nick496

Put some Hawk HT10 pads on the car, along with some R888R's all round.
The pads made the pedal feel very vague with no heat in the brakes, but after warming them up, performed very well, and had no issues with locking up. They are of course, not great on the street, so had to keep my distance driving there and back. After the track day, they also squeal when cold.

No action shots this time, as it was just me, though I guess I should figure out filming along with recording lap times.

Managed a PB for me of 1:55.74.
PB of the car (In it's prior state with shot HPS pads and street tyres is 1:55:44)
All in all, a very consistent 1:57

Managed to pass an E46 330ci, and kept up with a few slightly higher power cars too (V8 powered AE86)

So very happy with the pads, they seemed to lock up even after several laps.
Now that I have pads I can trust, need some time to get consistent, so I stop locking up and wearing flat spots on tyres >.>

Only real issue was at the end of the last session, when I came into the pits, turned the car off, and coolant started coming out of the overflow, leaving a massive puddle for me to clean up.

Electric fan wasn't running like it was after other sessions, and temperature gauge was showing below average. Coolant pipes were solid.

Ended up driving her home without incident, so we shall see.
Potentially an airlock that finally got freed after almost 200km's of track duty?

50 minutes ago, Jacko said:

Do it. Would be a slick E30 setup, probably weigh 30-50kg less than an M50/52/54, and way more balls. 

Yeah, motor is sitting there. Have it all planned out, it's just a matter of time. 

3 hours ago, Jacko said:

E30 swap... 

Give me a few years

On 1/13/2020 at 10:51 PM, Olaf said:

given your work rate, the e36'll be ready in time for Waitangi day!

Well sadly the wallet wasn't able to make that happen, but hopefully not too far away.

Prior to my WoF, saw my front swaybar bushings were a little bulging out the side of their mounts.
Pulled them out to find them like this:

I'm not 100% on this, but could not pretensioning the sway bar correctly cause this level of wear in under a year? (Including a few track days)

Passed the WoF, but she didn't take well to being touched by other men, and formed a nice puddle of coolant while she was there.
Cause of that was a split in the hoses just under the clamp, which probably explains the weeping I was seeing around the thermostat housing. 

Shout out to Hillcrest Auto Services, who chucked on a spare hose they had so I could get home.
They also pointed out the my heater core was leaking (Which is under 2 years old), so the dash will have to come out yet again.

So just put on new radiator hoses top and bottom, which should hopefully mean my cooling system is going to hold up for a while to come.

Having done the swap in my e30, I recall there being a Rev hang, but I think I've just gotten used to it over time. 

Have yet to reflash the ecu with the factory manual map though. 

As for diff ratios, either is fine, and might come down to preference. Though I'm looking at the 3.15 ratio to closely relate to the setup I have in the e30 of 3.64 and the g240. 

I'm local (Hamilton based), and have inpa that should work on your car. (works on my e36s) 

It does depend on the cable you use as the others have said. 

Flick me a pm and we can give it a go. 

It's probably due to the reasonable performance, of a reasonably reliable BMW engine, in the classic NA straight 6 that BMW is known for.
Currently they're in excellent bang for buck cars. (130i, 330i, 530i)

The facelift e46 318i's share the same n4x motor that are in the 120i's. Would stay away from those. The pre facelift e46 318i's have the m43, which are very reliable, but performance wise aren't much to write home about. 

If the shifters were level in this photo, I've just taken the lines from the right gearbox, and matched at the upper starter bolt.

Rotated 10 degrees, and she's pretty close to matching up on the holes.

What you really want to look at is how level the top of the starter is in comparison.

On 1/26/2020 at 9:36 PM, M3AN said:

Oh dear. Although it does reveal that the glove box isn't sagging (which is what I thought was the problem). I've not seen a cover fall off like that before.

 

It is still sagging at the edges, but I'll probably just give it a clean up and reglue it back together.

Found out why the key doesn't work in the boot. It's the Valet key.
So my assumption is that the drivers door has been replaced, and the lock wasn't swapped over. (If any of the previous owners could confirm that would be handy)
Which would mean I just need a new full key cut off the passenger door code, and a drivers door lock rebuild kit. And hopefully the boot lock hasn't been swapped also.

The boot lock decided it wanted to no longer work with the central locking.
Fortunately the rear seats fold down, so was just a case of crawling in there and manually opening it.

