Just recently joined bmwcca, here is my 84 318i with a rebuilt 91 m30b35 out of an e32. I used a g260/6 5speed from an e34 535i, and the usual e28 radiator, custom engine mounts, early 325e driveshaft, custom exhaust. After trying out 3 different ratios, I have stuck with the s3.46 for now. The chassis did also get 325i front/rear brakes a while back to get rid of the rear drums. Interior and exterior has changed a few times (had the plastic bumper conversion for a little bit, few different wheels, different interior etc, about 3 or 4 different suspension setups). Total weight of the car as it is right now is 2500lb with half a tank of gas, no driver in the car. LF 703 RF 741 LR 530 RR 526 This is with full interior, no spare, no jack and no a/c compressor (not installed yet). No sound or weight reduction. On 15x6 bbs ra with 205/50 bfg g-force tires, corbeau seats, drum to disk convertion etc. On to the pictures: It looked like this when I first got her, cracked dash, worn interior, drum brakes, ****ty m10 and all, the list was looong. After doing full suspension/interior overhaul it now looked like this for a while (interior is no longer blue though). Replaced the seats, e-brake console/e30m3 boot, dash, front/rear glass, front upper headliner piece and installed e30m3 rear shelf since my car does not have a 3rd brake light to name a few major items...the list is too long.
Euro bumpers/valance/euro fogs. Then finally came the engine swap after the chassis received 325i front/rear brakes, s3.73 diff etc. Out with the old In with the new (fully rebuilt 91 b35) - 211?hp/225ft.lb of torque baby
Bottom end is almost done, re-honed, new rings, new main and rod bearings installed. main bearings / crank in.
I did get the car through a local certification to make sure it's 100% legal so I won't have problems getting it through SMOG/registration every few years. Recently changed the wheels to run wider tires, too bad offset isn't perfect so I couldn't go with 225 wide tires, they are 205/50 15s for now. Also installed HID kit as stock headlights are good at best.
Here is the custom exhaust. 2" tubing before the cat, and then 2 into 1 2.5" after. I am using a cheap magnaflow 11216 muffler. Sounds deep and not very loud up to 3k rpm, after 3k rpm it opens up and is on the loud side. Will possibly replace with longer muffler or add resonator. Front section tac-welded rear section tac welded before clean up
Some goodies that will soon be installed (front valance came from UK) SPAL fan will take place of the a/c fan.
Got the AKG shift arm bushing and e36 to e30 non airbag rack swap hardware for an e36 3.2 lock to lock rack swap My autocross only set of wheels/tires, soon suspension will be re-done as well.
I got the 225/50 Kumho V710 mounted on TireRack 15x8 e30 specific wheels. Fitment is dead on, no rubbing but I am not slammed or anything. 205/50 rt615 vs 225/50 v710 rear fitment front fitment
Finally a few of the interior, since it is my daily drive for now. Ran the wiring for the map light mirror down the passenger a-pillar, tapped into the glove box light wiring. Got the interior delay kit / relay from George Graves, installation was super easy, hightly recommend this kit! Added the wiring for the 6-button obc/clock, I got tired of the analog clock and wanted to try something else (now I just need to get/install the temp sensor). Fixed my trunk light (wire was cut by the trunk hinge mechanism lol), and added a second light while I was there. Pretty easy and popular mod, nothing new. Another thing I did was upgraded the rear tweeters to silk dome type, these are stock bmw tweeters used in some (late model) 5 and 7 series cars. Now my rear speakers sound better than the front, DOH! And finally, replaced my glove box and aligned it a little better so I don't have to slam it to close it. What a pita! On to the pictures: Replaced the fuel gauge face last week, as I was pulling the cluster to check/try something...
Replaced the keyed glovebox latch with keyless one. I like the look more, and it just looks cleaner imho.
The trunk liner is next to install, the clips are a real pita though... broke a couple of them in the process. Still need to also align the sunroof panel, replaced the gaskets but it still leaks a bit, pita. And would love to find 318i trunk carpet, the late model stuff does not fit right.
Jean! Glad you posted up your prior projects/progress with the car. Guess I never really saw any of your threads prior to the M30 swap thread.
Thanks! It's not any heavier than the 24v swaps, there is lots of wrong info about the weight of the engines out there. It's shoved as far back as possible (about 1/4" of room between the engine and firewall). I am going to move the battery towards the back of the car and also corner balance once I switch back to coilovers. mooseheadm5 - thanks! I actually had a glass moon roof, but since my car has manual top I didn't feel like converting it all to power etc.
Looks like I'll be missing the first autocross this weekend, as I just ran out of time to get everything ready for it. Hopefully I'll have it ready before next round, April 10th/11th. On the to do list (parts on hand, just need to get it installed): - e36 3.2ltl steering rack swap - 21mm front swaybar - fresh booster + 25mm master - rebuilt front calipers, new pads and fluid New gc rates have been picked and built ready to be installed. Items still left to purchase: - bigger re-valved shocks for my 2nd set of strut housings. - camber plates I "THINK" this is it, in terms of mechanical stuff.
Nothing went as I planned today....m-tech front valance still has layers of paint to sand. At least rear is ready for paint.. Today I started on suspension overhaul (again) and ran into a few problems. First things first. I got a set of modified strut housings and new gc kit (550f/675r) and need to get re-valved inserts. To do this I borrowed a set of stock front struts to put on the car. Everything went well until I found out my strut housings are shorter than stock and will now require more work for it all to function etc. Old thin strut housings be gone- off the shelf inserts can only do so much with stiff rates... old vs new
The "uh oh" moment... gotta love it when the front hubs don't come out in one piece.... my non abs front hubs are good so I wanted to save them. I will still use these and replace with new when they start giving me any problems.. Bilstein Sports ready for repair/ work So, I ended up using a borrowed set of strut housings with gc kit for now. Tomorrow I am going to pull a set of rear shocks to put on the car and send the bilsteins for repair and re-valve job. I am not sure now what I'll do with the modified strut housings, hopefully it will all work out. All I have left to get now is a set of camber plates and aftermarket rear shocks mounts and it should be good to go.
