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Thread: NLA GT Class 2 front Splitter hardware

  1. #1
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    NLA GT Class 2 front Splitter hardware

    I've been collecting part numbers to install a Class 2 front splitter at the same time I do the oil cooler I've been planning (already have the rear high-rise in-hand, though it'll need to get painted before I can install it and actually USE the front splitter).

    Also, PSA, some of you may have noticed, but the euro => USD exchange rate recently hit 1:1 - which means parts from European parts sites are a killer deal right now. Especially places like Schmiedmann that have good shipping rates. (for example, a new oil filter housing is cheaper than the cheapest used one I could find on fleabay).

    Anyway, I've been putting the parts list together and the two center "pins" (#34) are NLA. The M8 self locking nut (#37) is the same as for the outer pins (#33) with the springs and the detente plates.

    Not that there are many people buying actual factory parts these days, but is anyone aware of a source for this?

    If not, any reason I can't just use an M8 bolt with the nylock nut?

    I understand with no collar or shaft, the diameter of a normal M8 bolt will be smaller than the pin shaft would have been, but that seems like a fairly small problem. I assume #35 in the diagram fits over the shaft, and #36 only fits over the threads.

    for reference: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=51_2270
    GT Class 2 splitter.jpg
    Last edited by blckstrm; 07-19-2022 at 04:57 PM.

    -Josh: 1998 S54 E36 M3/4/6 with most of the easy stuff and most of the hard stuff. At least twice. 271k miles. 1994 E32 740il with nothing but some MPars. 93k miles.

  2. #2
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    Those parts being discontinued is one reason why I bought the kit off ECS instead of going through the dealer (that and the shear number of parts...some value in being able to buy everything needed in 2 clicks and saving time). But yes you can just use a bolt and washer from the hardware store.






  3. #3
    NeilM is offline Member BMW E36 M3 Expert
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    NeilM is offline Member BMW E36 M3 Expert
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    More splitter details in random order:

    LTW-Splitter7.jpg

    LTW-Splitter6.jpg

    LTW-Splitter4.jpg

    You can probably improvise those special bolts in any of several ways. For instance a regular 8mm bolt alone, or with a sleeve (https://www.mcmaster.com/spacers/unt...rement~metric/) or a shoulder bolt (https://www.mcmaster.com/shoulder-bo...diameter~8-mm/).

    Although not shown in the pix above, when assembling mine I placed thin nylon fender washers on the bolts between the splitter itself and the metal brackets against which it slides. The splitter is still rather hard to slide, but not as bad as without the washers.

    Neil

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    Wow you guys, those pictures are incredibly helpful!

    The ECS kit would be nice, but I'm not in enough of a hurry to go that route. The ECS kit is around $1200 more expensive than just sourcing all the parts from Schmiedmann (and that includes $480 or so for the pre-drilled bumper). Part of that is the killer exchange rate right now, but that's a lot extra for an hour or two of homework.

    Does that much-debated #12 aluminum center tray bolt up to the normal side pieces? I'd assume they'd try to minimize the custom parts needed, but that's not always possible.

    Is the normal part (#6 in the diagram below) the right one to mount to the center tray (in addition to the fender liner)? Mine are trashed, so this seems like a good time to finally replace all that stuff. I've fabricated some block off side plates, but I'd rather go factory here if I'm getting everything else.

    Side Ducting.jpg

    Also, did you guys buy the pre-drilled bumper or did you drill yours?

    Finally, am I remembering correctly that you can't use the oil cooler duct (or at least have to chop it up)?

    -Josh: 1998 S54 E36 M3/4/6 with most of the easy stuff and most of the hard stuff. At least twice. 271k miles. 1994 E32 740il with nothing but some MPars. 93k miles.

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    Yes to all your questions. #6 is separate from the liner so if yours are trashed replace them.

    Yes I did buy the bumper carrier 51112267451. I was told it is a pain in the ass to drill and get it right on the money but YMMV.

    I also replaced my bumper cover and got the one with the proper cutout shape for the GT splitter. I have a 99 and didn't feel like cutting. Not my thing I guess.

  7. #7
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    Interesting details. Never noticed these springs. So the splitter can be pulled out and retracted without undoing any bolt as it's being clamped down on the springforce and these notches on the sliding frame?
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    NeilM is offline Member BMW E36 M3 Expert
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    Quote Originally Posted by MParallel View Post
    Interesting details. Never noticed these springs. So the splitter can be pulled out and retracted without undoing any bolt as it's being clamped down on the springforce and these notches on the sliding frame?
    Yes, that's exactly it.

