E36 M3 S54 Swap

[lbennyboobool]

That's fair!! That's super encouraging!

So basically water pump, thermostat housing and a tensioner or two are s54 specific? I'm sure it's a little more complicated than that

[TH3 Shifty]

yep that right.. you also use the E36 motor mounts, they just use different holes than the E46 ones, the hole are already there on the block, you might want to use a thread chase or be very carefull with a tap to clean them up.
If you are going with a manual trans.. your stock E36 trans will do. E36 clutch and flywheel will bolt right up.

You will need the E46 S54 fuel pressure regulator assymbly, its a direct swap with the E36 assymbly.
You will need an upgraded fuel pump, easy to change out. Technica Tuning makes a simple kit, $180
You can use the E36 Radiator, and E36 hoses
You will need 3 specific heater hoses to hook up the heater core to block,
If you are keeping the stock S54 oil cooler lines, I suggest getting the Z3M (01-02) radiator that has the provisions to mount the actual stock oil cooler. if not, get some -10 AN fittings (about $10 on ebay) for the Oil cooler housing and get some -10 AN braided hoses and an aftermarket cooler.

everything else is straight forward.

[brokeazz]

The E46M oil cooler will not fit the the Z3m radiator in the stock location. If you are going to run the Z3m radiator then you would need the stock Z3m oil cooler too. And the stock E46M oil cooler line will not fit the stock Z3m oil cooler, the holes are a tad bit wider, but you can notch out the little holder and it will fit, or just buy the Z3m oil cooler line

[lbennyboobool]

yeah I'll be running the zf 5 speed. finally got the front end of the driveshaft for that. I think I'm going to run an aftermarket oil cooler but I'm not exactly sure how I'll be running the lines.

you can use the e36 motor mounts just fine? I always heard you had to use the z3m driver? side mount to have it sit right. I still haven't test fitted it in the car, so I haven't messed with that yet. I'm also guessing we are taking about the arms not the rubber

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[brokeazz]

Use the e36 arms. The reason they tell you to use the Z3m is because it has the holes to mount the intake manifold support. But honestly, when everything is bolted together the manifold doesn’t even move, at least on mine it doesnt

[lbennyboobool]

oh I see!!

yeah I don't mind not having those, they are a pain anyways especially if you need to change the starter

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[mitch500]

I made a bracket in 30 mins to support the s54 manifold with e36 arms. The z3m driver mount new is about $750usd which is ridiculous.

[PITT M3 RR]

For an oil cooler use this Derale 51610 fluid cooler. Get (2) 90° 10-an fittings, 10ft of 10-an braided hose and (2) 45° 10-aN fittings with the mishimoto (or eBay) oil filter housing 10-aN adapter

DERALE

HOSE BY FOOT

45° FITTING

90° FITTING

ADAPTER

For wiring, the E46 harness is irrelevant so don’t worry about not having that. Get the Z3M one. The trans harness can be had for $60-$100 on eBay and you can make or buy the adapter harness. We’ve dealt with both. By we, I mean the guys here online!

I found autozone alternative for the heater hoses, you just need the E46 quick connects with can be cut away at a junk yard. The part numbers are in my thread.

Also bigjae on m3forum parts out blown motors all the time. Have a sensor pack put together from him. He’s reasonable. Send a PM

also motor mount arms AND mounts will work to get you up and running. Clutch /fw / shifter/ DS are all usable when running the 5 speed.

For Exhaust, s54 headers, sec 1 and modified sec2 work. I can help the the sec 2/muffler then the time comes. I’m doing mitches as we speak!

What else?

[mitch500]

E36 euro expansion tank and brackets
E46 fuel pressure regulator
SAP block off plate
Tuned and coded DME

[lbennyboobool]

For an oil cooler use this Derale 51610 fluid cooler. Get (2) 90° 10-an fittings, 10ft of 10-an braided hose and (2) 45° 10-aN fittings with the mishimoto (or eBay) oil filter housing 10-aN adapter

DERALE

HOSE BY FOOT

45° FITTING

90° FITTING

ADAPTER

For wiring, the E46 harness is irrelevant so don’t worry about not having that. Get the Z3M one. The trans harness can be had for $60-$100 on eBay and you can make or buy the adapter harness. We’ve dealt with both. By we, I mean the guys here online!

