down the car a good amount more then the m44 did, especially at higher rpm's, letting me not even need to use the brakes for many corners. Then having that midrange torque and power that can propel the 318ti out of the corner is really great.

All this without having a proper tire/rim, brake and suspension setup. I really look forward to how it will be like when I get it more balanced.

Swap regret is slowly fading away.

Decided to throw on the m3 rep bumper from the donor car, and black nose grill from the donor car, so its looking a little better too.

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Old 01-17-2017, 07:07 AM   #23
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Oh alright, thanks for responding.
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Old 01-17-2017, 07:18 AM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by baystint View Post
Oh alright, thanks for responding.
Of course, no problem!
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Old 01-28-2017, 07:48 AM   #25
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Update on Concept #3:

So hopefully this is the final change.

Basically I will let the build go its way. I have parts lying around that I will slap on. What was mentioned in the first post on the concept and idea of the build will be primary to build/look of the car.

Complications!! #2


- The car is guzzling oil!!! It has been roughly 1k miles since the swap and I have already refilled a good three quarts of oil into the m52. I really need to find out what is eating all that oil. I am using Mobile 1 0-40 full synthetic and the block has unknown miles on it, so I might try heavier oil and see if that helps.

Fixed!


- Picked up a oem 189k m3 exhaust midsection. The midsection from the 328 donor car didn't have cats and the gas fumes was horrible. It also has the popping sound on deceleration with lower RPM's. That is most likely the muffler so that needs some work too.

- Replaced the ugly purple, not really functioning m3 cluster with a cluster that had 189k (same donor m3 as the midsection above). What a difference! Also at the time of the swap I had ~179k miles so its give or take a few hundred off 10k difference. The CEL works, cluster is regular orange backlight, rpm/speedo, gas gauge is accurate. It makes a huge difference.

Speed!


As I have no dyno handy to see how much power or idea of how to compare to other cars, I decided to run next to my roomates 2013 Focus ST and see how it compares.

Focus ST: Cobb rear motor mount, Cobb CAI, Ford Racing exhaust, full tank of gas.

Weight~ 3240lbs
Driver ~ 150lbs
Passenger ~ 140lbs
Stock crank HP ~ 253hp

318ti: m52 swap, s52 cams, 3.46lsd, DME tuned for s52 cams and m50 intake manifold (BUT NOT INSTALLED, stock m52 manifold installed)195/60/15 tires with good thread, complete interior, stock seats, AC/PS everything is there, half tank of gas. Stock intake box, stock exhaust except for oem m3 midsection, random gutted muffler.

Weight ~ 2850lbs
Driver ~ 215lbs
Stock crank HP ~ ???

To my surprise we were very close on 40mph roll on 20mph roll he didn't have traction (older tires). He didn't pull from me and we where basically equal. So doing some very simple and guesstimated math to figure my very rough HP,

Focus ST ~ 3,530lbs/~260hp = 13.57weight/hp ratio.

If I assume I had similar weight/hp ratio I can take my weight:

3065lbs/13.57 = ~ 225hp.

225 crank hp seems roughly what can be expected from the m52 with s52 cams so i can't complain!

***There are MANY variables that basically what I said above moot, but its fun to speculate.
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Old 02-11-2017, 11:11 PM   #26
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Suspension (Front Sway Bar)


After the swap one issue I noticed was that the m44 sway bar was rubbing on the oil pan!

Here is the clearance:



And the rubbing:



As a result I found two old m3 sway bars I had lying around... went down to Ireland Engineering picked up two new adjustable end links:



Installed, clearance is a LOT better - will post up pictures if I get to it, but I also still need the adjust the endlinks to be more effective, I think they are too loose now.

Exhaust


Old setup:



New setup:



I will find out what muffler was used, but it is nice and quiet. The drone of the old gutted muffler was horrible, though it definitely looked cooler. I will get the tip changed for something else, but need to see what I will do with the rear bumper since it got cut to fit the old dual tip setup.

Looks/Exterior


Found some DS1's with almost new tires from someone who had crashed their m3, so that was a win for me. Finally I got the ACS mirrors on, they work nicely too.



DS1:
17x7.5
et41
225/45/17

Wheels are heavier, but did not weigh them, what I did notice though is that with the extra rotational mass once moving, for example on the freeway, maintaining speed uphill for the first bit is easier since it has more momentum and takes less initial pedal input. With the old wheels taking my foot off the gas or giving more gas was more instantaneous while with the DS1's it seems smoother almost between giving some gas and taking my foot off the gas - just modulation of the pedal. Good for daily driving, but I can imagine not as good for track/spirited driving.

****I apologize for my horrible dirty lens cell phone camera pictures, I will take better pictures, but I think it needs more love before I will take the time to take more proper/better pictures.

Power??!?


