My thoughts on my M3 conversion (LONG)

[Croak]

My car started life as a '93 325is automatic, and when I purchased it last September, it had 163k miles on it. It was in very good condition for the miles, ran very well, and had a nearly immaculate interior.

I wasn't looking for an auto, but this one was so nice, (most I'd looked at were rode hard and put up wet), I loved the color, it was cheaper by a couple thousand than other 325's in the same year and mileage range I'd looked at, and I was tired of shopping, so I bought it.

Within a week, I started spending some money on it, buying new floormats, a new 02 sensor, and a right wheel bearing. A few weeks after that, I scored a good deal on some Double Spokes and a takeoff M3 exhaust. I also dropped a few dollars into a new head unit and wiring to mate up with the stereo system from my old car.

Around December I started getting Dinan happy, buying a CAI, ECU chip, Trans chip, and a Stage 1 suspension. I set that off with new OEM rotors and Axxis Ultimate pads. With all of that installed, the car ran really good, handled good (though the control arms were due for some love) and sounded great, I had my Dinan points and badge, but it was still an automatic.

So, I started thinking about a trans conversion, did all the research I could on the subject here, on DTM, and Google. This looked feasable, not too terribly expensive in the long run, and it would totally change the character of my car.

I squirrled some cash away, ready to pounce on a good deal on a transmission if it came up, or opt into a Zionsville kit, and braced my favorite BMW mechanics on the price to have it done.

Then some yahoo on the Buy/Sell/Trade forums says he's selling his rolled silver '95 M3 for $4k, and it had a complete interior, good 72k motor and trans, and he even said the frame wasn't damaged.

Hmm...So, I juggled some finances around, did some math, decided that Ramen noodles really weren't THAT bad, and offered the guy the $4k he was looking for. Seems like a few other people had the same idea, and I ended up paying $5k to get the car. That meant Ramen noodles every other day..and nothing in between, but what the hell, I'm a big guy, I figured I could live on stored fat.

Luckily, getting it transported wasn't that outrageous, $300 from San Jose to North San Diego county, and it was down here a week after I sent the seller his money.

The car rolled off the truck, and with a booster box, I started the car up and drove it into the garage bay at my office.

Man, this thing was HURT. Passenger glass, rear quarter windows, back glass, rear bumper cover, and side skirts were salvageable. Everything else was shot on the outside.












Interior was beautiful, however, with a few bonus items. Real Nappa leather on the lower dash panels, door panels, shifter surround area, and glovebox, which I'd never seen before, and power Vaders in excellent shape, which could not possibly have come stock in that car.




There was also a very nice set of A/D/S speakers and x-overs, and modded kick panels with angled tweeters installed, very nicely done.

The engine worried me a bit. The impact of the rollover had bent the front lifting hook near the VANOS area of the engine, and the valve cover itself had a 2"x2" HOLE in it, where the aluminum had cracked out. Radiator was ruined, as was the AC condenser, and even the strut towers were bent and out of round. It had taken a hell of a whack.



The car had brand new AVS Intermediates on 10 spokes, and those looked to be in good shape, though there was some scuffing from the roll. The exhaust was OK, though the right tip had some scratches from the accident, and a little ding on the underside.

Well, I knew I wasn't ready to do the engine/trans swap right away, but I could start on the interior right off. One long day (actually, about 30 hours), and a lot of Red Bull later, I had the interior swap done.

That alone transformed the car, going from black and grey inside to all black, and then of course, Vaders and the very nice leather panels. Started feeling better about my $5300 after that was done.



So, I had all the parts that I removed from the car, and all of them were in fine shape. Did a listing here, and on Ebay, of the interior pieces I was selling, and blew the stuff out at pretty good prices. Sold the f/r door panels, rear seats, center surround, OBC, ///M3 door sills (I wasn't going to use them, I'll get into that later), glovebox, M3 steering wheel (already had one), intake, my old Dinan chips, and a few other odds and ends, netting me about $1500 after Ebay and shipping fees. So, my investment was down to $3500. Looking good, and I could supplement my Ramen diet with macaroni and cheese, and occassionally some Spam!

My local shop (Bavarian Mastercare in San Marcos, more about them later), had first given me a $3000+ quote on the engine and trans swap, but later came back with a $2500 flat rate on labor, and me picking up the materials costs. It was just a matter of timing, since they wanted both cars at the shop, and needed lift space free to do it. That also meant I couldn't remove the M3 spindles and brakes yet, since the wreck needed to roll until they were done with it.

