99’ Z3 Coupe S54 swap

[Villa714]

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Cleaned up my headlights. You can see that before and after between the two. Also got a new front grill from ECS it was the hexagon one, supposed to allow more airflow than the original plus it was like half the price. Connected the battery and made sure my lights worked. Only issue I had were the windows not automatically opening a little when opening or closing a door with window all the way up. I eventually figured out I had to swap over the body control module from my coupe since I tried using the roadster one initially. The part numbers and sw versions were the same but I guess they are coded differently from the factory for the different body styles. Also the service connector at the engine needs the plastic holder from the Z3m because the coupe one installed wouldn’t let me install the intake tube on the manifold.

[Villa714]

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I had to cut out the front inner liners to fit my brake cooler ducts. Just used a box cutter. I bled the brakes and clutch and put in new engine oil and transmission fluid and coolant. Also installed power steering fluid and bled that as well. Installed my roadstars and getting it ready for a wash. I started the engine and the only check engine light was for the headers. I reset with my code reader and light went away. I was able to turn the dsc on and off and all my lights worked and blinkers. Washed the coupe and drove it back in to the garage. I had to adjust the parking brake lever. I also need to get my muffler welded since I’m doing a single 3.5” muffler conversion. I will upload videos of the car when I started it and was running soon. That’s it for now.

[Venom13132]

pretty awesome. Its a lot of work but worth it!

[Villa714]

Thanks man. Yeah it was a lot of work but I would totally do it again. My girlfriend is happy I’m not in the garage all the time now.

[BimmerBreaker]

Also installed the z3m trailing arms

Hope you installed the M subframe too - they look the same, but the geometry is different between the two

Good build overall. Some interesting choices here and there (swapping the whole fuel tank because the fuel lines were routed a little differently for example) but, you got it done quickly so great job

[Villa714]

Yeah I swapped to the m subframe. They looked the same but I heard the M version was reinforced internally so swapped it out too. Also it had an extra weld bung for the dual exhaust. The fuel filter area and fuel regulator in the area were different and lines by the engine were different, shorter on the coupe from what I remember. So figured I’d swap the tank instead of figuring out what I needed to make it work. I’d have to drop the fuel tank to swap the lines anyway so easier to swap the whole thing in my situation.

[BimmerBreaker]

Good deal on the subframe. For fuel system (for anyone reading in the future at least) all you needed to do was replace the fuel return line with a fuel supply line (as those are the length to stop at the back of the fuel filter) and swap the correct fuel filter and pump/regulator in. I've converted a few of those before.

[Venom13132]

did you keep the fender grills from your M hood? Those are expensive to pick up used.

[Villa714]

Yeah I kept them and i put them up for sale. I bought a black set used for a good price. Need to clean them up before installing.

[Villa714]

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Finished installing my new fan blade, radiator shroud and air guides and lower radiator hose. Also installed a new belly pan from ECS and motion Motorsport under panel kit. I got my side hood grills pretty cheap but as you can see they were pretty rusty and dirty. Turning out pretty nice so far though.

[BystanderEffect]

Holy moly! What a project, well done!

Been on the fence about possibly doing something similar for a while now. Definitely worked in your favor to have had both vehicles already instead of having to find each part piece by piece.

In driving it, have you noticed a difference in the power levels or steering/cornering abilities? Not that there's been much time to push it since this post, but I'd love to hear about your perception on the end result!

Kudos!

[Villa714]

Holy moly! What a project, well done!

Been on the fence about possibly doing something similar for a while now. Definitely worked in your favor to have had both vehicles already instead of having to find each part piece by piece.

In driving it, have you noticed a difference in the power levels or steering/cornering abilities? Not that there's been much time to push it since this post, but I'd love to hear about your perception on the end result!

Kudos!

I haven’t really been able to drive it and test it out. Sent out my ecu to get tuned by RK tunes. Still waiting on it to get sent back to me. I will let you know in a few weeks how it drives compared to the original coupe engine and suspension and compared to my m roadster.

[Villa714]

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Had my single outlet exhaust welded. During the drive there felt my front wheels vibrating badly. Replaced both front wheel bearings and problem went away. On my next test drive the rear end felt uneasy. Took off the whole rear and looked like my rear subframe was bent from the crash looked pushed in compared to the replacement rear subframe I bought. Waiting on some parts to reinstall later this week and test again. Also upgraded my brake lines to stainless steel.

[Derek //M]

Thank you posting! Subbed

[Seans M3]

Well done


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nevan]

Awesome project for an awesome guy!

[Villa714]

Awesome project for an awesome guy!

Thanks man. Drove my car to work for the first time and my coolant was leaking from my drain plug. Once I got home saw it was cracked. Replaced it and adjusted the alignment since it was pulling hard to the right. I should probably get it done at a shop, ha. Planning on driving and getting the car dialed in now that I’m getting my shell towed out to the scrap yard this weekend and get my extra garage space back.

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[Villa714]

Detailed the car used compound and polish using an DA polisher and added jet seal wax and chemical guys wet wax after 24 hours. Made a huge difference and got a lot of the scratches and swirls out. Been driving it more lately. Had to fix a fuel leak issue from a cracked fuel pump assy at the nipples. Used locktite 406 and had been good for 5 months now. Wasn’t happy with my old koni and h&r setup had 10+ years on that. Bought ST coilovers and new strut mounts and new hardware. Suspension feels a lot better and smoother, very happy now. Car feels noticeably stiffer than my M roadster, feels like an go cart in turns. Ordered some adjustable front sway bar links and will get them installed before corner balancing and final alignment and find out the curb weight of the car.
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[Villa714]

https://youtu.be/hWQ2FRtW3VI?feature=shared
My throttle was only reading like 74% max. I am still drive by wire where as the coupe originally was cable. I adjusted the gas pedal stop to shorten its height and increase pedal travel. With my Foxwell scanner tool I got it to read 100.1% at max. Video above was me testing it out for the first time. Finally feels pretty fast. I haven’t redlined it yet since RK tuned, redline is a little past 8k rpm redline now. I emailed to confirm since I don’t know what it really is set at. I want to do my rod bearings and valve adjustment before I go all out. The car feels strong though and I’m very happy with it. I think that Coupe is where it’s at. I do miss my roadster but was thinking of picking up a boxster s 986/987 to fill that void.