Sooooo maybe I shouldn't say this yet, but I scheduled a day on Feb 26th to dyno the m52 and get a baseline for how much I am making. It is on a Mustang Dyno and apparently is a "heart break dyno", but I am not as interested in the actual numbers (.. well I am..) as for the change after I get the m50 intake manifold for example and the increase that happens with other mods further down the road.

****UPDATE! ::: So the dyno place double booked! Now I am waiting till sometime in April? I need to double check.
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Old 03-23-2017, 06:06 AM   #27
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Pictures

Beautiful day with sun shining and the car had been washed so pictures!






SMOG

On March 3rd I had my first appointment with the California Ref to get my m52 swap legal for my 318ti. An appointment had to be made and it took roughly two hours. At the end of appointment I payed $0, as it did not pass smog - if I it did I would of cost only $8.20!! Yes doing a ref test includes a regular smog test and is cheaper then a regular smog test! What I found out:

- Code P0111 Intake Air Temp Sensor Range Performance
- Vehicle has 2 Monitors Not Ready (Evaporative Sytsem & Secondary Air System)
- Air Intake Sensor Not in Air Cleaner No Place for it in the Air Cleaner.
- Vehicle must go to the dealership to verify that the vehicle has the correct ecu and programming for the engine.
- EVAP - Has Broken Wire to Purge Valve
- Check/Repair High HC Emissions

SMOG TEST:


HC (PPM)
.........MAX...MEAS
15mph: 55 - 77
25mph: 39 - 12

So the ref guy says its running lean? Anyone know why it would measure so high for HC?
**Seems like the car probably sat for a while and was cold start, as can be seen by the low 25mph HC reading, if it warmed up for a little longer I don't think it will be a problem.




This morning went to the BMW dealer to get the DME checked as correct for the engine (m52b28). That cost $175, at first I worried what they would say since my DME was a TRM DME that is their "swap tune" for s52 cams, m50 intake, so I thought they would notice there was something, but they didn't care about the EWS and the off the shelf tune didn't turn up, so I was given a green light by the dealership. Apparently now with getting a swap now you need a dealership to confirm the DME used. I never knew that.

Dealer found problems:

- Transmission Leaking From Shift Shaft Seal
- Exhaust Mounts Cracking
- Door Panels Coming Apart

So one box is checked! Now for the rest . . . one step at a time. I made the next appointment with the ref on April 14th so it gives me a deadline to get as much done as possible.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 6/17/2017

Did smog again, still need to fix some parts, still not legal yet!
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Old 04-01-2017, 01:11 AM   #28
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H&R Z3M Sport Springs Installed

I wanted to have a more aggressive stance, since on stock z3m springs it sat a bit tall, but I didn't want to slam it and make the suspension effectively useless. So I found for $260 shipped/tax on ebay a set new H&R z3m sport springs. I know I know... many of you have seen me use different spring combo's again and again... real coilovers will come! Just not right away.. So here we go!



Then comparison with stock z3m springs:

Rear:



Front:




So Condor Speed Shop has these cool rear spring pad sets:
https://www.condorspeedshop.com/coll...spring-pad-set

**(I always mention where I buy things in case someone wants to do the same!! Not because I am sponsored/affiliated with the company. )**

Got it and used the smallest 3.5mm pad for the rear:





Due to the smallest pad being so thin in the last picture you can see there is a slight gap between the metal ring and pad.

The result:



Before:





What I like:
- No rake!
- Body lines look more streamlined
- Its low!

What I don't like:
- Its low! It was lower then I expected.
- Spring rate feels too soft. ** Drove over a 100 mile and yes, the rear is way too soft.


So the front didn't drop much and the rear was a lot lower, officially from H&R it is supposed to drop 1.3" front and rear for z3m. But with the pads I have, I might add a 5mm or 6mm one in to lift it a little. Or not. We will see.


Alignment after spring install:

Front:
Caster: 6.2 (L) / 5.9 (R)
Camber: -.05 (L) / -0.6 (R)
Toe: .09 (L) / .09 (R)

Rear:
Camber: -2.9 (L) / -3.1 (R)
Toe: .12 (L) / .00 (R)

It is important to note that my caster/camber numbers are the way they are because of the m3 tophats that are not centered, if I had front e36 m3 96-99 LCA/brakes it would increase the camber to a normal amount.
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Last edited by anassa; 04-01-2017 at 10:05 PM.
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Old 04-01-2017, 02:13 AM   #29
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Swap Cost- MONEY!


So now that I have had the car running for a couple thousand miles and mostly got the cost in order I can pass it on so others can know what to expect. It is not 100% complete as I still need to figure out a CEL and finish the REF process to get it BAR legal.

Basics:


$2,000 - Labor
$1,000 - 98 328is 5spd 206k miles

So in an ideal world it would of cost me roughly 3k for it to get done. But the misc parts that you replace add up really quick. I chose to have a shop do it for me as it was during Christmas break, I had roughly a week and a half of time without a car, but after I needed to have the car running and reliable for work and school. Without the experience and tools I knew for sure something would go wrong and did not want to risk getting stuck without transportation.