    Neil

  9. #9
    NeilM is offline Member BMW E36 M3 Expert
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim E. View Post
    Yes to all your questions. #6 is separate from the liner so if yours are trashed replace them.

    Yes I did buy the bumper carrier 51112267451. I was told it is a pain in the ass to drill and get it right on the money but YMMV.

    I also replaced my bumper cover and got the one with the proper cutout shape for the GT splitter. I have a 99 and didn't feel like cutting. Not my thing I guess.
    I had planned to buy and drill the plastic version of the bumper beam (weight savings), but to my amazement, my 96MY's beam turned out to be already drilled. And yes, I think it's probably quite tricky to get it right when drilling it yourself.

    Neil

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    Quote Originally Posted by MParallel View Post
    Interesting details. Never noticed these springs. So the splitter can be pulled out and retracted without undoing any bolt as it's being clamped down on the springforce and these notches on the sliding frame?
    The amount of force required on mine to do so made me nervous so I never got it to move. I may have to try Jim E's washer trick. For now it is happy in the middle position.

  11. #11
    NeilM is offline Member BMW E36 M3 Expert
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    Quote Originally Posted by blckstrm View Post
    Wow you guys, those pictures are incredibly helpful!

    The ECS kit would be nice, but I'm not in enough of a hurry to go that route. The ECS kit is around $1200 more expensive than just sourcing all the parts from Schmiedmann (and that includes $480 or so for the pre-drilled bumper). Part of that is the killer exchange rate right now, but that's a lot extra for an hour or two of homework.

    Does that much-debated #12 aluminum center tray bolt up to the normal side pieces? I'd assume they'd try to minimize the custom parts needed, but that's not always possible.

    Is the normal part (#6 in the diagram below) the right one to mount to the center tray (in addition to the fender liner)? Mine are trashed, so this seems like a good time to finally replace all that stuff. I've fabricated some block off side plates, but I'd rather go factory here if I'm getting everything else.

    Side Ducting.jpg

    Also, did you guys buy the pre-drilled bumper or did you drill yours?

    Finally, am I remembering correctly that you can't use the oil cooler duct (or at least have to chop it up)?
    The aluminum duct bolts right in. However if you're not using the Euro under-radiator oil cooler you need to recover the baffle from the stock part and fix it into the new duct so that air doesn't bypass the radiator. I made a couple of aluminum brackets and pop-riveted them in place.

    DSC00269-med.jpg

    Since I made my own oil cooler setup instead of using the Euro M3 cooler, which is in a rather vulnerable location for track use, I don't know about the front plastic duct.

    Neil

    PS: It's worth noting that for people who aren't hung up on using the original GT splitter and who don't want to chase around the world looking for all its pieces and parts, Turner has engineered a near-lookalike that appears to function similarly, see https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-6...-abs-splitter/. However its mounting and sliding mechanisms are quite different, and none of the parts work on the original. :-(
    Last edited by NeilM; 07-21-2022 at 11:37 AM.

  12. #12
    NeilM is offline Member BMW E36 M3 Expert
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    Quote Originally Posted by sirhodjibob View Post
    The amount of force required on mine to do so made me nervous so I never got it to move. I may have to try Jim E's washer trick. For now it is happy in the middle position.
    The washers are local hardware store items. I keep my spoiler retracted except when at the track, so having it adjustable without too much effort was important to me.

    Neil

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim E. View Post
    Yes to all your questions. #6 is separate from the liner so if yours are trashed replace them.

    Yes I did buy the bumper carrier 51112267451. I was told it is a pain in the ass to drill and get it right on the money but YMMV.

    I also replaced my bumper cover and got the one with the proper cutout shape for the GT splitter. I have a 99 and didn't feel like cutting. Not my thing I guess.
    Awesome feedback - thank you. I *think* that should about cover it.

    Unfortunately, Schmiedmann is on summer vacation until Aug 1, so I can't place my order until they get back. And I need to confirm they can get the oil filter housing in a reasonable amount of time.

    Quote Originally Posted by NeilM View Post
    The washers are local hardware store items. I keep my spoiler retracted except when at the track, so having it adjustable without too much effort was important to me.

