Nov. 9, 2005 - Last post here

I've moved the blog to a new address:  http://www.bavarianfalcon.com/falconblog/

First off, I want to thank Roadfly, I think they've setup something pretty cool here and wish them the best of luck.

There's a bit of irony to me being here though. 

I had used the free Roadfly hosting space to store pics of my car and host my "mod list" page. When I read that they were shutting down the free storage and moving to the blog format, I finally got off my ass and got serious about some paid web hosting, and even got my own domain.  And since I figured I was paying for it (and had a LOT more than 3mb of storage..more like 4800mb), I whipped up a full-on website (instead of just the HTML page I had here).

But visiting Roadfly several times during the process to see what files I needed to move or relink, I took at look at the Roadfly Blog setup.  Never having officially blogged before, I was intrigued, and went about setting up my own Roadfly blog.  It was easy, and it was fun, and in a matter of hours I had this page setup.  Cool stuff.  I was hooked, blogging was something I wanted to keep doing.

Then I discovered that my shiny new hosting service also had a very easy to setup blog, and it'd be linked to my domain name (which appealed to me), and under my complete control, so I went through the process of hand-converting this blog to that blog, which didn't take long.  That page is up and running now, and I think it's a bit silly not to mention redundant to try to keep two blogs live, so I'm gonna let this one die.

I think there's some good info in this blog for anyone interested in my conversion process, so as long as Roadfly is cool with it, I'll leave it up, and I want to thank them for hosting my stuff for years for free, and for introducing me to the ease of blogging and once again wish them (and all of you) the best of luck with the Roadfly Blogs.

Once again, here's the link to my new page:

http://www.bavarianfalcon.com/falconblog/

Nov. 6, 2005 - "Tap tap tap...is this thing on?"

Ok, this is my first REAL post on this blog.  All the posts before this are pulled from my "old fashioned" website journal.  I was cool before I knew it was cool, I guess.

Anyway, I'll be updating on a semi-regular basis with info on the car, news, thoughts, and whatever else I feel like.

Feel free to comment (good or bad) about the project, and I suggest you start with the first entry and read it forward.

Thanks

-Croak

Jul. 16, 2005 - FMHE testing

Jun. 22, 2005 - "The first step is admitting you have a problem..."

May. 30, 2005 - A BBK in May, and a trip to Bimmerfest 2005

Apr. 7, 2005 - "All dressed up...."

Mar. 11, 2005 - "Red means STOP, asswipe!"

Jan. 16, 2005 - I think I made the big leagues!

Jul. 16, 2004 - Cool her down, speed her up

Jun. 28, 2004 - The Sleeper awakes...or at least starts to advertise a little.

Jun. 21, 2004 - 993, Stradale...and me.

Little video excerpt of me trying to keep up with my employer’s brand new 360 Challenge Stradale and some stranger in a 911 (993) Turbo.  I'm pretty happy, considering a 360CS is rated at 425HP at the crank, but I KNOW I'm not making the power I should be.

993, Stradale, and me

Apr. 5, 2004 - 296.4 RWHP, 259.8 RWTQ..something ain't right

Well, did the dyno, it's not very encouraging, extremely rich in the midrange and the whole chart is "lumpy".  It's still powerful, but it could be a damn sight better, especially for a 10 PSI setup.  I was hoping for 320-340 at the wheels, and came up very short.  Looks like I need to find a different tuning solution. 

The only good news is that it should be fairly safe to drive like this for awhile, as rich as it is.

Apr. 2, 2004 - "Ok, just one MORE bump, then I'm done..promise..."

Mar. 12, 2004 - "This is how we roll..."

Feb. 17, 2004 - My picture is next to "Impusle Buyer" in Webster's

Feb. 6, 2004 - "Just gonna do this one little bump, then I'm done..."

Jan. 7, 2004 - Doing meth..(the injection kind, not the controlled substance kind)

Since our last visit, I've installed an Aquamist 2d water injection system. I'd almost classify this a "must-have" for a supercharged BMW that has to run 91 octane gas.

While power with the supercharger was great, it did get heat soaked after awhile. This caused a noticeable drop in power (but the car was still MUCH quicker heat soaked that it was without the blower).

The problem with Vortech supercharger kits on an E36 is that there's just not much room to install a front mount intercooler, and the kit that is available is over $2000.

RMS makes an air to water aftercooler that is much more compact, but it's also very pricy, over $2000.

