Edirty6, My M3 Swapped Build Thread

[XnWarden]

Ive owned my E36 for about 5 years now, and its gone thru many phases. It started out as a bone stock, one owner 328i. My neighbor was selling it and i had just totalled my first car. My dad saw it and took it for a test drive since I didnt know how to drive stick very well at the time.

Everything checked out and we settled on a price. I took it home that day. I had driven some stick before on an old dodge diesel truck, but I sucked at it. I drove the E36 3 hours back to college and figured it out on the way.

I absolutely loved everything about the car. I kept it stock for 2 years and just enjoyed it and really got to know it. In my 3rd year of ownership the mod bug hit me hard. I picked up a second E36: a '99 M3 coupe with a blown headgasket and a TON of mods. Originally the plan was to just do the headgasket and have two cars. Somewhere along the line I decided to strip, part, and scrap the M3 shell. It came from up north and had a ton of rust. Most of the parts were swapped onto my 328, including interior, full drivetrain, and suspension/brakes.

As the car sits now:
1998 328i with S52 swap, full M3 suspension, brakes, LSD, M3 interior.

That brings us to today. The car still needs a ton of work, mostly little things. From here on out ill be detailing my work on the car for your viewing pleasure, starting with a sound system upgrade.

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[XnWarden]

The HK sound system was okay while it lasted, but it never had enough bass for me. My speakers finally went and I decided to do a total system makeover. I even went so far as to cut the factory radio plug off my wiring harness so my friend could retrofit his E30 with it.

I cruised around without any speakers or radio for a while. No more.

Im going entirely aftermarket. My parts list with prices for anyone interested is as follows:

Kenwood kmm-bt322u head unit $89.99

JL audio C2-525 two-way component speakers $200 (on sale, normally $250)

Pioneer gm-a3702 two channel amplifier $59.99

JL audio CP110-W0v3 10" subwoofer in ported box. $200

JL audio JX500/1D monoblock class D subwoofer amplifier $200

JL audio bass level control knob $35

Rockford Fosgate RFK4d dual amplifier install kit $150


That is just about everything. The rockford install kit came with some speaker wire, rca cables, fused 4 gauge power and ground wire, distribution blocks, and all that good stuff. I picked up another 10 gauge amp install kit and another set of rca cables, but ill be returning them.



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[XnWarden]

More pics and install procedures to follow

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[XnWarden]

More snazzy parts pics

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[XnWarden]

The car as she currently sits

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[XnWarden]

3 inch catless exhaust i fabbed up some time ago

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[hotdish]

How long did the M3 swap take you? When I did my swap, I probably spent more time trying to remove corroded exhaust and brake hardware than anything else.

[XnWarden]

How long did the M3 swap take you? When I did my swap, I probably spent more time trying to remove corroded exhaust and brake hardware than anything else.

I did it a piece at a time over about a year. I started with the wheels, then a few weeks later the front suspension and brakes, a week later the rear end, etc.

I learned to love my torch trying to get all that rusty stuff loose.

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[XnWarden]

Moved the car into the garage and spent some time stripping it down. Ive got a decent list of stuff to catch up on. So far I've pulled a lot of the interior to really set these new speakers up properly. Im retaining most of the factory speaker wiring and just modifying it to fit my new setup.

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[XnWarden]

Where did my shop vac get to...

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[XnWarden]

The new JL speakers fit into the recess and the factory wiring connects. but the bolt holes dont line up. Im planning to thread the top bolts if possible and then secure the bottom with two part epoxy and tape

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[XnWarden]

All this work is wearing out my assistant

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[XnWarden]

Ran the new RCA cables for the two amps. This was by far the most time consuming part. Orignally I was going to pull the entire carpet out. But it turned into such a pita that I just lifted one side up and tied the cables to "the claw" and pulled them thru.

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[XnWarden]

My new headunit came with a wiring adapter but the factory radio plug was cut out long ago due to hoodrat stuff. New head unit plug spliced in. This wont catch fire... Trust me im a perfushionel

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[XnWarden]

Individually wrapped the butt connectors in electrical tape, did some quick cable management, and connected the head unit.

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[XnWarden]

Since i am running two amps and the factory wiring is intended for one amp, i am going to split my remote turn on wire. The proper way to do this is a relay.

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[XnWarden]

Here i have started to wire in a fused relay with an added fuse block. The 12V wire from the harness goes to the fuse block, then to the relay. The relay output will then come back to the fuse block where it will be bridged to run to two amps.

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[XnWarden]

Been super busy lately and havent had much time for the car. Quick little update i have engineered a mounting solution for my amps. I cut some plywood, stapled some charcoal fabric to it, and screwed the amps onto it. Going for OEMish~ appearance

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