Other/Extra

$127 - New Guibo/Center Support/Bolts
$186 - SPAL Electric Fan conversion - Bimmerworld
$140 - New Mishimoto Aluminum Radiator
$475 - TRM swap tune with DME
$220 - 3-way valve job and cleaning of the head
$50 - SS braided Vanos Line
$800 - New Headgasket Job - labor and parts
$160 - New Bosch 02 sensors x4
$160 - New oil/intake filter/coolant/NGK iridium spark plugs
$50 - m3 cluster with similar mileage to stock cluster
$320 - Stock m3 midpipe/cats - donor cats where gutted
$175 - BMW dealer confirm correct DME for REF
$500 - S52 complete head + valve train + cams

Extra costs total: ~3,363

Total cost ~ 6k Yup. Six thousand dollars. Now this does not include what i got back with selling the 328is shell or the m44 that was in the 318ti, so I did make some money back but all of that depends on what the individual does when selling parts so I won't include it.

From this experience I would say make sure your donor car is 100%!! My donor m52 had low compression, hence the head job, and then it turned into swapping a s52 head on "while at it", along with the tuned DME, and other things that dinged me to death. So I basically ended up spending close to double what I imagined. But this is just my experience and I know people who are capable to do the swap themselves and end up doing it for A LOT cheaper.
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Old 04-01-2017, 10:32 PM   #30
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The Widening Idea


So a couple years ago I saw some people trying the e46 LCA mod for the front to increase track and steering angle. At the time there wasn't much support and you had to grind down the edges of the hexagonal e46 to fit the e36 lolipop. Now there are more options that make it more a plug and play thing. So the following is just a mental excercise at what different model track width and wheel base is for the widening of my 318ti.

Source: automobile-catalogue website

97 318ti (same specs for 323ti)

- Wheelbase: 2700mm / 106.3in
- Front Track: 1408mm / 55.4in
- Rear Track: 1413mm / 55.6in

96 1.9L z3

- Wheelbase: 2446mm / 96.3in
- Front Track: 1411mm / 55.6in
- Rear Track: 1427mm / 56.2in

99 2.8L z3 coupe (roadster same specs)

- Wheelbase: 2446mm / 96.3in
- Front Track: 1413mm / 55.6in
- Rear Track: 1494mm / 58.8in

97 328is coupe (sedan same)

- Wheelbase: 2700mm / 106.3in
- Front Track: 1408mm / 55.4in
- Rear Track: 1421mm / 55.9in

99 z3m coupe (roadster same specs) s52 & s54 models same specs

- Wheelbase: 2459mm / 96.8in
- Front Track: 1422mm / 56in
- Rear Track: 1492mm / 58.7in

97 M3 coupe (sedan & Euro M3 same specs)

- Wheelbase: 2700mm / 106.3in
- Front Track: 1422mm / 56in
- Rear Track: 1444mm / 56.9in

Trailing arm info:
- z3 1.9 & 318ti same 8.395kg trailing arm according to RealOEM
- z3 2.8L has a 10.198kg trailing arm according to RealOEM
- 323ti has a 8.655kg trailing arm (probbaly due to the extra brace between the fork of the trailing arm, as the 318ti and z3 1.9 don't have that)

Picked Up a z3 2.8 coupe Rear End!

So this morning I picked up a complete rear end from a 2.8L z3 coupe! !!



It even includes the 3.15 LSD diff, currently I really do enjoy my 3.46 LSD diff, and honestly I think its great for acceleration and spirited driving, shifting those gears is fun! But as the car is basically a commuter the 3.15 diff would help with freeway MPG and lazy driving. Besides there might be some fun to gain going from torsion type LSD to clutch type LSD.

Sooo??


Anyways from the numbers above, first some people wrongly assume that the 318ti has a smaller wheelbase then the other e36's, that is wrong!! It has the same wheel base, and thus longer wheelbase (more stable for high speed cornering ?) then z3 models. The track width is also increased from non-M to M models for z3 and e36, there is no difference between coupe/roadster on this and even the almightly euro "real" M3 has the same basic wheel base and track width as the US spec M3.

My specs?

Mix n' Match 318ti:

- Wheelbase: 2700mm / 106.3in ~ same? or increase a bit?
- Front Track: 1408mm / 55.4in + e46 LCA = ??? I can't find conclusive information on how much width the e46 LCA adds to each side.
- Rear Track: 1494mm / 58.8in stock z3 2.8 rear.

So it seems like the rear will be a good 86mm / 3.4in wider then the front. The two choices would be M3 front which will bring it out to 1422mm / 56in vs the stock 1408mm / 55.4in or just go with the e46 LCA and they *fingers crossed* should be close to the same track width.

THE BAD: Adds weight to the 318ti and wheel/rubber width choice. As I go forward with this I will have to face the trouble of not having sufficient space under the fenders to fit even normal OEM BMW wheels with "wider" tires (225+ ?). So we shall see how this works out.
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