2002 S54 BMW M Coupe Build Thread

[moupe54]

Looks amazing... I'll hear it in person (one day). So happy for you, we talked about this forever ago when you first bought the car! Keep that cover, it just goes perfectly now.

What did it put down by the way, considering everything else essentially is stock? Now with 8200 available, should have seen a decent bump from the stock (pathetic) redline at minimum.

Thanks Ken, I really appreciate it. All started with a ride in your shoe.
The car supposedly picked up about 25whp. Making about 300WHP now. I dont have a dyno graph to flex my giant Earth shattering numbers because at the time of the tune, their dyno wasn't calibrated correctly. We just used the dyno as a tool to see the curve and run the car while making adjustments. You can actually feel a difference, she rips now!

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. I have the Kassel tune on my S54 coupe (standard airbox) and it's wonderful. I imagine yours is even better. Enjoy.

They did an excellent job setting the car up! it feels great, hope you enjoy it too.

That looks and sounds great, Nick!

Thanks!

Awesome work, Nick. Looks and sounds gorgeous. Great job seeing it thru to completion and documenting for everyone else's benefit. Enjoy it!

Thank you ! that was my goal. Hopefully I gave enough accurate information to benefit others interested in it to make better decisions as far as set-up. Shes been running great and I'm super happy with it.

[ixlr08]

Nick,
I have a 2001 Black Coupe with 28K miles on it. Previous owner took good care of the car and the paint is in great shape. I have been thinking of doing the full detail regime on it. Thanks to your 'after' pics you are leaving me no choice but to break out the clay bar and polishing compounds.

[solimans]

Nick,
I have a 2001 Black Coupe with 28K miles on it. Previous owner took good care of the car and the paint is in great shape. I have been thinking of doing the full detail regime on it. Thanks to your 'after' pics you are leaving me no choice but to break out the clay bar and polishing compounds.

Pic or it didn’t happen! Black coupes unite


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ixlr08]

Two pics, one of my black coupe and one with both my coupes, they are both presently in storage for the winter.

DSCN0446.JPGDSCN0431.JPG

[moupe54]

Nick,
I have a 2001 Black Coupe with 28K miles on it. Previous owner took good care of the car and the paint is in great shape. I have been thinking of doing the full detail regime on it. Thanks to your 'after' pics you are leaving me no choice but to break out the clay bar and polishing compounds.

of course! love that I inspire you to dial in the paint. a car with miles that low should get special care

Two pics, one of my black coupe and one with both my coupes, they are both presently in storage for the winter.

beautiful cars, cheers.

[moupe54]

At last, I don't have to drive the m coupe every day anymore.
introducing the new car, my Euro import 1998 E38 728i, In Oxford green / Individual Heritage green interior.
Purchased this car back in July but COVID has stopped me from going to Louisiana to pick up this special car. I'm really excited to be driving something so special and finally getting to keep the coupe from being driven all the time. The best way to enjoy an m coupe, is be driving it whenever you WANT to.




Also for fun, My friend Evan picked up a bespoke set of Fikse FM10's built specially for m coupes. Not only was this set of wheels built for m coupes, but the guy who built them was actually the previous owner of my car many years ago. We thought it was appropriate to give them a little test fit



For now, the last updates I have for the coupe as far as work done to it has just been figuring out these codes I had for my Front Right Wheel Speed Sensor and getting my new Mtech II Steering wheel installed!





Looks and feels right at home in there. I love my Renown 130R wheel ive had since my first coupe, but I've wanted to go back to something OE for a while now. I definitely think I made the right choice!
Thanks for reading!

[bubela]

Wow.. That's a great green seven! What's the engine bay look like?

[nahvkolaj]

11/15/20 I dropped the M Coupe off for the long awaited carbon airbox install. after placing the order in early July, its been a long time coming and the time is finally here to share my experience, the complications, and the grand total of how much all of this costs. All of the following work was done by Kassel Performance in York, PA.



Starting with all of the issues and install process: Dan Wagener of Ultimate Klasse has filmed a video on The Whole thing and will be posting it on YouTube shortly.
1.) the first issues came up when trying to fit my particular style airbox (Karbonius Full Carbon CSL Airbox), was the location of the heater valve underneath the intake manifold. Funny enough, on most BMW's I know of, this valve is usually placed on the firewall, behind the ABS Module, so that is where we decided to move it. For some odd reason, it had a very strange orientation causing the airbox to hit it.



In new location:


The next issue, which was expected, was the fitment of the OEM CSL Flap. As told by Karbonius themselves, no snorkel would fit in the m coupe without some serious cutting of the bottom of the snorkel. So that is exactly what he did. We cut the entire bottom of the flap off. I will most likely make own funnel for the air to be fed up into the snorkel. After some chopping, Kassel got it fitting nicely.



