M3AN E36 M3 PLOG (Project Log)

[Nobimmer 694]

I have a set of E46 inners here that you can come and grab to trial with your E36 outers. I dont think they work to be honest, I have a feeling the E36 outers are too long (similar length to an E30). I would have gone and grabbed some but Gavin was away, I did eyeball them when I was there though and they did look the same length as E30 just with the threads reversed.

I have done the same as you and put a small slit in the *brand new* boots for now and to be fair on a race car they should be fine. I would be keen to find a more permanent solution though. If it comes down to it you could easily drill into the rack and put a couple of barb fittings and some hose in to equalise the pressures in the boots.

I find it weird that there is no info on this online. Maybe people are using old torn boots and not noticing... or just not noticing at all, like you did before i mentioned it to you haha

[M3AN 4016]

Agreed and replied here to keep it all together.

[KwS 2429]

The steering rack was IMO one of the biggest failures of the E36 M3. I always thought it killed the whole enjoyment of the twisties because its was so slow and just not sport like at all. Rather odd considering they did have other, better racks at the time.

Edited April 9, 2015 by KwS

[M3AN 4016]

The steering rack was IMO one of the biggest failures of the E36 M3. I always thought it killed the whole enjoyment of the twisties because its was so slow and just not sport like at all. Rather odd considering they did have other, better racks at the time.

I couldn't go back now that's for sure. I never thought the original was "terrible" but I never thought it was "great" either, the lack of feel on centre is something you get used to (I've had the car for >12 years) but the new rack eliminates that altogether. I've already "forgotten" how heavy this is compared to stock and am rapidly falling in love with it.

Complete head-over-heels love is inhibited by my boot venting problem but I'm comfortable I can solve that and the only thing delaying that is a reluctance to spend more money on parts... I just need to seperate peices I already have, cutting tools come out tomorrow.

[M3AN 4016]

I'm delighted to report I've traced my oil leak back to the VANOS, it's probably quite a straightforward fix (famous last words?).

I thought it was my valve cover gasket and replaced that (and stripped head threads), still leaked but gasket looked like it might be seated incorrectly, removed valve cover again, realigned gasket, clamped down (no stripped threads this time), still leaked .

So today I got brutal with the rags, brake cleaner and degreaser and cleaned the area at the front of the engine up like it was factory new. Sure enough it seems the leak is higher than the gasket and coming from the back of the VANOS unit.

This is good news because only 3 o-rings seal that area, the ones that are being used sat on the shelf for a while and I need to replace them when I swap my VANOS unit back in anyway.

The leak is small, unlikely to get worse, in a 'safe' place and will be fixed shortly. Knowing this gives me confidence to drive it like I stole it and I haven't had that feeling for some time now.

Sweet.

Edit: something I did learn/confirm through this exercise is that 7nm is sufficient torque to lock down the valve cover. 8nm as documented in various web procedures and the BMW TIS stripped threads for me and is not recommended (by me).

Edited April 9, 2015 by M3AN

[dirtydoogle 383]

Loving this thread! Nice to see some fussy buggers like myself out there.

For what it's worth, common causes of snapping rocker cover bolts are,
Oil in the threads, hydrolocking
Alloy and metals having dissimilar heating rates and locking on the threads (stainless is absolutely horrible for this)
Dirty threads
Not super accurate torque wrenches.
It pays to have a few bolts lying around with grooves cut in 'em to chase your threads with
It's always gay when a thread decides it's time to strip!

The steering rack mod excites me a lot, keep up the grouse work man

[M3AN 4016]

...Knowing this gives me confidence to drive it like I stole it and I haven't had that feeling for some time now...

Oh for crying out loud.

Now I have some serious clunking coming from the front end. It's both sides now having rapidly developed from nothing over <50km's. I suspect I've blown out my sway bar end links... I'm not sure it will ever end. Will have to lift the front end up (again) tomorrow to take a look.

Now wishing I had a quick lift like Mark (SweetM3)...

Ordered two new end links (and new tie rod assemblies and boots to fix the rack venting concern). By the time that's all landed, installed and aligned that'll be another $500. Soon this car will be 100% new again, and worth nothing like that much!

