Harper

Yeah looking at the spec sheet it does seem that all the E2067140 kits come with the same springs except the compact. The black hellbm 330ti that was for sale recently had a set of regular E46 eibach springs in it and the rear ride high was monster truck high so it makes sense they need a different spring.

https://eibachshop.com/download/E2067-140.PDF

Although it does list alternatives for the sedan and coupe but that's not what they list as included in the set on the US site.

1 hour ago, Olaf said:

Re one-size-fits-all Eibachs, I think this is the real downside of their springs

Not sure where you guys are looking but https://www.eibach-shop.com/ has different spring sets available for E46 coupe/sedan/touring/compact, all with 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder variants and even x-drive where applicable. All with different rates dependent on type. Definitely not only one size fits all. That was half the reason I went for them for my 330ti. No one else makes springs specifically for 6 cylinder compacts.  

3 hours ago, Eagle said:

Ive got some loose Meyle HD front control arm bushings floating around, near new, bought a set to use the brackets for Z4M ones. $20 + shipping you you want them. I think these along with the ones you mention above are the ones that give the best results + sway bar bushings\links.

I was looking at grabbing Z4M ones as well and just pressing them into my existing brackets. Surprising cheap to just buy the bushing on it's own

34 minutes ago, Vass said:

Not sure if the subframe bushes are the same on a ti but I've got a full set of OE subframe bushes as well as RTAB ones + limiters that I haven't gotten round to throwing up for sale yet if you want them. Bought this whole set before deciding to go with solid subframe bushes and monoball RTABs. Not a sales pitch but every bushing in my old subframe had cracks through them to a greater or lesser degree so you'll be glad you've done them. 

Eesh, that's pretty tempting. You might get a message from me tomorrow haha

43 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Nice. Can't of been cheap with shipping prices these days. Guess you are doing all the other suspension bushings now or at some point? or at least the RTABS?. E46 got to be the last BMW that doesnt cost very much to sort suspension wise.

Yep shipping stung a bit but it does reduce the shipping cost on the second order for all the service parts since I could move some of the bulky/heavy stuff into this one like the clutch. And tbh coming from ordering stuff like Ohlins and a Karbonius airbox for the M3, non-m parts feels like you can get so much more for your money. Doing a pretty decent refresh on the engine for a fraction of what it costs on the S54.

I probably won't go crazy with bushings just yet, eventually. I might end up just chucking the main ones like the RTABs, FCAB, maybe diff bushes into the next order but I'm trying not to let the cost of this project creep too much higher than it already has.

56 minutes ago, Vass said:

You're probably all over it seeing how thorough you are but thought it worth mentioning on the off chance it's a caveat you've missed. 

Actually not at all haha. I had planned to cert it but was banking on it being straight forward with it all being OEM parts. As far as I know both Brent and Rays 330ti's are fully certed without driveshaft hoops and they are both originally 316ti's so that gives me hope. Would seem crazy to require them when it's just the guts of a 330 swapped over and the chassis is essentially the same. Like you say, an argument can probably be made since a 2.5L was available for the compacts.

Nothing more exciting than getting home to some big boxes of car parts on your door step.

OE Clutch kit, I have a new OE dual mass flywheel too since going single mass doesn't appeal to me

3

Rear strut mounts, bump stops, spacers and extended wheel bolts, E90 X-drive strut mounts

I really hadn't planned on getting these but the more I thought about it the more I realised that reusing the old tired struts and springs would really take away from the experience. I also found out that there are 6 cylinder compact specific Bilstein B8's and eibach springs which sealed the deal. The front struts are the same for any 6 cylinder E46 but the rear dampers are valved differently for the compact with less weight over the rear, and the eibach springs are specific to the 325ti with the 6 cylinder up front and the different rear. Should make for a nice setup.

Other than that I finally sourced some facelift tails and installed them. Small detail but looks so much better.

Engine all strapped up ready to pull, hoping to get to it tomorrow after work so I can spend the weekend tearing the motor down.

11 minutes ago, Karter16 said:

The Coromandel coast road is a great drive when there's not too much traffic. I like to pair it with Kawakawa Bay to Miranda road if I have time - that road really suits the E46 M3.

