Donor Vehicle

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I am going to build a GKD Evolution this year and am currently trying to decide what donor vehicle to get. The Evolution uses any E36/E46 3 series (including M3). I know I want to use a 6 cylinder petrol engine, with a manual geabox. As I want to be able to use the car for touring as well as fun driving I was not going to go for an M3. This leaves me looking at the 328, 325 and 320 (2.2l version).

For the age of engines I was ooking at there is 1bHp difference between a 328 and a 325 and 23bHp difference between the 328 and the 320. I was wondering what the differences are between the engines and gearboxes to determine which would be most suitable for my intended use.

I would like a decent range for when I go touring, enough power to make the car fun, be able to cruise and play without having to rev the nuts off the car when cruising. Also if I decide I want to up the power at a later date what are the tuning options and suitability for the different engines.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[dmulally]

Gday Mate

I would think that you may want to look at the best condition one you can find and concentrate more on the diff ratio rather than the engine type.

Good luck

Cheers

Damo

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I am unsure on which engine/gearbox combinatino will give the best ratios and power spread, hence the post. Will also look into diff ratios available.

[jason61c]

I'd go for a 328i(e36) with a e36 LSD from a 3.0 m3(3.15 ratio).

why not get a m3 as a donor? Great choice by the way! Have you seen the new front end?

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Yes I've seen the new styling, went to visit workshop when deciding what car to go for.

Was thinking M3 would be too much money to keep build in budget, but maybe worth considering, as I've been told the unnecessary M bits will sell well.

[jason61c]

what sort of budget are you aiming for? I'm building a legend 6 with a M3 donor and its cheap once you sell off the other stuff.

How long till its all ready for delivery?

[Roman]

I've heard that the 328 engine can be 'de-restricted' very easily & cheaply to produce near 330 performance:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

As standard the 328 may produce similar peak power to the later 325 in the E46 but torque is superior - greater peak torque and/or delivered at lower rpms - can't remember which but you can google it.

Edited by Roman on Thursday 3rd February 18:04

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jason61c said:

what sort of budget are you aiming for? I'm building a legend 6 with a M3 donor and its cheap once you sell off the other stuff.

How long till its all ready for delivery?

I want an on the road budget of £10k.

Not ordered yet, need to sell bike first, which I will be doing soon.

[jason61c]

You can do that with a m3 donor. If you get stuck finding one give me a shout through here or the GKD owners club as I've always got my eyes on a few donor cars.

I quite fancy building a Evolution next. Good luck with the bike sale, I've just sold mine and bought a cheaper one to finish the build.

[andygtt]

my E36 M3 is worth around 2k so good donors must be available... interior sells for £200 so pleanty of scope to recover a bit and end with a cheap donor.

321bhp and 8000rpm has got to be worth it

[jason61c]

I think you can easily end up with all the donor parts costing about £700ish.

For less than the cost of a decent ecu for a duratec/zetec you can have 300+bhp/LSD/Standard reliability/Diagnostic port/wheels/gearbox/Independent throttle bodies as standard too.

[was8v]

jason61c said:

Have you seen the new front end?

Any pics of the new front for these?

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was8v said:

Any pics of the new front for these?

Not yet, was being restyled still when I saw it and readied for mould production so bodied could be reproduced. Wasn't just a front end resatyle, but mostly front end changes.

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jason61c said:

You can do that with a m3 donor. If you get stuck finding one give me a shout through here or the GKD owners club as I've always got my eyes on a few donor cars.

I quite fancy building a Evolution next. Good luck with the bike sale, I've just sold mine and bought a cheaper one to finish the build.

Where do I find the GKD owners club? Not seen anything for one before. Will give you a shout when I come to get a donor as a good one would be useful.

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andygtt said:

my E36 M3 is worth around 2k so good donors must be available... interior sells for £200 so pleanty of scope to recover a bit and end with a cheap donor.

321bhp and 8000rpm has got to be worth it

It is very tempting to get an M3 donor, my thinking behind not getting one was fuel ecconomy and cost of M specific bits. The fuel ecconomy is more of a concern in terms of fuel range due to fuel tank size and wanting to take the car touring.

[jason61c]

Fuel usage will be rev dependent. A e36 m3 does 34mpg on the motorway at 1600kg, so at half that and a slippery shape you should get a good 40mpg.

The parts are surprisingly cheap too, as you're only using the engine/diff. Servicing is very easy to do.

[was8v]

Broken said:

Not yet, was being restyled still when I saw it and readied for mould production so bodied could be reproduced. Wasn't just a front end resatyle, but mostly front end changes.

What doe sit look like then more classic lines? I don't get on with the look of the front at the moment!

[m444ttb]

328 engine would be pretty cheap to buy if you have problems further down the track. I'll be using my 328 with quite a few mods and a 3.15 M3 diff in a Legend6 in a couple if years time I hope!

If you can get the car in at 700kg then you've got c310bhp / 1000kg with a derestricted 328 engine. Plenty fast. M3 engine'd cars must be monstrous!

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Having read some peoples suggestions and the gkd owners club forum I am thinking of going for a 328. Then probably geting the manifold flowed. If I decide I need more power later on I may condisder an M3 engine. For cost and simplicity reasons (as well as registration issues) a 328 seems like the best option for the build, particularly as I don't want to get a 'q' plate.

[andygtt]

Broken said:

andygtt said:

my E36 M3 is worth around 2k so good donors must be available... interior sells for £200 so pleanty of scope to recover a bit and end with a cheap donor.

321bhp and 8000rpm has got to be worth it

It is very tempting to get an M3 donor, my thinking behind not getting one was fuel ecconomy and cost of M specific bits. The fuel ecconomy is more of a concern in terms of fuel range due to fuel tank size and wanting to take the car touring.

Well my E36 M3 has averaged 29.5mpg the entire 6 years I have had it and 65k miles I've done.... so they are not exactly bad.

Also my M3 is officially free... someone wrote it off 2 years ago by hitting it when it was parked, their insurance wrote it off, paid me more than I could sell the car for and even had it fully aignment checked and I kept the car.

been a track day car ever since and is absolutelly awsome... could only imagine how good it would be if it weight 500kgs less!!!!

the engine whilst heavy is absolutelly epic.


get an M3 as a donor!