So, if you want charge cooling at a reasonable price, that leaves water injection. For around $400 you can get the basic Aquamist setup, for a bit more you can get the more tunable 2d setup.

I lucked out and got a great deal on a used 2d setup from MitchP, a Bimmerforums member, and installed it over the weekend.

First off, the install wasn't as easy as I had assumed. I'm picky about my engine bay, so I wanted a very clean and very unobtrusive installation. This meant getting a bit funky with where to place the pump and how to route the hoses and wiring.

I ended up placing the pump behind my relocated charcoal canister (look at my SC install picture, the canister is the horizontal can near the passenger firewall), along with the relay and pressure manifold.

The used kit came with a baby blue accumulator that just looked awful in my mostly black/CF/aluminum engine bay. Luckily, Jim Powell had some magic paint remover that stripped it down to the bare aluminum in a matter of minutes, and a few coats of primer and satin black had it looking good enough to go on the car.

Once I had the big hardware mounted, I went on to modify my windshield washer reservoir to serve double duty, supplying water to the wipers and the Aquamist system. The stock tank is 2.5 L, and with aggressive driving and early spraying, it might not be large enough for prolonged use.

So, I had ordered a 5 liter tank, which is used on E36's with headlight washers. I plugged the hole where the headlight washer pump goes, drilled a new hole in the bottom for the feed line, installed the fitting, gooped on liberal amounts of silicon, and reconnected the original washer pump and tank sensor. I ran the feed line along the right fender, same route the windshield washer line takes, and then back past the battery tray, where it connected to the Aquamist pump.

The feed section is white tubing, I plan on switching that to black tubing in the future so it blends in better.

Then I had to drill and tap a hole in the supercharger kit's discharge tube to accept the Aquamist nozzle. This threw us a curve because it calls for an M8x.75 tap. That's an unusual size, and nobody locally had one. I ended up using an M8x1.0, which has slightly coarser threads, but it works fine as long as I don't plan on taking the nozzle out frequently.

Water and power lines were ran from the battery tray area to the fuse box area, sneaking them under the cowl wiring loom. There's a 3" long silver high speed valve that's actuated by the Aquamist controller that I mounted near the brake booster area.

Then I had to tee off a vacuum line to the boost sensing pressure switch. No big deal, I'd already tee'd a line for the supercharger bypass valve, so I just tee'd again there. Mounted the pressure switch low on the inside of the driver's fender bulge, nice and out of the way.

Last but not least, I had to mount the FIA2 fuel injector amplifier/WI controller. This I double-sticked onto the side of the fuse box.

Wiring was fun, tapped the line on the fusebox for 12+, tapped into the fuel pump fuse for switched power, and grounded off one of the chassis bolts near the Aquamist pump.

Then I had to tap into the fuel injector lines (the 2d system sprays water based on the fuel injector duty cycle), run that wiring back to the FIA2, run another set of wires to the high speed valve, and two more to the pressure switch.

Once all that was done I put all the wires in flex loom to further hide them, and connected the water line to the nozzle.

Total time was hard to tell, since I spread the job over three days due to working Saturday and going to a local BMW meet on Sunday, and just plain procrastination.

After it was all installed and running, I wished I hadn't taken so long. There's a noticeable improvement in power even when the car is cold. This is because water injection reduces or eliminates detonation, and this allows the computer to keep timing advanced to make more power.

And the power stays constant. Running the living piss out of the car for half an hour used to be a guarantee for heat soak and power loss. Not now. Car pulls strong all the time, there's not even a hint of detonation, and to me it feels like the car is happier. It feels much smoother at higher RPM's, and even sounds a bit different. I have the system set to start spraying water at 3.5 PSI, which is right around 4k RPM. I may back it off a little once I get it on a dyno so I can fine tune it.

If you're thinking about forced induction, be sure to add an Aquamist system to your list, it's well worth the money.

Next on the list? I have a smaller supercharger pulley sitting here, good for about 1 to 1.5 more pounds of boost, which translates into somewhere between 15-30 more horsepower. With the Aquamist I'm less worried about running it, and plan on installing it this weekend.

After that, she goes on the dyno to see where I'm at. 

Dec. 11, 2003 - Who needs NAAAAWWWWSSS?

Took the old girl to the drag strip today

Pleased and dismayed at the same time.

Best run was a 13.379@107.13

Best trap was 108.76, on a 13.683 run

Looks like I need to work on my 60 ft if I keep dragging the car, my best was 2.150.

