Page 15 of 15 FirstFirst ... 56789101112131415
Results 351 to 363 of 363

Thread: E36 M3 Buy and Build

  1. #351
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    485
    My Cars
    1995 M3
    Well, still waiting on the machine shop to complete the head work. Nothing too big, just a typical valve job , but I went ahead and replaced the springs and retainers to be safe. Hope I have it in the next day or so so I can start the reassembly.

    In the mean time I did take on a few small upgrade projects while waiting.

    New pedals

    IMG_4900.jpg

    And I'm getting ready to install the BW race shifter as well
    IMG_4913.jpg

  2. #352
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    485
    My Cars
    1995 M3

    Engine Rebuild Done!

    Well lots of work, but also lots of delays over the past 6 weeks to get the engine rebuilt. Had several delays with Bimmerworld getting parts shipped out and just getting to the machine shop was tough with my schedule. Had a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway during this time as well so things went slow. But the engine is together, even though I had several struggles on this first time doing a S50 engine. I've done several other engines but this was the first DOHC engine I've done.

    Head Gasket gone between #5 and #6
    IMG_4848.JPG

    So I had a full rebuild of the head done including upgrading to the Schrick sport cams, I also went with all new OEM type springs just as insurance along with retainers. The head came back looking good, but it is tough to drop in place working solo so had a buddy help me get it in place.

    IMG_4919.JPG

    IMG_4921.JPG
    I followed several online videos and had some great resources through friends to bounce thing off but still had some mistakes along the way. The first time through it looks like I was either off a full tooth on the main chain or I just didn’t tension the chain up while assembling and when I started it it didn’t sound good. So, I backed up and made sure that all checked out. Finally, I got the timing all squared away so that rotating the engine brought everything right back to TDC and cam lock went right into place. One complication I had is this car as a lightweight flywheel so there is no place for the BMW tool to look the bottom end. I just made damn sure I didn’t move anything on the bottom end during the process.

    Special tool for torque on head bolts, conduit extension!
    IMG_4936.JPG


    Got it fired up and it sounds great now, smooth and now just needs to be re-tuned. It will idle fine until warm and then starts surging, I’m sure this is due to the new cams changing things at idle. But then I had a mysterious oil leak, took a while to even figure out what side it was coming from as it was lightly coating places on the oil pan. So cleaned it completely and kept searching finally traced it on the driver side of the motor. Figured for sure it was the Vanos line but it was clean so a little stumped. Then finally saw just a bit of oil near the cam position sensor. Yep that was it, and I had not put in a replacement o-ring that of course was removed during cleaning the head at the shop. Slapped that in and no lore leak! Live and learn.

    Looking forward to getting the tune and see how this works out on the track, hoping for a bit more power.

  3. #353
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    485
    My Cars
    1995 M3
    Still waiting to get my tuning done as I've been busy with ChampCar car preparation. But another item that is getting done now during this engine refresh is installation of the Bimmerworld race shifter. So in getting that ready I pulled out the gutted center console and decide now to just create a center panel. This is similar to most the other panels I've created in the car and I'm using ABS plastic again as it is lightweight and fairly easy to mold with heat.


    Cut out of ABS and created a molded corner to try to get relatively nice straight corners in the final product.
    Console1.jpg

    Clamping it in place really helps to hold it tight and then heat and work the plastic around the corner

    Console2.jpg


    Mounted in place and just had to do trimming on the top to make it fit well. Just a couple bolts on each side and it is really secure. I'm planning to use it for a few more additions that will be coming for switches and gauges.

    Console3.png

    More to come with the new panel, shifter install and soon some dyno results I hope!
    Attached Images Attached Images

  4. #354
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    485
    My Cars
    1995 M3
    More upgrades

    Had time while still working through tuning issues and wanted to get something else done so moved on to the race shifter install. I went with the Bimmerworld race shifter, I wanted a hard mount shifter and since I'm running the hardest AKG poly mounts for the entire drive train through diff it should be a nice upgrade.

