Xcel

I do like how (relatively) simple an engine swap is and the S30 is a fantastic motor. I think you could get more power out of an M50B25 for $5500 with a turbo though, but it's hard to say based on the quality of the kits available until you actually test them. At least with an S50 you know it's going to perform reliably.

I'm looking at boosting eventually with the M50B25TU myself. Planning on using an M54B30 crankshaft, M54B30 rods and pistons (perhaps replace with forged), M54B30 intake camshaft and MLS decompression plate.

I'm not usually into older cars but this one just looks straight pimping.

Yeah I'm thinking it is probably something to do with faulty sensors (wouldn't be the first time I've encountered that). Will definitely try that next time it's getting toasty. If it was ECU related wouldn't I be seeing the CEL though?

My E36 325i with M50B25TU has been misfiring a bit once the engine is getting hot (around the 3rd white marker and before the hot end of the scale) so it's still within safe operating temperature. The misfire only occurs at ~2000 rpm when you're accelerating from a stop and progressively gets worse the hotter the engine gets. It never occurs when cold. Gently accelerating can avoid it but it's most noticeable under wide open throttle.

I wish I could fit one in the dash of an E36 but it would require some modification of the dash since it's only 7.5 inches wide not 7.87 and the A/C controls would need to be relocated.

I was looking at getting that strut brace too, perhaps with an M3 x-brace or replica.

Yeah those class AB amps do get hot, I'm running 150w rms x2 on my front components with low gain settings to prevent damaging the speakers and it still gets pretty toasty. It's mounted upside down so not entirely ideal for heat dissipation. 500w rms is probably ideal for bass, I have 1800w available and it's just too much for blending with music. I have to turn the sub level down and even then it's still quite bass heavy. At least I can get some decent output in a sedan with the rear seats folded up and sealing the trunk but rattles can be an issue.

This list might be helpful if you're looking for period correct looking headunits. Just look for ones with auxiliary inputs so you can connect your phone or ipod to them. http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=100559

Hopefully they are rich enough to handle paying for a hydrolocked Lambo engine.

Haha I've already had a few bolts come loose, there was a battle in the boot between the amplifiers and the inferior one lost. I found it's mounting plate hanging by only one bolt.

Ah yep I agree with that My last system had Pioneer premium 6x9 in the rear and Resonant Engineering components in the front. It wasn't a bad sounding setup but you could hear some tonal difference if you had one ear to the front and one to the rear. @OP If you're willing to get a mounting adapter for some 5.25" components or even 6.5" and finish them to match your interior trim I think that would be the most ideal solution.

Another Palmerston North member

It's actually quite a small custom enclosure (1 cubic foot) with most of the space taken up by a very long slot port I designed using the Thiele/Small paramaters in a calculator online. The sub has a very low Vas (26L) due to the stiff spider so that's probably why it wanted such a small enclosure, either way it goes really hard and seems to have great sound quality (aside from interior rattles at high volume). It's an Ascendant Audio Havoc 12 inch rated at 1250w rms but I have 1800w available, probably limited by the stock alternator currently though. If I had it bolted to L brackets right to the back of the boot I shouldn't have any trouble getting the spare tyre out.

I don't use my boot for anything else so it doesn't bother me. I could move it back another 25cm if I wanted to but that was where the existing holes were for the strap.

As long as you're running the same speakers front and rear on the same amp, it shouldn't matter what brands you choose for either. Same for the sub which could easily be a different brand too. It might sound slightly different to having the same brands but it won't sound bad.

I don't think it's necessary to keep the brands the same throughout, I've exchanged tweeters that were too harsh for different brands without any trouble and have always used a different brand of sub. An important thing to consider is matching your amps to the speakers. I try to go for a bit more RMS (ignore max) amplifier power than the speakers are rated for so you can deliver them clean sound without clipping. Unfortunately you're probably not going to find many decent options in the way of 6x4 speakers, but if you do get the Polk's you'd probably want to send them around 75w rms each. There are a large number of options for subs but it really comes down to what music you like to listen to because it's easy to go overkill in that department. Once you get more audio power you will start to create rattles in the car so sound deadening becomes important, especially if you are using your doors as an enclosure. Keep in mind your enclosure determines the quality of the bass from the speakers so you may not get much midbass from the doors.

I have it secured with a ratchet tie down at the moment but I like the idea of epoxying some L brackets down for a more permanent solution. It's a small but relatively heavy box at 35kg so I hope it doesn't break free.

I have folding rear seats so that probably won't work for me. Fortunately I can let more bass through if I want by folding them down though haha. It looks like the gas tanks probably aren't an issue if I'm drilling into the chassis as long as it's not too far back but I'm also concerned about starting rust doing that.

After solving my previous issues involving the subwoofer in my E36 I now have another problem, the box is sliding around in the boot with my "spirited" driving which is not a good thing. I've thought of strapping it down with a ratchet tie down hooked between two holes already in the floor of the boot. A more elegant option would be to bolt it to the floor of the boot with L brackets but I'm not sure drilling down there is such a good idea. What should I do?

UFO's confirmed.

Hey Dave I've just been reading through your project and I'm wondering how your E46 steering rack is doing in the E36? I'd really like a quicker lock myself but I'm also considering something like the SLR road race kit but I'm not sure if it requires a cert. Apparently there is an exception where major steering geometry changes are allowed if your car is primarily used for LVVTA recognized motor sporting events. I'm wondering if that refers more so to excessive camber/castor which I'd rather not change too much to preserve my tyres. Also I have a similar headunit to yours, the Clarion DXZ835MP and I love how you can get the display to match the dash LED's.

I've seen a pic of those bronze pivot pins wearing down pretty badly so I'd rather go stainless if possible.

This perhaps? It should fix any chance of VANOS rattle in the future also. http://www.drvanos.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=1&Itemid=2

I had a serious problem with a loud rattle produced at mid bass frequencies (100-250hz) after I replaced my stock speakers with some aftermarket speakers on an amplifier. At first I thought I had blown the speakers during testing but the rattle persisted after I put in the old speaker again while still connected to the amplifier. I was convinced that it must have been something within the chassis of the car which was vibrating because I couldn't find anything under the dash that was causing it. The only way to get rid of it was the equalize out all of that mid bass but then I would end up with a gap in level between the midrange frequencies and sub bass. I did however manage to remove the rattle and this is what I did: Removed the speaker and foam speaker enclosure then taped some foam to a plastic tube I found that ran up into the A pillar. This should reduce any vibrations against the chassis of the car. Apparently this tube is to drain water from the sunroof. Reinstalled the foam speaker enclosure and filled it with some polyfill that I had found in the rear speaker boxes. This step is probably not necessary but in theory it can make the enclosure appear larger to the speaker. Applied sealing foam around the speaker. I thought this step would be unnecessary too since it's already resting on a foam enclosure but it worked. Reinstalled the speaker, it's from the JBL GTO 509C component set which I can highly recommend because the woofer bolts right into the standard 5.25" speaker location and sounds pretty good. You might need to get creative with installing the tweeters into standard door panels though. Overall I'm quite happy with how it sounds now, it goes loud enough to hurt my ears without distortion. I'm running them off a Lanzar Vibe 410 75w x 4 amplifier mounted under the parcel tray.