Project Ring-shed E36 325i

[sniff diesel]

benny.c said:

Are you putting a competition fuel tank in Rich?

Not yet, just had the old one off to do the underseal. Glad I did as there were a few nasty scabs of rust hidden behind the tank.

At Snetterton the other week it was suffering fuel starvation below 1/3rd of a tank around the fast long right hander at Coram. Might look at getting a swirl pot or foam filled/baffled tank at some point in the future.

Got your Alpina lump in yet?

[sniff diesel]

bull996 said:

Can I ask a question?

A while back on the other thread you mentioned swapping the coilovers from the 325 to the M3. Did you manage that and if so how?

Cheers

By all means,

The rear mounting points are the same for all E36's including M3's. The only difference is the front ARB drop links mount to the front struts on the M3 (like a pre feb 1992 E36) Being as mine was a slightly later 325i it had the ARB's drop links mounted to the wishbone. The M3 already has a few holes in the wishbones, so I'll be using those. Since the upgraded Whiteline ARB is adjustable in stiffness I'm sure I'll find a setting to suit.

[sniff diesel]

bones33 said:

Love your thread a must read when ever I am on

Cheers, if people are still interested then I'll keep on posting updates.

Yesterday I painted the underside with white Hammerite after grinding off and treating the patches of rust with K-rust.




Had a friend bring his Waxoil pump to apply the Dinitrol chassis wax in all the cavities (thanks Bryn!)

Then I cut the holes through the bulkhead for the roll cage turret bars, and fettled the bars to suit. These were then welded on today by Steve the mobile welder:



With the decent OMP strutbrace, and convertible lower X-brace this should stiffen up the front end a fair bit. Can't wait to see what difference to the handling and turn in, what with the Z3 steering rack I've got to go on as well.



Also had the bracket welded in for the expansion tank to fit to on (non M3 E36's have an integral expansion tank on the side of the rad) That bracket and the rear diff reinforcement plates would appear to be the only differences between M3 and normal E36 shells, unless anyone know of any other differences?

Cleaned up the rear axle and gave it a quick spray paint in matt black. Probably won't last long but the car doesn't do that many miles and it'll be nicer to work on with everything clean. Got the Powerflex polyurethene bushes in there too, the 4 diff carrier bushes were purple but the rear trailing arm bushes were black for some reason. As part of the kit were a couple of rear ARB bushes, but these won't be needed as I don't run a rear ARB (anyone after an M3 rear ARB and bushes drop me a PM!)




Managed to salvage my old wheel studs and spacers from the old axle. Was a pain getting the studs out as I'd Loctited them in.

Next job was to fit the ARP conrod bolts. These are much stronger than the standard items, so should enable a higher rev limit if I ever get the engine remapped. Fitting was fairly straight forward, with the luxury of working on an engine stand being able to tilt the engine right over. Just removed the sump, oil pick up pipe, and that baffle plate thing to get to the bottom end. Then just replace the bolts one by one, having to torque them up 3 times each to allow for them to stretch.




Last job of the day was to spray up the engine bay with primer, ready for a coat of white in the morning. This will just make the engines bay a nicer place to work on and make it easier to spot leaks or other things amiss and even stray tools!





Tomorrow I've got to put the sump back on with a new gasket, fit the group N oil restrictor valve in the head, then start on putting the car back together. Looking forward to these nicer jobs.

[sniff diesel]

bulletproofbob said:

oh your flying on in front of me now.... well done mate, its looking spot on!! i was unsur how to tie into turrets myself, i was going to go diagonally into centre of car but your way looks good enough to copy! (hope you don't mind)

Not really, at least your car has an engine and wheels still on it!

I wanted to make sure there was still room for the standard brake servo, I know people fit smaller ones from Golfs and stuff but I didn't fancy going down that road. With the turret bars close to the inner wings they can be welded onto them too increasing stiffness even further. There's nearly enough room for the standard fuse box with the turrets where they are, but I'll have to chop down a bit off the side of the fuse box (M3 runs a seperate expansion tank remember so that can't be moved towards the engine). I want to keep it under the bonnet for simplicities sake. I may have another go at rewiring it with the fuses and relays on the dash sometime.

