Finished pulling the engine out of the 318is this weekend. Now I can progress onto the engine bay. I plan on doing a semi-shave and wire tuck to make things nice and clean. I also purchased a 4 clutch LSD upgrade from Thayer and exchanged the BW S257 for an S362sxe (0.88 a/r, open scroll) to better match the 3.2 liter engine.
I better friggin love driving this car after all the time and $$ spent...
LOL! What a complete change in the build. Awesome choice on turbo, you can make a TON of power with that thing.
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
-Dr. Seuss
DIY BMW Tools. Charlie For President
Ha I know right. Things kinda snow-balled after my M50/M52 engine plan was aborted.
I have made some progress on the engine bay. So far I have nearly all of the seam sealer removed from around the strut towers. I used a wire wheel attachment on an angle grinder. For the narrow space between the strut tower and fender I used a small wire wheel cup style brush on a cordless drill. I also used a Dremel with cut-off discs to remove the brackets I won't be reusing (washer fluid reservoir, cruise control, air intake box, etc.).
In addition, I cut the front auxiliary wiring harness that runs along the inside of the driver's side fender. I then drilled a hole through the inner fender and fished the front section of the cut harness through the body channel that contains the hood latch cable. I then sprayed self-etching epoxy primer on the cut metal at the drilled hole for rust prevention and slid a rubber grommet over the harness and into the hole for a nice clean installation.
I started soldering the wires yesterday to reconnect the cut harness sections. I am continuity testing each solder connection with a multi-meter to hopefully avoid any electrical headaches when everything is put back together. I expect to have the engine bay ready for paint within the next 2 weeks. In the mean time I will also be upgrading the steering rack to a Z3 unit and installing front strut tower reinforcements. Here are some pics of the engine bay "shaving" and wire tuck.
Did you really just cut into your wiring loom?..
Nice progress!
curious about your wire tuck proces.
Fortune favors the brave!
But yeah, I was certainly a little "puckered" while cutting the harness. Here's to hoping it works out.
Nice choice with the turbo. Borg Warners S300 frame will not disapoint!!! Keep it up man.
Looks like you took the long way for the wire loom too. I just cut a U in the chassis and folded the metal back down. Something you never see with the fender there. Saves from a tooooon of wiring.
Last edited by Mklock; 01-21-2020 at 12:30 PM.
Take your fender off, almost identical where you have your hole just a little higher. The only issue I had was the cruise control plug. Rest just comes out by the signal corner ligh and travels like factory after that.
I got some photos in my build thread if you can find it. Probably have to zoom in but you can see it.
Last edited by Mklock; 01-21-2020 at 01:44 PM.
Yes, I checked out your thread after your prior post. I see what you did. Your method came out good and is definitely easier. Oh well. Live and learn!
This build is looking great so far, really glad more people are doing a tuck and shave, it was a PITA for me as well but it’s one of the most commented on things when my hood is up! What did you decide on for a clutch with the now built 3.2 and s362?
1995 M3 coupe GTX3582R powered
2011 M3 sedan ZCP
I finally finished painting the engine bay this weekend. I had never performed any auto body work before so I spent about two weeks learning the best practices and procedures and about another 50 hours for the actual work in my "spare" time (including the time it took to tuck the wire harness). I still need to wet sand, cut and polish, but overall I am very happy with the results. FYI this was all done using 2k aerosol spray cans from a company known as Spray Max. There is also no body filler. I only used a thin layer of Evercoat Metal Glaze Ultra glazing putty to fill pinholes, grinder marks, and smooth out areas. If attempting this work, definitely wear a respirator, gloves, goggles and provide ventilation.
Epoxy primer:
Seam sealer:
Glazing putty:
High build primer:
Base coat / clear coat:
I finally feel like I have some momentum with the project and I am excited to get the engine back from the shop so I can keep moving forward.
Very nice. That color pops
I wet sanded, compounded, and polished the engine bay over the weekend. It came out great. I also installed new DEI heat shield material on the transmission tunnel (pics below). Still need to add some more heat shield on the firewall area behind the engine and where I expect the downpipe to be near. Next to install is a new Z3 steering rack and tie rod ends, a 6 cylinder throttle cable, and reinstall the front suspension.
One question I have not been able to find a good answer for is what type of fuel filter for E85. I saw Perry posted a few years ago about using a Wix #33243 in-line filter or an Allstar housing with a separate E85-rated filter element. The Boosted E36 FB group also has similar suggestions but of course there is contradicting information.
Anyone have advice?
so far looking good. wanted to do that to my engine bay too but i just said f it and continued with the build
I made some more progress over the past few weeks and installed the Z3 steering rack, new tie rod ends, adjustable UUC front sway bar and new end links, finished the firewall/transmission tunnel heat shield and removed the rear suspension/subframe to reinforce the mounts and trailing arm pockets.
Little steps but things are certainly moving forward!
Good stuff here.
Over the weekend I cleaned up and spray painted the M3 rear subframe / suspension assembly from the donor car I had purchased. Also painted the front core support, touched up the inside edge of the front fenders, and installed the rear subframe & trailing arm reinforcement plates (epoxy primed & then painted). In addition, I cleaned and reconditioned all the rubber grommets and plastic bits that will be reused within the engine bay.
Hope to have the rear end swap completed next weekend and then it will be on to the engine. #neverending
When is first start? Maybe this will give me motivation to get my ass in gear.
Thorough and nicely done budget DIY work! Lots of your time invested.
Another update and some more changes: I ended up selling the RSI manifold a few months ago and purchased a twin scroll top mount manifold from 88Labs. The workmanship on the 88Labs manifold is amazing. I also swapped to a 1.00 a/r twin scroll housing on the S362sxe turbo. This weekend I finished the M3 rear end swap and also installed new front control arm, rear trailing arm, diff, and subframe bushings (Garagistic 80A poly). I'm excited to see how the suspension feels now that it has been refreshed. Among some other things, I still need to figure out what E85 fuel filter to use and if its worth getting ceramic discs for the DKM clutch. I saw some posts on FB about people having issues with the organic discs at higher power levels (±600 wtq). I don't think I'll be near that power level but still...decisions, decisions.
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