I did 9 runs, and 6 of them were at 36 PSI in the tires, my goal was to see how it did in street trim. I even left the subwoofer in the trunk. I finally ran them at 30 PSI and picked up the 13.379 from my previous best of 13.428.

Worst run was a 14.056, with lots and lots of wheel hop and then a bang off the rev limiter.

1/8th speeds were oddly almost always the same, 84.2xx MPH.

Anyway, looks like the power is there, I was hoping to get closer to 110 traps, but with my driving skill (this is the first time I've been on the strip in a manual in like 15 years) I figure that's about as close as I'm gonna get now. Car smells like burnt clutch, too.

This was at Carlsbad Raceway, 300ft elevation, 68 degrees, Pilot Sports on Doublespoke II's.

I was the only BMW there.  Hell, I was the only European car there. Lots and lots of Mustangs and Integras, a few F bodies, one C5, and a whole gaggle of 350z's that were there doing some sort of magazine thing. Everyone was suitably impressed, but I know my lack of skill (and desire to keep the car in "street trim") made the numbers worse than they could have been.

This was on 91 octane Chevron pump gas, by the way.   

Nov. 29, 2003 - "One HELL of a blow-job..."

Two weeks ago, I assisted Jim Powell in the installation of a Dinan SC in his M Roadster, and it went pretty well, with almost no problems. Whole job, start to finish, took 10 hours clock time, probably about 8.5 hours in actual time, as we learned our way around the install.

Being the optimist that I am, I assumed that my install would take less time, since we'd been through the process once, and I thought I had more room to work in my E36.

So we go and pick up the kit on Wednesday afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving. Just on a hunch, I started going through boxes to see if I could locate the software. No software.

I was really upset at this point, since I was looking forward to having the SC installed and running by Friday, and Dinan was going to be closed until the following Monday. I didn't get the kit at that point, deciding to wait until we found out what was going on.

All day Thanksgiving I kept thinking about the kit, so on Friday morning, we went back and picked it up. My plan was to have it physically installed by Saturday, getting that out of the way, and then deal with the software issue when Dinan came back from the holiday break.

So, Friday afternoon at 2:30, we started on the install. The early stages were straightforward, and as expected, went faster than on our previous install.

But the middle stages threw us a curve. On my OBD1 engine, things were a bit different. First off, the cruise control had to be relocated, which required removing it, cutting off the welded on body brackets, running new wire, splicing on both ends, etc.

Then the charcoal canister, which normally sits right below the HFM (airflow meter), had to be relocated as well. Both the cruise control and charcoal canister are moved to the "battery" tray on the passenger firewall.

That required running new tubing, installing nutserts and mounting brackets, and fighting HARD with the wiring harness that runs along the windshield to route the new cables and hoses. Wasn't fun, and much cussing ensued.

After that was done, we had to splice in the HFM voltage clamp, a job that was much easier on my car than on Jim's, since we only had to connect inline between one wire, and there was no harness to route.

Then came the oil fittings, also a bit more difficult, since the OBD1 oil filter assembly is different. Not impossible, but it was more work. Then vacuum and coolant hoses needed to be tapped, spliced, lengthened, ore removed. More hassle than the newer S52, since there was the throttle body thermostat to deal with, and some really cramped quarters in the engine bay.

After that was the actual install of the supercharger assembly, which went well up to the point we had to install the drive belt. On Jim's car, it was a pain as well, so he went out and bought a new wrench just for my car to make it easier to hold the tensioner slack. Still, it took twenty minutes and a lot of grunting and cussing to get the belt on. That sucker is TIGHT.

Ok, SC unit is out of the way, and discharge piping is next. Not a terribly difficult job, though getting the Idle Control Valve hose to fit on the discharge pipe was fun, it's a big nipple and a small ID hose.

Then came the intake plumbing/HFM. This is normally a pretty easy job, but I'm running Euro ellipsoid headlamps, which greatly complicates things, since they take up more space in the engine bay, right where the intake tube needs to go. Getting this all lined up and and fitting, while making sure there is a tiny bit of clearance between the HFM and the compressor housing was a job, complicated by having to deal with a HID ballast and wiring.

Ok, finally in, with enough room to slip a sheet of paper between the HFM and the blower.

Radiator reinstalled and filled, it's time to start the car and let it idle. Vortech calls for you to let the car idle for 30 minutes to allow oil to circulate through the blower, which is also a good time to bleed the radiator.