    I only have one small complaint with the BW shifter, I don't know why they didn't make the base plate just a 1/4" wider? With the current width it will not fully cover the round opening in the trans tunnel. And with the hole having a dished area the rubber gasket can't really seal out the transmission tunnel completely. Seems like this would be a simple upgrade to the product and not cost much more in material.

    Well I decided to fabricate a ring to fill in this space just to help seal out noise and fumes from the tunnel. Just used a scrap of ABS plastic and cut it to fit, it sits down into the recess and allows the plate to seal better.
    Shift1.png


    View of the ring from below, with the plate in place, selector rod installed and hand tight on the hardware to check everything.
    Shift2.png

    Finished install, the knob is just the one of the previous shifter and temporary. I need to find something new but I don't really want one that will add that much height, the position is good where it is. If anyone has suggestions for a shorter knob out of delrin or equivalent send me your ideas.
    Shift3.png

    I have not had it out for a session yet on track but just a quick neighborhood trip you can feel the difference, it is very deliberate now and accurate with the shifting. I wouldn't call it buttery-smooth but that is not the intent. I think the key is it goes right where you want it. A track session will tell more for sure.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  5. #355
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    485
    My Cars
    1995 M3
    I've been busy and have not updated things here.


    Well after a couple track days we were back to Roebling Road and this time a bigger issue. The car had been running well but then it started to lose power and smoking like crazy. Pulled the car into paddock and started to look. The motor had spit oil out onto the inside of the hood and it was smoking out the tail pipe. Wasn't sure, we determined cylinder #1 was the issue but couldn't tell what so I retired the car and toke it home. At home with a scope I was able to get this picture and it doesn't look good at all! I don't think a piston should look like that!

    IMG_5363.JPG

    So this S50 is done for now!

  6. #356
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    485
    My Cars
    1995 M3
    Update Jan-March 2020

    Well, I have not posted in forever but plenty has occurred since the S50 went away! That same weekend at the track another E36 M3 was crashed and I sources the S52 from that car. So the process of pulling the S50 and then putting the S52 in begin in my garage. Now I'm lucky to have the MaxJax lift but it's still a big job especially when you are doing this alone. But with some thought I made a cradle to accept the engine and transmission that made the job easier for me. I did nothing with the S52 except move the S50 intake over and swap to the OBD1 items as I knew it was running fine, this was the fastest way to get the car back on the track then I could look into the S50. One addition at this time was a new clutch and pressure plate, I had a local well known shop build a custom set with a little more bit than stock and it has worked out well.

    IMG_5532.JPG IMG_5533.JPG

  7. #357
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    West Palm Beach, Fl
    Posts
    218
    My Cars
    04 M3 / 97 M3 / 87 325is
    Glad to see this bumped back up.

    I missed a couple of posts but always nice to read and get up to speed.

    This thread is the reason I bought my e36 M3 in 2012.
    Last edited by Slippery; 09-07-2022 at 01:01 PM.

  8. #358
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    485
    My Cars
    1995 M3
    Update August 2020

    So with the S52 transplanted and a new clutch things seemed good. The engine felt stronger than the S50 and I was good to go, ran it at several tracks all seemed good. But one really hot day at Barber running hard with another car for lap after lap I got coolant spray on the windshield and shut it down and then figured I had lost the head gasket.

    At home and started that was it, but to make matters worse the head would NOT COME OFF. So not sure why but the small torx bolt that is in the front right corner of the head would not loosen. I soaked it with different penetrating fluid but nothing. Of course the head became rounded after all the trying. I went to welding a nut on but never could get enough weld to hold the torque needed. I literally could turn the head around on this one bolt but it would not move. I finally ground what I could of the head of the bolt but the head could not slide up off, but with some wood wedges I was able to get a bit of space between the head and the block. So finally very carefully I used a hacksaw blade and carefully and slowly worked on cutting the bolt from between the block and head.