    Neil
    Yeah, even retracted I'm going to have to be VERY aware of approach angles. The easy adjustability is very important to me, too.

    I AM doing a Euro oil cooler - I DD and need to have a thermostat. I have considered doing the bypass and just blocking off the cooler in the off season.

    Neil, are you using a Z3M radiator or something else? I'd like to use the CSF radiator with the brackets on the bottom, but I'm a little concerned it'll hang too low to fit (i.e. I think the CSF rad is taller than the Z3M / Euro E36 M3 rad).

    [Edit] Re: the Turner splitter: Their kit is $700. I've collected all the parts into a shopping cart on Schmiedmann and the total is around €1200. While normally that would be a lot more than $1200, the world disaster we have going on right now means that €1200 is about $1220. And the oil cooler parts are similarly dramatically cheaper there, too. I'm about $2k all in for all factory parts aside from the radiator, which I'm still on the fence about. I'd use the CSF rad for sure if I was sure it'd fit, but like I previously said, with the cooler attached I'm worried it's too tall and will hang too low to fit with the front spoiler installed.
    Last edited by blckstrm; 07-21-2022 at 12:31 PM.

    -Josh: 1998 S54 E36 M3/4/6 with most of the easy stuff and most of the hard stuff. At least twice. 271k miles. 1994 E32 740il with nothing but some MPars. 93k miles.

  14. #14
    NeilM is offline Member BMW E36 M3 Expert
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    Quote Originally Posted by blckstrm View Post
    I AM doing a Euro oil cooler - I DD and need to have a thermostat. I have considered doing the bypass and just blocking off the cooler in the off season.
    I still use the S54 oil filter housing with t'stat, just with my own front mounted Mocal oil radiator and AN lines.

    Neil, are you using a Z3M radiator or something else? I'd like to use the CSF radiator with the brackets on the bottom, but I'm a little concerned it'll hang too low to fit (i.e. I think the CSF rad is taller than the Z3M / Euro E36 M3 rad).
    I have a thick core PWR radiator, similar to this one: https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3...iator-upgrade/. Installed it in 2003 and it's been bulletproof ever since. Pricey though! This radiator alone dropped my track oil temp by some 10˚F. (The oil cooler was added later.)

    [Edit] Re: the Turner splitter: Their kit is $700. I've collected all the parts into a shopping cart on Schmiedmann and the total is around €1200. While normally that would be a lot more than $1200, the world disaster we have going on right now means that €1200 is about $1220. And the oil cooler parts are similarly dramatically cheaper there, too. I'm about $2k all in for all factory parts aside from the radiator, which I'm still on the fence about. I'd use the CSF rad for sure if I was sure it'd fit, but like I previously said, with the cooler attached I'm worried it's too tall and will hang too low to fit with the front spoiler installed.
    Nice to have the exchange rate working in our favor for once!

    CSF make a nice radiator, but I can't contribute anything about the fit. If that's what you want, I'd be inclined to buy one and dry-fit it to find out, return if necessary. If I were doing it all over again today, I might go with the Z3M rad. That wasn't a known option back when I bought the PWR.

    Neil
    Last edited by NeilM; 07-22-2022 at 02:50 PM.

  15. #15
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    Subscribing, because I’ve had the splitter for about 20 years now and have been collecting oil cooler parts…

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    Here is some info for pin 34 (51 11 2 268 680). Should help you get it as close as possible to OE rather than rigging it. I couldn't sleep at night if you rigged an OE GT setup.

    Head Diameter: 23.8 mm
    Head Height: 4.1 mm
    Overall height: 28.5 mm
    Shoulder Height: 8.9 mm
    Shoulder thickness: 12.5
    Thread length min to max 10.5 mm to 13.55 will work

    Something like this: https://www.mcmaster.com/97505A144/ Not exact but you get the idea.





    Bottom of spoiler where pin 34 slots in. Nothing fancy and can be widened a hair to accommodate M10.

    Last edited by Jim E.; 07-22-2022 at 10:34 PM.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by NeilM View Post
    The washers are local hardware store items. I keep my spoiler retracted except when at the track, so having it adjustable without too much effort was important to me.

    Neil

    Ah I see, I thought that was the factory GT installation.
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    I’m going to be replicating the OE hardware. Waiting on a friend to supply me with the pieces he has.

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    If you do that, I may be interested in a spare set for my splitter.

