E36 328i Touring. When it breaks, upgrade it...
Discussion
carpetsoiler said:
Hamster69 said:
You are more than welcome, but I doubt you will be thanking me when you are fitting them. With the exception of the cage, which I am now fitting. The arches are defiantly the hardest part of my track toy so far.
Glad to see you enjoyed the Nurburgring trip. It is awesome fun isn't it.
I'm psyching myself up for it. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Adam at Hard Motorsport has been nothing but helpful so far, so I can definitely see these arches in Claudia's future. Plus they look sGlad to see you enjoyed the Nurburgring trip. It is awesome fun isn't it.
t-hot. 
Right... time for another long update... it's been a busy month and a bit.
Firstly, there was the issue of rust. E36s all do it, just some to worse degrees than others. Mine has been relatively well-behaved... until the rear nearside jacking point exploded, quite spectacularly, when I was under the car with the cat, getting some stuff fixed. Luckily I heard it starting to go, but it was still not really amusing- it also dented the bodywork somewhat. So I booked her in to have her welded up nicely at my tame workshop.
I also have a slight obsession with creating Ultimate Vaders- electric adjustment, electric lumbar support, and heating. I am lucky enough to have electric ones, so that's the hard part sorted. Unfortunately Vaders and Comfort/Sport seats are built totally differently, so it'll be a bit of a headscratcher making it work, but I sure as hell will make it happen. I have the lumbar support kit, fully working, and waiting to go in... just waiting to get hold of a loom and elements for the heated seats.
Cams are finally here! These are the Riot Racing ones. All in they've worked out at around £480 inc. delivery/taxes/replacement cores. I will be getting her up to scratch, then running her on a dyno, then changing cams, then giving her a week to bed in before going back and seeing what the gain is all about.
Also have M3 Evo exhaust manifolds...
And some KW V3s... used, but at the price they were, I couldn't ignore them.
They need a bit of fixing, but the shocks themselves are in great condition. All I need is the adjuster screw for the rear spring height, and a toolkit... then I'm laughing.
New rear bumper:
A nice way to carry around lots of st:
Some more recent shots of the interior with new carbon bits all over the place...
Plans for 2015: 3-litre stroker engine, finish bodywork, enjoy.
Firstly, there was the issue of rust. E36s all do it, just some to worse degrees than others. Mine has been relatively well-behaved... until the rear nearside jacking point exploded, quite spectacularly, when I was under the car with the cat, getting some stuff fixed. Luckily I heard it starting to go, but it was still not really amusing- it also dented the bodywork somewhat. So I booked her in to have her welded up nicely at my tame workshop.
I also have a slight obsession with creating Ultimate Vaders- electric adjustment, electric lumbar support, and heating. I am lucky enough to have electric ones, so that's the hard part sorted. Unfortunately Vaders and Comfort/Sport seats are built totally differently, so it'll be a bit of a headscratcher making it work, but I sure as hell will make it happen. I have the lumbar support kit, fully working, and waiting to go in... just waiting to get hold of a loom and elements for the heated seats.
Cams are finally here! These are the Riot Racing ones. All in they've worked out at around £480 inc. delivery/taxes/replacement cores. I will be getting her up to scratch, then running her on a dyno, then changing cams, then giving her a week to bed in before going back and seeing what the gain is all about.
Also have M3 Evo exhaust manifolds...
And some KW V3s... used, but at the price they were, I couldn't ignore them.
They need a bit of fixing, but the shocks themselves are in great condition. All I need is the adjuster screw for the rear spring height, and a toolkit... then I'm laughing.
New rear bumper:
A nice way to carry around lots of s
t:
Some more recent shots of the interior with new carbon bits all over the place...
Plans for 2015: 3-litre stroker engine, finish bodywork, enjoy.
carpetsoiler said:
Right... time for another long update... it's been a busy month and a bit.
Plans for 2015: 3-litre stroker engine, finish bodywork, enjoy.
Coming along nicely. What spec are you building the engine to? Also, where is you interior clock from? I've not seen on of these in an e36, or I've certainly not noticed an analogue clock like this before.Plans for 2015: 3-litre stroker engine, finish bodywork, enjoy.
Were you using that jacking point on the side with the crap little emergency jack, while under the car?! 
