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Creaver

540iA -> 540iM + rear subframe bushes

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The drag link I have is longer than the one which I pulled out of the car. So the front wheels are pointing inward towards the engine (I think that's toe in? haha)

Once I get it fully drivable I will pop by and compare.

Thanks Brent

will be e32 then , normally stamped "e32" or "e34" at one end of them

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f**k YEAH!

All my (and my mates) hard work has come to fruition!! Took it for a 10min spin around my neighbourhood, I am very pleased.

Words cannot describe how happy I am :D

Only took it easy, but my god it's awesome. A few small issues to sort for WOF (light bulbs etc) but it's going!!!!!

:D :D :D :D :D :D

I also want to say a HUGE Thanks to everyone who has helped me/supplied parts and information.

There are too many to mention, but you ALL know who you are :).

Thankyou.

Edited by Creaver - STOK3D

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Great job Ian-I had the recent pleasure of a couple of snots in Si's beast - I feel your joy :D

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Thanks guys :).

She runs sweet as! I am OHHH so happy I did all the maintenance while she was out of action. Have the obvious 'trans program' error, but will have a chat to Ross at BM Workshop to remove this and recode the DME to a manual one (like he did to his converted 540i).

The only thing I can think of which I havn't replaced (mechanically, apart from a new engine) is engine mounts (to be done soonish) and wheel bearings haha!

There is a slight issue where I think I might have put the shifter linkage connector (thing at back of gearbox which the linkage goes through) upside down when replacing the selector shaft seal and this is rubbing against something. When I attempt to go for 1/2 or Reverse I feel a vibration as if it's rubbing against something (driveshaft??)

I had four people in the car (including myself) and gave it a little juice in 2nd (going easy on the clutch and not changing gear while revs are high or accelerating when clutch isn't fully engaged) and it goes quite well :).

A full costing will be sorted in the days to come for those interested. A quick guesstimation is that the conversion was done for less than 5k (not including the maintenance carried out on other parts of the car).

...and compulsory videos are planned once it has a current WOF :)

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great work .

good to hear you got it all going .

yes sounds like the shifter rod is upside down etc .

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All good things take time and a hell of alot of patience.... great work Ian

BTW: was a pleasure to be able to help out :D

Edited by *Glenn*

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The bad news - my car almost caught on fire and all my hard work wasted

The good news - the smoke helped me locate a contact that had been causing all my light issues!! About 6months ago I removed a cassette holder which goes in the centre console between passenger and drivers seat. There were 2 f**king wires which were connected to this and both were not insulated. What caused it to smoke at the exact moment we were replacing the washer fluid we have no idea...but bloody lucky it happened when it did!

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Replaced a few bulbs which were blown, and because of the previous issue the remaining lighting issues were resolved! Hooray!!

Took her for a quick drive on the motorway to manukau and back home. Shimmy is almost gone (another good job!!). I'm hoping a decent alignment tomorrow will make it dissappear for good (cross fingers!).

After alignment i'm off to get a WOF!!.....with everything basically replaced on the car I don't see a reason for it to fail????????????????????

Edited by Creaver - STOK3D

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Huge effort man :)!

What z3 shifter did you end up going with and how are you finding it?

Edited by crazyarab

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Mike - We only had a small bit of smoke pouring from the centre console, very lucky!

Atta - I ended up going with a 1.9 shifter. It's short, but not too short and much notchier than the standard one. I quite like it.

I have a picture somewhere with the difference in lengths that I will post at some point.

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Righto.

Alignment - check.

WOF - check.

Driving for the last 5 and a half hours to 'wear in clutch' - check.

Enjoying every minute of the 5 and a half hours - check!

:)

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My observations so far.

I don't know how this is possible - but the exhaust seems louder than it was as an auto? (maybe a bit more application on the loud pedal? lol)

The engine loves to rev all the way to the redline. Previously with the auto, once it got to about 4.5k the pull would remain constant, now it pulls harder past this point to 6250.

The short shift is wonderful. The z3 1.9 is a direct fit and IMO is a great addition.

I havn't put all of the sound insulation/covers back on yet, but it gets quite hot in the cabin (shifter hole in trans tunnel still open apart from rubber boot) and there is quite a bit more noise from the engine bay heard in the cabin.

The rear is much more stable/solid. Previously when jacking the car up on the side (using jacking points) the rear wheels would both remain on the ground while the front was lifted. Now I can raise the entire side of the car when I do this. I used to have a squeak which would come from the rear when you went over a big bump or pushed the rear down, this has now gone.

The idle is much smoother as well as engine response...just need to replace those engine mounts.

I am very happy with the result.

Who's keen on hampton downs/pukekohe in the next month or two? :D

Will try and get some vids tonight or over the weekend, sounds glorious!

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Guest Simon*

It will certainly be a different car

Maybe you're just imagining more noise because of the fact you can get to redline? :D Plus the faster spin up with new clutch/flywheel perhaps?

There's two playday events for Taupo track 1 coming up, plus some at Hamptons ones too.

I'd be keen to compare your shortshifter given the chance

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good work man. glad to here its worked out well.

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It will certainly be a different car

Maybe you're just imagining more noise because of the fact you can get to redline? :D Plus the faster spin up with new clutch/flywheel perhaps?

There's two playday events for Taupo track 1 coming up, plus some at Hamptons ones too.

I'd be keen to compare your shortshifter given the chance

No problem about the short shifter. Feel free to let me know next time you're in Aucks.

I will check out the playday website now.

Cheers Kerry, I can't wait to see how your project turns out :)

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Ian well done on the conversion, high's and lows for you. With the conversion to manual trans/ lightened flywheel etc what weight lose do you think you obtained?.

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Awesome. I love electrical fires, had the same thing happen to me after I did mine.

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Allan - I would say approx 60-70kg maybe a bit more? The manual gearbox I can lift by myself (average build guy). However the auto is a STRUGGLE with two people....and we were only trying to move it about 8m from one garage to another at my house!

The weight difference in the flywheel alone is about 9kg based on THIS

My job over the weekend is to clean the girl up and attempt to put some of the trim back together etc (and work on some vids :))

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Thanks Ian that is about the weight of an average person then 80kg's. If you can remove that amount of weight from a e34 by a trans swap. It begs the question is how much more weight could be removed with out compromising the ride/handling quality and road noise factor not only e34's but any BMW model for that fact.

The ability for the car to rev out easier do you feel is due to the flywheel/trans set up, engine work you did or the sheer thrill now it's a manual and I'm going for it?.

How do you find the gear spacings, zero to red line 1st , second red line etc

Would be very interested if you notice any change in your fuel consumption either way?

Happy miles ahead and well done once again

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