2.9 M20 into the 323i

[m60b30530i]

Nice ! what shop are you using in CT I am not far from Danbury.

[jjgbmw323]

M60B. I would rather say the shop once we complete the project. This is the second shop. The first shop did the swap but messed up the wiring real bad and never finished the job.

Nuke fuel rail has been fitted with AN fittings, and brand new metal lines. This had to be be done since the original fuel lines had rotted beyond all repair.

Car also has been totally rewired. MEGASQUIRT ECU is now in the center console with custom wiring harness.

The most recent development:

I found rust wen I removed the rear diff and subframe. I had to have them weld metal into to reinforce where the subframe meets the body on the sides. The Medium case diff is in. We are in the home stretch now.

Car will need to be tuned. Still waiting on the radiator install and the exhaust. Almost done....

[2002jm]

Want to see a video of this car!
Been watching you build this car over the years; gave me lots of good
ideas for my h3 tribute.
jm

[jjgbmw323]

Well we have rounded a the corner. Diff is in along with the dual mounts and custom subframe. Fuel lines are all new with arp fittings and a Nuke fuel rail. Brake lines are all custom. Rear trailing arms are in. Next we have to cut the drive shaft and sort out the radiator. JM we should have a video at some point of me ripping this car. My friend has an M50 swapped 320i and I am sure it will be fun to drive them around....of course I am a lot faster.

[jjgbmw323]

Guys - diff has been mounted, trailing arms have been replaced with powercoated ones, passenger side rear emergency break cover has been fabbed up, e30 325i rear calipers have been installed, and the drive shaft is going to be shorted by an inch and 1/2. Found a lot of rust when we removed the old subframe, and diff. Had to reinforce the sheet metal mounts where it goes into the rockers and quarter panels. Much progress has been made....not too much left and the MegaSquirt tuning will need to be done. The car should be looking real good, I also sent out the front HARTGE stress bar to be polished.

i now have and extra set of 323i trailing arms that are for sale....

[m60b30530i]

Nice ! Yeah I found some rust when I removed my sub frame. My rear valence is rusting out again, replaced the sheet metal years ago and sealed it but some how moisture got back in.

[jjgbmw323]

the plan is to cut the driveshaft, and finish this long overdue project off

[jjgbmw323]

I got the driveshaft rebuilt, new U joint, shortened and balanced. It has been reinstalled. Hopefully get the radiator, the fan, the exhaust built, and
then tune the Megasquirt. We are hopefully close to being done.

[2002jm]

Great job; I have been watching this build for a long time, and it does not disappoint!
jm

[Somjuan]

Nice rear skirt, that’s my plan on the body kit too

[jjgbmw323]

Great job; I have been watching this build for a long time, and it does not disappoint!
jm

Thank you. I sent the driveshaft to Beyer drive shaft in Arizona to get it cut, balanced, U joint and bearings replaced. I have a set of BBS RMs
going to put them on once the car is up and running. Am debating a remote oil cooler.
We are working on the mufflers now - Its going to be the classic 323i split ones.

[jjgbmw323]

I am getting the exhaust built, both sides. Hoping to get this car running - with the new engine and diff soon.

[JDB]

That is awesome Joe!!
Can we see the complete exhaust? Maybe a picture from under the car looking up. What mufflers did you use?
So it must be time to start this bad boy up??

Jeff

[jjgbmw323]

That is awesome Joe!!
Can we see the complete exhaust? Maybe a picture from under the car looking up. What mufflers did you use?
So it must be time to start this bad boy up??

Jeff

Yes when its done, I will have pics of the underneath of the car. These are custom Borla mufflers. I also have the M5 diff installed with the custom subframe.
I hope to have the car running soon. I started along this swap in 2011, its way too long and I want to get the car finished and back home.
The most difficult part of the whole swap was the wiring, I have to have a custom wiring harness made for the shaved bay after the first
shop tried to extend the wiring and move the fuse box and messed it up.

[bflan2001]

Wow congratulations Joe! Looks like the build is finally in the home stretch! Must feel pretty damn good.

[jjgbmw323]

Wow congratulations Joe! Looks like the build is finally in the home stretch! Must feel pretty damn good.