[euroriffic 612]

Yea I still have a knocking noise coming from the front but can't pick it. Have already replaced sway bar bushes, links, top mounts, inner/outer rack ends, and rear arm bushes and checked all nuts/bolts, balljoints so all that's left is shocks but seem good. But only does it at lower speeds, not at highway speed so god knows! Drives me nuts!!

Edited April 13, 2015 by euroriffic

[M3AN 4016]

Yea I still have a knocking noise coming from the front but can't pick it. Have already replaced sway bar bushes, links, top mounts, inner/outer rack ends, and rear arm bushes and checked all nuts/bolts, balljoints so all that's left is shocks but seem good. But only does it at lower speeds, not at highway speed so god knows! Drives me nuts!!

I'm heading in that direction... new shocks, springs, sway bar and bushings, links and tie rods/ball joints on the way.

Mine is also only apparent at low speed but has developed rapidly. On Friday it started to happen occasionally and I (think I) isolated it to the right front, but now already with very little mileage it's spread to the left front as well. On this basis alone I can only assume (read: hope) it's sway bar (and not subframe) related.

I'll jack it up tomorrow and check the links... new ones inbound so I might just remove the front bar all together until they arrive. I'll have a sketchy front end but will know if the clunk is gone.

[M3AN 4016]

I learned a few things today:

1. the noise I describe above was definitely coming from the front swaybar end links; and,
2. the car handles like a bus without a front swaybar.

Took the front swaybar and end links out as it seemed the easiest way to be definitive about the clunking even though the balljoints appeared in pretty bad shape. It was pretty clear when I dropped the links how shot they were so it no surprise that the noise was gone when I took it for a test drive. It surprised me more that both sides failed at the same time.

I do not recommend removing your front swaybar as a handling upgrade... It's woeful around corners and tramlines like crazy. New links should be here next week I hope.

Also confirmed with the machine shop that they can cut ventilation groves in my new steering tie rods when they arrive which will be great because I'll have no fitment concerns then.

[M3AN 4016]

Front sway bar end links arrived from FCP Euro today so I put the sway bar back in with those... the ones that came out were dire.

Back to non-bus handling!

Edited May 18, 2018 by M3AN

[M3AN 4016]

As posted in the 'What did you do...' thread I finally got all of the BMW diagnostics and coding software set up on my computer. It's archaic software that's both configuration sensitive and very temperamental and took countless hours to get right.

But I'm there now and am impressed by the amount of information and control it gives you. Just to check the DIS software out I bled the ABS system and ran a VANOS test (passed thank goodness!) which is all quite impressive, activated a few switches and relays, cool.

Cleared all of the historical and shadow codes, took her for a drive and checked codes - zilch!

- can hook this up to any E36 with a 20 pin round connector in the engine bay for those interested in a free scan.

[Herbmiester 931]

Just want to say this is an awesome thread so much information being shared, thanks guys.

[M3AN 4016]

Glad it's appreciated. Water pump replacement and cooling flush next.

[Guest MP0wer]

Don't forget to get a aluminum housing and maybe an aluminum water pump pulley too!

PS: how much were the end links? my car is making some similar noise at low speeds ever since I got my LSD.

[m325i 711]

Water pump replacement and cooling flush next.

Can't be your first one? Metal impeller upgrade?

[M3AN 4016]

Don't forget to get a aluminum housing and maybe an aluminum water pump pulley too!

PS: how much were the end links? my car is making some similar noise at low speeds ever since I got my LSD.

M3 housing is already aluminium, the rest will be upgraded including a new thermostat.

End links were about US$25 each from FCP Euro, obviously shipping on top of that. You can get them in NZ for not much more, I added them to a pre-existing order.

Can't be your first one? Metal impeller upgrade?

This will be my first (my mate's lasted 240k kms) and yes the replacement has a metal impeller. I have no idea what's in there, it's not given me a problem, this is preventative maintenance.

I'm debating whether to remove the front bumper and radiator support to make the job real easy and allow me to really clean up in there or whether that's more of an effort than the job itself? Accessing the 3rd water pump bolt on the S50 is slightly difficult but on the other hand my radiator support may be spot-welded on.

[qube 3570]

hey dave, there are some codes for fcp euro that gives little discounts. do pm me if you want them. its like $10 if over 150 and $15 over 200 or something, not much but still better than nothing.

