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Thread: Justin's LS E46

  1. #1
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    Justin's LS E46

    Hey everyone, I've been lurking around reading and learning, as well as asking some questions so I figured it was time to make a thread. I'm Justin, new to drifting, but not to cars. I'm a Subaru tech at a High Performance shop in Denver, and a month ago i picked up my first ever BMW. It's a 1999 328i, 133k, MT. Here's the night I picked it up.




    The car spent its life in Utah and the Colorado mountains, so its pretty beat up interior/exterior wise, but the price was right and mechanically it's in great shape. All I have done so far is replace the spark plugs and change the oil, as well as spent hours trying to scrub years of ingrained dirt out of the interior. Heres a few more pics from today.




    I have Powerflex trailing arm bushings in the mail, as well as a set of BC Racing Coilovers, Turner subframe/strut tower reinforcements, Achilles ATR Sport tires, and an extended wheel stud conversion kit. Long term plans include gutting the interior, racing buckets, a cage, bash bar, welded diff, and a SLR Drift Angle kit. Progress will be slow, as i've got a few other projects going on as well.
    Last edited by e24mpwr; 10-05-2015 at 08:16 PM. Reason: Member Request

  2. #2
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    Everything has shown up now with the exception of my tires.

    I am waiting to see about getting a 2 post lift installed at my house, then I'll get to work installing all of it.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Novablue454; 07-18-2015 at 08:44 PM.

  3. #3
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  4. #4
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    Tires showed up today! Well, 2 of them did. The other two should be here tomorrow.
    6AD4E3BA-5DBE-409D-A4E0-23123687AB8B_zps64quubbu.jpg

    Had the installation company come by and see about getting a lift installed. Turns out the concrete at my house is shitty and the only option is to lay a whole new pad, which is out of my budget, so that's a bummer.

  5. #5
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    The average home garage is far too shallow to put in full posts. Scissor lifts might be an option for you instead.

    Status: Someone put glitter in my oil. Wait. Why's all my oil outside the engine? What's that knocking?

  6. #6
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    I was looking in to installing one outdoors in an RV type parking spot to the side of the garage (if you can picture that) and then building a carport roof over it. My neighborhood is on bentonite and the concrete has a few cracks right in the way of where the posts would need to be, so an entire new pad would need to be laid and that puts me over budget.

  7. #7
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    Got some work done last night today finally. Ran in to a few questions along the way.

    Front Coilovers Installed





    I installed the strut tower braces from Turner Motorsport and they don't seem to let the tophats sit flush with the strut tower. Is this due to the strut towers being damaged already? If so, whats the fix to that?

    On to the rear







    and a photo of the stock junk that I pulled out


    - - - Updated - - -

    Going to have my roomate weld up the Diff and the subframe reinforcements this week sometime. The rear diff bushings are shot, so I have to get some of those on the way next week as well. We decided since it was half apart already we may as well do the clutch now before it dies completely. I am also going to build a new exhaust.

  8. #8
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    got the diff welded up. Not pretty but I'm confident it will hold.



  9. #9
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    removing the worn out LTAB bushings for the Powerflex replacements






    got the diff back together



    Starting on the subframe reinforcements


  10. #10
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    Please take great pictures of this reinforcement process! I can't tell if yours is cracking or that's just a stain from years.

    btw, you have the same sears foam floor puzzle tiles I do.

    Status: Someone put glitter in my oil. Wait. Why's all my oil outside the engine? What's that knocking?

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by protomor View Post
    Please take great pictures of this reinforcement process! I can't tell if yours is cracking or that's just a stain from years.

    btw, you have the same sears foam floor puzzle tiles I do.
    I think it is a crack, i'm going to weld over it just to be sure, however after hours of reading i've decided to panel bond on the reinforcement plates rather than weld them.


    haha yeah, I had to get something to protect the floor from all the motorcycle kickstands.

  12. #12
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    Why panel bond? I figure nothing beats a strong weld.

    Status: Someone put glitter in my oil. Wait. Why's all my oil outside the engine? What's that knocking?

  13. #13
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    After reading countless threads debating it it just seems like the better choice. Welding kills the rust protection between the layers of sheetmetal, can warp the existing metal, only creates a bond along the edges rather then the entire piece, and takes skill I don't have to weld thin metal overhead. I talked to some body guys who are friends of mine and they all said more and more manufacturers are specifying panel bond over welds these days. One even mentioned that Cadillac calls for front frame rails to be panel bonded on rather the welded on repairs. Not to mention I don't want the slag messing up the floor.

    Found some time tonight to get in the garage for a few minutes and get the crack welded up.


    Tomorrow night I am going to stick on the reinforcement plates and let them cure until Saturday, my Powerflex diff bushings will be here tomorrow, and then I can hopefully get the rear end back together Saturday. 2 of the exhaust studs broke off so i've got to fix as well.
    Last edited by Novablue454; 07-22-2015 at 11:45 PM.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Novablue454 View Post
    After reading countless threads debating it it just seems like the better choice. Welding kills the rust protection between the layers of sheetmetal, can warp the existing metal, only creates a bond along the edges rather then the entire piece, and takes skill I don't have to weld thin metal overhead. I talked to some body guys who are friends of mine and they all said more and more manufacturers are specifying panel bond over welds these days. One even mentioned that Cadillac calls for front frame rails to be panel bonded on rather the welded on repairs. Not to mention I don't want the slag messing up the floor.