Thank you Bflan. Yes its been way too long. I paid way too much for the brand new stroker engine (a easy 10K+ with shaved Chrome intake and megasquirt ECU) .

The wiring was all messed up for years since the fuse box was removed from the bay. The previous shop tried to extend the wiring harness from the bay to inside the car.
This was the single worst part of the whole swap. The first shop was never able to do anything to complete this task. I had to ditch the wiring and start over.
We had to rewire the car, with a custom harness including the a special wiring harness for the headlights. There is no longer a fuse box in the engine bay, I have updated the fuses inside the car.
I also had to reconstruct the fuel lines, I am using a nuke fuel rail, and AN fittings to custom lines to steel lines under the car.
The brake lines are brand new, and so is the Subframe, diff, engine, flywheel, clutch. The only thing I did not rebuild is the dogleg tranny.
I kept this car due to the fact i fell in love with it when I was a young lad. I am excited to return to my youth as I am now in My 50s.

I hope to have another more modern sports car, to keep with this one. But my 323i is going to come home to its forever home.

[mxl556]

Joe, the car looks great, almost done! Finally.

Now, you are gonna replace those Pirelli P7's, right? Or they are 700Z's? They must be at least 30 years old!

Max

[jjgbmw323]

Joe, the car looks great, almost done! Finally.

Now, you are gonna replace those Pirelli P7's, right? Or they are 700Z's? They must be at least 30 years old!

Max

Yes thank you Max. I am tired of waiting for this car to be finished off.
I have built some BBS RMs, 15 x 7.5 front and 15 x 8 rears. Fronts will be 195 50 15s and Rears 205 50 15s, Bridgestone Potenza RE11s.
The P7s are just too old and the BBS Marhle rims are going in for refurbishment.

[fullswing]

So close, Joe! Yesssssss

[jjgbmw323]

The exhaust is just about there. I had them also cut the left side to fit the pipe better.




Here you go Jeff. PS - I got the front grills from you. Thanks bro:





After the exhaust is finished welding - We are messing with the radiator and fan next

[JDB]

NICE!!!!

Jeff

[jjgbmw323]

So next up we are wiring the pump in the tank. I think the replacement is an e30 fuel pump in the fuel tank.

I am trying to get a replacement set of pig tails. The above pic is of the previous shop owner who wired
everything very poorly. I had to redo everything with all new custom wiring harnesses.
I have removed the old fuse box and updated it with a more modern one.
If you can see one tab is cut off I have circled it.. Thats the pigtails I am looking for.....anyone knows who sells this?

To fit the radiator which I customized, to be like the 323i one the spark plug wires are very tight too it.
As this car is a 1978 pre facelift there is no cutout for the radiator....so I am going to go with wasted spark....
ITBS are planned as soon as I get the car running and the roof fixed...

Megasquirt allows wasted spark which in turn will allow enough room to fit the aluminum E30 oversized radiator...

We are going to try to find a place to put the new coils maybe not the firewall....

[jjgbmw323]

After several trips to the junk yard and cutting out pigtails for the secondary fuel pump connection that looked something like what was needed
I got a message on facebook about a wrecked 320i and got the exact pigtails from that. We will be building that harness soon.
Meantime I am gathering the parts and info to finish her up:
I was able to find this info about wasted spark:



The wasted spark diagram that i could find looks like this.


It goes from the 3 coils/board to the Quad Spark Module to the Megasquirt ECU.
Working on the radiator shroud and removing the factory 325i ignition wire loom.
Will be ordering new Quad Spark Module from DIYAutotune the end of the week.
There is some debate about what color to use for the spark plug wires I am thinking black
and maybe making a bracket for the coils to mount on the engine or in the cowl to maintain
the shaved bay look rather than the firewall.

[jjgbmw323]

A few shots of the coils and the wasted spark install due to the fact the stockwire hit the radiator




I powdercoated this silver:

You can see how its much better without the wires for clearance.

Next up the radiator, fan, coolant bottle and hoses...then a new battery in the trunk.....

[jjgbmw323]

Been a while - we got the radiator in, the overflow bottle and return lines to the water pump done.
The exhaust is all welded as well.
We are going to try to start her up. The Megasquirt tuning should happen pretty quickly. Here are a few pics for my E21 Brothers!!...