wrs

Replaced the original E36 325 brakes with E46 330's. Much betterer...

I've got one out of a cooked engine. Not sure what M54 cams are selling for though.

I've got the S6S420G on a E36 with a 6.5kg single-mass flywheel and never had any restricter (and until now didn't even know it was an option). While I initially found it a bit more challenging and less forgiving than a typical manual (had been driving auto for years) it wasn't at all that bad. What I really like about the box/clutch combo is how easy it is to change when you do drive it like you stole it. At higher RPM (5000-7000) you can just smash it through the gears and it's reasonably forgiving to minor clutch timing errors. What I don't like about it is, if you're not driving it like you stole you it, you have to give gear changes just that little bit extra respect which means slower change times. I really want a DCT...

Went for a short drive down some nice twisty back-roads and ticked over 440,000km's.

Sadly, no, never heard of him but a search of his past activity shows good things. Pity he's no longer here, looks like he's even deleted his username. He does appear to be on instagram but I don't have an account. If anyone here has his contact details or knows him well, would you mind contacting him to see if he wants to help/talk to me? If he's ok with it then maybe he could contact me or you forward his details? My TM auction for the S50 ITB's and plenum has just finished and I'm not going to relist it. I'll hold on to them until I find out if they can be used on a turbo build...

Still trying to find someone who knows about going turbo on BMW engines - there don't appear to be many people/business round NZ that have good experience with modifying them. It's possible the best resource I have is where I work. One of our software engineers has several turbo cars and a R6... The most similar would be his Supra with the 2JZ engine. From what I can see the M50B30 is similar enough to the 2JZ that I might be able to run similar compression, cams and turbos. He's getting over 400kW and races it from time to time at Hamptons... He took me for a ride and it's pretty mental - kind of what I'm looking for. I did briefly consider just buying a complete package. Eg; HellBM has a low km turbo S engine for sale. Stock, they come with a DCT so would be a lot less messing around. It's a lot less fun than doing a build but probably similar in overall cost. I think I want to do a build though, there's just something nice about doing it yourself even if you are just reinventing the wheel. As a result of looking at what people are doing to 2JZ engines I'm starting to get closer to a combo that might work. I'm also considering using S50 ITB's as I have some and ITB's seem to work fine on the 2JZ. I've decided I'm going to do a front bottom mount turbo. It will sit between the chassis rail and engine where the aircon pump used to be. This will keep the heat away from the M52 rocker cover and allow a nicer collector arrangement for the turbo manifold. I'm going to try to make a stainless turbo manifold. It may require a custom engine mount for the exhaust to go under. I'm starting to get ok with stainless tig so I'll give it a crack. I'm going to keep compression as high as possible to help reduce lag. The design will go straight for the target power with little headroom for more. This should maximise throttle response and minimise turbo lag. I'm now targeting 360-370kW but will have a boost limit switch to knock it back to 250kW and 300kW so it's drive-able round town and in the wet. I'm considering buying part of a written-off coupe. Just the driver's side chassis rail and inner-guard so I can mock up the exhaust side of the engine bay. This will allow very accurate fabrication of the exhaust components and if required, an engine mount. I'm also not going to go for what appears to the common trend in most modern turbo cars - get really good boost at low RPM and then stay flat or reduce torque as rpm builds. This gives a good push back in your seat initially and then not much more during gear changes. It's much better refined but I don't really like it. I want to target the traditional older-style M3 torque curve where peak torque is up round 6k rpm. I'll certainly be trying to fill in the bottom end a bit but prefer the raw feel of torque that builds right through the rev range and then a neck wobble as you change gears. For me this is more funner... Not sure how nicely this will work with a DCT though. So not much progress yet, just a lot a research and a little bit of planning. I want to know exactly what I have to do before starting anything (except maybe setting up an engine bay for exhaust development).

Looking for a M50 Alloy Rocker Cover (suitable for Vanos) + the Plastic Covers. The only engine I could find to rebuild was a M50B25TU which has the plastic rocker cover and the oil filler in a different position to the alloy covers. I therefore also need the plastic covers. I'm building a turbo engine so prefer the alloy cover. If I can't find one then I'll have to look at heat shielding instead.