[sniff diesel]

iguana said:

Sniff, is worth fitting evo/GT twin oil pick up while you have the sump off

Hi Alex. I've been trying to find one but didn't manage to get one for sensible money in time for putting this all back together. Hopefully for next time it needs an oil change I'll have one.

[sniff diesel]

Yesterday we managed to finish spraying up the engine bay in white:




Also fitted the group N oil restrictor valve whilst the engine was on the stand. This was a very fiddly job, unfortunately my hands were oily so I didn't get any photos of it. I then made up a bit of pipe to blank off where the heater matrix was plumbed into the head and block, and fitted the take off for the additional water temperature gauge.

Then got the flywheel, clutch, and gearbox back on the engine and fitted it to the car:




It's a great feeling to actually have the engine in the car at last, even if we've still got all the plumbing and wiring in to do, along with the rear axle, prop, exhaust, bolt the front end back on etc. But hopefully these are the nicer jobs putting it all together.

[sniff diesel]

teabagger said:

I am loving the work going on here, sniff.

Sorry if you have been over this before but,
Is the car going to be road legal (or do you have another car for ring trips)?

Where are you doing the work? Is that your own garage? If so, I am very jealous!

Cheers Kev. I'm intending to keep the car road legal, but I'm not sure how the Polizei would take to it what with all the modifications. I believe you need to show TUV certificates for all modifications if stopped by the Police in Germany. If they went over the car with a fine toothcomb like they did with that Dutch registered Alfa 75 back in August I'm sure they'd find something wrong and give me a huge fine, so I'm just going to use the car for trackdays over here. I'll have to find another cheap M3 for the next Ring trip.

The workshop belongs to a friend of mine and E36 M3 specialist:

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/CR-M-Tech-BMW-E36-an...

[sniff diesel]

iguana said:

sniff diesel said:

I'm intending to keep the car road legal, but I'm not sure how the Polizei would take to it what with all the modifications. I believe you need to show TUV certificates for all modifications if stopped by the Police in Germany. If they went over the car with a fine toothcomb like they did with that Dutch registered Alfa 75 back in August I'm sure they'd find something wrong and give me a huge fine, so I'm just going to use the car for trackdays over here.

Sniff you are a tad mis informed on that front mate, pure scaremongering tad dificult to get a TUV on a uk car anyway.

They won't let protruding bonnet pins & excessive wings on tho granted, just back myself this morn from a tad of winter lapping, gotta love global warming, dry sunny 'ring laps in dec sweet, ok bad for the polar bears & the folks of the Maldives maybe

So if I fit some Aero catches on the bonnet and have all the UK paperwork in order then that's OK is it Alex? What do they make of 6 point harnesses? I saw some cars there last summer that had both harnesses and the original seat belts as I presumed the harnesses weren't road legal.

[sniff diesel]

Got the steering rack, wishbones, front struts and hubs, ABS pump, propshaft and exhaust on today. I managed to swap my standard cats for a nicely homemade decat pipe, with the standard back box it shouldn't be too much louder than the original. Can't wait to hear what it sounds like. Bit dark in the pictures but you get an idea:







Couldn't get the old track rod ends off the old steering rack so ordered some new ones that should be here tomorrow hopefully. Jobs to do tomorrow are all new brake lines, and swap the oil cooler for the larger one off my old 325tds, then I should be somewhere near putting the front end back on. I'm still not sure what brake fluid to use, I'd like something better than the standard DOT 4 but then I don't want to be changing it all the time like you have to with race fluids

[sniff diesel]

Munter said:

I ended up with ATE superblue. Although I'm sure I lost some "feel" but I got no fade on track. Although the MX is a tad lighter than your car was...not sure the comparative weight now.

Superblue is one of the options on the shelf in the workshop. I reckon the car will weigh the best part of 1200kgs once done (was about 1120kgs with the 325i running gear)

[sniff diesel]

My last day off today so did a bit more progress. Got the oil cooler off the old 325tds, 6 rows instead of 5 so should provide an extra 20% more cooling. It's BMW part number 17212244741 if anyone wants to order an upgraded one for their M3 from their local dealership.