Car was a bit rough starting, to be expected since we didn't have the right software or injectors (Conforti Euro HFM/24# injector software). After a minute or so of trying to keep itself running, it settled down to idle.

The sound was...different. The blower makes a medium/high pitched "whiiiiiiirrrrrrr" sound at idle, hard to miss.

Bled the radiator with no issues, car still idling fine. Decided to NOT park the car while waiting for the software, but to drive it and keep the revs and boost low.

So, 12 hours later, the car is running again.

I drove it Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, a total of 80 miles, with the incorrect software, but I changed injectors to the larger supplied Dinan units on Sunday, which seemed to help. I never exceeded 4k RPM's, so there was no real issues with the AF ratio. Still, even at low RPM, the car felt more potent.

And it was much more quiet. After the car is rolling, you can't hear the blower whine inside at ALL. And the long Dinan CAI I used to have made a lot of noise (sweet noise, but noise) at low RPM. That was gone, the car sounded almost as quiet as a stock air box, only the Dinan exhaust hinting at something more potent under the hood.

Today I picked up the software and installed it, and went for my first REAL test drive. Car was nicely warmed up, so after suffering through some traffic between the dealership and the freeway, I finally had some room to play.

Oh. My. God.

Let me repeat that: Oh. My. God.

This sucker is FAST. We're not talking a big kick in the ass rush like a turbo though. Just a LOT more power and VERY noticeable torque increase in every part of the RPM range. Step on it at 2k, you're shifting before you know it, and the speedo just climbs like crazy.

Step on it at 4k, and you're just GONE, a steady increase of power as the air piles up in the cylinders. VERY smooth, VERY linear, it feels like a MUCH larger engine.

Coming from a 189 HP automatic, then converting it to a 270ish HP manual was an impressive jump. Really, really impressive.

Adding the blower to that setup is even more impressive, more dramatic than the change from the M50 to the S50. I kid you not.

And the sound is still sweet, but it's almost all exhaust note now, there's nothing coming out of the engine bay to indicate a 100+ HP increase over stock.

Getting off the freeway, I did a couple standing starts. I've got to relearn my launch technique for this setup, and get my internal timing adjusted to deal with the shifts coming so much quicker.

With a bit of good foresight, I recently replaced my Yoko's with Pilot Sports, and went to 245/40/17 in the rear. That's a good thing, I need the extra meat back there now, and could probably stand to run a little wider if I wanted better launches.

I also replaced my pads with new Axxis Ultimates that are just now getting broken in. Another good thing with all the extra speed.

I'm very satisfied with the gains so far, now I need to get used to it. I'll be taking it to our local BMW CCA auto-x this Saturday, which should be....interesting.

Now, excuse me while I go out and drive some more...

Oct. 14, 2003 - More Top Ramen for this kid

Sep. 24, 2003 - "All that glitters...."

Jul. 14, 2003 - Tightening up the rear

It just keeps getting better.
 
3.38 limited slip differential from a '98 M3 automatic has been installed for about three weeks now, replacing my OEM 3.15, and I'm a happy happy camper.
 
The 3.38 differential is an incredible upgrade; the car pulls like crazy now, feels more punchy down low than a 3.2 M3, and is just awesome on the freeway.  It was SO awesome on the freeway it cost me an 81 in an 65 zone ticket from a pretty cool CHP officer on Interstate 15.  He was cool because he didn't cite me for no front tag, incorrect address on the registration (I moved months ago) or still having my Florida driver's license. But even if you add in the $130 ticket, it's still a good bang for the buck. 
 
Revs are up at highway speed, but I knew that was coming. I'm loving it. Only downside is that my top speed dropped from 160+ to about 148 with my current tire size and redline. No biggie, that's as fast as I need to go on the street, and faster than even Vipers can go on the straights at Willow Springs Raceway.

Jun. 13, 2003 - On the dyno

Jun. 7, 2003 - Quick update

Quick little update.
 
I installed Evosport power steering and water pump pulleys this weekend, with the normal sized alternator pulley. Butt dyno likes them a lot, and I like the firmer feel from the somewhat less boosted power steering as well.

May. 16, 2003 - "Getting my groove on"

The next day, Friday, I take it back to Mastercare to have the clips installed, and they don't even have to ask me how I like the car, because that silly grin hasn't left my face..I'm starting to get worried that it might stick that way.

Pedal clip is put on, and the pedal immediately looses the slop. I've logged 200 miles since I picked the car up. A quick check of the car on the rack also confirms that nothing is loose, leaking, or missing, oil and coolant are good, once again showing how professional these guys are.

