First time swapper: E36 compact S52 swap "M3ti"

[WPritchett]

So..........I'm starting a new thread and a new project. I have been wanting to do an e36 engine swap for some time now. Starting in 2008-2009 I purchased my first e36 with plans of a swap. Instead, ended up starting a family and then moved into a house with no garage. I ended up getting rid of the car. Now I have started up, once again. I have a house with a garage now! I was able to pick up a 97 318ti compact a couple weeks ago in online auction for $800 plus additional fees of course. The car is in really good shape, and actually runs and drives. After driving it around the block a few times over a couple of day, I checked the spark plugs and each one had some oil on it. Instead of trying to mess around with the engine, I took that as my sign to start tearing it down and sourcing an engine donor. On the same auction site, I was able to find a salvaged title 1997 M3 sedan and won it for about $975 plus fees. Pretty amazed that it actually cranked right up after I got it home on Friday with all of the damage to the front end.

The overall plan for the car is to have something fun to drive on weekends, participate in autocross events, and get my two boys involved in the hobby. I will be learning a lot through this process, so I will probably be asking the community for advice and pointers pretty often if I can't find an existing post that addresses a concern.

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[WPritchett]

Additional pics.
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[WPritchett]

Made some progress tearing down the donor last night.
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[RomoGuy]

Had a buddy with one of these swaps back in the day. It was awesome, Goodluck with the build.

[yammaxx]

Got the same swap going on soon, 1998 Ti M package and 98 sedan S52 5speed. No donor car, so yours will be a little easier. Good luck with the swap.

[WPritchett]

Thanks. Same to you. Let me know if you start a thread so I can follow.

[e30polak]

Welcome to the club! Swapped TIs are fun cars! Since both your Ti and M3 are OBD2 do you plan to run OBD2? You should, as the OBD2 computer is better overall. Let me know if you have any questions!

[WPritchett]

Welcome to the club! Swapped TIs are fun cars! Since both your Ti and M3 are OBD2 do you plan to run OBD2? You should, as the OBD2 computer is better overall. Let me know if you have any questions!

Yes, I plan to use the OBD2 from the M3. Mainly because I already have it, and won't need to worry about sourcing anything else. I'm sure to have a few questions in the future. Thanks.

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The M3 is up on blocks. Last night, was able to remove most of the seats, pedals, wheels, and a few other items.

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Had a buddy with one of these swaps back in the day. It was awesome, Goodluck with the build.

Thanks!

[blatant]

Nice, the donor already has the m50 intake on it!

Good luck with it, definitely worth it when you're done.

[WPritchett]

Nice, the donor already has the m50 intake on it!

Good luck with it, definitely worth it when you're done.

What are the benefits over stock intake with the m50 intake?

[blatant]

More HP on the top end, maybe some loss of torque down low but usually made up with a tune.
Search on bfc or google, there will be tons of info on the swap. Maybe the ecu already has a tune on it.

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what auction site did you find it on?

[WPritchett]

More HP on the top end, maybe some loss of torque down low but usually made up with a tune.
Search on bfc or google, there will be tons of info on the swap. Maybe the ecu already has a tune on it.

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what auction site did you find it on?

Copart.com

[WPritchett]

So, the swap kind of went on hold for a few months............mainly due to my lack of engine hoisting aparatus. Finally was able to get my buddy over to the house on the Thanksgiving break with his aparatus for lifting heavy objects. The donor engine is out. The Ti motor is basically ready for removal as well. Hopefully I will be able to complete the engine part of the swap over the Christmas break. Maybe I can get the diff swapped out in the meantime.
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[WPritchett]

Project update: I hope to soon start some of the more fun updates where I take pictures of large boxes overflowing with new shiny parts! I have a few boxes coming in from Christmas moneys well spent, etc. I have also prepped a few parts for paint which I plan to do very soon as well. I just pulled the M44 out of the ti last night, so I finally get to start the process of actually dressing up and installing things on the ti chassis. Here is my first attempt at including pictures of the motor pulling from photobucket. Forgive me if it does work out well.
http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/wp...brary/12-30-15

[WPritchett]

I have started to receive goodies!

valve cover gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets, copper nuts, oil filter, 88C thermostat


Brake caliper rebuild kits and brass bushing sets


Intake gaskets


Condor motor mounts, trans mounts and power steering delete


Rear rotors(picked up for $22.50 each on clearance!), hood cowls, door seals, stainless braided clutch line and clutch stop.

