E36 Compact Compact 328i ti M sport

[leeparkes]

Brought this about 6 months ago

Its a late BMW Compact 318ti sport individual, being a sport it has all the M-tech morsels, bumpers suspension interior etc....

Cosmos black with red leather

Anyway here it is









Here's a few from the add









It is very clean and well looked after,im in two minds about the 18" style 32's though, tyres will be expensive when time to replace as they are 255/35/18, im edging to go down to 17" maybe style 5's also has 60/40 drop, anal eyes and carbon badges, hence 'council compact'

Right it has one of these 4 bangers (M44 1.9)



It wasnt exactly exiting and made the wrong noise so a couple of weeks ago i brought this turd for £475










Its now looks like this











And the important bit raped



M52/b28, block replaced in 2001 for one with one of these lovely tabs on,



It ran as sweet as a nut with no issues and tons of history also here's the frag list

Leather £200
centre console £50
Rear bumper £50
M3 mirrors £70
Front bumper with fogs £30
Headlights £40
Door £20
The shell weighed just over 800kg on the bridge so got £132

So thats £592 plus i still have wheels, pfeba spoiler, obc & climate to sell, plus the M44 when that gets dragged out

There's more to come later as ive been busy getting it ready to drop into the compact, ill update later

Oh and thanks to Dan (danthe) for the help so far

And thanks to Alan (blackcountrybimmerman) for the loan of the car cover while i fraged the 328i

[leeparkes]

Right, here's what ive been doing

First off its now sporting an M20 flywheel



Had to grind a bit off the back of the sump to make it fit

This is where it was catching



So a dab with this i took a couple of mm off



I took some off the other side aswell just for good measure



And all bolted up




Nearly new Sachs clutch





And fitted






Next up:


Ive had an M50 manifold up the shed for about a year so it would be rude not to

Should help it breath a bit better





I may use the M50 fuel rail to give it a better fit (will it be ok? is FPR the same rating?)

M52 fuel rail doesnt quite sit right on the M50 manifold as you will see here




Thats it for now but i will update regularly, also the compact will be going on the weigh bridge soon to find out how heavy it is, (Carfolio reckon 1275kg) i want to see how much weight it gains (or loses) by fitting the M52 to put a few arguements to rest, in reality the M44 is very similar to the M42 so the figure i come back with will also help E30 owners determine spring choice or how there car will handle.
The compact handles 'very' similar to the E30 just softened down a touch.

Im also pondering over diff choice too, They can use E30 diffs as the rear beam is the same,i want something between 3.0 to 3.25, there's a 3.38 on at the mo but its a small case so i dont think it will be amused with 200+ bhp on it

[nickso]

i kept the m52 rail and made up two simple brackets to hold it on. its all tucked away behind plastic anyway.

[leeparkes]

Does it make the plastic cover sit higher with M52 rail?

[capri_rob]

really good work Lee

[Falkster]

That looks great mate. What sort of power do you think you'll get from it once you've got the m50 manifold in?

Its one thing I've wanted to do for a couple of years! Get a nice compact for ultimate sleeper!

[harry_p]

tbh if i had the space i'd be finding a nice tidy e36 compact and hiding it away for a future project.

i really liked how mine drove, just a shame it was so slow. one with around 200bhp would be a right laugh, could easily be turned into a proper trackday tool too.

[bss325i]

Nice! Red leather is rare in an E36 of any description!

I also had a black 318ti sport compact on hartge split rims up until feb but i had a head on with a golf so that ended that!

I've replaced it with a 328i coupe but have done similar mods, Lightened 6.5kg M20 flywheel and clutch, M50B25 inlet, BBTB, grupe M replica induction kit and its transformed it into a flyer!

[ImysE30]

Looking good Lee, best of both worlds

[leeparkes]

Cheers for the comments guys

Barry, the red leather swayed me into buying it, any pics of your black compact?

Faulkster, around 210bhp with an M50 manifold

[E30BeemerLad]

Really like that compact.

When I get fed up of rust taking over my car I reckon I'll have a go at one of these

[Alex]

Right it has one of these 4 bangers (M44 1.9)

I when i read that

looks like good fun

[Falkster]

tbh if i had the space i'd be finding a nice tidy e36 compact and hiding it away for a future project.

i really liked how mine drove, just a shame it was so slow. one with around 200bhp would be a right laugh, could easily be turned into a proper trackday tool too.

A friend of mine built one for Britcar, saved him crying every time the drive stoved an M3 into the pit wall. He said it took a lot of work to get the handling even slightly near but with the s54 been breathed on it was a weapon. Just over 400bhp, which he said was a compromise and wouldn't need rebuilding every 5 minutes.

[bss325i]

Here you go Lee, i only took pics after i crashed it!



These were what it was rolling on, luckily i took them off the week before the smash!

[nickso]

Does it make the plastic cover sit higher with M52 rail?

only marginally. no matter what plastic cover you put on top it looks out of place. an m50 rail would still push it up iirc.