That aside, she's looking pretty good, and plenty of goodies to go on! I've seen that exhaust manifold photo many a time when convincing myself I need a set, but it'd be interesting to hear your experience fitting them. Heard it's an absolute bd, and I've also heard varying reports of the M3 system being about 20kg heavier all in!
Cams look absolutely lush. Between those and the proper manifolds, I wouldn't be surprised to see you nudging close to 3.0 M3 power..
That aside, she's looking pretty good, and plenty of goodies to go on! I've seen that exhaust manifold photo many a time when convincing myself I need a set, but it'd be interesting to hear your experience fitting them. Heard it's an absolute b
d, and I've also heard varying reports of the M3 system being about 20kg heavier all in!Cams look absolutely lush. Between those and the proper manifolds, I wouldn't be surprised to see you nudging close to 3.0 M3 power..
getawayturtle said:
Rust can fk off and do one, quite frankly. Poor Claudia.
Glad you didn't get squished, babe.
Cheers Liam k off and do one, quite frankly. Poor Claudia.Glad you didn't get squished, babe.
yeah you have a lot of experience with rusty E36s! Luckily Claudia is nowhere near as bad as that underneath!ciaranthemurph said:
Coming along nicely. What spec are you building the engine to? Also, where is you interior clock from? I've not seen on of these in an e36, or I've certainly not noticed an analogue clock like this before.
The engine is going to be my own little special project. The M50, M52 and M54 straight sixes all share the same bore size- 84mm. So it's looking like an M50 block for strength, my M52 head for the power, and the crank/rods/pistons from an M54B30 so I can stroke it straight out to a 3-litre. All in all, it'll be what I like to call an M53B30- a weird hybrid that happens to be rather powerful! It'll be the first engine I've built, but I want it to be a proper boss!The clock is from a very base spec E36, they're quite easy to find in most common-or-garden scrapyards. Not difficult to wire in at all- three wires- and just looks more interesting than the sunglasses holder that is usually there. However, at some stage in 2015, I expect to be replacing it with a triple gauge pod- oil pressure, oil temperature and battery voltage, or similar.
S3_Graham said:
seats look great. I'm after a set for my E36 Cab.
Who did your steering wheel? that looks ace too!
Cheers Who did your steering wheel? that looks ace too!
I just got rather let down on a set of Recaros in black leather/alcantara for an E36- guy had them up for £400, I messaged, provisionally sold my interior within 45 mins to cover the cost, then he messaged the next day and said "Sorry, price is £600... changed my mind...". Absolute dick. So I'll be sticking with Vaders for now. One of my best mates has my old grey set in his cab, they look amazing.Steering wheel I bought from a forum, it was used but not? Either way, it's a lovely purchase. Retrimming usually costs around £120-£150, so if you can find one already done then snap it up.
McSam said:
Were you using that jacking point on the side with the crap little emergency jack, while under the car?!
That aside, she's looking pretty good, and plenty of goodies to go on! I've seen that exhaust manifold photo many a time when convincing myself I need a set, but it'd be interesting to hear your experience fitting them. Heard it's an absolute bd, and I've also heard varying reports of the M3 system being about 20kg heavier all in!
Cams look absolutely lush. Between those and the proper manifolds, I wouldn't be surprised to see you nudging close to 3.0 M3 power..
Er... maybe..! That aside, she's looking pretty good, and plenty of goodies to go on! I've seen that exhaust manifold photo many a time when convincing myself I need a set, but it'd be interesting to hear your experience fitting them. Heard it's an absolute b
d, and I've also heard varying reports of the M3 system being about 20kg heavier all in!Cams look absolutely lush. Between those and the proper manifolds, I wouldn't be surprised to see you nudging close to 3.0 M3 power..
I just had to get something done quickly before the 'Ring trip and didn't have my proper jack to hand, plus we have a gravel driveway so the emergency jack is useful as it doesn't need to move...They are a t
t to fit, best mate just did it to his (ridiculously blue) Montreal Blue 328i 'loon, and it's still giving him issues now. You need to machine a bit off the bell housing, get thicker gaskets otherwise they rest on the block and create the most hideous resonance, and you need to swap the Lambda plugs over... with a soldering iron... which is great, except the colours don't match up on the wires between the two different cars and the Evo ones have two white wires. 
annoying. Simple solution for M3 system being 20kg heavier? Don't use a standard one. That photo of my boot is a standard system, and it does weigh a lot. Best mate runs a Supersprint full race system with x-pipe mids and a very lairy backbox.I don't know about 3.0 M3 power yet mate, not sure how well the head flows. I think I'll get closer one I've done my weird stroker unit, but anything around 263bhp will make me very happy- that's a 70bhp increase over standard!
Also have some M3 Evo coils to stick in the block- they create a bigger, juicier spark and are actually useful for massaging more power out. Not bothering changing the injectors at this time as the very same ones were fitted to the 3.0 M3, and that has plenty of power!
S3_Graham said:
seats look great. I'm after a set for my E36 Cab.
Who did your steering wheel? that looks ace too!
[quote]Cheers Who did your steering wheel? that looks ace too!
I just got rather let down on a set of Recaros in black leather/alcantara for an E36- guy had them up for £400, I messaged, provisionally sold my interior within 45 mins to cover the cost, then he messaged the next day and said "Sorry, price is £600... changed my mind...". Absolute dick. So I'll be sticking with Vaders for now. One of my best mates has my old grey set in his cab, they look amazing.Steering wheel I bought from a forum, it was used but not? Either way, it's a lovely purchase. Retrimming usually costs around £120-£150, so if you can find one already done then snap it up.
Mines also a slightly odd spec in that it's heated but not electric.
Love what you're doing: just a heads up you may not be familiar with, the flexi joint on the rear manifold has a tendency to fracture - might be worth getting it done as a pre emptive strike, I can recommend Iridium in Southampton. They are a b!tch to fit, my indie swore he'd never do another when he swapped mine over...
S3_Graham said:
Shout if you decide to get rid of your vaders. Happy to do a deal on my M3 cab interior! If love a set of in the Modena colour but they are silly money and would involve a dash swap etc... I think black would work but ideally grey.
Mines also a slightly odd spec in that it's heated but not electric.
Thanks, but I'll be keeping hold of the Vaders for a while now- getting them kitted out with heat and the lumbar support, just to make the ultimate OEM seats for an E36- geeky, but fun!Mines also a slightly odd spec in that it's heated but not electric.
MarkwG said:
Love what you're doing: just a heads up you may not be familiar with, the flexi joint on the rear manifold has a tendency to fracture - might be worth getting it done as a pre emptive strike, I can recommend Iridium in Southampton. They are a b!tch to fit, my indie swore he'd never do another when he swapped mine over...
Thanks she's a labour of love! I am aware of that issue, mine seem to be absolutely fine. I have spoken to Iridium- they're literally two streets away from me- but they never bothered getting back in touch when I asked if they could do two for me. We did the manifolds on my best mate's 328i saloon, they were evil. However, I'm happy enough to try them on mine! I have some better ideas about fitting them!So 2015 didn't really get off to the best start, as far as cars go...
She spat out a spark plug on the Severn Bridge, of all places, a solid 110 miles from home. Pulled over on the hard shoulder, fk all compression, sounded like a lawnmower, checked the coils as they were the last thing I changed...
Right then. Brilliant. Plug #6 spat out totally. It had been helicoiled in the past, but that had clearly given up the ghost...
So she got taken to a good friend's workshop, where she was laid up from Jan 4th > Jan 14th. In that time we found out a few things...
Front subframes should not look like this.
They don't usually come in separate pieces.
Evo manifolds are truly massive compared to the standard ones, and something I will never ever ever be fitting when the engine's in a car, again. I ended up removing the subframe and engine mount bracket to improve access from underneath- meant you could do each manifold one at a time, as opposed to messing about juggling them.
Removed rocker cover and a load of ancillary bits on the top of the engine to improve access to the bolts. Hideous job. Never again.
KWs on, but needed some TLC, so straight off again until some bits turn up...
In between buggering about with mine, helped a friend fit an M50B30 stroker lump to his E30 Touring. That'll be fun!
TLC underway.
Cams going in.
New Riot Racing bits of shiny goodness.
Wet tyre marks suggesting she was, in fact, moving under her own steam again- suggestion correct, all fixed.
Chucked these in as well. On genuine BMW rails- pretty cool.
All back together!
M3 exhaust on. Excuse hideously dirty car.
Recaros peeking out...
Metal M52 rocker cover, given some love with the sandblaster and some metal polish...
Final list of things played with:
- Front subframe removed and replaced with M3 item (has threads for sump guard)
- M3 Evo exhaust manifolds fitted
- Full M3 system fitted with gutted backbox
- Riot Racing cams installed
- Spark plug well rethreaded, thankfully
- New plugs bunged in
- New seats installed
- Front suspension changed but put back to Bilsteins for now
Quite happy with all that.