That's the best way for me to go anyway being out in Beachlands. The dodgy alignment and old tires meant I didn't peg it through the straights in Miranda as I usually would but the perfectly sealed twisty road through Kawakawa is what the E46 is made for. I had such a good time I'll probably go again in a few weeks with fresh tyres and alignment. 

11 hours ago, Neil McCauley said:

Is there a better colour than silver that shows just how pumped the quarters on an E46 M3 really are? None of the darker or pastel colours can match imho, and yours looks so bloody good with the 18x9.5's.

I used to be a little meh on the colour, didn't dislike it but didn't love it either. But the longer I own the car the more I can't imagine any colour I'd rather have it in. It just looks right in silver, nothing else shows off the shape as well.

The M3 has been a bit neglected on account of needing a set of tyres and with my compact project eating up all my spare cash. Square set of 265/35 Michelin PS5s on order but I couldn't wait that long and was itching to drive it again. Took the long weekend as an opportunity to stretch it's legs and swapped my spare stock wheels with old track tires on, and took it for a blast to the coromandal for a night. 

Desperately needs an alignment, but 8k rpm with a carbon airbox does do wonders for the mental health.

51 minutes ago, Vass said:

The screw plug I wouldn't even touch, I don't believe they ever leak unless disturbed. I only had mine out when I took the block to the machine shop to get worked on and washed through, there's no real reason to replace it unless you're fully rebuilding the engine.

Ah yep, I'll leave well alone in that case. Only planning to do a budget rebuild/refresh, rod bearings, oil pump stuff, seals and gaskets etc

51 minutes ago, Vass said:

I'd still do the chain guides if I were you, they're sure to be well brittle by now, if not already broken. The timing does get disturbed but it's not too daunting a task resetting it, plenty of detailed guides and videos on the full process out there. I've done it a few times now and experienced enough to race through it pretty quickly.

Yep I had hoped to do the chain guides assuming they could be done without disturbing the timing to save on money for the tools and complexity. But like you say probably worth replacing them either way, the chain guides in my M3 were broken when I did that engine rebuild I'm guessing the M54 ones will be similar even though the motor has only done 140k. I have seen E46fanatics threads of how to time the engine without the toolkit but I'd rather have the tools on hand. If I commit to disturbing the timing is there anything else worth replacing - valve seals? I'm guessing they're tricky to do without removing the head.

51 minutes ago, Vass said:

More than happy to lend you my timing kit if you pay for return shipping

Legend, might take you up on that.

9 hours ago, Vass said:

I was under the impression that the timing cover was only held by the two bolts from the top of the head, under the valve cover and could be gotten to without much issues, but of course it turns out that there's also a third bolt straight down the middle, a bolt that also holds down the topmost chain guide so... the timing gear had to also come off to get to it. Brilliant.

Can the timing cover come off without disturbing cam timing? If so I'll definitely replace my chain guides and the same screw plug on the front and rear of the block (or maybe best left alone if not leaking?) while I have my engine out.

13 minutes ago, Vass said:

Didn't even know ti's had a facelift version. What are all the differences exactly? Must be pretty subtle, looking at that one and yours side by side I can't seem to pick out much at all. The bootlid is one but would never have noticed it had you not pointed that out and don't see what makes one better than the other. And are the red taillights the facelift ones? I actually prefer the look of the clear ones that you have already. What else is there?

That's it haha. Boot lid is a better design with the wider trunk lip and the red tails. M3 has a similar bootlid change between facelift and pfl, I've been hunting for a titan silver facelift bootlid for my M3 for forever. Mostly just preference and small details no one would ever notice. 

1 hour ago, Kees said:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/291828843783442/?mibextid=9R9pXO

Might have already been posted / be an old listing but this just came up in my marketplace. 
 

Another white m sport 318ti. Looks to be in Silverdale judging by the photos. 
 

Hadn't seen that. I was almost mad, would've saved me a lot of work converting mine to facelift, but it does look a lot more rough, no xenons either.