[WPritchett]

Update. I was able to get some items painted last night. Turned out pretty nice, I think. I am planning to get the car up on blocks this weekend so that I can drop the front and rear subframes. I have reinforcement tabs for the front and plan to get some for the back. I am also getting close to starting the engine bay clean up process and painting of that as well.








I plan on painting the "BMW M POWER" wording or getting a decal but not sure on that yet.

[JEC928]

Nice, this is going to be a fun hatchback.

Are you going to swap the M3 suspension & brakes onto it as well?

[WPritchett]

Nice, this is going to be a fun hatchback.

Are you going to swap the M3 suspension & brakes onto it as well?

I plan to swap out the front half for the M3 parts, but the rear half won't fit up. From what I've read, I can swap the front spindles for the M3 and the M3 breaks and rotors will be good. I am not sure what all needs to happen in the rear to be able to fit larger rotors and use the M3 rear calipers. Pointers anyone?

[WPritchett]

Here's an update from last week's work. I got car lifted up on blocks (the long way), so that I would have plenty of room to drop out the subframes, front and rear. All of that is done. I just purchased about all of the subframe and suspension reinforcement plates and brackets from Garagistic, and stainless brake lines from Condor. Pictures of those items will follow soon when I receive them. Welding starts soon!



Paint used on valve covers and intake

Up on blocks

lots of parts

[WPritchett]

So, I finally got all of the subframes removed, as well as the gas tank. Now the rebuild process starts. I also received my order from Garagistic, and also picked up a few items from PepBoys. I also picked up a Ti, 6 piece stainless brake line set from Condor speed shop. My next move is to start welding in all of the reinforcment plates, and refurbishing all of the components in general. Where I need help is figuring out the rear braking setup. I have read some on the forums, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information on what my options are for rear brakes if I want larger rotor/calipers, but also keeping budget low. Any suggestions are appreciated. I do have the rear calipers from my donor M3 sedan, but those won't bolt right up. I also already purchased new rear rotors for the e36 M3 sedan, without thinking. Maybe there is way to be able to use those. Otherwise I can sell them. Either way.




Ball joint boot covers and titanium exhaust wrap

Stainless brake line set

95A poly bushings for diff and rear trailing arms, and reinforcement brackets.

[squashman702]

Get some proper jackstands ASAP. Cinder blocks are a poor excuse and are not designed to work to support weight in the direction you have them.

Hate to be negative, but it's got to be said.

[Strawman914]

You can use the rear calipers from an E34; use the 318ti carriers and rotors. That will give you a good balance with the E36 M3 calipers/rotors you're using up front. There's good info on www.318ti.org about these sorts of upgrades/swaps.

[WPritchett]

Get some proper jackstands ASAP. Cinder blocks are a poor excuse and are not designed to work to support weight in the direction you have them.

Hate to be negative, but it's got to be said.

No problem. Any feedback is appreciated. Currently, with no drive line components to add weight, I'm not too worried about the blocks. They will be swapped out though, before I start putting all of the weight back on the car. Thanks.

[M5Yates]

While you have the rear subframe out, weld in camber/toe adjusters. I found that the plain eccentric bolts twisted out of adjustment.

[WPritchett]

While you have the rear subframe out, weld in camber/toe adjusters. I found that the plain eccentric bolts twisted out of adjustment.

Are you referring to the set offered by Garagistic in comparison to ones like Powerflex where the hole is offset, and you have to adjust it with a splined wrench kind-of like a coilover shock wrench? That is good to know. I think I will go ahead and do that, since it would require me to drop the subframe again later down the road. Thanks.

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You can use the rear calipers from an E34; use the 318ti carriers and rotors. That will give you a good balance with the E36 M3 calipers/rotors you're using up front. There's good info on www.318ti.org about these sorts of upgrades/swaps.

Thanks for the recommendation. Based on the additional research I did on 318ti.org, I believe that my best option is to get the rear rotors for a 1 series, which may allow me to keep the current E-brake setup and would be bigger, and make a custom bracket to mount the rear M3 calipers to, since I already have those calipers. 2 new rotors would only cost me $100, and then I would need to make the custom brackets.