It's apparently standard M3 ride height but the back wheels do have about 25mm of the rubber inside the wheel arch. There's only 5mm gap between the rubber and inside of the guard. It never rubs but must get close when cornering. Looks like there is a difference between 90-93 and 94+ cars. Track: My car: Front/Rear 1418/1431 94 on: Front/Rear 1408/1421 Looks like I'm 10mm overall wider than 94+ cars. The additional 5mm each side could be why yours fit and mine didn't.

I'm running staggered Style 39 (DS2's) on what was a 92 325i coupe. Tyres are Bridgestone RE003, 225/45/17 on the front, 245/40/17 on the rear. They're a noisy tyre but stick real good. They only just fit. Had a go at trying to fit PS4's but the sidewall is fatter (PS4S's not available in this size). The rears won't fit at all (negative gap to the guard) and while the fronts bolt up, rub when turned. Went back to the RE003's...

I've been working towards a replacement engine for the M50B30 build I did about 6 years ago. On that build I don't know what was done with the stroker conversion (done by Sam at HellBM M50B30) - suspect it was just a quick fit of the rotating assembly without using many new parts. This engine has been running really well for over 110,000km's so far. I was going to build a replacement along the same lines but this time with more aggressive cams, porting and ITB's. The current engine makes 220kW @ 6500RPM and 343Nm @ 5500 RPM. The new NA engine might have achieved 270kW... However, an entry level turbo build could easily achieve this and be a much easier build. So, I've now decided to go turbo and knowing nothing about what can and can't be done I'm looking for advice. What I have for what was going to be a NA build is: M50B25 Iron Block (was going to bore this to 86mm and with the M54B30 crank and aftermarket rods and pistons make a M50B32) M54B30 crank (also have rods and pistons but don't expect these to be used for a turbo build) M50B25 crank M50B25 vanos head (although will likely lock the vanos and tune around it) - sick of rebuilding vanos units every 75k's M50B25nv Intake M50B25 Bored TB S50B30 Oil filter housing and cooler S50B30 ITB's + Plenum (currently for sale on Trademe - not anymore...) Link G4+ If the RPM's are kept under 6500, could the M54B30 crank be used to make a M50B30 turbo or am I better to get a M50B28 crank? My target is minimum 320kW from either 2.8L or 3.0L configuration. I'll be doing a fresh build with new bearings and +0.5mm oversize bore. New pistons will be required for the 0.5mm bore and if new rods are required I'll do that too. At this stage all I'm looking for is the best rotating assembly option to be able to reliably make 320kW+ without revving too high (under 6500 for 3L and under 7000 for 2.8L options). Looking to keep compression as high as possible and use less boost. Anyone know ballpark compression requirement and how much boost would be required? Also ballpark boosted rev range on either configuration?

If it's a coupe I could be interested in buying it if the price is right. Wreckers don't seem to be interested in E36 anymore - too old. I'm struggling to find E36 parts so considering buying a suitable parts car. As long as it's has a current warrant and is driveable to Napier - who needs reverse on a long trip...

If you were inclined to part with both, what would it take to secure the ceramic spacers and plenum booty? The alternative is 3D printing using some using the sexy high-temp plastic I have at work... (well, as sexy as plastic gets anyways...)

Hmm, appears these items truly are like rocking horse sh*te... Looks like DIY to the rescue!!!

If it's a s6s420g, how much do you want?

Nice, thanks. It's a really good looking display and just the right aspect ratio for car projects.

That's a nice looking LCD, where did you get it (or is it a render)?

Cool, is this for 1, 2 or the rocking horse poo? If the rocking horse poo, how much, this stuff is like gold and good for trading for almost anything? - It's right up there with crypto-currency!!!

Interested in what a conversion is worth too vs genuine - have no idea. I guess it's what someone else is prepared to pay. Still have my 92 325i to sort of M3 converted E36 but very high km (437k)... Won't be selling it but would be nice to know it's approximate value.

As per the title, I'm looking for: 1. E36 M3 Plenum Boot (goes on plenum and connects to the MAF) 2. E36 M3 ITB Ceramic Spacer Set (6 pieces) (go between the ITB's and block) Does anyone have either or both of these (or some rocking-horse poo)?

