1998 323is Repair and Build Progress

[CaptainRon21]

I recently purchased a 1998 323is with some gnarly damage underneath the car caused by the transmission being forcefully disconnected from the driveshaft while the car was at speed on the interstate. You can read about that in my last thread here. The TLDR is that bad stuff happened under the car, there is a lot of damage, and I will need a new transmission, driveshaft, and welds on the subframe. So I have decided to start this thread to document the repair and track the subsequent build.

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As for my goals for the car... I had a two-day track experience down in Florida earlier this year [2024] and spent a lot of time in an NB Miata on a short circuit outside of Gainesville. This evolved into building a humble sim rig and getting involved with iRacing. That evolved into purchasing this E36 project car. You can see the progression... Now my goal for this car, at a high level, is to repair it and turn it exclusively into a hobby track car.

I have come across some rather in depth and impressive track build posts on this forum (example here). At this early stage, I don't intend to take this build to that level. Instead, I'd like to get it running, update the suspension, install race wheels/tires, renovate the cooling system, and add a few bolt-ons (intake, exhaust, etc.). I'm about an hour away from Summit Point and intend to get this car on the track regularly throughout the build.

I digress, there is no track car without getting it back in working order. And that is where I am today. After assessing the damage, I determined I need [at least] the following:

• Transmission
• Transmission support crossmember
• Transmission mounts
• Driveshaft
• Guibo
• Shift linkage / shift arm
• Selector rod
• Associated nuts and bolts

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I ordered all the above parts this past week. Everything is expected to arrive in the next few days.
Misc. Notes:

• Given that the 323 came with the Getrag transmission, and I am going for a track build, I made the decision to upgrade to the ZF 320 transmission.
• I did not order the selector rod (25111222664) as I saw a nifty post on here about using the straight one in the 323 and making the bend required for the M3 selector rod using a tabletop vice. So I will give that a go as this progresses.
• In watching YouTube videos about the Getrag to ZF swap, there seems to be some confusion about the bolt size connecting the guibo/DS to the transmission; on RealOEM, the part number is the same between the 323 and the M3, but the noted bolt length is different (58mm for the 323 and 62mm for the M3); I ordered both sizes and will report back which is correct
• I found a brand new M3 driveshaft on FB Marketplace and decided to replace the entire thing (as opposed to just the front portion); this was an exceptional find as it was five minutes from me and I live in a pretty small town in Virginia
• The seller purchased the upgraded JXB center support bearing (26121226731) (link here) and included it in the sale; but after watching videos, I am opting to not install it as it looks like a pain in the rear; should I reconsider

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• The insulation / heat shield above the transmission was destroyed; I will likely not replace this.
• I will likely need new motor mounts as the transmission has been "hanging" and likely putting uneeded stress on them.
• Lastly, there is a cut/gash/slice in in the subframe above the transmission tunnel that will need to be addressed through welding supporting plates to provide the necessary reinforcement:

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Latest Work:

• Removed the exhaust (from header down)
• Removed old driveshaft
• Prepped transmission for removal (removed slave cylinder, disconnected shifter components)

Upcoming To Do:

• Remove transmission
• Strip back interior center console to expose subframe and attempt to straighten it out as much as possible
• Have vehicle towed to welder for subframe repair
• Misc preparations based on notes above

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Current Build Cost
This only includes the parts I have actually purchased. Prices are rounded to the nearest dollar. Prices include shipping. Prices include total with summed quantities.

• 1998 E36 323is Coupe - $2000
• Tow from seller to my house $225
• Transmission Mounts (RevShift) - $71
• Transmission Cross Member - $78
• Cross Member Bolts (x4) - $11
• Transmission - $1203
• Driveshaft - $220
• Drive Shaft Flex Joint Bolt (62mm) (x3) - $20
• Drive Shaft Flex Joint Bolt (58mm) (x3) - $32
• Self Locking Nut (x6) - $11
• Shifting Arm, Cranked - $145

Running Total: $4016

I likely won't have time until next weekend to continue work as I am a husband, father, business owner, and am pulled every which way most days of the week. But I do intend to update this thread regularly as I progress.