And here it is fitted in the standard bracket under the radiator:



My track rods ends turned up so these were fitted with plenty of copper grease to save them seizing up like the old ones. Then I got the old wiring loom out of the car:



Only been in there 6 months since I salvaged it out of that old burgundy 325i, if anyone wants a ready trimmed down loom for an E36 track car give us a PM - it could save you a few days work.

Still got to connect the rest of the M3 loom up and trim the unnecessary bits off, fit the EWS gubbins, plumb in the fuel lines then it should be able to fire up for the first time hopefully.

Put the rest of the front end back on, starting to look like a car again:

[sniff diesel]

bulletproofbob said:

hey sniff, where was the wiper module on yours?? mine have packed up and it's not in the usual glovebox area... mind i stripped all that and can't remember seeing it... hmmm

Can't remember where stuff was originally as I get a bit carried away stripping stuff out!.I'll have a spare somewhere if you want it Bob, just paypal us a couple of quid for the postage.

[sniff diesel]

I'm not really fussed about private plates anyway Chris, plus another advantage of being an "old banger" is it can run without a cat legally!

[sniff diesel]

sleeper88 said:

Just wondering if theres eny progress.

I drove it home just before Christmas so I could spend a few hours here and there on the wiring. Had to use the M3 car loom as the clocks are different with it having the oil temp gauge instead of the MPG gauge. Haven't got any pics of it but there's even less wiring in there than there was on the old trimmed down loom - and everything still works!

I filled the cooling system with just water in case there was any leaks and to give the block another good flush before sticking the antifreeze in there. Don't know if the cold had something to do with it but after a week the thermostat was jammed shut. Unfortunately I broke part of the water pump housing when I took the stat out, luckily Chris had a water pump and housing from a '98 EVO on the shelf he let me have. Filled it up with the antofreeze solution this time and it's been fine.

Next problem I found that the battery wasn't charging. Chris got me an alternator off another EVO engine and we swapped it over but had the same problem. Numpty here had missed to connect the 2nd positive wire to the starter motor, and for some reason this was stopping the charge get to the battery.

Took it out for a good spin and put some fresh V-power in there, and boy does she fly. Even on the dual carridgeway which has no ice or slush it was spinning up the rear tyres in 4th - gotta be ready with the oppo! Just want the weather to warm and dry up a bit so I can get some mileage on her to check everything's OK. Then will be ready to start booking some more trackdays

[sniff diesel]

Just another small update on what I've been busy with.

I've been trying to get some mileage under the car's belt to check everything's working OK before my next trackdays. Booked for Bedford autodrome on Feb 22nd and Anglesea on March 6th, never been to either circuit before so should be a learning curve now I have 100bhp more than I was used to.

My old slicks were pretty worn after 3 trackdays on them, so I swapped them for some part worn toyo R888's I got for a bargain price on Ebay:



These will do for road use and as intermediates on track, I plan to get a set of Clio cup Michelin slicks to try next as they're similar price to the Yoko's but being a bit narrower should fit my 7.5" rims a bit better.

Untill now my front brakes were standard with OEM spec discs and pads. I've just replaced them with some cross drilled and grooved discs and Yellowstuff pads which should hold up a bit better. I also took the opportunity to remove the backing plates from behind the discs to help get more cool air in to the brakes.



I got hold of a used Scorpion stainless back box to replace the original one I still had on the car. Previous owner had painted it with some ceramic heat resistant paint for some reason, but at least tail pipes are still nice and shiney and you can't see the rest. It really does sound the buisness now, lovely and raspy with the decat - will have to post up some video footage of how it sounds. An added bonus is it's some 8kgs lighter than the standard exhaust too. Will have to check how loud it is first though before taking it on track.



Since the M3 conversion I've not been happy with the quality of the gearchange with the quickshift lever from the 325i, so I invested in all new bushes, washers and clips from the dealer:



Not had chance to fit them yet, I think I'll revert back to the standard M3 gear lever too as there was nothing wrong with the shift action with that.

