Hi all, just thought I’d share my new project.
I’ve had loads of e36’s but never a compact. A friend of mine had a 2.5 converted one which was really good fun and I’ve always fancied one so the hunt was on.
It’s going to be purely a fun 3rd car. I was after a non-sunroof, clean, never welded, non Msport model. Easier said than done until I found this on eBay
A genuine 1 lady owner from new, never welded, 37k miles from new 316i auto with a whole 75bhp in the most Grandad spec available. Absolutely perfect. Even came with a fresh mot. Bonus.
I already had an engine as I was going to put it in my touring but I never really fell for the touring so selling it to my brother.
It’s an m52b28 which i’ve heard running
I’ve also been parts collecting.
M50 manifold which I bought with the fitting kit and big bore throttle body
The 2.8 is slightly strangled from the factory and fitting the m50 manifold can usually free up some ponies.
Also bought an M3 clutch and Driftworks lightweight flywheel which is only 5.4kg compared to the 11kg dual mass fitted as standard.
Other bits not pictured are a metal thermostat housing as the plastic ones can get brittle and leak, lower temperature thermostat, new metal impeller water pump, new coolant hoses, and a new Hella radiator for an aircon car as it’s bigger. Also waiting on my polyurethane engine and gearbox mounts to be delivered.
This morning I posted my ecu off to Enda Ward of EndTuning for the ews removal, remap and rev limiter raise to 7.2k rpm. Talking to him he reckons I should see around 230bhp with the map, inlet manifold and throttle body which will be a lot of fun in an 1150kg compact.
The diff I think will be well too short ratio being a 4.44 as it’s auto but later on I will look into an lsd from either an e30 or z3. At least the acceleration will be a bit mental.
I should be dropping it down to my mates workshop next Sunday for him to get cracking. An engine conversion is a bit beyond my skillset plus he owns a working garage so it’s a lot easier when you have ramps and all the tools.
He will have to fab up the exhaust going from the twin 2.8 decatted into single and for now a Hornet bomb backbox which will probably be way too loud but I can always add a box later to quite not down.
The plan is to keep it a sleeper, looking standard on steels but I might upgrade them to 16 inch just so I got slightly wider tyres.
Will sort the suspension with a subtle drop and I’ve also bought some 328 front callipers and carriers so I can bin the solid discs.
Will keep this updated as and when stuff happens
I’ve had loads of e36’s but never a compact. A friend of mine had a 2.5 converted one which was really good fun and I’ve always fancied one so the hunt was on.
It’s going to be purely a fun 3rd car. I was after a non-sunroof, clean, never welded, non Msport model. Easier said than done until I found this on eBay
A genuine 1 lady owner from new, never welded, 37k miles from new 316i auto with a whole 75bhp in the most Grandad spec available. Absolutely perfect. Even came with a fresh mot. Bonus.
I already had an engine as I was going to put it in my touring but I never really fell for the touring so selling it to my brother.
It’s an m52b28 which i’ve heard running
I’ve also been parts collecting.
M50 manifold which I bought with the fitting kit and big bore throttle body
The 2.8 is slightly strangled from the factory and fitting the m50 manifold can usually free up some ponies.
Also bought an M3 clutch and Driftworks lightweight flywheel which is only 5.4kg compared to the 11kg dual mass fitted as standard.
Other bits not pictured are a metal thermostat housing as the plastic ones can get brittle and leak, lower temperature thermostat, new metal impeller water pump, new coolant hoses, and a new Hella radiator for an aircon car as it’s bigger. Also waiting on my polyurethane engine and gearbox mounts to be delivered.
This morning I posted my ecu off to Enda Ward of EndTuning for the ews removal, remap and rev limiter raise to 7.2k rpm. Talking to him he reckons I should see around 230bhp with the map, inlet manifold and throttle body which will be a lot of fun in an 1150kg compact.
The diff I think will be well too short ratio being a 4.44 as it’s auto but later on I will look into an lsd from either an e30 or z3. At least the acceleration will be a bit mental.
I should be dropping it down to my mates workshop next Sunday for him to get cracking. An engine conversion is a bit beyond my skillset plus he owns a working garage so it’s a lot easier when you have ramps and all the tools.
He will have to fab up the exhaust going from the twin 2.8 decatted into single and for now a Hornet bomb backbox which will probably be way too loud but I can always add a box later to quite not down.
The plan is to keep it a sleeper, looking standard on steels but I might upgrade them to 16 inch just so I got slightly wider tyres.
Will sort the suspension with a subtle drop and I’ve also bought some 328 front callipers and carriers so I can bin the solid discs.
Will keep this updated as and when stuff happens
you could get the steelies banded to keep the stock look but improve traction?