On a different note, I cannot, for the the life of me, figure out how to embed images in the post inline with text that do not act as attachments. I have seen plenty of posts with larger images inline, so I know it's possible. But when I use the BBCode [img], it saves the image as an attachment on the post and counts towards the five attachment limit. It also displays the thumbnail and not the full picture. I am using imgur, but can use another host if anyone has suggestions...?

[Eric93se]

Nice work so far Captain, remember its fun

[CaptainRon21]

Thanks Eric! It has already been a blast to work on.

I think I need to get another fridge for my shop and stock it with beers so I can entice one of my buddies to help me pull the transmission out.

[CaptainRon21]

Another short update. I haven't had much time to get under the car over the last two weeks.

Now that I found a welder who can handle the subframe gash repair, I started to wonder if he was going to install the plate on bottom or from the interior. Then I started thinking that I'll need to get any interior fire hazard stuff out of the way (i.e., shifter components, insulation, carpet, etc.). This led to removing the shifter (needed to assess damage on this anyway) and portions of the center console which exposed the insulation over the gash.

I am at a point now where I need to remove the carpet around the area to fully expose the gash and remove any fire hazards. This will likely involve either A) cutting the carpet to expose the gash or B) remove the entirety of the interior carpet. So here I am looking at the condition of the car (hint: it is in great condition) and I am conflicted between tearing out the interior OR... Just restoring and enjoying it. I have to keep reminding myself that it is going to be a race car. I'll save this for next round of work.

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In my pursuit of having all needed parts before starting on the repair, I analyzed the shifter parts for damage and, using the RealOEM diagram and part numbers, determined that I will need quite a bit. I took this opportunity to completely upgrade the shifter components. See parts:

Shifter Rebuild Parts

• OEM Shift Arm / Linkage (25111221864) from FCP Euro
• OEM Shift Lever Boot (25111221700) (OEM) from FCP Euro
• OEM Manual Trans Shift Bushing (25111222015) from FCP Euro
• DSSR Selector Rod (25111222738) from Garagistic (here)
• Late Model Selector Joint (25117580281) from Garagistic (here)
  
  • Includes Lock Ring (25111222451), Plastic Washer (25111424194), and Dowel Pin (23411466134)
  
  
• Oval Shifter Bushing Kit from Garagistic (here)
  
  • Includes oval bushing(25117507695) that fits inside the shift bushing (25111222015), Shift Lever Bearing (25111220600), and 25111221849
  
  

The only part I did not replace is the existing shift lever as I believe it is good to use in its current state. FWIW it appears to be an aftermarket short variant anyway.

Latest Work:

• Drained transmission fluid
• Started removing interior parts to expose subframe gash
• Removed all shifter components for inspection then reordered new parts

Upcoming To Do:

• Remove transmission
• Strip back interior center console to expose subframe and attempt to straighten it out as much as possible
• Have vehicle towed to welder for subframe repair
• Misc preparations based on notes above

Current Build Cost
This only includes the parts I have actually purchased. Prices are rounded to the nearest dollar. Prices include shipping. Prices include total with summed quantities.

• 1998 E36 323is Coupe - $2000
• Tow from seller to my house $225
• Transmission Mounts (RevShift) - $71
• Transmission Cross Member - $78
• Cross Member Bolts (x4) - $11
• Transmission - $1203
• Driveshaft - $220
• Drive Shaft Flex Joint Bolt (62mm) (x3) - $20
• Drive Shaft Flex Joint Bolt (58mm) (x3) - $32
• Self Locking Nut (x6) - $11
• Shifting Arm, Cranked - $145
• Shift Lever Boot - $46
• Manual Trans Shift Bushing - $14
• DSSR Selector Rod - $112
• Late Model Selector Joint - $69
• Oval Shifter Bushing Kit - $40
  
  • CURRENT TOTAL:$4297
  
  

Once I pull the transmission out, I can get the rest of the repair in motion. My next few weekends appear to be free, so I am hopeful to have that out and to the welder before the end of the month!