[sniff diesel]

TheLurker said:

Just read the thread through. Lovely car you now have (although you seemed to go through enough of them building this one )

Have you tought yourself as you went along, or have people in the know helping you with it? Seems like your quite handy with a spanner!

Cheers, I've learnt a lot from doing this one, and from breaking the others. I had some one else do the welding, and another mate help us with the engine swap. I probably could have do the engine swap myself but it would have just taken a lot longer.

There's a few things I'd do differently if I was doing it again. Next time I'll get a good late bare M3 shell, so that it's a proper M3 on the logbook which would make it easier to sell on and probably worth a bit more if I ever got rid. I'd get it properly acid dipped and seemed welded, and a proper custom cage tied into the rear diff mounting points, then the whole lot sprayed inside and out. Might even use a LHD shell as I've heard they have better left to right weight distribution.

Edited by sniff diesel on Friday 26th March 11:24

[sniff diesel]

V8mate said:

What have you gone for in terms of brakes and suspension upgrades?

Is it a straightforward thing to upgrade to (late E36) M3 discs or is there a better route to improving braking?

Are you upgrading the brake hoses too? What oil have you opted for?

What did you consider when planning the suspension changes? The stuff in this thread about the (natural) setup of the M3 suspension was quite interesting, or are you going fully aftermarket?

Are you doing anything about fuel pump, water pump, hoses etc?

So many questions

With yellowstuff pads and EBC grooved and drilled discs the car stops very well. M3 brakes require M3 hubs, but these are available for as little as £50 a pair.

Goodridge braided line kits are only £55 from GSF so worth doing too.

Lower the car so it sits 320mm from centre of the wheel to the bottom of the arch at the front, and 305mm at the rear. Any lower and the wishbone geometry goes out of range and makes the handling worse.

I went for the M3 EVO fuel pump as they a higher pressure (5 bar - standard pumps are 3.5 bar) not sure if this helps though. Water pump and hoses all standard.

[sniff diesel]

V8mate said:

Thanks. Why do you only recommend plastic windows for a saloon? (mine's a coupe)


sniff: Mine has a solid (i.e. not glass) sunroof too. Is simply welding the sunroof itself closed sufficient for MSA regs?

Coupes have frameless doors that make getting a seal with the rubbers difficult. On the saloon you have no such problems.

All E36 sunroofs are solid. Once you remove the seal you're left with a 5-6mm gap to fill which makes it difficult to weld in. Much easier (and still MSA approved) way to go is to rivet in a panel over the top.

ETA: I see Jo90 has already answered - I must read all the posts before replying!

Edited by sniff diesel on Friday 2nd July 11:26

[sniff diesel]

teabagger said:

Hi Richard
Ive been throught the whole thread before but cant remember if you have done anything with the fuel tank.
In my evo, i used to get fuel starvation on long fast right handers with anything less than 1/3 of a tank. If you are running slicks, it may be an idea to look at this problem.

Are you still over at the nurburgring with us for the 23, 24, 25th july?
Which car are taking?

Hi Kev, not done anything to the yet apart from add the EVO pump. I also get the fuel starvation mentioned, especially at Snetterton, so will look into the duel fuel pump setup, where you just replace the sender in the other side of the tank with a second pump.

That weekend is really busy with truck racing on at the GP track I believe, so we had trouble finding accommodation. We're actually over here at the moment, in the process of buying a house, will keep you posted.

[sniff diesel]

V8mate said:

You're not bothering with a cage - is the loss/gain much? They seem to be £1,500-2,000 fitted which is a bit of a budget killer. I'd say that my budget for this year is probably £2k over the cost of the car itself. And seats are looking pretty pricey too; I wonder how often they end up in breeaker's yards?

If the cage is considered a 'must have', there's a 944 which has already had cage, racing seats and uprated suspension just come onto the market locally for under £2k. And I'll just sell the E36 on.

The cage certainly does stiffen up the shell a lot so don't dismiss it entirely. Yes a top job from Custom cages will cost about £2k, but you can get a Sparco one like mine for about £650 from Deamon Tweaks, then even if you have to pay someone to weld it in it comes in at a lot less money. And most people know someone who can weld for them for mates rates.