will

It's a selfie...

I enjoy the body prep, it is all adding to the final product. Masking just gets binned after hours of work!! Laying paint is my favourite bit of the process.

Masking must be my least favourite job!!

Mine was running badly, checked the resistance of the crank sensor, was not quite up to spec, replaced it and back to animal... It got worse when warm. Cam sensors can also cause misery, a lot of the time they will cause erratic idling, but they are hall effect so cant be quickly checked with a multimeter, have to plug the laptop in to test them. Just check the lead has not got chewed by the pulleys/belts.

It should be at the passenger rear of the engine bay next to the fuse box. It is a large round male/female plug. Being a M20 motor it will be a 20 pin unit, not the 25 pin unit used with the M50/M52 motors. Pin numbers are on each half of the unit.

Just move the standard e30 booster over towards the fuse box and use an e34 brake rod as it is longer. Just cut and rethread to suit, but do the side with the RH thread, not the LH thread, unless you happen to have a LH die... Or you could modify your firewall and move the booster over to the driver's side using an e36 pedal cluster like I have done in my e30m60, and fit e32 callipers/Audi TT discs and e32 master cylinder. Guaranteed to stop it!

rotor will not help if there is no power to the coil... kinda like having tyres but no rims

The first thing you need to fix is the power supply to the coil. Most of the time the lack of supply is caused by someone cutting into this supply wire and installing an alarm/immobiliser, mostly in the area behind the glovebox. To determine the exact problem, you need to start at the ignition switch. Remove the cover and test that there is +12v at the thick red wire. If there is no supply, you will have to trace the supply back to the battery to find where it has failed. (There is a fused link in the thinner of the 2 battery wires just after the battery terminal. It is covered in heat shrink so is not obvious. If it blows, it affects supply to most components, including the ignition switch.) (It should be noted that it is best to use a 5w/21w bulb when testing for power as it will only glow brightly if the supply is good. A multimeter will show voltage even if the supply amperage is poor, i.e. through a corroded joint, so you will think you have a supply whereas, the minute you load it up, it will fail. Using a bulb eliminates this possibility.) I have an e30 front indicator unit I use which has long wires and and an assortment of connectors like croc clips for the wire ends to connect onto whatever I am testing. If you have +12v at the red wire, turn the ignition on and test for +12v at the thick green wire. If there is no supply to the green wire, your ignition switch is faulty. If you have +12v at the green wire, go to the X20 plug in the engine bay, undo it, and test for +12v at pin 7 on the body loom side. If you do not have +12v at pin 7, you need to find where the green wire has been cut between the ignition switch and X20. Dig around under the steering column and behind the glove box and look for an alarm/immobiliser unit. If you find one, cut it out of the car and re-establish the circuits that have been cut. Otherwise, run a new wire between the ign switch and X20. If there is +12v at pin 7, and nothing at pin15 of the coil, either try to find where the break is in the engine loom, or just run a new wire from X20 pin 7 to pin15 on the coil. Once you have ign power to the coil, switch the ignition off, disconnect the battery, and then disconnect the plug from the MCU (ecu) to test which plug goes to the engine speed sensor (CPS) and which to the cylinder ID sensor. on the no6 spark plug lead. View of MCU plug. Using a multimeter or other continuity tester, put one probe into pin 47 of the MCU plug and then test the pins of the 2 plugs till you find continuity. That plug will need to be connected to the engine speed sensor (CPS), the other to the cylinder ID sensor. Reconnect the MCU plug, then the battery and try to start the car. Hopefully it will... If not, we will need to go down another path of testing to find out what else is fubar..

Mine is very much made to fit, rather squeezed in! Took quite a while to get it, the A/C bits, the bonnet stay/strut, and the headlights to live in harmony in the same hole.. cut/shortened the outlet pipe to to the afm and trimmed the underside and also 'massaged' the body under it to get the inlet to clear the high beam. IIRC the washer bottle is from an e34 with headlight wash? I just removed the headlight bottle. It fits perfectly in the gap between the air filter and the impact sensor for the airbags. Pics might help you get some ideas

Are those speshul stripey wiper blades? Where is your air filter? Or is it disguised as a water bottle? They do, don't they!

I am using a 2.93LSD, perfect balance between acceleration and cruising. I know that Darren had one some time back (SRBMW). His number is 0211645663.