[CaptainRon21]

Quick update. I needed to get to the tunnel gash from the interior. I was toying with the idea of stripping the interior and removing the carpet completely. But after realizing how much work that is, and given that this is a track build, I decided to cut the carpet over the gashed area.

Turns out the rear heater duct vent happened to run right over the gashed area. Figuring that I was already in too deep, I went ahead and cut enough carpet to move the vent over the gashed area. Now it's exposed and (probably) safe to weld a plate.

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The last thing to do before the weld is to remove the existing transmission. After that and the weld repair, I can start putting it all back together.

I was hoping to get to the transmission tomorrow, but I am headed on an afternoon drive with a couple local car guys.

[CaptainRon21]

Progress was slow the past few weeks but I finally got some garage time. Yesterday was all about weight reduction. We spent a few hours stripping the interior of the car. If it didn't feel like a race car build before, it sure does now.

Trunk, spare tire, all liners, seats, trim, carpet, etc - it all came out:

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I suppose I'll sell what parts are worth selling. Otherwise, off the landfill it goes. Let me know if you are looking for anything.

In the meantime, I got the new ZF/M3 transmission out and started the shifter rebuilt:

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Unfortunately one of the transmission mounting points was broken during shipping. The seller packaged it well, but it seems like these parts are not immune to FedEx's handling. I'll have the welder address this when I bring the car in that work:

Trans Mount Damage.jpg

New parts came in the mail from RevShift:

• E36 Full Bushing Kit ($300)
• Rear Shock Mount Reinforcement Kit ($20)
• RTAB Mounting Pocket Reinforcements ($50)
• Subframe / Chassis Reinfocement Kit ($50)
• Rear Knuckle Reinforcements ($20)

This brings the build total up to $4751.

Latest Work:

• Stripped interior / weight reduction
• Unloaded M3 transmission and started the shifter upgrade / rebuild

Upcoming To Do:

• Remove transmission
• Have vehicle towed to welder for subframe repair
• Install bushings and reinforcement (some will be welded)

I still need to tackle the transmission removal. The heat shield / noise barrier makes getting to the upper bolts very difficult. And that stuff has some really nasty dust coming out of it. You can't get to the upper trans bolts without dealing with this. But it will require a respirator (I am not breathing in that asbestos looking stuff) and goggles. So I may pay someone to handle this.

I also need to make a decision on the exhaust. We are leaning towards the Magnaflow because it is header back.

Last question to ponder is: should we have a rear roll cage (not sure the proper terminology) installed while the car is at the welder?

[CaptainRon21]

Between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, you’d think progress would be slow… But, somehow, this has been the most productive month with the car yet. I repaired the transmission tunnel cut, dropped the old transmission, installed the new one, and now have the Magnaflow E36 race exhaust (and Y-Pipe) en route.

I was going to pay a welder to weld a sheet over the transmission tunnel damage. After talking with my brother-in-law, he suggested I use rivnuts around the damaged area and secure a piece of sheet metal to the subframe. After some research, I decided to go with this method. If this doesn’t hold, or we want to change it later, we certainly can.

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I cut out some of the damage to make this portion of the subframe as flat as possible. I cut the sheet metal and bent it to the best of my ability (as you can clearly see, I am no metal worker). I lined up the sheet metal with the subframe and drilled the first hole through both the sheet metal and subframe so they stayed in alignment. I installed the rivnut in the subframe and secured the sheet metal to it. Now that I had a reference point, I could drill the other holes through both the sheet metal and subframe. I used gasket sealer on the inside of the sheet metal and Loctite on the screws before securing it all in place.

