Vass

BMW special tool #318364. Left two bolts either side of the starter to be safe. Will see how it goes.

What do you mean by roar and hesitant transfer of propulsion? As in you have to rev it higher than before to get up to the same speed? Pretty hard to give you any informed opinions based on some very vague descriptions, you're really just taking stabs in the dark without scanning it or at the very least a visual inspection, both under the hood and underside of the car. A roar and loss of power could be something as simple as a severe vacuum leak. Check your intake boots for any obvious cracks as a first step.

Score! Will take an angle grinder to it later this week.

Got a lead on an old auto transmission that a dude in Ashburton is willing to give away. Might go for a drive tonight and pick it up. Should have just kept my old one What do I even do with the rest of the transmission after cutting the bell housing off? Would a wrecker's take it for scrap? Also started looking at getting a UV dye kit to make it more apparent. Small bottles available on Amazon and such for like $5, yet the cheapest one I found on these shores is somehow this dodgy sh*t. Anyone know of any more reasonably priced kits out there that don't involve a longer wait?

Could be. I'll have a closer look. I think VDO were OE for these? Yeah am asking around. Could have someone make up a plate for it but might be less hassle to cut the chunk off a bell housing instead. Might ask Pick-A-Part of I'd still be fine to cut one up there for a bit less as there's a few autos sitting in there that are unlikely to be of any use to anyone. Are the bell housings the same between 4 and 6 cylinder boxes do you know? Some E36 ones might be the same as well I think? Could broaden the search range a bit.

Yeah there was more oil under the sensor before I dug in, I think it must have drained away from feeling around there and the engine tilting back and forth. There was definitely more of a pool under there before. I used a light coat of silicone paste on all the O-rings when installing. It doesn't look pinched and actually looking at the sensor itself, everything looks dry beyond the O-ring apart from the tip of the connector somehow... That's an awesome idea with the bell housing. Unfortunately gave away the old auto transmission for free a few months ago to clear some space, would have been a good candidate. Will see what they charge at Pick-A-Part.

Intake off, not sure if I'm any wiser. Only sign of oil is under the crank position sensor. No sign of any leaks above it, all dry to the touch so that spot of oil further up on the backing plate is still a mystery. Might have gotten oil on there when removing but can't remember doing that so am left a bit perplexed. Picture is from when I started untightening the screw but I think the slight gap between the sensor metal baseplate was there with the screw fastened as well. Judging by the caked up area on the old engine block I think it's safe to assume that this is one of the leaks. I still have major doubts as to whether this alone would produce enough of a drip to leak as much as it did in the video. Definitely not the greatest design, could really benefit from being held in with two screws, one either side of the opening but what can you do. Not sure how to make it more secure other than using RTV. Not ideal but what else is there? Brand new sensor with a new O-ring and still looks to be leaking... Feeling around back on the transmission side of the block, the area around the gallery plug was slightly damp to the touch and has a yellowish discoloration at the end of the opening but not a clear leak. I thoroughly cleaned the plug from the old sealant and seated it all the way in with white high-temp sealant. This is a bit of a tricky spot as originally it sat only slightly recessed from the flat area so would not have been threaded in all the way. Again though, even if it is leaking, I can't see it producing too steady a stream. Only other thing I can speculate on is the oil pan being damaged? The bottom side looks a bit scuffed up so the previous owner must have bottomed out on something somewhere along the line. Pretty weird as the car did have the aluminium reinforcement plate installed when I got it so no idea how it could have picked up this sort of damage. Could this have somehow transferred the forces to the top edge and bent it out of shape somewhat? Unlikely but I'm just clutching at straws at this point. Then again, might be the machine shop's doing when having it washed. Absolutely no clue at this point. The maximalist approach would be to get the engine out again, clean up the pan from the old engine and seat that on with a new oil pan gasket, new rear main seal housing with the seal pre-installed, new gallery plug with sealant pre-applied, new O-ring on the crank position sensor with a dab of RTV, new flywheel bolts with sealant pre-applied and go again. Basically throwing a bunch more money and effort at it. Not sure what mental state I'd find myself in if the issue were to persist after all that but honestly no idea what other options I have at this point anymore.

Quite like the look of that. I charge my phone pretty often but would be good to be able to close the lid when not in use too, unlike when using a plug in charger. Does it turn itself back on every time you start the car though?

Nah.