[KwS 2429]

pull the radiator out, heaps of space then. Easy as too, just remember to remove the oil cooler from the bottom of the rad.

[M3AN 4016]

hey dave, there are some codes for fcp euro that gives little discounts. do pm me if you want them. its like $10 if over 150 and $15 over 200 or something, not much but still better than nothing.

Yep, anything's a bonus, will keep that in mind, thanks Kyu.

pull the radiator out, heaps of space then. Easy as too, just remember to remove the oil cooler from the bottom of the rad.

Yeah, I think I'll start with the radiator and assess from there.

Edited May 8, 2015 by M3AN

[duvey 245]

M3 housing is already aluminium, the rest will be upgraded including a new thermostat.

End links were about US$25 each from FCP Euro, obviously shipping on top of that. You can get them in NZ for not much more, I added them to a pre-existing order.

This will be my first (my mate's lasted 240k kms) and yes the replacement has a metal impeller. I have no idea what's in there, it's not given me a problem, this is preventative maintenance.

I'm debating whether to remove the front bumper and radiator support to make the job real easy and allow me to really clean up in there or whether that's more of an effort than the job itself? Accessing the 3rd water pump bolt on the S50 is slightly difficult but on the other hand my radiator support may be spot-welded on.

Just did this on the 328i. Not a hard job with the radiator out. Especially with the M3's self-bleeding cooling system. If it has the original water pump its a time bomb. Mine failed in the 328i at 170k, and could have very nearly cost me an engine.

[M3AN 4016]

I hope it's easy, BMW procedure (which I won't follow) requires removal of harmonic balancer for access!

[BreakMyWindow 1878]

Good work on getting dis and inpa running! Not the most pleasant set of tasks.

[M3AN 4016]

Cooling System Maintenance

Today I finally started my cooling system 'overhaul' after collecting a number of parts including thermostat, water pump, expansion tank return line, o-rings, gaskets, lots of coolant and distilled water. My radiator hoses look like new so I'm keeping those.

I've never done this before and there are no DIY's out there for the S50B32 and even the BMW TIS articles are pretty useless. It's not complex but some things aren't immediately obvious the first time around.

I'm about 2 hours in (the rest is for tomorrow) and have achieved:

1. Jacked front of car onto stands

2. Removed front and rear underbody covers

3. Removed radiator cover

4. Released expansion tank cap

5. Drained radiator

6. Located block drain plug and drained block (what a mess!)

7. Removed radiator hoses

8. Removed TPS and bracket

9. Removed thermostat and housing

10. Removed hard return line to expansion tank

11. Removed belts and water pump pulley

So I haven't even removed the water pump which seems a silly place to stop but it was just too dark out to continue (and I wanted a beer). I plan to finish up tomorrow.

Some notes:

1. Draining the block in the prescribed manner (Bentley, TIS, web forums etc) makes a total f^%@ing mess! The prescription is - release expansion tank cap -> drain radiator -> drain block. I'll do it differently next time - remove drain plug from block and arrange funnel and bucket (very little coolant should come out because the system is still pressurised) -> release expansion tank cap (block will start to drain rapidly) -> drain radiator.

- Anything wrong with that idea?

2. Clearance on two of the thermostat housing bolt heads is marginal for any socket, impossible for many - test fit your sockets before you start this job.

3. A ratcheting spanner will make removing the block drain plug immeasurably easier.

4. My return line - the hard one that runs up the passenger side of the car to the expansion tank - practically fell apart at the ends as I removed it. I'll investigate this a little more tomorrow to determine how fragile the rest of it is and report back.

5. Coolant tastes quite sweet which surprised me as I thought all man made poisons were required to taste real bad.

Edited May 9, 2015 by M3AN

[M3AN 4016]

I've updated the post above from earlier in the day for folks interested in my cooling system.

On 5/9/2015 at 11:08 AM, BreakMyWindow said:

Good work on getting dis and inpa running! Not the most pleasant set of tasks.

Cheers, you're right. Now with TIS also loaded up on the laptop I made a little trolley for the garage for it out of a beat up old TV cabinet on its side with some nice castors. Now I just clip the laptop into the docking station and I'm away! All the info I need right beside me.

Edited May 18, 2018 by M3AN