At first I was hesitant about how the OE flap looked, but I love how it turned out in the end. it looks super clean and fits like a glove.
Another aesthetic modification made to package a bit nicer, was a new coolant line that runs to the expansion tank. the OE one laid on top of the flap and looked very sloppy and out of place. In the end, Kassel re-made the pipe and ran it down the side of the bay with the wiring harness.
After a few days of work...done!



Next was Dyno day, where they adjusted AFR's, and throttle response in hopes the get it dialed. Thanks to the dyno video from Dan, it was glorious to hear this car sing to 8200 rpm for the first time through the airbox. Enjoy!

Just...wow. That sounds amazing! I don’t have S54 M Coupe money, but that’s adding major points to an S54 Roadster on my mental next car list. Amazing job!

[moupe54]

This little project I've had going on for about a year now, but progress has gotten to a point to where I'm ready to share it with everyone.
So the headlights in my coupe stopped working. The angel eyes Burnt out, the low beams suck and I have a bunch of broken tabs. It finally became time to do something really special with a new pair of headlights for the coupe.
I didn't want your run of the mill projector retrofit offered by sky, but I knew I needed something rather than stock so I turned to BMW's designs to come up with an idea. BMW never face-lifted the Z3's headlights like bmw usually would do to their other models like the E39/E46. They went from a fairly simple, flat lens with a halogen light, to a projector with angel eyes. This was where my idea set in. my plan was the knock out the stock shrouds in the headlights and have the reflective barrel inset the housing surrounding a projector with an angel eye. Using 2.5" NHK projectors, Greege CCFL angel eyes, a Donor set of mint headlights, and some custom Printed shrouds, the stage was set to essentially face-lift the m coupe headlights
Next, I contacted Alex Nelson (@Galavantory), a fellow m coupe enthusiasts, Engineer and expert in 3D printing to take on this project for me. He Accepted the challenge and we have been working ever since!



I started with a set of pre-facelift headlights with no rings and glass lenses (since the original design doesn't matter). The lenses will be discarded and replaced with Alex's shrouds. The amber corner lights and lenses will be taken off of my current set of headlights. The purpose of this donor set was just to get a cheap, and clean housing to start with.
Once all the parts arrived with Alex he got to work making rough designs for how everything may look in the end, along with a photoshop made by me for what I was hoping to accomplish.


Photoshop

Rough Rendering

Here is where the magic starts to happen. This Rendering of the Outer shroud made by Alex in Inventor came out so cool. Definitely being the most complicated part of the build, I was critical that this piece was done right and I personally think he knocked it out of the park.


Outer Shroud Rendering

The next step was printing this piece. What I have learned is that printing a piece like this is much more complicated than it seems. Currently we are still in the process of printing the final copy used for the build. What I can show is the discarded copies attempted to be printed. Fitment is perfect, everything fits very snug and looks exactly like I wanted.
Enjoy:






The final copy should be done shorty...

[Remotion]

Finally someone does this properly. Nice to see how it will look when all done.

[kolosy]

what material are you printing in? is heat not an issue?

[lapoune]

Looks cool, wish we could get someone to make replacement outer lenses...

[moupe54]

Finally someone does this properly. Nice to see how it will look when all done.

Thank you so much! I thought the same thing and decided to take a crack at it. Glad you like it

what material are you printing in? is heat not an issue?

Heat is not an issue. I won't be retaining any use of Halogen lights which produce heat. They are being printed with a plastic filament.

Looks cool, wish we could get someone to make replacement outer lenses...

I totally agree. Dont mind the lenses on these. I plan on reusing the 9/10 lenses on my current headlights. I will try to restore these first though.

[Fumanchu282]

Thinking ahead, I’m wondering if your shroud will need to be chromed to look right during the day. Dig the proportions and the cutoffs of the angel eyes though

[kolosy]

Heat is not an issue. I won't be retaining any use of Halogen lights which produce heat. They are being printed with a plastic filament.

All lights produce heat, just a matter of how much. Hence my question of what you're printing in. What kind of plastic?

[BrightEs]

How's the headlight build progressing?

[moupe54]

How's the headlight build progressing?

Unfortunately there has been no update on the headlights. The printing is pretty difficult for the finish me and Alex are going for. On top of that I have been Away for 2 Months leaving no time for car stuff. Still working on them, will update when there is one!

[moupe54]

I've recently returned from a 2 month long trip, leaving me itching to chip away at the extremely long list of Modifications to be done on this coupe. I had a tough time deciding between the Subframe Reinforcement or the 6 Speed Swap. since I don't need to reinforce my subframe and Due to my need for a trans from a sloppy shifter and a bad 5th gear detent, the 6 speed has won. As for parts, I've been following the write up done by (http://www.eatsleeptinker.com/2013/0...-e368-m-coupe/). My swap won't be done exactly the same, but this is the plan for right now.