I have the 420g and 3.46 LSD medium case diff modified by KBM. I've been spitting out driveshafts which shouldn't happen so wanted to try the M3 CV at the diff end. KBM supplied a M3 rear CV section of driveshaft and a 6 bolt flange from a 535 and gasket which replaces the original E36 medium case 4 bolt flange. Haven't fitted it yet as I want to check the alignment of the current driveshaft as something has to be wrong for the rear uni's to keep failing. The CV won't fear any better if the alignment is wrong... So, a 535 diff flange fits the E36 medium case diff and bolts up to the M3 Evo driveshaft rear CV. To fit everything I'll need a custom driveshaft but should be able to use the existing front section with the 420g connection and front of the rear section with the M3 Evo rear welded just behind the hangar bearing.

Got the rear section from KBM. Also a 5 series input flange to fit to the med-case diff + gasket, grease and locking collar. No red rust - grease all good too. The bearing is just seized, likely due to being too straight - I doubt it's phasing. Happened to 3 rebuilt driveshafts in a row - bearing seizes at the center position after 2-6 weeks. It can be moved with a lot of force but is very tight and clicks back into the center position. I think I'll need to fix the angle/alignment first as using a CV from a M3 won't help at all if there's no angle to create movement of the bearing surfaces.

Thanks for the input. I rebuilt the subframe and replaced every bush and the diff bolt just to be sure prior to fitting the LSD and 2nd driveshaft. The third driveshaft was fully rebuilt and balanced by Driveshaft NZ, both UJ's and centrer hanger. After failure of the third driveshaft and after making this thread I talked to KBM and it's possible I have a phasing issue or misalignment problem. I'm going to give this a go to see if it improves things: replace the diff input flange with a 6 bolt from a 5 series. Rebuild the driveshaft with the M3 CV at the diff end. While I have it all apart I'll check the driveshaft angles and phasing to see if it's too flat. It would good to find the potential cause. If there is a phasing or alignment issue the CV will help hide it. It should be an easy job to just cut the driveshaft and fit the CV, re-balance an refit. If there is an alignment problem I might be able to pack the center hanger mount and/or tilt the diff angle a bit. KBM also commented they've done a lot of cars running much higher torque on standard driveshafts with no problems. I have to have some issue causing the UJ's to seize after a very short time.

Ever since upgrading my engine I've had driveshaft problems. I'm making 343Nm peak torque x the 1st gear ratio gives around 1650Nm on the driveshaft worst case. I have a stock E36 medium case diff style driveshaft with the first section modified for thre S6S420G gearbox. The diff is a 3.46 LSD built by KBM. The universal at the diff end is always the one that fails. It goes stiff and locks up causing a lot of vibration and rumble. Because the driveshaft in the E36 has a straight alignment the roller bearings don't get to move and share the load. I get between 2-6 weeks on a rebuilt driveshaft before it starts to vibrate. I don't know what's killing the universals but want to find a solution. Turbo engine would make far more torque than I am, what is done for the increase on a turbo? Is anyone else having driveshaft problems with the diff uni failing?

I'm running a M50B30 stroker with M54 internals. With M3 US Cams, 3.5mm over-bore on a M50 throttle body, 100mm inlet, MAF delete, pink top injectors, S50B32 Euro headers, no cats and custom dyno tune on a Link G4+ it made 299HP/220kW (@6800) and 343Nm (@5500). With standard cams, cats, standard throttle body it might make 250-255HP with a dedicated tune but unlikely with a tune chip (maybe 240-245). A local guy here got 264Hp on a similar M54B30 engine configuration to yours with S50 headers, no cats (race exhaust (Loud!)) and a Link G4 Storm (same tuner).

Removing the cats will likely create a lot of rasp. I removed my cats and replaced with 50mm tube. Was quite a bit louder and rasped like crazy. It also makes the tin box behind the cats rattle really bad. The tubes going into the cats appear to be 63mm but are dual skinned to keep the temperature high for the cats to work properly. The inner tube is 50mm. Ended up putting 2 x custom made 250mm resonators from AdrenalineR where the cats were and it settled things down nicely. Was still a bit more noisy (but deep sounding) with almost no rasp.