Long time lurker first time poster!

[Oddone 2]

Hi all,

About a 9 months ago I bought a manual '96 e36 323i sunroof sedan in Arctis Grey, and no the sunroof doesn't work properly.

Purchased 17x8 and 17x9 staggered style 32 wheels which rubbed quite hard on the rears so I rolled the guards.

Spent some time at pick a part - found a couple of good scores like an m50 manifold for about $60

I bought and installed Yellowspeed Adjustable suspension because the wheel gap on the front hurt my eyes

The extra stiffness was enough to pop out one of my grills, which was moderately upsetting

Replaced them with some black grills, I'm unsure if I'm going to go back to OEM chrome surrounds as I'm generally a purist when it comes to Aesthetic mods so we'll see how much they niggle my conscience. This is the overall look of the car now, fairly happy with it.

A couple of months ago I bought a manual '92 e36 325is coupe as a donor and have since stripped out the diff, box, block and other goodies. I am in the process of building this engine for a single vanos +T setup to transplant into the 323i. Here are some flicks of the goings on so far!

More to come . . .

Edited September 1, 2015 by Oddone

[328bema 18]

Looking awesome thus far, i assume "Vanos + T" means "turbo"? If so, what transmission setup are you running? Any goals in mind

[Oddone 2]

Yeah a turbocharged M50b25 SV, note last photo of the turbo manifold

I currently have the factory getrag box I think from memory a g220? I have two of them, the one from the 323i was 'one careful lady owner' spec as, with a blown input bearing I believe as I replaced the throw-out bearing and it still rattled really badly in neutral with clutch out but went silent when I disengaged it. So anyway I transferred the 325is donor car box in which is much tighter but still not perfect. At some stage I plan to rebuild the original box with stronger gears currently looking into options - also going to look into ZF boxes but I understand they are rare and $$, also not sure on the bell housing differences (any pro tips appreciated on value, rarity and bell housing match up or lack thereof with zf/getrag)

Also looking at my options diff-wise I have dropped the 325is LSD to my mate to look at sourcing clutch packs and bearings as he has trade accounts, and the diff condition matched that of the gearbox out of the 323i . . . Any info on this or better options very much appreciated!

[Oddone 2]

Goals 350whp+ on a daily tune preset and 400whp+ on full tilt (reliably and with a smooth torque curve)

Edited September 2, 2015 by Oddone

[328bema 18]

Sounds awesome mate, yeah in terms of the power gains, i'd suggest that you sell off the getrag 220's and use the profits to acquire a ZF e36 5spd kit

, cost $1400 ATM from a guy i know in Auckland, getrag 220 won't last long at 400+ WHP. You can comfortably reach 450-540HP using N/V, or Vanos M50B28 Stroked. But running the M50B25 with stock internals will definitely handle the power gains of 350-400. I see you have the internals already out of the engine. Would be the right time to stroke it to 2.8 using M52B28 stock internals, these are already factory forged and easily handle your power goals, much stronger than M50B25 Internals. approx 500-ish HP safely running reasonable boost. Why i mention this is mainly because you will get more out of this build than you probably thought was possible all running stock gear, with small OEM upgrades as mentioned in this reply. There is one other guy on here that finished his E36 coupe, Garrett i think in the forced induction section, quite an impressive job he done, 460-480HP he made with similar setup.

[Oddone 2]

Cheers man, have you got any contact details for this bloke with the ZF 5 spd kit?

Ok so I assume that's crank, pistons and con-rods from a b28 as a stroker? Is there any effective likelihood of sourcing internals alone or would I be looking at buying the whole b28 block?

Thanks again for your interest and advise!

[Oddone 2]

Ticking a few of the last ingredients off the list, now just need injectors and ECU. The engine is waiting on gaskets for assembly - the end is in sight!

HKS T04R Turbo

Decompression plate for ~8.5:1 CR

Bosch 044 Fuel Pump