- SMG Transmission: A common misconception is that the only trans options are genuine 6 speeds out of the E46 M3 or the E36 M3 Evo trans. The third option is to take the MUCH cheaper SMG transmission, machine the bell housing, and add detents to essentially convert the trans to a genuine 6 speed manual. It has another Upside: the SMG trans has been shifted by nothing but a computer so the synchros tend to be perfect. Due to these factors, Ill be going this route

- New Limited Slip Differential: I've just placed an order for a brand new LSD, which is known to be the best mod you can do for an S54 powered Z3 of any kind. The Ridiculous 3.15 stock ratio differential, paired with the S54 with a raised redline (8250) results in an 80+mph second gear and 110+mph third gear. You simply cant enjoy this car on the street properly without breaking laws. How to fix this is a shorter final drive. I decided on going with a 3.73, 3 Clutch LSD built by Diffsonline.

- Clutch/Flywheel: I'm going with the UUC Stage 2 Clutch and LTW Flywheel kit. I've personally used this kit and loved how the lighter flywheel felt and drove, without having much flywheel chatter. I have heard a few stories of people having issues with this kit but the vast majority like the kit and it lasts over 50,000 miles.

- Other various parts based on the link above: Shortened Driveshaft, shorted selector rod, new hardware, pilot bearing, CCB, Guibo, Euro E36 Trans Brace and some shifter bushings.

Full Parts List
Getrag 420G Manual Transmission (Pt. #23002229721)
3 Clutch 3.73 Limited Slip Differential By Diffsonline
UUC Stage 2+ M5 Clutch & Lightweight Flywheel Kit
BMW Z4 Manual Transmission Driveshaft (Pt. #26117514468) OR shortened from half of the stock driveshaft
Euro E36 M3 Transmission Crossmember (Pt. #23702227892)
Shift Rod Seal (Pt. # 23127501582)
Manual Transmission Input Shaft Seal (Pt. #23121228493)
Selector Rod Joint (Pt. #25117580281)
Bearing Bolt (Pt. #25117529079)
Shifter Bearing (Pt. #25111220600)
Shifter Arm Bushing (Pt. #25111222015)
2 Selector Rod Washers (Pt. #25111220439)
2 Shift Rod Circlips (Pt. #25117571899)
Drive Shaft Flex Joint (Pt. #26112226527)
Rear Main Seal (Pt. #11142247867)
2 Manual Transmission Drain Plugs (Pt. #2311752440)
2 Liters of 75W80 Manual Transmission Fluid
2 Manual Transmission Mounts (Pt. #22322282340)
Clutch Pivot Fork (Pt. #21511223302)
Clutch Release Bearing Guide Tube (Pt. #23117512866)
Clutch Pivot Pin with Spring Clip
2 Shifter Carrier Bushings

Everything has been ordered and there is a 3 week wait time on the Differential which will take the longest. Once it arrives I'll be doing the switch as soon as possible.

Super stoked on this huge step for the moupe!

[moupe54]

We're less than 2 weeks out for the conversion and I've almost finished gathering all of the parts I ordered. I just wanted to share some photos and information about the following parts that have been acquired. Starting with the Driveshaft.
Here is my beautiful, fresh, modified M coupe driveshaft set to replace the one in my car already. Originally I was going to use the front half of a Z4 driveshaft, but financially and it didn't make sense, so I decided to have one cut and rebuilt at local shop.



Next up is the selector arm and shifter carrier supplied from my friend Andres, doing the entire swap with me. He has been a ton of help with all of the logistics (sourcing/modifying my bell housing, sourcing/rebuilding my driveshaft and supplying these shifter parts along with his Euro E36 M3 crossmember.
These 2 parts needed to be shortened 91mm According to the write up posted in Pt. 1 to accommodate the length of the new transmission paired with the stock M coupe shifter.



Now for the most visually and mechanically appealing part of the conversion, My Diffsonline 3 Clutch 3.73 Limited Slip Differential. Sure, I could have gone with a traditional E30 3.73 which would have costed FAR less, but thats not what this cars has been about to me. Opening this package up revealing a brand new LSD has been one of the coolest things i've done so far. Cant wait to get this beauty into the coupe and fix this car's stupid gearing



There is a pile of boxes in my room accumulating in the corner, growing each week. Most of the stuff has been delivered besides the Transmission and the Condor Shifter Carrier Bushings. We should be all set August 4th for the whole ordeal.
Thanks for Viewing!