Before that happened, I had started spending some money on mods as they came up. Scored some good deals here on a lightly used TMS LTW flywheel, 3.5 HFM, AA chip for it, and 21.5# injectors. And I was researching my butt off trying to solve the EWS issues that might come up, since this was a late production '95.

In addition to the used parts, I bought a new valve cover, gaskets and studs, and even sprung for a Dinan CF fuel rail and igntion module covers, since both were damaged on the '95, and I sorta liked the idea of being a bit of a mystery under the hood.

I also picked up a new M3 clutch kit, Rogue Octane SSK, and Powerflex CABs.

A month after I got the car, I took the M3 and my 325 to Bavarian Mastercare. When I got there, we were all thinking it was just going to be a trans and engine swap, and I was going to take the wreck out of there and scavenge anything else I needed before I took it to the salvage yard.

I bounced the idea of getting some of the M3 parts off before it left the shop, specifically, I wanted the brakes and spindles, and would like to have had the steering rack (95 M3 racks were the quickest ratio, 96+ M3's used the standard 325 rack).

The owner, Habib, said he'd do some figuring on labor costs, since he'd have to remove parts from both cars, and swap the parts on both cars, to allow the wreck to roll out of there.

He came back with a figure of $1500, which was not unreasonable considering 2x the amount of work. I have a rare blood type, so I figured I could sell blood, and hey, blood loss is another great way to loose weight!

So, a day later, I stop by the shop to check on the progress, and behold! He'd removed the entire front suspension, from the steering rack down to the hubs, as one piece, and the rear subframe the same way, on both cars.

I wasn't just getting SOME of the M3 suspension, I was getting it ALL.

STAY TUNED FOR PART II (as if you care!)

[Dinan330ic]

whoa, mad props to you!!!

I'm going through a toned down version of your conversion.

I will have nearly identical performance parts. Can you tell me what you're dyno-ing at, so I can get a rough estimation? Thanks

[SR20Fastback]

very nice, maybe you should sell me some of those salvageable parts

[Bernman]

Great story, and well written too. Great job!

[NegativeCambre]

Great story! Are you going to keep it as a sleeper? That would be pretty badass... a complete M3 except for sideskirts, bumper and defusser... and don't forget the mirrors. Man, that would be pretty mean!

Steve

[Croak]

In our last episode, I discussed getting the M3 suspension.

Not satisfied with the lower parts, I asked Habib to get me the strut mounts as well, which would give me 100% of the '95 M3 geometry.

I stayed with my 325 Dinan springs and Bilsteins, and picked up the Dinan swaybars to go with it, (making it a Stage 2 if anyone cares) so in one sense, I'm not totally M3, since I'm running a control arm mounted 27mm swaybar. But I couldn't justify ditching perfectly good and well-tuned matched parts just to get a strut mounted swaybar. So, I'm a wee bit heavier in the front than a real M3, as the M3 strut mounted swaybar is smaller diameter and therefore lighter.

So, he remounted my Dinan springs on the M3 hats, and I had him throw a set of stock M3 springs on the old M3 struts and shocks, (parts I'd aquired when I was going to convert to stock M3 geometry last year). That leaves me with a perfectly good set of H&R springs to sell or hang onto, since the wreck had those installed.

The rear suspension was a no-brainer, the mounts and geometry are identical, with the M3 parts being a bit beefier, and having the larger vented rotors. We checked the wheel bearings, they were fine, and the RTAB's are fine as well, showing signs of replacement sometime in the past.

So, I leave that afternoon, with visions of track time dancing through my head, and return the following afternoon to check up on them.

Wow. These guys were fast. The engines and drivetrains were now out of both cars, and mine looked like, well, a boat. There was absolutely nothing underneath my car at this point but sheetmetal, some wiring, and the gas tank. And this big hole where the engine was. I remember standing underneath the car, with my head sticking up through the engine bay, wondering what I'd gotten myself into.

At this point we started moving into uncharted territory...the transmission swap. We knew there would be no issues with the drivetrain, since, well, the engine and transmission were made for each other. But the pedals, hydraulics, and wiring took some head scratching. We all agreed that the best time to do these things were while engine and trans were out, giving us plenty of room to work.

I'd followed threads and dug up every bit of information on this board and others about the process, but nobody had done a real write-up on it. So, armed with vague information like "bypass neutral safety", "rewire backup lights", and "tap into the brake resevoir for clutch lines", we figured it out, mostly. I've posted on another thread about the process, no need to totally repeat it here, but it took some splicing, a meter, and a good set of schematics to get the job done. Nothing major, just required some ingenuity.

