Upgrading a 318ti

[Anunzis81 32]

Hi Guys, 

 

I will be writing one quick post (possibly a day or so) with the upgrade and a picture where possibly. Today's "episode", the introduction:

First of all I'd like to mention that I am originally from Argentina. Back there we have cars which are Left hand drive, hence, some of the nicer things in europe, can go straight to market and in this case, I am talking about the E36/5 323 ti, which I had the pleasure to own for a couple about a year in 2012 after some japanese cars. It was a 2000 model with the M52B25, 5 Speed manual and if I don't recall incorrectly, pulled 168 HP, in a very german titansilber. Sorry I don't have any picture.

I've always loved that shape so when I got to New Zealand, I bought the closest I could get, hence, my first 318ti just 3 days after arriving here. Bear in mind that I paid 12.000 USD for the 323ti, but for the 318ti I paid 1500 USD, so, it was a lot of bang for the buck which I didn't expect.
That was just a blue 318ti with about 230 something thousand kilometres, sunroof, automatic and nothing further. Just to take you from A to B.

Some time went by, other BMWs went by (E90, E46) but a Compact in blue estoril was always in my mind, which didn't happen back in Argentina with the 323s but it did here with the M44 engine.. until a day in May 2018 I found him. A 1998 318ti in blue estoril with sunroof. Everything I wanted was there, waiting for me, and so I went. Paid 4000 NZD (Which I know, way too much) but with only 72.00 Kms, and pretty well maintained, I went for it anyway.

Here he is as he was bought...

 

I'll continue later with the first mods.

 

 

[Olaf 3328]

Bienvenidos @Anunzis81!  Esta es un azul muy bonita.

[KwS 2425]

As much as im not a fan of the TI, i wont lie, I kinda like them in MSport spec in Estoril Blue. It just works.

What are the "mods" planned?

[Anunzis81 32]

17 hours ago, Olaf said:

Bienvenidos @Anunzis81!  Esta es un azul muy bonita.

Gracias Olaf!!

 

12 hours ago, KwS said:

As much as im not a fan of the TI, i wont lie, I kinda like them in MSport spec in Estoril Blue. It just works.

What are the "mods" planned?

There are a couple.. the major, M54B30..

[Anunzis81 32]

Ok so, after I got it, I enjoyed it a little bit but of course, the 1.8 in auto, is just a slug on wheels, so my mind was already racing on what to do... The option I liked the most was the N55, which I saw a guy from the US that did it, but he had to hammer the frame for the turbo to fit... of course that would be a big no from the certifier here in NZ. Budget and technology made me go with the M54B30 which is already done, but that will come later on. 

The first modification was an easy one. Wheels. Got myself a nice set of Sunflowers 2 and put them one day in October 2018. I got them from a guy who had an e36 Turbo M3, and he had the same but had them painted in Gunmetal grey. Boy they looked awesome, but I decided to stick with the factory grey. 

That made a massive change in the car. 

Below the Before and After

 

[Anunzis81 32]

Oh the good times.. Had the Merc, the boat, but that is all gone now. Just the bimmer and the nissan leaf. According to the Auckland Council forecast, I am already living in 2035, as they expect that in 15 years, the average household would have 1 electric car and 1 petrol car. I gotta say, I'd happily change the leaf for a Tesla Model 3 or a Jaguar IPace, but the bimmer will stay. (Edit, I follow a couple of Electric car blogs and I have to say, I F**ing hate when they refer to the Tesla Model 3 simple as "M3", hell no, Call it Mod.3 #3, but not M3, M3 is just another thing... Sorry for the rant)

After another couple of months, the mirrors were the next mod... I just couldn't stand to see those beautiful wheels (yes, the curbing will be addressed sometime) but the rectangular mirrors... they HAD to be the M3 ones, but being a compact, only Sedan and Convertible works if I'm not wrong, not the coupe, so, quite tricky. Again, some time later a pair appeared, they were some sort of black and after an afternoon of sanding, priming, panting, sanding, painting my hands, painting the mirrors and so, finally, M3 mirrors in a fairly decent termination for it to be a home made work by a non paint professional.. By the way, some context, I work on IT now but I went to a science school, not sure how it would be here in NZ, but when I was 13 (26 years ago) we were taught how to use a lathe, electricity, and some welding, plus we learned the very first things on CAD, so, I get around with some craftmanship.

With the mirrors, this started to look way more nicer.

 

I'll follow up with the first time he "ran" Hampton downs.

Edited July 12, 2020 by Anunzis81

[Anunzis81 32]

Alright, so, today, a short story about the day I've give it a go in Hampton Downs. 

It wasn't a track day, even less a race (doesn't have the cage nor nothing like it) but it was one of those caffeine and cars events they held every last sunday of the month, in which you can do a Sunday Drive, not overtaking, but if you leave enough room, you can get some speed.. with a decent engine and gearbox, you could do much more but with the auto, 150 at the main straight was all I got, and hammer on the brakes as the 1st turn is right there... Here are some pics, and it was a nice drive to see what it could do. Now there is no point of comparison as engine, suspension and   gearbox are completely different, but let's see how much more I manage to go on that straight (if possible).