[moupe54]

The day has come to head off to the south for the transmission swap. I head out early in hopes to stop at a friends shop in Charleston, SC. The car was doing great, averaging 28 MPG, which came as a shock to me. a little over an hour away, I unfortunately got a blowout, drivers rear. I had to get the car Towed to my friends shop, Buy 2 new rear tires and get my poor livery wheel repaired since the barrel was cracked in two places



Things like this happen and there's really nothing us Clownshoe guys can do since there is no room for a spare. Oh well. Thankfully my friend had all the resources necessary to get the car back up and ready in less than one day. I needed new tires anyway due to my excessive camber wear.


Fresh meats and we're good to go
Off to Georgia for the swap!

[moupe54]

After 16 hours in the car, Me and the coupe finally arrived without any more hiccups around 8 pm, ready to get to work. Wasting no time, we threw the car on the lift and disassembly started. While Andres, my good friend, M coupe owner and the mechanic leading the job working on getting everything apart, I laid out the parts and cleaned my fresh transmission.




You'll notice a missing Differential...I'll get to that

With all the parts clean and organized, the car was basically apart, so I started Undercoating the underside with Bed liner while Andres started installing the clutch. Bed lining the entire undercarriage was something I wanted to do to the rear end when I do the subframe reinforcement, so while all of the components forward of the subframe were out, this was the perfect time to get it done. The result is AMAZING and the car looks brand new.



Now came the install. First Andres started on the Rear main seal which is almost protocol to replace whenever your transmission is out because its a giant PIA to do if you dont have any other reason to take the car apart. following the rms, came the clutch and flywheel kit supplied by UUC.



Next came obviously a huge moment for me, watching the 6 Speed go into the car. had to grab a cool shot of this unit about to go in.



After the trans was all seated up and bolted in, comes the shifter assembly and the modified driveshaft. Not much to say here, but here are the photos leading up to the finished product




All I can say about this photo is WOW! the bed liner, all fresh new parts along with the huge in comparison 6 speed was such a victorious sight to see. Together, all the work took about 6 hours, having the whole install go very smooth.
Big moment! thanks for viewing

[moupe54]

So the 6 speed swap was complete...sorta
Like most big projects, there are always things that don't work out the way you want them to. There are a few issues I have to work out until I'm finished with the project.

1.) the clutch line and slave: the car is giving me some issues getting into gear. I had a new slave and an old UUC clutch line I had stored for a while, but the clutch line did not work with the Getrag so we skipped the slave and line. simple solution, I already have the E46 one on order and is expected to come shortly.

2.) the shifter: this one is pretty embarrassing. I did not read the eatsleeptinker write up well enough I guess because I missed the part where the Z3 M shifter I was using was straight, unlike the curved E46 one that is necessary to work with the selector arm placement of the Getrag. The shifter leans REALLY far to the right side, just making it into 5th and 6th gear thankfully. the picture below shows the car in neutral. I know, its bad...



Besides that, I'm thrilled with the conversion so far. I cant say weather of not its worth it yet because I left out the new differential I have yet to install, which ill explain why in the next post.



The important part is that the trans is in and everything works well despite my current hiccups.
will update about the trans situation when I get it sorted but the car made it home safe and sound, just needs a good detail. Old transmission is for sale if anyone wants it so feel free to message me if you'd like it for $850.00

Thanks for viewing as always!

[moupe54]

Now to address the elephant in the...thread? Why the hell would I go through the trouble of swapping a transmission for an overdrive gear and leave the 3.15 in my car? Seems stupid, until you check your subframe...
You guessed it, 2 days before expected departure for the 6 speed, I checked my floor for good measure revealing the start of the subframe failure. I cant express my anger for how bad the timing is for this to happen. I literally decided to do the 6 speed and differential because my floor and suspension needed no attention. while the damage isn't severe, I do not want it to worsen and I definitely do not want an even more aggressive differential in the car while it has started to fail.
No one ever expects it to happen, but woe is me...take a moment of silence for a sad day for my coupe



I peeled back some of the existing sound deadening to see how far the crack went, and unfortunately is has split the floor down the side about 8 inches. it appears only 2 welds have failed after checking the underside and topside of the car. The differential hanger is still intact with no cracking.

so what this means is my wallet is going to cry, but I have to do this job, and to my standard before I can start enjoying my car again. Now as far as the differential, The plan is to put it in the car while the subframe is out of the car to cut costs on labor. So I will go through normal parodical and start gathering parts, and sharing what I'll be using.

Part one begins with a popped spot weld and a splitting floor, boo
Thanks for viewing as always, will be updating soon with more news

[durianburger]

Hey Nick, love your coupe! Question about your 130R if you don't mind....How did you handle the horn wire? Did you just have a long brown/red wire? I got a 130R and using a long wire, but it seems it might get tangle eventually....Thanks in advance

[BimmerBreaker]

Now to address the elephant in the...thread? Why the hell would I go through the trouble of swapping a transmission for an overdrive gear and leave the 3.15 in my car? Seems stupid

As someone who has enjoyed my 6 speed with 3.15 for 6+ years now...