    After getting these separated I found that for some reason that small bolt was super corroded in both the timing cover but also up into the head. I was able to knock it out with a nail set from the underside once off the block and was able to save the head. So then it was back to the head gasket and rebuild.

    IMG_5911.jpg IMG_5913.jpgIMG_5919.jpg

  9. #359
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    485
    My Cars
    1995 M3
    Update March-August #1

    Well with the S50 sitting in the corner I wanted to get it moving with the intent to build it completely new top to bottom and swap it back into the car in the future, so I got started. Since the #1 piston melted on the edge it did scar the cylinder so the block went off for machining and was bored to .020 over. Next I needed pistons and since OEM pistons were do expensive I started to look into Wiseco, JE or others. Through a track buddy that has a relationship with Wiseco I was able to source a set custom made to my spec, at a significant savings and without the COVID wait time all the rest seemed to have.

    So I decided to just bump the compression a bit from the 10.5:1 up to 11:1, just to get a bit more power and no need for race fuel or additives. The block was bored and honed, and required just a light decking to be done, of course the timing cover was done to match. I stuck with OEM type TTY bolts for the mains and rods but this time with all the head gasket issues I've had I went with the ARP set. I like these since you torque to specific set not an angle, and they are not a 1 time use.

    IMG_7018.jpg

    So as I'm always a bit of a nut about making everything look right together and clean I decided to go with an orange block. So two reasons, yes #1 it matches the orange on the outside of the car, and #2 it is easy to see leaks, I'm not a fan of black blocks.

    IMG_7404.jpg


    Crank went in easily, the wrist pins on the pistons were a PAIN, I bought a tool that was supposed to help but it was crap, $50 down the drain, it's in my scrap metal pile now for salvage. But then I got the rotating assembly all together. I will say I do not like using a "universal" ring compressor they are not easy to work with but I did manage after all I'm just doing 6 pistons, but I don't think I'll use one again.

    IMG_7406.jpg

    IMG_7435.jpg

  10. #360
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    485
    My Cars
    1995 M3
    Update March-August #2

    I had the S50 head that had been machined and ready for some time sitting on the shelf so that was all ready to go.

    IMG_7436.jpg

    6B8318E9-29AF-4DA7-9D7B-1B66E158A5EF.JPG

    I also upgraded to a stewart water pump at this time as once again I'm doing anything I can to help with head gasket failures and it seems like the right thing. So I also had my Schrick sport cams sitting on the shelf since the S50 was torn down, I decided not to put them into the S52 I swapped, so these get installed as well. Some other items not pictured was an oil pan baffle from Bimmerworld and oil pump nut to safety wire in place, all new chain guides and a new main timing chain.

    And lots of cleaning, and cleaning, and cleaning. I hate dirty engines. And with a few accessories on it just needing the valve cover it's about ready for a swap back into the car.

    Here I had to get it off the stand suspended on the 4 post to put the rear seal cover on.

    IMG_7456.JPG
    Last edited by MCMM3; 10-19-2022 at 05:16 PM.

  11. #361
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    485
    My Cars
    1995 M3
    Update September 2022

    All completed and ready to get installed.

    IMG_7474.jpg

    And while I was doing this build thinking I was getting ahead, the S52 in the car had a failure at Road Atlanta. Not completely sure if it was head gasket first , or if maybe lean condition started to cause an issue in #1 and #6 as there is some things not lookin right with those pistons and the combustion ring of the gasket. But it was done! So this was very much needed to be done. Now to get it into the car.

  12. #362
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Central, MD
    Posts
    3,844
    My Cars
    1995 M3
    Nice!!! Looks so clean, and clean is FAST!

  13. #363
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    485
    My Cars
    1995 M3
    Quick Update

    While doing the last bits of the install I couldn't help myself and had to scrap and grind all that heavy rubber/insulation off this wiper cowl piece. It just looked nasty and not that it was my intent but it did probably save 1# off the thing.

    IMG_7549 (1).jpg

Page 15 of 15 FirstFirst ... 56789101112131415

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •