E46 M3 Touring Project
Discussion
The E46 M3 Touring project is now no more after a change of plans over the Christmas period.
The majority of parts purchased have been sold and the car is now on it’s way to Romania after being collected yesterday evening.
I have now decided to build an E92 with an S85 B50 V10 engine. At this stage I’m undecided as to whether to use the SMG3 transmission from the M5/M6 or an manual E9X M3 gearbox. The running gear will be E9X M3 with an E60 M5 rear diff (if I go down the SMG3 route) with certain key components from the E60 M5.
This project has been in the back of my mind for some time and will be much more of a technical challenge which I enjoy particularly on the electronics side of things.
Whilst I am currently taking a break from work I decided to kick off this project by doing some further research work with the V10 sump that I have had for a while and a complete E9X M3 front axle that I purchased a few weeks ago.
Thankfully I have some photos of one of the V10 builds done in Germany a few years ago so had a good idea as to where the sump would need to be cut to allow it to fit it in a position similar to a S65 M3 engine without modifying the M3 front axle however all the swaps I have seen into the E90 generation of cars have been LHD……
So this is where I ended up with things this afternoon. The rear section of sump has been cut (with the oil level sensor section cut out as this will need to be repositioned) and the front corner of the sump notched as it interferes with the RHD steering rack layout.
I now need to investigate if this notch causes an interface issue as its sited toward the rear of where the chain driven oil pump would be housed in an engine!
The front subframe will be need to be modified as the engine mount positions for the S85 are in a different position to the S65. This is a photo of a subrame used in an E30 V10 conversion a few years ago. I dont intend to replicate this fully but will probable create 2 sections that go over the steering rack on either side of the engine block so that the stock engine mounts can be retained.
The recipient vehicle for this project will be a 2008 E92 320i Manual which I’m collecting over the weekend. It is a fairly low spec car in good condition and ideal for this project as major bodywork mods are off the agenda. I'll use it for a while as I do not intend to start stripping the car until I am confident that everything is worked out mechanically.
I will start a thread dedicated to this project fairly shortly.
Thanks
The majority of parts purchased have been sold and the car is now on it’s way to Romania after being collected yesterday evening.
I have now decided to build an E92 with an S85 B50 V10 engine. At this stage I’m undecided as to whether to use the SMG3 transmission from the M5/M6 or an manual E9X M3 gearbox. The running gear will be E9X M3 with an E60 M5 rear diff (if I go down the SMG3 route) with certain key components from the E60 M5.
This project has been in the back of my mind for some time and will be much more of a technical challenge which I enjoy particularly on the electronics side of things.
Whilst I am currently taking a break from work I decided to kick off this project by doing some further research work with the V10 sump that I have had for a while and a complete E9X M3 front axle that I purchased a few weeks ago.
Thankfully I have some photos of one of the V10 builds done in Germany a few years ago so had a good idea as to where the sump would need to be cut to allow it to fit it in a position similar to a S65 M3 engine without modifying the M3 front axle however all the swaps I have seen into the E90 generation of cars have been LHD……
So this is where I ended up with things this afternoon. The rear section of sump has been cut (with the oil level sensor section cut out as this will need to be repositioned) and the front corner of the sump notched as it interferes with the RHD steering rack layout.
I now need to investigate if this notch causes an interface issue as its sited toward the rear of where the chain driven oil pump would be housed in an engine!
The front subframe will be need to be modified as the engine mount positions for the S85 are in a different position to the S65. This is a photo of a subrame used in an E30 V10 conversion a few years ago. I dont intend to replicate this fully but will probable create 2 sections that go over the steering rack on either side of the engine block so that the stock engine mounts can be retained.
The recipient vehicle for this project will be a 2008 E92 320i Manual which I’m collecting over the weekend. It is a fairly low spec car in good condition and ideal for this project as major bodywork mods are off the agenda. I'll use it for a while as I do not intend to start stripping the car until I am confident that everything is worked out mechanically.
I will start a thread dedicated to this project fairly shortly.
Thanks
Shame you sold the Touring but looking forward to the new thread!
Can you link to it in this one when you start it? Don't want to miss that!
There have been a couple of RHD, V10 e46 M3s for sale in the last few months - I'm guessing there are plenty of build threads online to help you.
Can you link to it in this one when you start it? Don't want to miss that!
There have been a couple of RHD, V10 e46 M3s for sale in the last few months - I'm guessing there are plenty of build threads online to help you.
e21Mark said:
Would you not consider going with LHD to make things easier?
LHD is the contingency plan if clearance is marginal as I do not want to compromise an engine or the subframe structure by cutting sections out of it.dom9 said:
Shame you sold the Touring but looking forward to the new thread!
Can you link to it in this one when you start it? Don't want to miss that!
There have been a couple of RHD, V10 e46 M3s for sale in the last few months - I'm guessing there are plenty of build threads online to help you.
I will add a link from this thread shortly. Yes other build threads have been useful however putting one of these engines in an E46 chassi is probably more of a challenge phyiscally!Can you link to it in this one when you start it? Don't want to miss that!
There have been a couple of RHD, V10 e46 M3s for sale in the last few months - I'm guessing there are plenty of build threads online to help you.
Regards
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