Yeah manifold out is the next logical step for me. Will see from there. Cheers

Gearbox is out but now I'm left with more questions than answers. A good puddle of engine oil left in the bell housing but the rear main seal... bone dry. Flywheel bolts don't have any oil on them either so the sealant must have done its job pretty well. Doesn't help that the engine oil is still new so finding it hard to pin down the culprit. Only obvious place that's soaked in oil is the left side long oil pan bolt. The rest of them are all dry. Almost looks like the oil is running out down that bolt hole which is very peculiar. The area above it looks to be dry and doesn't look like anything is coming out from the oil pan gasket above, only through the bolt hole. Localised oil pan gasket failure? But then it gets weirder. Peeking in from above the engine bay, also noticed a small puddle forming just below the starter, around the crank position sensor. Was hard to get a picture in between all the plumbing but this is the area on the old engine. Judging by how caked up the whole area on that is, looks like that may be a common failure spot. Pretty peculiar for it to already start leaking after driving all of 3 km, being a brand new sensor with a brand new O-ring. Would it really produce such a strong drip? Is that the main leak that's dunning all the way down along the bolt or is it two separate leaks already? Gets even weirder still looking at the engine backing plate where in addition to the area where the sensor is, there is another wet patch above the starter. Absolutely no idea where that could be coming from. Too tight to stick my head in there to see but it's all dry on the gearbox side of that spot and feeling around I couldn't find any obvious wet spots either. Might have to remove the intake again to check. FFS. Really at my wit's end at this point. None of those look like they would produce a strong enough leak to be pissing out as it way. As a quick fix all I can think of is take out that bolt and refit it with a bunch of thread sealer but absolutely no guarantee it would hold. Looking back through the photos post machine shop work, this is that that area looked like. Naturally they managed to f**k up the edges so I filed the high spots down and made sure to put some extra RTV along the join. Also took a 400 grit sandpaper and got rid of the remnants of the old pan gasket. Thought I got it pretty tidy without introducing any deep scuffs. Fair point but how would that work exactly? With the gearbox out there's nothing holding the starter in place... Pisses me off honestly. Thought I messed up the RMS but now don't know what else to point the finger at other than the shitty machine work. Put my whole holiday brake into this, put off any trip plans we might have had, now going back to work Monday more tired than I was before and with f**k all to show for it. Honestly don't know what the f**k to do anymore other than pull the engine and source another second hand one.

Yeah definitely put sealant on the joins there, also thread sealer on the two big bolts that go all the way through. Not sure what the machine shop might have done beyond chuck it in the cleaner. Yeah I remember you mentioning resetting the springs. Think you also said they looked fine on the pictures so I just chucked it on. Wasn't sure what I was looking for with those anyway but will have to revisit and figure out how to reset. Will grab a puller off a mate. Was actually keen to keep the depress-clutch-to-start function. Good little precaution when left in gear as I often do.

On the bright side though, prior to all this I hooked up INPA and verified that it's getting the clutch switch signal, so at least that's all good. Didn't check cruise control but no rev hang so will take the small win. Might have messed up the one wire going to the EWS then. Least of my worries for now though.

Well, was fun while it lasted... All 5 minutes of it. The heatshield thing wouldn't give me peace so once again returned to Pick-A-Part and nabbed a front section of a similar heatshield and mashed together an extension. Quite pleased with myself with how it turned out. Bolted up the exhaust with new hangers and fresh braces, started her up again, bled the power steering and cooling system, topped up oil, then dropped her down, torqued up the sway bar brackets and wheel nuts, ready for its first run. Went for a quick run around the block. The clutch felt a bit weird and will take some getting used to. First time driving a manual BMW so not sure how it's supposed to feel like. Probably down to it being a double mass flywheel and the clutch not bedded in yet. Lifters ticking away as was to be expected, otherwise ran really well. Was absolutely buzzing to have her up and running again. All the good vibes got wiped away though as I checked the underside. FFS Not a small leak either. Left a good trail all along the road as well. Absolutely pissing out engine oil. Gearbox out it is... I suspect it's the rear main seal. Thinking back now, I do remember being a bit unsure about it. I ran it in flush with the housing but originally I think it sat about 1-2mm proud. Thought it'd be fine, obviously mistakenly so. Remember seeing FCP Euro mention a special installation tool in one of their videos but then again others have just ran it in using the old seal with a block of wood so went with that approach. Must have messed it up somehow. Will hopefully see the issue once the box is out. Will just get this kit if that's the issue, don't want to trust myself with that again. Bit disheartening after spending my whole Christmas break on it but it is what it is, learning things the hard way. Not giving up.

Went to EWS coding and switched the transmission coding to manual which essentially gets rid of the need for the clutch switch to turn on. Happily started cranking away. Weird thing is, even before I did that I could have sworn I saw the clutch switch work looking at the live data, but now it does nothing. But that might have been the live data view in INPA instead. The real test will be whether it'll suffer from rev hang and fails to disable cruise control. Will see. If so then either the clutch switch has gone bad or I've messed up the wiring somehow. Anyway, cranked it for a good 10-15 seconds with the main relay and fuel pump fuse removed, then refitted them and... here we are. Didn't want to let it idle for long so shut it down after a steady 10 seconds or so. Plus the neighbours next door have barely a month old baby and this thing sounded like a bloody tractor with no exhaust on so didn't want to be a pest. Feels like the final mile of a long race. Didn't get as far as I hoped to today but touching distance now. Don't want to jinx it again so will just see how it goes. Also, don't know what people do with heat shields when manual converting but this really doesn't sit well with me. Did a quick post on FB asking what others have done and the recommended solution seems to be not to worry about it. Thinking I might pop by Pick-A-Part again, cut off a front section of a similar heat shield and tidily jam it in there somehow to fill the gap. Or, you know, might just hakuna matata.

Update. Looks like EWS is the culprit. Followed the trick in this video at around 3 minutes in - unplugged the EWS, stuck a 30 Amp fuse into the first two slots and got her cranking! Will crack on and see if I can figure out a fix.

I think it's one or the other. The clutch switch wiring on manuals is supposed to emulate the same signal as the park/neutral switch on automatics, if that makes any sense.. I'm far from an expert though.

Well, sure enough, would have been a bit weird if it had been all plain sailing. Charged the battery back up to full after doing the coding, disconnected the main relay and the fuel pump fuse to build up oil pressure, depressed the clutch, turned the key... No crank. Was definitely dreading this. So many components have been tinkered with that it's hard to pinpoint a culprit. Here's what I have to work with so far. All sorts of codes pop up with the main relay out but here's what's left after that hooked back up and everything cleared. Weird amount of ABS codes that won't go away, and do hear a click from the ABS unit area when turning on the ignition, but surely the ABS unit shouldn't be what's preventing it from cranking? Reading live data, the clutch switch is registering, whether the signal goes all the way through to the EWS though I'll need to check. I do get a chime when opening the door with the key in position 2 so the key shouldn't be the culprit. In the EWS live data, I wonder if the 'Selector lever / Clutch switch' is supposed to go green with the clutch depressed? Currently it doesn't make any difference. After a couple of tries another DME code popped up - 'Control unit self-test 3'. Not sure what that is. Suspect it's either an EWS signal issue or the starter not getting voltage. Have put the battery back on charge again. Will keep on digging and trying to diagnose, shall report back if I get anywhere. Feel free to chime in, might be missing something obvious.

Took up some arts and crafts for a change. Stripped down the scruffy looking driveshaft and bottom brace plates to bare metal and gave them 3 coats of low gloss paint. Came out quite nice. Left the U-joint part of the driveshaft untouched as I didn't want to get any of the actual pivoting bits caked in paint. Bolted and torqued the driveshaft up with a new center support bearing and that's the driveline sorted. Didn't feel like bolting on any rusty bits to went full stupid on the exhaust. Post fact realised that most of it was likely an absolute waste of time but happy to have some shiny exhaust tips at least. Onto less trivial stuff, busted out the laptop and tackled the coding/flashing part of things. All went without a hitch. Threw in the fully charged battery and got the latest 330i EU2 software installed, EGS coded out and adaptations cleared. Got rid of the gear cog from the cluster so must have worked alright. Haven't tried starting it yet but nearly at that point now. At the end of the night, went to roll the windows up by holding down the lock button on the key fob and was met with a pleasant WTF moment - along with the windows going up, the mirrors also folded in. The same mirrors that had refused to work all throughout my ownership. Absolutely no idea what the issue was and what fixed it but not complaining! Finishing touches now. Brakes and clutch fully bled through and feeling nice and firm. The old brake fluid had definitely seen some better days. Went through the underside and engine bay to double check that everything is bolted and connected up. Moment of truth tomorrow morning. Will see if she'll fire up, then hopefully go for a drive if all is looking well. Fingers crossed.

Messaged CMP a couple of weeks ago, Cayn told me the subframe bushes should be back in stock early Jan so hopefully not too far off now.

Yeah did seem a bit suspect, from what I've read up on the M54 there's not much extra you can squeeze out of it without bolting on some aftermarket mods, and even then the gains are pretty limited. Unless it's a turbo or supercharger... Thanks! The headunit is an Android one that bluetooths to my phone pretty seamlessly so happy enough with it. Don't think I'll bother with PDC, will fit a reverse camera instead. Already routed the cables through to the back seats whilst the dash was apart, will wire it all in when I get onto repairing the boot elephant trunk wiring.

That looks absolutely mint man. Did you paint it yourself? What sort of paint did you use? Going to be doing mine soon but no idea what products to use yet.

I've found vin decoders unreliable when it comes to gearbox type, often see factory manuals claiming to be autos. Looking at the few photos, I dare say it is a factory manual. Usually, a dead giveaway is the lower right part of the cluster where the auto gear monitor usually resides, on this one it's blocked out as it is on manuals. On most conversions this is a minor detail that gets overlooked as it's purely cosmetic. Another quick giveaway would be any dodgy looking wiring going to the fuse/ECU box under the hood, or remnants of any blue plugs in the box from the EGS/transmission module.

Not sure, might just sell the second one and mod the main one? Got offered $350 for the full set of cats - manifold + secondary so yeah sorry, got my wires tangled up, your numbers are closer to the truth for just the secondaries. Hmm...

Popped by Uniweld to ask for advice on what I could do with the exhaust system and to gauge what sort of money to budget for. Replacing the secondary cats with resonators as recommended by @wrs would run $400 a side so $800 all up. Could then sell the cats and recoup maybe $200-300 which isn't too bad. Something to look into later on. He also put me onto Autopassion to see if they offer any ready made exhaust options for the E46. They don't but whilst I was at it, asked them about the chip tuning service they offer and claimed they have a tune for the 330i that increases power from 231hp to 262hp and torque from 300Nm to 345Nm at a cost of $895. Does that seem legit? Haven't really looked into chip tuning before so not sure if there are any downsides to it?