So, closing time at the shop, time to go home and dream about short-shifting and flywheel clatter.

The next afternoon, I drop by, and holy crap, the engine is in, they've installed the LTW flywheel, pressure plate and new clutch (old clutch was pretty chewed up, so was the pressure plate, so that made me feel good about getting the new parts).

Habib points out the fuel filter for me. Seems that in the '95, the fuel filter is located just to the left of the transmission tunnel, under a cover. On my '93, the fuel filter is mounted low, inside the engine bay, and mounted to the block. He had to do some fancy fiddling to get the new fuel filter to work with the 3.0 block, since it didn't have the mounting points, and my 325 chassis would never be able to let it be mounted the way the M3 was.
But it was in, secure, and accessable.

So at this point, they were in the process of installing the ZF tranny.

This goes a bit less than smooth, with some difficulty in getting the damn thing seated properly..the shaft didn't seem to want to seat fully into the clutch bearing. We were concerned about the TMS flywheel, the possibilty of having the wrong clutch kit, etc. But with a lot of finagling and cursing in four languages later, it was installed.

Then they go to hook up the SSK linkage, and find they have some real clearance issues...less room on the left side than the right, but it goes together. Then comes the tranny mount. It won't fit. At first, we panic, thinking the '95 part won't work with the '93 auto, and start wondering where we can find a '93 manual tranny mount in a hurry, because without the mount, the job is on hold.

Habib scratches his head, then checks out the motor mounts. The right front is on backwards, angling the rear of the engine to the left. This explained the difficulty getting the transmission to seat, the clearance issues with the shifter, and why the tranny mount bracket doesn't line up.

A few minutes later, the motor mount is corrected, and the tranny mount bolts right up. Ten minutes after that, the driveshaft is up and mounted to the rear diff, and it's about closing time again.

No way I could take the car at that point, as we were still waiting on a few parts. The wrecked radiator was bad, and my 325 had a cheap aftermarket radiator on it that was showing signs of leakage, so we wanted that replaced.

The water pump in the M3 engine was STILL PLASTIC (at 72k miles, even), and showing cracks in the impeller. Worst of all, the thermostat was broken in four pieces, though all were still wedged in, and hadn't gotten sucked into the system. So, next morning the BMW metal water pump, radiator, thermostat, and aluminum thermo housing were to arrive, along with one other important part. Clips that held the pedals on the pedal bar.

At the same time, we had the Evan's Tire shop next door dismounting the fairly new Toyo Proxies FZ4 tires from my known good 10 spoke wheels, and swap them with the AVS I's from the wrecked car with a fresh inside balance.

DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL! PART THREE COMING SOON

[Cruzmisl]

Nice writeups... can't wait for part 3!

[themadhatter]

very cool - sounds like a fun time!

[NegativeCambre]

Yeah, great write up! There is a real element of suspense in your story! Looking forward to 3.

Steve

[toddman35]

Very cool, I can't wait for part III.

[Croak]

In the next episode, coming this evening.....

EWS Strikes Back!

"What does this wire do?"

"Fire! Fire!"

[Loud_TIGER]

ews and fire? that can't be good. lol

[SR20Fastback]

haha way to leave us all on the edges of our seats

[Preppy]

This sounds great dude!

[KtecR]

arctic gray never existed on the m3 right? i love the color (a bit biased i guess). this story is really interesting

[Carb_328]

Great work Croak and nice write up. :

I sent you a pm regarding some stuff I need if you have it available.

[nick325i]

sweet

[mr happy]

Patiently awaiting part 3.

[Baby ///M3]

Holy cow....

[edacosta]

Long is an understatement. Good stuff. I think its discouraging me from doing this, and just getting a DASC. Can't wait for part 3.

[Croak]

When we last visited our intrepid hero and his merry band of mechanics, he was awaiting parts and tires.

The next morning, I was at the shop bright and early, because it was the day the car was to be started.

Now, the wrecked M3 was built in 5/95, and therefore had EWS II, which as you know, has coded ignition keys, a transmitter on the ignition switch, and the car just won't start if the code isn't recieved. The '93 had no such gadgetry.

My dillema was twofold. One, I had to have a working harness and DME on the 2.5 when we were done, so I could sell it. And two, I needed some way of disabling the EWS, rather than trying to retrofit the parts onto my car, no easy task.