Still badass though, they're criminally underrated. Alpine white does them so many favours visually. Having driven mine around a couple months now they are let down a lot by the drivetrain however. If bmw had made a 330ti from factory it would have been a cult classic

3 hours ago, Eagle said:

If not re-using the bearing then heating around the shaft with a torch whilst having a puller on the hub hasn't failed me yet.  

That was going to be my next step. Fortunately all it took was a big f'n press and $30 for my closest shop to do it

1 hour ago, Vass said:

Just checked my order history and I did get the 07147140849 plug, fit in perfectly. I didn't have a manual car to check on so measured the diameter and went with one that matched off this schematic. But yeah only a few $ each, best to be safe.

I did the same on my 130 which was missing that plug and letting a bunch of heat into the cabin, used 07147140849 with no issue. That's why it stuck out to me when I noticed the plug was visually different on the factory manual E46 being scrapped. Matched it to 51712258519 along with the TRW part number printed on the underside.

1 hour ago, Vass said:

Don't know if you've pressed in the rear hubs yet, but if you wanted to freshen up the dust shields at all, I found these Febi ones (1 & 2) for around $20 each on Spareto. Was going to repaint mine but not worth the effort when new ones are as cheap.

Good catch I hadn't considered getting those. Would be rude not to with them being so cheap, 13usd at schmiedmann. 

33 minutes ago, Vass said:

Bummer about the axles. Luckily my 330 ones came out alright with a bit of bashing. Wanted to separate the 325 ones from the trailing arms for easier storage but both are absolutely seized in there. Might just end up scrapping them altogether.

Good stuff on the driveshaft CV joint. The rear end of mine that I got with the manual conversion was pissing out grease so looked to do the same but upon closer look, the rubber boot had completely crumbled and cracked so no good to reuse. Bummer that you have to get the whole joint as a replacement, pretty spendy one that. 

You're probably all over it, but just to point out a few uncommon manual bits that often get left out of conversion kits:

• 223001222894 - 2 of the 4 E14 torx head bolts that connect the gearbox to the engine (the bottom 2) are longer on a manual gearbox than on automatic. My conversion didn't come with those so I had to order a couple off Schmiedmann. People have still used the shorted bolts and they probably work just fine but you don't get full thread engagement.
• 21521163894 - The rubber grommet for where the clutch hardline goes through the firewall into the engine bay. There's one grommet/sleeve that is attached to the hardline itself but then there's another one that sits in the chassis.
• 07147140849 - I think that's the right number, can check and confirm later on if needed - the blind plug that blocks out the hole for the old automatic gearshift cable. Can probably make due with whatever but in case you wanted to stick to genuine.
• 11141734019 - The backing plate that goes between the engine and gearbox. Manual one doesn't have an opening for the torque converter bolts, and another one just under the starter for some unknown purpose. You can just keep the automatic one with the rubber plug but it bugged me for whatever reason. Annoyingly, you can't seem to get these new from anywhere anymore. I got mine used from a fella called Paulo Tavares in Auckland recently. 
• 17111436250 - Plastic plate for the radiator without the openings for the auto box oil cooler. Without it you'd have to crimp off some hoses and make a bit of a mess. 
• 17111437359 - In addition to the previous point, a plug screw to the bottom of the radiator. Auto and manual ones are different length so a passage gets blocked further up on whichever one of them.
• 17117561757 - Electronic radiator fan to get rid of the clutch fan.

Some might be pretty obvious but a few of those I got caught out on myself. 

The axles were a mission but I've ordered an M27x1.5 thread die so hopefully should be able to cleanup the thread. 

The CV joint on the driveshaft that came with my conversion was also destroyed, I'm swapping the rear half from my donor car but will need to get everything balanced I'm guessing.

It was a good feeling to go through every part you mentioned and already have it in my order list haha, I've spent far too long on realoem in the last couple months. Only thing I'm omitting from that list is the bellhousing plate since you can't buy them new and functionally they're the same so I'll live with it. Weitz had an electric rad fan for $100 so I grabbed that at the same time as the manual conversion stuff. The trans tunnel plug I had the same part number as you mentioned initially but after looking on a factory manual car that was being scrapped at a pickapart the correct plug appears to be 51712258519. I was going to order both and see which fit better.

Some progress today

Calipers painted, not perfect but looks good enough for some brakes

Hubs and old wheel bearings pressed out of the trailing arms. I wasn't planning on doing this but one of the bearings was knackered so I might as well put fresh ones in. Gave all the handbrake shoe parts a good scrub while everything is apart.

Hardest part of the whole job was getting the axles out, had to take them to my local shop to get them out with their press. Destroyed an axle pusher tool and banana'd every bit of metal I have on my press trying to get them out. Shop said it took 15 tonnes to get them out. From all the hammering the end of one of the axles was pretty mushroomed so I had to taper down the end. Still can't get the nut on though, think I'm going to need to find a M27x1.5 thread die and chase it... Or find a new axle

Driveshaft CV joint cleaned out and repacked with new grease. Miserable job, but the joint does feel a lot better.

Yeah was mentioned in my thread as well. Pretty sure the seller is a bimmersporter. Was for sale a few weeks ago for 6.5k on fb marketplace, looks like the new seller is flipping it.

Original sale thread here:

Very similar one built by Brent for sale at the moment too:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/316ti/listing/4316428545

5 hours ago, Eagle said:

Wiper delete for looks? Some situations i wish all cars had rear wipers.  

It's a common failure point on the E46 compacts. I never use it and when I do it seems to just smear up the back window. But yeah mostly it just looks so much better without it. 

Fun parts starting to pile up. Manual conversion stuff all ready to go. Brakes stripped down ready for some paint

Factory 325ti specific exhaust and have the 6 cylinder compact specific front sway bar as well.

Scored a facelift rear hatch in alpine white which looks much sportier than the prefacelift version imo, still need to find some facelift tail lights to go on. Will be doing a factory wiper delete as well convert to a RF key instead of the shitty IR key at the same time since the FZV module is in the hatch on the compacts.

Ordered a manual cluster from Greece on ebay for 100NZD shipped, I'll steal the manual blank cluster panel from it and use the 330 cluster rings so the car so the car will essentially have a 330 manual cluster as it should.

Haven't had time to pull the motor out of the 330 yet, I'm hoping either over the long weekend or the weekend after I'll get to it. Then I'll do a big parts order, refresh the motor and hopefully have the 330ti ready by Christmas. In the meantime, it's actually nice to have an economical daily for once...

I'm glad I sold mine when I did. The price on them seems to just get lower and lower every week. The 130 market is strange. But I'm not sure you can buy a better car for 8k. I loved the way mine drove.

My 130i sold, so the fun begins...

All driveline stuff removed, exhaust, driveshaft etc

Fluids drained and front end removed

Few extra ancillaries removed and it's just about ready to get yanked out. Still have to disconnect the ECU and wiring stuff but that should be easy.

Love how easy the E46 comes apart

5 hours ago, Eagle said:

I imagine you just drop the whole engine\loom and ecu in from the 330i and away you go after coding. No doubt a few cables and lines to sort out. 

Pretty much. Have to run an extra loom for the AC compressor, and some people say they need an extra wire from the cluster for the battery light but others didn't need that so we'll see. Other than that just the usual manual swap stuff which should be straight forward. Since I'll have the whole engine loom out I might as well modify/run the reverse wiring with the factory harness so it should all be pretty tidy. 

18 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Is the rear sway bar the same profile as a regular E46?. Looking at part numbers they list the same diameter for sport and non sport bars with different numbers. 

Has your car been lowered, looks like it to me?. According to the build sheet you dont have any sport suspension options, seem common to have these with sport seats but nothing else. I see Eibach make compact specific springs and you'd always change dampers.

Not sure how common manual ones are but id put a M44 in one if i could get it cheap enough  

Rear sway bar is compact specific. I have an oem 26.5mm front sway bar specific to the 325ti ready to go on when I do the swap.

My car does have the sport suspension option S338, it's on factory sport springs and shocks. I'll put some Bilstein b6s in it eventually since the shocks are a bit tired.

You do see manual ones come up every so often for pretty cheap but I imagine swapping an M44 is pretty involved, wiring is totally different. N42>M54 is pretty straight forward as long as it's ms43... I hope