318 clutch, IS throttle body options, Z3 rack...

[tomstickland]

Do the 320 and 318(IS) share the same clutch or are they different?
What's involved in swapping a clutch? Do I drop the engine or drop the gearbox? Is it fairly OK job?

What's this about a larger throttle body to fit the IS?
Do any of the chips do what people claim? I'm very sceptical about chips, especially after typically seeing no gains whatsoever on the Vauxhall engines.

I keep reading about the Z3 rcak fitting the E30s. Is it a straight swap or do some bits need fabricating?

[tim_s]

not sure about the clutch mate, but the rack conversion has been covered loads of times, see the article in the 'articles' section. You need the bottom half of the E36 UJ mated to the top half of the e30 one with a spacer made up i believe.
never been too convinced about chips, i'd get it r/r before and after and make sure its fuelling well if i did tho. never really figured out whats going on with mine, it has no lambda probe but i think the front pipe's got a cat on it which is just plain weird, well, actually just can't be right. have always wondered about giving it lambda for economy on part load.
i think now emerald standalone ecus now seem so cheap its rude not to do it properly.

[Jhonno]

bbtb and chip have been proven to give gains with the bm's

they are mapped for 91 ron fuel iirc so they is gain to be had, or you could go emerald.. depends how much your looking to spend

not sure what ppl use for the the bbtb tho..

rack requires spacers n some pipes making up iirc - well worth it imo - shall be doing mine long as i got enough Ԛ£Ã”šÃ‚£ after buying the new lump the 1.9 one is the one you want

i think you have to separate the engine and box to do the clutch

[tomstickland]

This engine is only going to receive cheap and cheerful tuning.
So if a Ԛ£50 happy shopper chip does anything then I'd be happy. If it is mapped for 91 RON then I agree that a chip could liberate a few percent more from the engine.

[tomstickland]

I've just looked in the Haynes manual for the clutch job.

-remove exhaust
-remove heat shields
-remove prop shaft
-undo gearbox mounts
-lower engine and box onto subframe
-unbolt transmission
-replace clutch

Looks like a Saturday job to me. Might as well replace the flex coupling and centre bearing at the same time?

Come to think of it, I might as well wait until I get hold of an LSD and then do the whole lot in one.

[Jhonno]

I've just looked in the Haynes manual for the clutch job.

-remove exhaust
-remove heat shields
-remove prop shaft
-undo gearbox mounts
-lower engine and box onto subframe
-unbolt transmission
-replace clutch

Looks like a Saturday job to me. Might as well replace the flex coupling and centre bearing at the same time?

Come to think of it, I might as well wait until I get hold of an LSD and then do the whole lot in one.

sounds like a plan

- best way to enjoy it without thinking bout how much money its swallowed whilst your having a blast in it

[tim_s]

bloody hell mate, you're working quick on that! i'm impressed! does the clutch really need doing? They're shit by design in traffic, something to do with the materials used.
would be interested to see what you make of a chip anyway. i've always found it v difficult to find out any good info, that the zone chip was given up on cos of all the variation in this model suggests that its probably luck of the draw if you get any gains.
from what i've picked up from the states (to be fair pretty speculative on my part - thats why i steer clear of arsing with the chip etc), ppl have reported that out of the box the e30 318is runs lean at the top, but this is supposed to be down to inadequate injectors and possibly rectified with M50 injectors. Of course fuel and the cars themselves are different out there. Another problem is although the injectors are supposed to cure the lean running on WOT, you'd be relying on a lambda probe to correct the mixture on part load , my car doesn't have a lambda probe so am sure this wouldn't work without proper mapping. I think I'd steer well clear of any buggering about unless you can get it tested before and after and see what you get. I'd be surprised if the euro cars were mapped for 91RON fuel - i thought the DME was uncoded then the appropriate chip added for each region/car, and would have thought ours without lambda to correct the mixture would run like shit if mapped for 91 RON. Personally I'd also make sure the injection's all tip-top before chipping, the TPS and cam sensor needed doing to mine to get it on form, plus cleaning the injectors and new injector seals might be wiser money spent than on a chip. I think also adding a lambda probe might be a good idea for economy and to compensate for any mods you end up doing.
would love other peoples' thoughts on this all, i really don't know enough about it.
The haynes method of getting the clutch out was more or less the same on an e36 i did many moons ago.
You might want to look into a lightened flywheel at the same time if you're going through all that trouble - the IS has a heavy dual mass flywheel, I think you can get a lighter dual-mass flywheel from an M40 which should go straight in or a single-mass M20 one which requires an M20 clutch, 323 throw-out bearing, M20 starter etc and you have to use part of the M42 flywheel as a spacer. it is much lighter then though.

[tomstickland]

Actually, I'm probably going to just leave it all alone and only do the clutch if it gets really bad. The car was bought as cheap fun and it is fun, so no need to turn it into expensive fun.