  20. #20
    NeilM is offline Member BMW E36 M3 Expert
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    Quote Originally Posted by MParallel View Post
    Ah I see, I thought that was the factory GT installation.
    To make this absolutely clear, what I wrote was: "Although not shown in the pix above, when assembling mine I placed thin nylon fender washers on the bolts between the splitter itself and the metal brackets against which it slides. The splitter is still rather hard to slide, but not as bad as without the washers."

    So the nylon washers can't be seen in any of the photos I posted because they're sandwiched between the movable splitter and its slotted supports. There are also a number of metal washers of various kinds in the factory hardware.

  21. #21
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    The clear is missing off most of my bumper cover... I'll be removing the assembly and clearing it at some point, and straightening the support arms at the same time.

    Although the splitter retracts when hit, after a few dozen times it starts to tweak the arms.

    I can retract mine with a carefully placed kick, and extend by reaching under to grab the rear edge, going side to side. It extends about an inch at a time, but isn't too difficult, despite being on there nearly 20 years now. (I do not drive it in winter)

    Mine has all the factory original hardware and brackets. If anything is rusty, I'll blast and re-paint them too. I noticed there are reproduction brackets available, but they don't have the ridges stamped into them to "click" the splitter in position...
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    Brett may be able to definitively confirm, but I'm fairly certain the S54 Z3M radiator core is 410mm tall and the CSF is 16 15/16", or about 430mm tall. Which will both make it hang too low to use the GT front spoiler and would also mess up that duct that slots between the cooler and the radiator (and that bolts to the aluminum bottom duct).

    The nail in the coffin is that we've kind of mis-named the Z3M radiator. When I looked it up again I noticed the part number is for Euro E36 M3 AND Z3M. Which means the geometry of all of this is factory correct for an E36 with an oil cooler.

    We talked about this in sirhodjibob's thread, but that plastic duct behind the oil cooler is shown backwards in RealOEM. The leading lip gets sandwiched between the cooler and the radiator, and then it bolts up at the rear/bottom to the aluminum pan. I'm fairly convinced it's there to provide support to the aluminum duct to keep air pressure from bowing the aluminum duct and allowing air under the oil cooler.

    -Josh: 1998 S54 E36 M3/4/6 with most of the easy stuff and most of the hard stuff. At least twice. 271k miles. 1994 E32 740il with nothing but some MPars. 93k miles.

  23. #23
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    That now makes sense.

    I have the aluminum center and was compiling parts lists and couldn’t wrap my head around that.

    I was also wondering about the other fastener locations on the aluminum bit, which seems to be out in the wind…

    But you are exactly right on the radiator part number- same part with the same number. The lower radiator supports also change to the euro pieces (off the top of my head)

    I had worked out a few oil cooler scenarios in my engine swap book and I had gotten pretty deep into this stuff then.

  24. #24
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    Yes the 281 radiator is the original E36 M3 euro radiator. We've pointed out before and I'm sure others have also pointed that out before us. https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...8#post30786658

    Back in the day most people weren't familiar with the differences between the US and Euro because there was no such thing as RealOEM. Just the ETK and most didn't have access. So we just called it based on what we knew from the U.S. based cars.

    The 281 actual core is about 408 mm. If you're including the metal tabs that sandwich the core then the overall height is 432 mm.

    The overall outside dimensions of the US and Euro radiators are about the same. The main difference is the core.

    281 M3 rad: 408 x 535 x 42.5 for a total volume of approx. 9,277 cc.

    US Rad: 438 x 535 x 28 mm for a total volume of approx. 6,561 cc.

    Just so people appreciate the difference that's nearly a 1/3 increase in core volume when you switch to the 281 radiator.

    The difference in oil cooler clearance between the two radiators (Euro and U.S.) is about 30 mm give or take a few mm.

    The 281 radiator is a Behr unit while my original radiator is LR. I thought that was interesting.









    Last edited by Jim E.; 08-01-2022 at 11:27 PM.

  25. #25
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    Jim, do you need to swap lower rad supports, or does it mount to the US supports without needing to change? I haven't seen this mentioned except just now by tiMASTER. I looked up the lower bracket on RealOEM and it seems like it’s common for ALL E36.

    -Josh: 1998 S54 E36 M3/4/6 with most of the easy stuff and most of the hard stuff. At least twice. 271k miles. 1994 E32 740il with nothing but some MPars. 93k miles.

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