I found autozone alternative for the heater hoses, you just need the E46 quick connects with can be cut away at a junk yard. The part numbers are in my thread.

Also bigjae on m3forum parts out blown motors all the time. Have a sensor pack put together from him. He’s reasonable. Send a PM

also motor mount arms AND mounts will work to get you up and running. Clutch /fw / shifter/ DS are all usable when running the 5 speed.

For Exhaust, s54 headers, sec 1 and modified sec2 work. I can help the the sec 2/muffler then the time comes. I’m doing mitches as we speak!

What else?

is it pretty clean look once it's all ran? I've seen a couple that have looked horrible going around the frame rail and all that

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[lbennyboobool]

is the desired tune Alpha N ?

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[PITT M3 RR]

Check my thread tons of photos, very clean /
blsck behind the kidneys w great air flow.

Alpha N for v-stacks and CSL airboxes. Use the modified oem map for a thing else. I can also take car of that for you at a fair cost along w/ swap related changes and DTC suppression stuff.

[lbennyboobool]

Check my thread tons of photos, very clean /
blsck behind the kidneys w great air flow.

Alpha N for v-stacks and CSL airboxes. Use the modified oem map for a thing else. I can also take car of that for you at a fair cost along w/ swap related changes and DTC suppression stuff.

awesome!! I'd just need a tune to run it like stock lol I'll reread your thread. It's been a while so it would be a good refresher anyways 😃

[PITT M3 RR]

All that requires is DTC suppression and some minor modifications to the rest! Stock fuel/timing/ignition maps can remain.

[lbennyboobool]

wiring and tuning terrify me, so I think that's why I've kind of not been motivated to make progress on this lately

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[mitch500]

wiring and tuning terrify me, so I think that's why I've kind of not been motivated to make progress on this lately

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Wiring the z3m harness was easy, you just plug connectors into connectors. Same thing with Andrews swap harness.

[lbennyboobool]

Wiring the z3m harness was easy, you just plug connectors into connectors. Same thing with Andrews swap harness.

do you need to extend wires for the z3m harness? like for the ecu to fit in the compartment? or am I just imagining that?

[mitch500]

do you need to extend wires for the z3m harness? like for the ecu to fit in the compartment? or am I just imagining that?

No that's why we use the z3m harness, so the DME fits into he stock e36 location. You can extend wires to make it look cleaner and more tidy. Other wise you just gently stuff everything into the compartment like I did and many others.

[lbennyboobool]

Perfect! I wonder where I got that idea from, oh well. thanks for the clarification

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[lbennyboobool]

small update:

I believe I'm going to jump on the band wagon and build a sedan. I do love those things!

I picked up a 97 328i 5 speed with a blown head gasket. In the process of pulling the engine and trans. The body and interior are surprisingly clean on the car

[PITT M3 RR]

Photos man. Color? Nice update. Get rolling, let me know when you need an exhaust built.

[lbennyboobool]

It's silver on black. not my favorite color but it is clean and it was cheap so I really can't complain. I'll have to get a photo up soon!

I defiantly will let you know!!

[M52 POWER!]

Glad to see you're back on board to complete the swap! If you need anything just post or PM us. You've got 4-5 active people on the forum who have recently completed, or almost completed, the swap so there should be no real issues getting it going!

It's a very unique and cool swap, I still laugh every time I go through a few gears as it's an absolute animal!

[lbennyboobool]

It seems like it is the perfect time to do it, so I am very grateful for all the wisdom in this forum

[lbennyboobool]

what gears are most people running while using a 5 speed trans or even the 6 speed since the first 5 gears are the same