The solenoid still works when 12 volts is applied, and the rest of the system works when you move the arm back and forward. I'm assuming it will be the boot loom which looked ok at the parts where it exits the body and enters the trunk, so that will be some fun.
 

Tidied the garage, and gave the gearbox a clean.

If this your m52 swapped e30, your getrag 260 is not going to be a bolt on replacement for your m40 getrag 240, as it will sit on an angle and require a little fab work for the transmission mount.

That may or may not factor into your question. 

I'd say the car would get results similar to what others say. But I've only really driven it around town (and not that frequently). 

Couldn't really say, as only filled her up a few times, and the vast majority of trips were around town. 

I'd guess 12l/100kms around town, but you should average out around 10l/100kms.

This will give you a better indication 

http://www.fuelly.com/car/bmw/318ti

Hi Guys

Selling my runabout I had for a year while the E30 was getting panel work done.
-Motorsport kit
-Non-sunroof

Has a fresh wof from VTNZ, so good until 2021.

Recent oil and filter change

Writing on the transmission indicates that it was serviced fairly recently as well.

Cons:
AC doesn't work
Central locking doesn't work

Link to trademe for some more photos, but we've all seen an E36 TI: https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=2507450480

Will take $1800 from a bimmersporter. 

Cheers for the tips @M M 
My first thought was to just grease the rails, but the door switch is something I'll look into.

I've done literally nothing on the car, and it's already falling apart on me.

That's just from the heat with it parked up on the street.

I've finished tidying up my E36 Ti, so once that's sold, will be able to manual swap this and drive it.

Will order some seals for the intake and a new tube for the ICV, which is normally a failure point, along with some bushings for the manual conversion.

Maybe gearbox? 

Otherwise the rear end looks like it would be in reasonable condition. 

Well with E30 Mega meet over, there was only 1 event left in the year.
Another track day down at Taupo.

Fitted a Z3M radiator to replace my weeping one

Made a paper gasket for the thermostat housing, as I was also weeping from there

Then out onto the track. I took a friend with me this time, and he drove the car for a few rounds, so I have some (bad) footage.
It's hard to see from my camera, but in person it was very weird to see so much body roll.

Out on the track against an RX8, an AE86, and a Turbo MX5

Interestingly, my friend was faster in the MX5 around the corners, but the MX5 pulled away on the straights.
That's the difference of being a more confident driver (as well as not having hot boi rims with no vents)

My friend is a better driver than me, and managed a 1:55 something from memory.
I did a bit worse than last time, and my best time was a 2:00.43

Brake wear sensor light went on after the 2nd to last session of the day. 
Figuring it might just be an old E30 thing, checked the pads, but they seemed ok, so did a final session.
Got home, took off the pads, and found the fronts were gone.

Swapped to some stock ATE pads, and now I can lock up my wheels on the street ? YAY!
So yeah, don't think the Hawk HPS pads are up to my track day use, and I must have cooked them.

Also, my friend left the doors open on the car during the day, and after 6 hours, the car didn't want to start.
Swapped to a 710CCA battery

After all this, figured that regular track days in an E30 touring might not be the best idea long term.
So purchased an E36 328i: http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/62999-the-bimmersport-family-e36-328i

Probably will take the E30 out again a few more times until the E36 is ready though.

So with the track day over, and Mega Meet just over a month away, better get that exhaust sorted.
Just for reference this is what I was running: M52 headers (front modified), into a merge, then 2.5in through 2 coby's into a magnaflow muffler

Went to TTT Auto Engineering off a recommendation from the forums to get a new exhaust made up.
I ended up taking them another set of M52 headers, a mid section off a 135i, and a custom muffler that I had done by Manawatu Muffler Centre, and said make it fit, and specified where I'd like the V-bands.
I think I've only got full photos while it was being tacked up:

And here it is on the ground

Back to the sump and the mid muffler being the lowest points on the car. 
Really impressed with the job on the exhaust.
It is quieter across the board. Don't have the popping noises as I decelerate anymore (though I know some of you love those)
But annoyingly, hasn't resolved my cabin resonance issue at 2000RPM.

Put a new genuine IS lip on, as I smashed the fibreglass one I had over a year earlier reversing out of a driveway (Not mine)


And sorted out my sunroof.
This was inside the 'rust free' sunroof I purchased

Mmm yummy.
I split it at all the pinch welds, took it to a panel shop (Not the one that did my tailgate, though I did actually take it to them to be done with the car originally)
Where it then got acid dipped, then rust protectent applied to the inside, and pinched back together and painted.