She spat out a spark plug on the Severn Bridge, of all places, a solid 110 miles from home. Pulled over on the hard shoulder, f
k all compression, sounded like a lawnmower, checked the coils as they were the last thing I changed...
Right then. Brilliant. Plug #6 spat out totally. It had been helicoiled in the past, but that had clearly given up the ghost...
So she got taken to a good friend's workshop, where she was laid up from Jan 4th > Jan 14th. In that time we found out a few things...
Front subframes should not look like this.
They don't usually come in separate pieces.
Evo manifolds are truly massive compared to the standard ones, and something I will never ever ever be fitting when the engine's in a car, again. I ended up removing the subframe and engine mount bracket to improve access from underneath- meant you could do each manifold one at a time, as opposed to messing about juggling them.
Removed rocker cover and a load of ancillary bits on the top of the engine to improve access to the bolts. Hideous job. Never again.
KWs on, but needed some TLC, so straight off again until some bits turn up...
In between buggering about with mine, helped a friend fit an M50B30 stroker lump to his E30 Touring. That'll be fun!
TLC underway.
Cams going in.
New Riot Racing bits of shiny goodness.
Wet tyre marks suggesting she was, in fact, moving under her own steam again- suggestion correct, all fixed.
Chucked these in as well. On genuine BMW rails- pretty cool.
All back together!
M3 exhaust on. Excuse hideously dirty car.
Recaros peeking out...
Metal M52 rocker cover, given some love with the sandblaster and some metal polish...
Final list of things played with:
- Front subframe removed and replaced with M3 item (has threads for sump guard)
- M3 Evo exhaust manifolds fitted
- Full M3 system fitted with gutted backbox
- Riot Racing cams installed
- Spark plug well rethreaded, thankfully
- New plugs bunged in
- New seats installed
- Front suspension changed but put back to Bilsteins for now
Quite happy with all that.
JordanTurbo said:
Good work.
I look forward to seeing a print out once it's been on the dyno with the new cams.
So do I... it started out at 233bhp on its first dyno day, with just induction kit/M50 manifold/lightweight fly/exhaust system. Now it's running a lot more stuff under the bonnet... we'll see.I look forward to seeing a print out once it's been on the dyno with the new cams.
JordanTurbo said:
Who are you getting to remap it? I'm in Surrey so planning to go to Jason at BWchiptune once I've fitted an M50.
I'm in the process of chatting to Skuzzle Motorsport, who are near Winchester. As I'm doing blue top 24lb injectors, a 3.5" MAF, Evo coil packs plus all the rest of the stuff, I want it done properly... they know their stuff.Final running issue fixed- a buggered CCV > manifold pipe- and she's back to full health. Feels very punchy now- mid-range is fantastic. Doesn't quite have the lungs up the top end any more, but that can be solved with nice straight through mids. I'll keep the gutted M3 backbox as it's a touch quieter than an aftermarket, and should work well with straight mids. Very happy now!
I was just about to ask about the sound. I have the manifolds and centre section ready to go on my 328 but I haven't sourced a backbox yet. Probably just find myself a standard one as I don't want asbo loud.
Also, you aren't the first one to say how much of a bd the manifolds are to fit. I hate paying people to do things on the car that I can do, but they may be an exception.
Also, you aren't the first one to say how much of a b
d the manifolds are to fit. I hate paying people to do things on the car that I can do, but they may be an exception. matt132 said:
I was just about to ask about the sound. I have the manifolds and centre section ready to go on my 328 but I haven't sourced a backbox yet. Probably just find myself a standard one as I don't want asbo loud.
Also, you aren't the first one to say how much of a bd the manifolds are to fit. I hate paying people to do things on the car that I can do, but they may be an exception.
Mine's pretty liveable with the gutted standard backbox. My best mate runs M3 Evo manifolds, a Supersprint X-pipe decat mid section and the Supersprint race exhaust- it's stupidly loud. We measured it at 117dB holding it at 4500rpm in neutral... Also, you aren't the first one to say how much of a b
d the manifolds are to fit. I hate paying people to do things on the car that I can do, but they may be an exception. Personally I won't be doing manifolds again until the old engine comes out and the new engine goes in. They are about as fun as having cholera.
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