My 318is M60/6speed swap

[E30SPDFRK]

I'm always good for annoying questions haha.


Brake linkage: Done

I pretty much completely redesigned the brake linkage so it wouldn't bind up/bend again. I attribute the bending to the heim joint binding up on the bolt head where it attached to the pedal. I moved the mounting location for it to the center of the pedal rather than the outside. I used washers as spacers at first but they would bind too so I switched it up to 3/8" tubing.



This made it not fit through the existing hole in the firewall, so I made a new one.



Then it hit the strut tower support, so I cut that out. I've got a plate made up to bring back the strength, I just haven't welded it in yet.

Rather than the rig I had going before with another heim, the slotted flat bar with the centering pin, and the mismatch of old parts, I just beat down the end of the rod (switched to 1/2" rod too) and fit it directly to the booster. Drilled a second hole so it wouldn't flex.



And the whole setup



I had my boss watch while I stomped on it as hard as I could and it doesn't flex at all. Quite happy with this setup now.


Then I turned my attention to the cooling block and the heatercore. Not once in my research did I hear anyone say how much of a pain in the ass this was haha. I spent all day sunday working on this.

It started with plugging the nipples for the automatic transmission cooler. Cant really see them too well in this pic



Then the heatercore inlet



Then this beautiful contraption for the heatercore outlet/overflow tank





Then I got bored with taking pictures so the rest is all words haha. Mounted the firewall overflow and went to connect it, but the plastic nipple broke off. So I rushed home and got a spare I had laying around so I could get it all bled before I had to leave. Did that and this one started leaking out of the same nipple :facepalm. Went to shut the hood and pull it outside, and the overflow wouldn't fit* :doublefacepalm. Probably should have checked that first lol. So now cooling system plan B has failed too. Plan C is to either make my own overflow out of some sheetmetal, or to run a 325e coolant bottle over where the battery tray was.


It's so close! It's killing me to not be able to drive it even though it runs haha.

* You were right Jonsku . I had it fitting with the hood shut before, but it wasn't mounted to the firewall then. I could probably trim the hood and have it fit fine, but I really don't want to. So to anyone trying for fit an e34 overflow without subframe spacers: It won't work!

[Jonsku]

Then I turned my attention to the cooling block and the heatercore. Not once in my research did I hear anyone say how much of a pain in the ass this was haha. I spent all day sunday working on this.

With some cutting and TIG-welding it's much easier ;)

* You were right Jonsku . I had it fitting with the hood shut before, but it wasn't mounted to the firewall then. I could probably trim the hood and have it fit fine, but I really don't want to. So to anyone trying for fit an e34 overflow without subframe spacers: It won't work!

Well, sometimes one has to check the thing before believing I cut the support arm and modified the level-sensor to make it fit with subframe spacers..

[E30SPDFRK]

Yup seeing is believing haha. Going to buy a new 325e bottle tomorrow.

Willnz, how is the clearance to your headlight with the airbox? Mine hits the back of my bulb if I put the bottom half on.


Drove the car tonight! The exhaust hits the transmission support hardcore when you get on it haha. Still have a slight miss, but I think it's mostly from the 7 month old 87 octane thats in the tank.

[E30SPDFRK]

Mine hits right on the seam between the upper and lower halves, so I can't even trim it around the bulb.

What did y'all do about getting the temperature gauge to work? I put in an e30 sender, but they only have one pin and the m60 harness has two. The m60 one didn't work.

[E30SPDFRK]

Yeah, I've been trying to read as much of you three's thread as I can for all the little bits of info. I got my gauge to work by swapping the two wires in the black plug.

Mounted up the 325e overflow too





And a change of location!



Brought it home last night. It starts running rough after about 10 minutes of driving. I've got code 1222 for lambada- it runs fine again if you reset the ecu. Think this could be because I have no evap hooked up? It's quite annoying to have to keep pulling over and resetting the ecu during drives


And a few videos

[Driftben]

good bit of updating there Byron keep up the good work mate.
i should be picking my M60 up next week and then the fun and questions begin.

[200272]

Sounds the Bees, cannot wait to start mine again

[E30SPDFRK]

Bump, it's happening

[Driftben]

Well now that looks interesting. Which charger is that one and do you recon that it will fit?

[E30SPDFRK]

Vortech V1- as it stands, it's too big to fit. Nothing a little inner fender massaging won't cure though. A V9 would have been a better choice but you can't beat free ;)

Going to use the Miller WAR chip to tune it; I'm hoping for about 400whp. ESS's kit, running 7psi non-intercooled, makes 411 to the crank.