I'd already picked up a used AA chip for the car, tuned for a HFM and 21.5# injectors, for a 506 DME, which was what came on early build '95 M3's. And as a bonus, this chip would work in the 413 DME that was in my '93, but it would not work in the DME that was in the M3. I hadn't quite figured this out when I bought the chip, so essentially, it was not going to suit my needs, though it was a nice backup, for if all else failed, I would revert to using the '93 DME and eat the loss on the engine sale.

A few calls, emails, and some thread searching, and I found a few ways to get around the EWS issue. The first involved getting a new chip burned with EWS disabled, a very clean solution, but that was a bit pricey. The second method involved, well, hacking up the wiring harness, in a method I won't disclose here.

I decided to go with the first method, and being a sucker for marketing, and wanting to keep my badge legit, I opted for Dinan. It took some wheedling by my local BMW parts guy to get a Dinan chip with EWS disabled, as they don't normally do this sort of thing. Then we had to get them to burn one for a HFM and LTW flywheel (idle bump) that was not sold by them, another little sticking point.

But my parts guy came through, and the chip arrived inside a week after me ordering it. To keep Dinan happy and to blow some more money, I had a big bore throttle body shipped with it.

The cooling system parts arrived, and the tires were mounted, but there was some bad news about the clips we needed for the clutch and brake pedal assembly. They wouldn't arrive until the next day. Not letting that stop us, we proceeded with getting the car cranked and road tested, before it went next door for an alignment. The cooling system parts were installed, wheels put on, and the car lowered.

So, giving me the keys, Habib and Hamed waited while I tried to crank the car. Turned the key, lights came on. Pushed in the clutch, and turned it to start. CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! No start. Made sure it was in neutral, released the clutch, and tried again. CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!.

Damn. My first thought was the EWS. The guys checked all the harness wiring quickly, and everything was connected fine. So, we pulled out the DME, and popped the cover. ECU chip was seated fine.

So, for a quick sanity check, and since it was sitting ten feet away, we plugged in the DME from my 2.5, complete with stock 2.5 chip. Jumped inside, turned the key..and it started. It wasn't real happy sounding, but it was idling fine.

So, either they had sent me a bad chip, or it didn't disable EWS. A call to my dealership got me connected to Dinan..who confirmed that the chip they sent me was EWS enabled Stage III, based on the part number, and furthermore, that they did not sell a 413 EWS chip disabled, contrary to what my parts guy had been told.

Crap! I could return the chip, and order a JC chip from TMS, and have it on Monday, and they guaranteed they'd disable the EWS (and for only $250!)..but that was a four..count 'em, four day wait, this being Thursday. And there was no way I was going to drive around with a modded S50 using a stock M50 chip, and my silly ass had JUST sold the AA chip and shipped it off, thinking I wouldn't need it.

Impatient me, I decided to go with plan B and keep the Dinan chip. So, after some schematic digging and armed with the black magic I'd recieved from some board members, we attacked the harness and did the nasty. Of course, the first wire we clipped was the wrong one, and that had to be reconnected. But the second try worked. The car started with the "proper" chip! Woo hoo!

Ok, time for the road test. Habib had the honor of that, and I stood by with a silly grin on my face as the car rolled out of the garage on its own power. It sounded great, even with the stock exhaust.

Habib rolled it out of the parking lot and onto the street, and gently drove it off, and was soon out of sight. I stood outside smoking for a couple minutes, wondering how it was going, when I heard this howling engine from the street behind the shop, some distance off. It stopped, and I didn't pay much more attention to it. A few moments later, I hear it again, this time closer, and looking in the direction of the sound, I see my girl coming down the street, Habib heavy on the throttle.

Daaaaaaaaaamn! It sounded awesome, and it was hauling ass. Habib makes the corner, and pulls back into the lot, grinning from ear to ear. He gave it a big thumbs up.

I wanted to drive it, but he talked me out of it. "She needs the alignment, you want to drive it when she's all ready, not before!"

He sold me on that, and also the fact that the clutch pedal was not connected properly. And, he wanted to get it up on the lift to check for leaks and such.

So, I left the shop, more anxious than ever, since I was THIS close. But it would have to wait until the next morning.

OUR STORY IS NEARLY AT AN END. CHECK BACK FOR PART FOUR.

[Loud_TIGER]

dang... almost over!! go go go

[rayster]

Great write up! Can't wait for part IV!

[Slvr328IS]

Great story. Keep it coming:

[mp318is]

This is a great story, Im doing a simiar swap i cant wait Hey CROAK any way you coud tell me what wire you cut PLEAS.