Two things to check: 1. What wear/flex do you have in the overall linkage from the pedal across to the booster? If each joint has a small amount of play, it all adds up. Also, if the pivot arms on either end of the log rod flex, that will add to the spongy feel. Some later models had a brace on the pivot behind the glove box for that reason. Also, make sure the push rod into the master cylinder is properly adjusted. 2. Are the floating callipers moving freely on the guides? If they are sticky or out of true, they will cause the pads to sit a little further away from the disc, resulting in a long pedal. Take the callipers off and lube the guides and check that the guides are perpendicular to the disc.

I have done several conversions. There is no one way of doing them so you need to decide which route you want to take. Most of the conversion uses OEM bits, which ones depends on which route you take. There is some fabrication always necessary i.e. exhaust. Wiring is not difficult but your 323i is a little more complex than a later model. The first part you need to locate is a sump, normally from an e34. Stay clear of any later e46 motor as they use CAN BUS and that makes life VERY difficult in the wiring dept. Stick to using a M52B28 from an e36. You must get the motor with MCU and loom (it does not matter if the loom is from an auto), and also the EWS box, key with chip and the ring antenna. You can get the ECU reflashed to remove the EWS but that is just another expense which is not necessary IMO. You can use the G260 box and e30 flywheel but the standard e30 clutch is not up to it. You will also have to modify the gearbox mounting crossmember and the shift rods when installing it behind the M52 as the motor sits at a slightly different angle. The advantage in using the G260 box is that it has an overdrive 5th which means you can use a standard 3.46/3.64/3.73 etc e30 ratio diff (whichever grabs your fancy..!) Using the e36 box with 1:1 5th means you need to source an e30 188 diff in the 2.93/3.25 range and those are not easy to come by. Propshaft will depend on what e36 box you use. The e30 m40/42 box can also be used and has an overdrive 5th but is not as strong as the G260. Giving it too much jandal might shorten it's lifespan.. Normally you use the e36 radiator with an electric fan up front. You can fit a viscous fan but this requires careful planning as clearances are tight. (I run viscous in my e30 cab with no issues, also have electric installed as a backup but it has never switched on except when I use the a/c.) While you are at it, replacing the e30 rack is a good thing to do. e36/e46 racks can be used, which one depends on what ratio you want and how much you want to spend on it. There are lots of other bits that need doing but these are the bigger ones. Other things like suspension, brakes, mounting rubbers need checking/upgrading as necessary depending on what you have/find when you go through the car. Done properly, the m52b28 conversion is totally reliable and transforms the e30. The ali block means it is lighter than the m20 so handling is improved. IMO it is the best bang for buck conversion you can do to an ageing e30.

You need the ecu temp sensor from a m50, not a m20. IIRC the m50 ecu sensor is not blue.. ?? You do need to use the m20 brown temp sensor however or the temp gauge will not read correctly.

Who needs a bonnet?

Get Troy (Polley) to build you one...

Check that the vacuum advance and retard unit on the distributor is functioning properly i.e. diaphragm intact and mechanism free and moving the base plate in the distributor. Also check the centrifugal advance is free i.e. not rusted up, and that the springs are both there. Lubricate the whole system while you are at it. Make sure the vacuum lines are connected the right way around and the tubes are intact and holding vacuum. I will be surprised if all of these parts are working correctly as the distributor normally does not get any TLC for the life of the car and ends up rusted solid, often in the advanced position, springs missing etc.

Yes, it has those size pipes. The outlet from the pump on the driver's side on mine goes to the bottom rad fitting. Am using a e28 M535 rad. The small pipe from the bottle goes to the top of the rad, the bottom goes to the rear of the motor where it T's into the pipe from the head to the heater matrix. edit.. Your water pump has an outlet that goes to the waterbottle which is different to mine. You should be easily able to route it to the passenger side if you use the e30 bottle. The sensor in the e30 bottle works much the same as the one at the bottom of the bottle normally used on the e39.

Before I fitted the f/l e30 tank, I used the e32 header tank. It worked fine but then I decided to route the wiring across the firewall a-la 318 style so it had to go.. might be an option? The e30 f/l tank sits high up on the inner fender and does not take up much room, managed to squeeze it in between the ABS pump and the p/s reservoir, cant you shuffle things around a bit to use one?

youtube or it didn't happen!

Hello Em

Love the way the 'zorsts blow the smoke away from the screen..

Get rid of that horrible rubber joint. I feel your pain...

Where are you? Can possibly help if near Hamilton.