An 18 year old's BMW E36 Project Build Thread

[romg424]

Hey what's up everyone Romello here . I'm a new member to the Bimmerforums ! I'm 19 years old with some knowledge of working on cars . From helping my dad around in the garage . To swapping a "Built" m50 into my current/ first 318i .

A little story about the car . I bought it from a summer job I had working at a warehouse for $800 . It was in the roughest condition....... The BMW was a New York car. Bought by a friend who wanted another BMW after wrecking his e90 in the snow . From my knowledge of what he told me. The car was all stock when he got it . By the time it got to me .....(ready for this????) the car had no interior what so ever but the dash trim & seats, hoods painted horribly with rattle can primer from Walmart I assume , tail lights painted with red paint for a what he says "a custom look " , the body & drive train were in pretty good condition . It had 150xxx miles on it & me being young and dumb I needed a car that I wanted to start building as a project . There are a lot more stories & troubles of going through purchasing the vehicle like the first test drive I went on in the vehicle just to get some snacks from a near station . on my way out of the gas station I get into my car . to be delightfully pulled out of the car at gun point by the local police with my friend because the car matched the description of a robbery that happen 30 minutes ago while we were covered by dirt and oil from changing the rear driver side wheel bearing. long story short they let us go hours later , the cops subscribed to my Youtube channel & I found out that the vehicle that "matched" my Black Bmw e36 convertible was a tan SUV from an article posted the next day ............



But, here are the photos I took after purchasing my first vehicle ( they're not all good because I also just started using my camera Don't worry this was all 8 months ago & you will see them progress).">




So I began & created a list of things I needed to do ...

• oil change
• new tail lights
• interior
• new tires
• new coilovers
• m50 swap
• replace plastic window for convertible top
• any and all maintenance needed for the vehicle
• tuck/ minor shave the engine bay
• paint the engine bay
• clean the car up

Here is how she sits today . 8 months later... the wheels are style 285's off an e90 under 205/40/17 tires. I lowered the car a little more with the new tire setup on cheap racelands which do not ride as bad as everyone says, cleaned the car with a full detail, painted the bumpers, got new tail lights and turn signals off ecs tuning . though the turn signal were labeled as coupe . you can see the gap where it was meant for the sedan . Full interior from various junk yard cars and fellow friends of PA BMW Classifieds off Facebook. fixed the torn back window with a 15% tinted plastic from a boat company . bought a built m50 with a bore and cams not too sure about the spec of it I got it out of a running and driving 325i that smacked its rear end on a wall drifting for $600. painted the engine bay with spray cans A tan color called nutmeg & gold flake to match the interior. Tinted the headlight with a 15% tint . replaced a whole bunch of misc. items when the old 1.8 cyl was out . Put 40,000 miles on the car till the 1.8 shot a rod through the block . Forced me to put some work pants on and do the swap . Still have a bit to go to be ready for H20i this year and get on the track for next drift season . The only part I'm stuck on is finding out what connectors go where . I had everything put together & ready to run started the motor with starting fluid for about 2 seconds . So I have spark. but it wasn't getting fuel . so I replaced the old fuel pump . But it is not getting any fuel still , lines aren't clogged, new fuel filter. I think the crank position sensor isn't plugged to the right connector . I did a read up on a post having the same problem and everyone said the fuel pump doesn't fire up when it is in the accessory mode it turn on when the crank sensor sends a signal to the pump ???? the motor is a 1994 m50 & it was but recently in the old car so I wouldn't imagine anything was wrong with it because it was running fine while in the other car. Just need to find out why I'm not getting any fuel ...........so I pulled the intake manifold back off to unplug all the connectors and start fresh. if anyone can send a diagram for the engine harness please do !!!!!!!!!!! THANKS ! ">
Here is some pictures I have of the swap I will post more and talk about it in depth if asked or if the post became popular. Reminder I'm just a 19 year old kid now learning everything as I go.When I bought the car I knew nothing about bmws other than simple vehicle maintenance. My wishes are for a decently clean car that I can take to the track & do some skids . While also taking me to college and back 5 days a week . If things break from the abuse . I will fix them . This isn't mommy and daddies wallet that built this car. It was working 3rd shift at a warehouse & busting my ass getting no sleep on the weekends to get it to where it is now that did. Thank you for reading my post and just a little inside of what has been going on with the car since I bought it . I don't want to bring any hate to the build in my decisions & tastes for the car. I'm just doing what I want my car to be.


[QUICKIMG]/QUICKIMG]

[shogun]

Pics are not working from photobucket, they want mey for third party hosting. Use another free uploader or the forum upload, for testing use the test forum here https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/f...hp?123-Testing

Wiring diagrams are here https://www.bmwtechinfo.com/etm/data/toc_cd2.pdf

[MisterM52]

Oh Boy, Theres some money down the drain, some "friend" you got there friendo.. Jeez..and how does one mistake a 4 or 2 door Sedan/Coupe with a big SUV??? Bunch of incompetent gustapos should been set straight, and this friend of yours, why did you buy this obviously project.... maybe if you could afford to, sell it off and buy and start off with another...but that ain't happening is it? God.. Post pictures man, we want to see some pictures.. stick around we are half decent fellas here and can help you with what you are after, these are amazingly simple cars to learn on, its just the electrics that suck and sensors and the cooling system and...well its a 20 year old bmw.. but not that bad if you had gotten a half decent example.. oh well..lets see what you got there..

[spyderg0d]

From the sounds of it you got the exact same car i did! Jk. New york fast and furious, stoplights and pot holes limiting. From the sounds of it your car is the example of what the regular kids that own e36 in ny do. Effectivly turn it into a civic wanna be. Lol. My pandemic started its new york ownership the same way until i saved it. Im sure you will let her put her true cloths on and let it be a proud e36.

[B320i]

Effectivly turn it into a civic wanna be. Lol.

Their money would be better spent buying a clapped-out Civic and giving it "performance mods" it isn't worthy of. Bit like how Camrys and Corollas end up with lowering kits, mag wheels, "doof-doof" and all that crap. The BMW equivalent would be a 316i