    Found some time tonight to get in the garage for a few minutes and get the crack welded up.


    Tomorrow night I am going to stick on the reinforcement plates and let them cure until Saturday, my Powerflex diff bushings will be here tomorrow, and then I can hopefully get the rear end back together Saturday. 2 of the exhaust studs broke off so i've got to fix as well.

    You can bond/ glue the plates in however you still have to cut out the truck floor and weld there to tie in the 3 pieces of sheet metal of the unibody. Do that first then glue the plates on underneath. Doing just the plates won't help.

    Sent from my SGH-I337M POS

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by autowa View Post
    You can bond/ glue the plates in however you still have to cut out the truck floor and weld there to tie in the 3 pieces of sheet metal of the unibody. Do that first then glue the plates on underneath. Doing just the plates won't help.

    Sent from my SGH-I337M POS
    I know. i'm just debating back and forth on doing the plates from above or doing some sort of reinforcement bar. Something like this

    e46_1.jpg

  16. #16
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    Finally got around to starting on the upper parts of the reinforcement. I don't know why but I could not get my welder set right, perhaps it was the rust coating in there,



    got the powerflex diff bushings in the mail, installed them, and got the diff back in the cradle


  17. #17
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    got the panels bonded in tonight, now I am sort of wishing I would have welded them. I have no doubts on the bonds strength, however I am afraid the bolts used to hold them in place while they cure may get bonded as well. I liberally applied anti-sieze to them first, but I am still very paranoid about it.

  18. #18
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    Well, its been a while and I sort of forgot about this thread. I got the car back on the ground. I didn't go low (I actually didn't adjust the coilovers at all)

    I was planning on running duals, but got lazy and had a local shop make me a 2-1 with a high flow cat. I love how it came out.

    Got it aligned

    Then it was time to hit the road for the 7 hour drive to my first track day ever!
    first killed tire of my drift career, haha

    hanging in the pits

    this one went out with a bang!

    It was a blast, I've never had more fun with a car in my life. No Coast 2105 was perfect, and I will definitely be driving back down next year. On the way home I decided I really want to commit to this sport/car/build, so now we are starting to tear it down for the winter and (hopefully) have it ready for the next No Coast bash. I sold my SRT8 Jeep to fund the build, so lots of stuff will be happening in the upcoming weeks. I have an email in to J's swap shop about a 6.0 LQ9 with harness and programmed ECM that will be paired with the Vorshlag swap kit (and possibly an s/c), an email in to SLR about the drift angle kit, and a voicemail in to RallyBuild about a cage. Also planning on some Bride seats, rear radiator set up, bash bars, and a wrap.

    Here are some crappy videos of a couple runs.



  19. #19
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    Some updates on progress:

    Ordered an LS6 w/ standalone harness, programmed ECU, all engine accessories, TBW pedal box, and a T56. I should see it in 4-6 weeks. I also placed an order with Vorshlag for their entire LS swap package including engine/trans mounts, headers, oil pan, and some other stuff. On top of all that, I have an appointment with Rallybuild for a full FD spec cage to be installed the middle of next month, so let the transition from weekend warrior to track ready start!

    Pulled out the perfectly good 2.8 and transmission




    Then we started pulling the interior apart (with some help from our foster dog, Sherman)

    Need to finish pulling out the carpet and various plastic bits, and then it's time to strip the sound deadening. Here she is resting for the evening.

  20. #20
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    Damn can't wait to see this done! I'm glad there's more non-m e46's drifting out there! I'll see you at no coast bash next year!

  21. #21
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    got most of the interior out, and began removing the sound deadening today. The dry ice method is working great.







    Ran out of dry ice before I finished, so I decided to save the rest for next weekend.

  22. #22
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    Very nice and looking forward to the details on the LS swap!

  23. #23
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    Thanks! Just a matter of waiting on everything to get here now. The first round of parts from Vorshlag arrived and look very nice.

    I also decided to give up on anything BMW wiring wise after learning how integrated the DME is, so I ordered a Painless Chassis harness.

  24. #24
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    here's to you having good luck with hearing back from sean love (guy who runs SLR), but it's been nearly two months since i emailed/called about upgrading my half kit to a full kit. still no response. the dude is damn near impossible to get a hold of

    if you have someone in the shop that's good with TIG you'll probably be better off cutting the knuckles - the welder that i went to described the arms (e36) and knuckle material as being made of good quality steel and apparently welds no different from mild

  25. #25
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    Actually, Sean called me last night and talked to me on the phone for about 45 minutes about all my options, past builds, even helped out with some tech advice about the LS swap. Really nice guy, just real hard to get a hold of I guess. I got an invoice for the Ultra Angle kit, so I'll hopefully be placing my order tomorrow.

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