This is what my old sunroof left in my drains:

I then converted my sunroof to electric. There are a few ways to do this it turns out. But the easiest way is just to take the full electric system out of a working car, and swap it in. I tried the drill/cut method, but I just made a mess, and cross threaded the motor mounts.
Only really need the brass rails and everything inside the cabin.
You coupe/sedan people have it easy, as you don't have to pull your whole headlining out to do this.

Purchased a recovered Tech 2 wheel a while back, so put that on as well. It is a larger 385mm, but I prefer it to a 370mm for cruising as I can actually see the speedo.

Then went down to Megameet 2019.
Had a couple of issues
1. My car decided that it didn't want to start during the whole weekend, after driving and then being parked up for say 20 minutes. Suspect either heatsoaked starter, or dying battery.
This lead to me becoming a pro at push starting my own car.
2. The rear V-Band clamp fell off on the trip down after I gained some air. This was definitely on me, as I had removed the rear muffler to polish it up a little, and I didn't tighten it back up enough.

So still needed the earplugs I had in the car. And it made GREAT noises driving through the tunnels.
Fortunately managed to find a shop open on Saturday that had V-Band clamps in stock, so after that the earplugs were no longer required.

Was great catching up with a bunch of enthusiasts. Especially @_BRS_ and @Olaf

Compared my brakes with Olaf's as he reckoned the Hawk HPS pads were great for street use.
So both cars Hawk HPS pads. (Though drums in the rear of the little 316i)
Could lock Olaf's wheels up at 80km/h no worries when I slammed on the brakes.
Mine, I slowed down, but couldn't lock up even when smashing the pedal.
Suspect either cooked pads, or stuck caliper(s). So some progress there.

When home via Taupo via Okau road.
Google reckoned it was a faster route. What it didn't tell me, was that it was mostly gravel.
Still, there was no one else on the road, and it was reassuring to have the LSD.

Well, as I said, had issues with the headers rubbing on the steering shaft on the track.
But that wasn't my only issue with my exhaust system.
This is my rear driveshaft hoop in the trans tunnel

As you can see, a bit too much clearance. A 10mm socket can sit in there (10mm socket is 38mm high)
So needless to say, my exhaust sits reasonably low.
And it also rubs on my rear subframe.
And it drones in the cabin at 2000rpm.
So a new exhaust was on the cards. But the first step is to give it more clearance in the tunnel.

Went to Mike at Euro turbo to get something inbetween my existing hoops, and his ones.

Much better.
My recommendation is definitely to get E30 hoops from Mike, as they fit really well, and hard to get something cheaper.
I also recommend clarifying with your certifier how far back you need to have the hoops if you're unsure, as it turns out I'd put mine in less than ideal spots.
I left the front hoop as is (even though it was also massive), as an exhaust is never going to go under it.

I also installed the LSD unit.
Interestingly there are 2 different plugs you can have on the speed sensors. I'm going to assume one is PFL and the other is FL.

So swapped them over, and I was good to go.
Unfortunately one of the previous owners wasn't that clever, and decided to crimp onto the loom the different plug

Managed to disconnect this when pulling the diff, and had to crimp it back on.
Another way you can tell an LSD from a non. The LSD weighs a lot more.

The bug had well and truly bit.
I went down to Taupo for another track day
Managed to get a pair old R888's off @raewyn22, so chucked those on some weaves, and went down.
Also replaced those tyres I scrubbed all the way down with some Michelin Sport 4's

After a few laps, they were nice and dirty

Shared a garage with a swift, who was managing about 5 seconds faster than me round the track

Highlight of the day was a Porsche GT3 owner asking to borrow my Ryobi air compressor

My best lap was 1:58.70, which was 7 second improvement on my last day.
I'll put that mostly down to better driving, but having the better tyres might have made a small difference.

Only faults this time:
-I badly crimped the speed sensor back on, so it disconnected 2 laps in
-My radiator started weeping very slowly
-Exhaust still rubbing (but not a surprise this time)

I think the push to get it back together was for an ex-collegue's 50th birthday. 
For this, he'd hired out the Taupo track and invited all the car enthusiasts he knew.