[Blitz]

Dont really like compacts but thats very nice. Love the red leather.

Barry thats a heavy smack. Did the wheel push into the foot well?

[leeparkes]

That does look a nasty smack Barry, i see the golf ended up where it belongs

Hartge FTW

[Jhonno]

Really like that compact.

When I get fed up of rust taking over my car I reckon I'll have a go at one of these

By which time rust will have begun taking over these...

[DanThe]

Does it make the plastic cover sit higher with M52 rail?

only marginally. no matter what plastic cover you put on top it looks out of place. an m50 rail would still push it up iirc.

Use an M50 cover and on the underside cut down the 2 mounts where the bolts pass through.

This hose will be coming out soon, hopefully not too overpriced

http://www.m50manifold.com/

[nickso]

Does it make the plastic cover sit higher with M52 rail?

only marginally. no matter what plastic cover you put on top it looks out of place. an m50 rail would still push it up iirc.

Use an M50 cover and on the underside cut down the 2 mounts where the bolts pass through.

This hose will be coming out soon, hopefully not too overpriced

http://www.m50manifold.com/

thats what i did. still doesnt sit right.

i made my own version of that pipe.

[bss325i]

Dont really like compacts but thats very nice. Love the red leather.

Barry thats a heavy smack. Did the wheel push into the foot well?

Yes Mo, the wheel came up and crushed the drivers foot well and the air bag gave me a nose bleed!

[Kos]

goot project mate

did you get the flywheel lightened ?

[Kos]

just rembered,

Did you keep the coupes front ARB and the PAS pipes. You will need them

[leeparkes]

Kos, hows yours going?

just rembered,

Did you keep the coupes front ARB and the PAS pipes. You will need them

Yep, and the clocks and aircon pipes, i virtually stripped the engine bay of the donor car (just in case)

[leeparkes]

Just a small update,

I had an hour to kill so i tried to fit an M50 fuel rail, it fit perfect until i tried to fit the injector loom,the injector loom cover wouldnt sit right and covered the holes for the top cover which would mean grinding recesses in it, I could use the M50 injector loom cover but thats more hassle, so i sacked the idea and made a couple of tabs up for the M52 rail









Quick question,

Do i use the the air intake temp sensor from the M52? if so where does it plug because the M50 one looks screwed in? or do i use the M50 one?

[Kos]

Kos, hows yours going?

just rembered,

Did you keep the coupes front ARB and the PAS pipes. You will need them

Yep, and the clocks and aircon pipes, i virtually stripped the engine bay of the donor car (just in case)

good good

mine's fine, off to brands hatch on weds evening for fun, trying not to use it on the road these days as its getting too much attention and a bit to uncomfortable, plus its best off as a toy

[bss325i]

I used the M50 temp sensor and my 328i has no issues.

[DanThe]

Ive always used the M50 air temp sender, some E36ists say its different but the intake temps given via carsoft have always been similar no matter which sender is being used

[leeparkes]

Thanks, M50 sensor it is

Kos, Your custom exhaust, where does it go into a Y for the single pipe for the back box?

[nickso]

i filed the m52 sensor down to fit the m50 hole and kind of self tapped it in. top bodgery.

[DanThe]

The best bodgery is where silicone sealant is involved

[Kos]

Thanks, M50 sensor it is

Kos, Your custom exhaust, where does it go into a Y for the single pipe for the back box?

the centre section including cats is the original 328i system, from there its custom built.

still twin 2" pipes under the subframe, going to a rear box 2x2" in and a single 2.5" out with the oval tip

you could look at a z3's 2.8 rear section as a possible bolt on option ?

the one thing you need to be careful off is the noise, the rear box controls the volume big time on these engines, there is no centre box as such just the resonator. the stock 2.8 boxes are about 16" long, the biggest one i could fit was 12" and with it being a free flow box it is quite loud.

the plan for me is to build a a centre section with an x pipe just after the down pipes and have centre silencer inplance of the cats.

if you loose the x pipe, you'll loose power

[leeparkes]

I want to keep as much off the 328i exhaust as possible, on the compact at the mo is a custom rear section 55mm single into the box with a 3" rolled in tail,
The box measures 16" long and is very similar shape to a standard ti box, not too loud either
I was thinking of taking the 328i system right up to the rear box (approx 12" away) then 'Y' into the single pipe and out
I know the system will 'work' but do you think i will loose any power?

I did think about Z3 set ups but im not sure twin pipes would suit a compact

[DanThe]

Id say yes you will loose power, you need a similar setup to Kos's IMO, twin pipes into the rear box, then choose your tailpipe

[leeparkes]

Im coming round to the idea of twin tailpipes now

Been looking at Z3 systems and according to realoem they go into a single pipe after the cat

http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/Z3/Ro ... _silencer/


The car is going on the weighbridge next week as the M52 is almost ready to be put in