 

That was April last year.. Two months later was when I went to Wellington to pick up the new car.

Stay tuned.

[Anunzis81 32]

Hey Guys, Been sick hence left this on the side. 

Short story today, on June 2019 made 23 hours in a row with my brother in law and a mate to go a pick up a 2001 330i Wagon manual, which will be the donor for the project... just some pictures for fun.

Quick bit in Papakura's BP.

Freaking cold in Turangi

Nice sunrise somewhere between Palmy and Welli.

Yay!! Car is mounted!!!

Arrived home safe and sound and meeting the it's new chassis.

[Anunzis81 32]

Hi Guys, below on when I started dismantling the E46

Started in August 2019, with a hard deadline as the driveway was to be removed, started pulling parts out when I came back from work, in the carport, hence, night time, cold, but anyways, had to do it so, off we go.

While on it, did the maintenance you can such as gaskets, fluids, injectors, hoses, etc.

 

[Anunzis81 32]

Hey guys, sorry for not writing anything in a long time. 

This Tuesday, I finally got the car roadworthy! The week before I had the certification done but got delayed with the WOF.

Currently, it is running the 4.44 auto differential, hence the max speed will be 166 at 6200 rpms.. that is short! If anyone has a small case LSD 3.23 or 3.45 diff to sell, I am happy to hear your price.

Back to the time line and some pictures, Last yeas I was lucky enough to go visit my family twice (September and October) and then there was some construction, so the tear down of the E36 started in December 8th 2019... with the summer around, it was a nice moment to get some sunburns working on the car.

December 22nd I've managed to remove the old M44 engine and by January 25th I was presenting the M54B30 into the chassis. Remember that I kept working 9 to 5 in a completely non-related industry, so, working only after hours, weekends, but also enjoying the wonderful landscapes NZ has to offer, so although the project didn't have the speed I wanted, I wasn't going to burn myself on it.

Jan 26th with the engine mounted I started the measurements for the driveshaft, and the modification of the joint, driveshaft hoops installations, etc. The guys at ADL did an excellent work

Meanwhile I had to ship the DME to the US to have it re-programmed and the harness sent to connect the OBDI chassis withthe OBDII engine, and by March 25th, the engine was "running", and thatwas already under lockdown... so my birthday (March 29th) I spent it working on the car, as well as that endless month of march, in which I decided to go with a set of XYZ coilovers and the next day,  it was June 20th (Where did all these days went?), so, took it to a proper workshop (Pit Stop Albany, with Nathan, another crack who helped me a lot on this), and did the bits and bobs that I was not able as it was winter, wouldn't be working on the floor, or didn't have the proper tools..so, they purged the brakes, aligned the wheels, did the exhaust and put a very nice sounding Adrenalin-R Muffler (see the instagram video) and then, off to the certifier... failed but just for a couple of details, nothing major, which I had the guys at pit stop working on it again, the freaking airbag light decided to make an appearance but given it was a custom work, a trip to the electrician (Gareth from GT Electric in Glenfield, another superstar) and then, August 26th the LVVTA plate was issued, and then, back to the warrant this tuesday...

I don't know who will read this of them but like I said, Gareth from GT electric, managed to get the cabling fixed in less than a week, and charged me next to nothing, Pit Stop Albany, Nathan did a really good work, Brent from BM World gave me a good guidance the times I went (would love to get the compressor but not in my budget now haha). and will probably be forgetting somebody else, so, sorry for that.

I wanted to get more details but don't have pictures of everything, or they would need too much explanation. If anybody has a question on how I fixed this or that, I am more than happy to reply below to keep track.

By the way, I designed an LED circuit to replace the silly 12v lamp for the heater lights... I'll be testing that out and let you know how it goes if anyone wants to try it out.

 

I'll be uploading more stuff into my instagram https://www.instagram.com/bmwupgradeproject/

Next Sunday, will try Hampton Downs in the caffeine and gasoline run with (hopefully) some telemetry from Track Addict.

[hunter 408]

Awesome work mate - well done.

[Statek 87]

Awesome work! I'm progressing much, MUCH slower on conversion but I will probably end up reaching out to you when the time comes.

Don't stop now!

[Anunzis81 32]

9 hours ago, Statek said:

Awesome work! I'm progressing much, MUCH slower on conversion but I will probably end up reaching out to you when the time comes.

Don't stop now!

Thanks! No, definitely not. 

I am already looking at some crown and pinion to change the diff ratio as 3.23 in LSD is "a unicorn" as I've been told, and also, I have a weak spot with the Apex Arc 8's... so, next thing will be the diff, some maintenance as the steering pump which is noisy (probably crooked) and reinstating the air conditioner. After that, Apex and maybe turbo.. not sure about that yet. I want it to reach somewhere the 300 or 350 hp mark so turbo or mechanical compressor will be down the line but not sure when the CFO will approve that hahaha.

Yeah, shoot a message, I'm not a master of it but if I can help you to save some time and headaches, will be happy to do so.

 

Cheers

[Anunzis81 32]

9 hours ago, hunter said:

Awesome work mate - well done.

thanks!

 

Not sure what happened with the video but it is here

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE3z1iTpZ5L/