[Driftben]

the lovely-ness (i know its not a word) of free is great. well i have a charger im fitting to mine which is huge but im willing to take on the challenge.
i was going to supercharge my M30 but i went to a M62 instead.
i have a manifold from a V12 jag to adapt to use.

[E30SPDFRK]

So I've just been collecting parts over the winter. I'm hopeing to have the supercharger done by mid April so I can get all the little issues that are bound to happen sorted before my 3000 mile trip to Georga for a show.

Got an intercooler



Designed a gauge holder that allows me to retain my sunglasses storage area.


Going to make it out of wood to match my wheel.



Got my programable chip



And started making templates for the supercharger bracket. No pictures of that though.

[Driftben]

Hi Byron how the devil are we?
hows everything getting on with the E30? found any problems yet?

[E30SPDFRK]

Hows it going Ben, sorry for the late reply.

I put the supercharger on hold for a little while to get some other areas of the car up to top spec. I had been slacking on maintenance and started imagining noises, so I replaced all the rear end bushings, got new rear bearings, new axles, new steering rack, redid my coilovers, etc. Then I decided to drive 900 miles away to a show and spun a rod bearing 770 miles into the trip.

Rather than rebuild the m60 I'm using the opportunity to upgrade to a m62. My friend has one with 60,000 miles on it from a previous project, and I figure the extra .4L won't hurt when it finally does get boosted. Unfortunately, my e39 is also broken and I have no working car at the moment, so I'm fixing that first. M62 swappage will start hopefully sometime early in July.


Heres some progress pics from the last few months.

The old 95 M3 rack had to be spaced town to clear the pan, so it got worn off by the road. How to fix:





clearance made.

The old lower pan was getting pretty beat up as well



So I decided to beef it up. Step 1, catch your feet on fire



Step 2, fit .25" diamond plate to bottom of pan



Step 3, weld it on



Step 4, paint it with "high heat flat black primer" that sprays blue and mount everything to the car. I put an e46 M3 rack in place of the old e36 unit and had some custom urethane motor mounts made up too.



Now everything is at an even height



The reasoning for all this



Candid nose-picking shot from the show I was attempting to get to. I had the car flatbeded the rest of the way to the show then trailered it home.




So now it's sitting in my driveway doing nothing next to the other broken BMW's. I'll reupdate once the 4.4 swap starts.

[Driftben]

holy hell byron your ball bags must be dragging along the ground its that low......

thats pretty extensive work on the sump though. hows the clearance now you have altered it?
ill be putting my M60 back in once my flywheel is ready, cant wait.
what are those 5 spoke wheels you had in the starting pictures?

thanks
ben

[E30SPDFRK]

Hehe, I think you can just about make them out in that pic actually ;)


Clearance is great now, the pan sits about a half inch off the steering rack now and the lower pan is just barely higher than the subframe. The rack is almost completely out of the way now too, but an unfortunate side effect of raaising the rack is my steering shaft now hits the drivers side manifold slightly. I've got a lead on parts to make a new shaft and get rid of all the flexy crap, that's going to be one of the things I'm going to redo once I pull the engine.

The 5 spokes are 17" BBS RF. I still have them but a few of the barrels have cracked and I want to get bigger lips for them so they're just sitting.


What were you having done to your flywheel?

[Driftben]

im still yet to jig my M60 round as im now waiting for another steering rck so i can swap the ends with a E46 quick rack that i have to put in.
as for the flywheel, im waiting for one to be machined from BBB. once i have that i can put the engine and 6 speeder in to line everything up.
really want to get the ball rolling as i have all the fuel setup all waiting to go in too.

oh and your one lucky bugger to have a car lift too

[E30SPDFRK]

I wish I could say it was mine lol. Working in the industry has it's perks.



Got my new m62 last week




And I decided to convert the car to manual brakes. I've never been happy with the e32 brake booster setup; the bigger master cylinder makes the brake pedal extremely stiff, the linkage is ugly, I had to notch the strut tower to fit it, it's still slightly compromised, and the booster takes up too much room in the engine bay.

The Massive Brakes boosterless setup won't fit with the m60, so I'm going to make my own design based off the same idea. Mine will use the central pedal pivot point that I already have and will have the master coming out slightly angled and off to the side so it clears the head.

I drew up a blueprint, I'm going to bring it to a machine shop and have them cut it out of .25" steel.