I think I said last track day I needed to improve
-Tyres - Swapped to a slightly newer set (compared to the MY02s) of Toyo T1R's in 225/45/R16
-Seat - Used a recaro bottom mount seat

-Brakes - Still running hawk HPS pads with fresh fluid

Sadly, not much footage again, but she went round beautifully. And was happy with all the changes since last track day.
-Tyres were much better to drive on, and had very little squeal pushing at the limit
-Less flopping around in the Recaro seat with the larger bolsters
-Brakes were better than last time, but still need improvement 

Best lap time was 2:05.62

A couple of issues, with the E28 rubber mounts, my exhaust headers rubbed on the steering shaft in hard corners , and then at the end of the day, when we did drags

I didn't realise where the 1/4 mile ended, slammed on my brakes, they locked up. And my fronts then were very sad.

All the way down below the wear line. The drive home was very bumpy, as the rest of the tyre was about 6-7mm tread.

This brings us to end of August 2019

So with the car back, need to piece it all back together.
This took a while, as I first needed to paint some spots that were missed in the engine bay. Mainly under the battery tray (Not rusty).
Sarge was good at supervising

Managed to get some not completely dried up sound deadening from Mike of Euro Turbo.

Then swapped in a purple tag rack while everything was out.
Some side by side comparisons, E36 rack with E30 ends bottom, Purple tag with E46 inners, e36 outers top (I think)

Got a new steering shaft put together by the local driveshaft shop (E30 end of steering column piece onto Barina shaft).
All in

Also did most of the front end rubber:
-Mondeo drop links for the front sway bar
-New front sway bar bushings
-New lower control arms
-New lollipop bushings (E36 M3 centered ones)

And then put in the motor and all the rest.
-Rebuilt brake master cylinder
-Swapped to the Cylinder shape E28 M5 motor mounts, as I was getting a lot of noise in the cabin.
-Swapped to a double cut front valance. More speed holes for the future AC retrofit, plus it looks better.

Then gave her the first clean in over 12 months

Figured I'd not only get those lovely holes fixed up, but might as well attend to some of my other issues.

Tailgate rust (Not nearly as bad as some I'd seen)

Some rust in the door jab

Got that all quoted up for a reasonable price.
Now here is the real f**k up. Asked for some additional work to be done, but didn't get it quoted, and didn't get anything in writing.
About 5 months later, I got the car back along with a massive bill to pay. Not happy.

Some photos of the tailgate during the repair:


Looking a bit better

Don't have a decent after shot, but might add that later.

During those 5 odd months I:
Bought a TI to run about it:

Got a 3.64 LSD to be installed later.

Which brings us to end of April 2019.

Gee I haven't posted in here for ages.

So yes, I pulled the motor out, and did the VANOS.
In pulling the motor, I managed to rip a chunk out of my sound deadening on the firewall, and also snap off one of the little rods that the sound deadening screws onto.


Figured that with megameet 2018 just around the corner, I'd get a mate to weld it back on, and I'd slap some decent deadening in, and away I would go. 

Oh sweet summer child.

Was not the right welder for the job, and was turned up too high. Blew straight through. Note to anyone else wanting to do this. Just use liquid metal.
For some reason I thought that after that ordeal, I should get him to weld up my front inner guard, as I'd made a bit of a mess pulling out the mounting for the airbox.
Again, a bit nope.

So with the damage done, I abandoned my hopes of going to mega meet in my car.
And it went to a panel shop.

On 5/4/2019 at 3:29 PM, Olaf said:

There's no coincidence, Nick.  You realise that you were instructed to build a shed, because next time you have an oily parts boil-up on the stove, you'll be sleeping in there?! ?

So funnily enough, I left my computer on the project page, and the wife saw the photo.
I now have a dedicated pot to boil my parts in.
Managed to avoid both the garden shed, the kennel, and the couch.

Likewise Dave. Good to put a face to the name.

I took it out on my normal backroads, and it certainly felt a lot nicer than the E30 around all the corners, and the power delivery was surprisingly different with the auto box. Felt like it pulled more at the top end, but that's probably because it was slower at the bottom end haha.

Well as we all know, manual conversions aren't normally cheap, so figured if I could get it from pick a part, that would be the way to go. So might as well bail on my Sunday plans to fix up the 318ti so I can sell it, and get a manual conversion instead (No real loss)

Cheers on the wheels. Love me some ACS wheels.