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It is certainly not a good-looking repair, but it is effective and extremely durable. Now I need to figure out how to seal the other open portions of the subframe in front of the shifter.

On to the transmission next. I had been texting with a mobile mechanic who specializes in transmission work about helping me remove the transmission. He was pretty non-responsive (I chalk that up to the holiday season) and I was getting antsy, so I just went for it.

Overall, this wasn’t terrible. It would have been much easier if the heat shield wasn’t shrouding the top of the transmission. There is an E12 inverted torx head bolt at the “top” of the transmission that took me quite a while as I couldn’t see it and there was no way to get a hand on it to confirm it was even there. After blindly poking around with the 18” extension on my ratchet, I got lucky and linked up with it. Once that was off, I pulled the transmission back and lowered it to the ground.

When I bought the car, the seller mentioned that the original clutch and flywheel were in the trunk because they were upgraded at some point. Stupidly, I did not take note of the upgraded part other than it is yellow:

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On that note, I’d like to clear up a little bit of confusion. Before pulling the transmission, I did a ton of research. I found a lot of conflicting information regarding the transmission bellhousing bolts (mainly quantity and size). The diagrams in RealOEM are not exactly clear and diagrams I have found online can be confusing. I wasn’t sure if there were 11 inverted torx bolts or 9… Mine had nine; here is my list:

• 3x E10
• 2x E12
  
• 2x E14 (short)
  
• 2x E14 (long)

Note there is also one 10mm hex head bolt that holds on the bellhousing gasket.

While I was able to remove the bellhousing bolts without issue, I noticed that the torx heads on some of them were starting to strip. I went ahead and ordered a new set.

With the old transmission out, I was ready to install the new ZF transmission. I enlisted some help and we were able to get it installed in about two hours. Time well spent. I did use the old bellhousing bolts because I had help before the new bolts arrived. I did not torque them to spec though. Once the new bellhousing bolts arrived, I replaced each old bolt with a new bolt one-by-one (except the two E12s; those bolts can kick rocks).

With the transmission in place, I needed to install the new transmission cross member support. The transmission tunnel damage was apparent here too: only three of the bolts (22326760945) could be installed. The subframe where the fourth bolt goes was mangled (see pics from original post in this thread). So I installed a rivnut on the subframe for the fourth bolt to mount to. After some finagling, I was able to get the cross member successfully installed. You can also see the green Revshift 95A transmission mounts installed:

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Since the shifter was already rebuilt and installed on the new transmission, all I needed to do was slip it through the subframe and install a new rubber shift boot (25111221700). I do not like how the shifter currently sits though, and it feel like it is hard (if not impossible) to get into fifth gear. I think something wonky is going on. I’ll need to look into that later.

I also went ahead and changed the transmission fluid, opting for the Royal Purple Max Gear 75W-90. Changing that was rather annoying and messy because I used a simple hand pump. Lesson learned.

At some point throughout the transmission swap, the clutch slave cylinder came apart. I am hoping it can be put back together and reinstalled. Otherwise, I will need to order a new one.

Lastly, I have the BimmerWorld Magnaflow E36 Race Exhaust and corresponding Y-Pipe on order. While that is in shipping, the next steps are to:

• Address the slave cylinder issue
  
• Install the new M3 driveshaft
  
• Perform a routine oil change
  
• Reinstall the seats and seatbelts
  
• Address the shifter concerns (which I hope are a nothing burger)

After that list is complete and the exhaust is installed, I should be able to fire it up and take her for a test drive. Just another week or two! Time is of the essence because I am signed up for a two day track event with Chin Track Days at VIR on March 1^st and 2^nd 2025.

Bonus shot. I rearranged my shop today to better fit both Bimmers before we get a bunch of snow tonight. Also got a few flags up. Now I need better lighting, a beer fridge, and a TV mounted.

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