We settle up the bill at this point, and they end up buying my old engine from me, as well as the Double Spokes and my "take off" Toyo FZ4's, for a fair price, reducing my bill nicely, AND they want to hang onto the wreck for a while longer to see what else they can salvage.

So, with all the parts I bought, the cost of the wreck, and the labor, I've spent $6k out of pocket. Not bad at all, that netted me a full power Vader interior, full suspension, full drive train, new radiator, water pump, thermo housing and t-stat, hoses, LTW flywheel, HFM, chip, SSK, better rubber, exhaust and cats, and 3/4 of the M-Technic body parts I'd need.

Add that to the roughly $7k I had in the 325is including mod parts (intake, TB, and suspension swapped right over), and I've got a pretty nice car for less than what I would pay for an un-modded '95 M3 with higher miles.

More pointless trips that evening as I clock more miles. The shifter seemed to be getting less notchy, a good sign.

Saturday I drive to Jim Powell's house, and install some Billetwerks silver caps for the radiator, diagnostic port, oil filler, and brake resevoir. Looks great in contrast to with the Dinan carbon fiber pieces, and matching my shiny silver valve cover and aluminum thermostat housing.

The cool part is, there is no visual indication that it is an M3 engine, unless you're smart enough to notice the bigger HFM. I like that.

Everyone there was impressed with the car, which was a nice warm fuzzy, and the SSK has smoothed out a bit more. I drove a '95 325is that was there just to compare, and the throws on that car were long and rubbery. And of course, the power was just not there, even though it was a nicely running 325is with ECIS intake and Rogue DMS exhaust.

I let my boss drive it, and he comments fairly quickly about how fast the engine revs, noting that it revs more freely than his NSX, high praise indeed from Brad, who says he finds that the NSX is still his favorite all around car. He then makes the comment, after going through a few twists and turns, that I now have a real performance car.

I leave there happy, partly because I impressed him, and partly because I drove the NSX not long after that, and my car DOES rev faster (and shifts damn near as nicely) as his NSX, though the NSX felt faster than my car, to be expected since it has 50 more HP stock and weighs less.

Since then, I've logged another 750 miles on the car, nearly a thousand since the swap, and I'm still a happy camper. The Rogue Octane SSK has broken in, and shifts are smooth but precise, a real pleasure to perform.

I've had a few kills, the most memorable being a green Cooper S from a start that jumped me by a car, but no contest after that, a 330ci convertible that I just humiliated (though he started it) from a start and at speed, and an Acura TL-S sedan, once again humiliated.

Am I happy? You bet your sweet bippy I am. Am I done? Not quite. I still want to install UUC pulleys, do a fan delete, get the X-brace installed, decide on an exhaust, and figure out what I want to do with the body. I'm torn there, as I was planning on installing the M-Technic parts, and I already have a rear bumper cover and side skirts salvaged from the wreck. But the sleeper idea is very appealing as well, so I might just have the skirts and bumpers painted body color, correct the chipping problems on the hood, and leave it alone.

May. 15, 2003 - "It's alive...it's ALIVE!"

I've got about half a block between me and the nearest traffic light, and an almost clear shot. Check the water temp, needle is already straight up. I'm at about 3k in 2nd, and decide to roll the pedal down towards the floor.

So, I press the pedal towards the floor, quicker than I had planned.

VwaaaaaWOOOOOO! I FEEL the punch as the car climbs into the power band and the VANOS cycles. In almost a blink, the car is at 5k, 6k, 6.5k, time to shift and I'm at 60ish before I back off and get on the brakes, traffic and light ahead.

My God, this thing revs WAY faster than I thought it would, the light flywheel seems to be doing its job.

The brakes are excellent as well, hauling me back down to match traffic in no time.

I manage to get into the left turn lane, and make a U-turn, heading for the onramp of CA 78. No traffic in this direction, so I'm quickly at the ramp, stopping for the light.

No oncoming left turn traffic, ramp is clear. I let out the clutch and roll into 1st with some authority to 4k, then grab second and totally stand on it this time.

Man, I can FEEL the power, ass dyno be damned, my neck dyno feels it too, and the intake noise is sweet music. I blast through 2nd before I'm even at the top of the ramp, and power into 3rd, having a clean shot in the merge lane for about a quarter mile.

Stay in the throttle in 3rd, it doesn't last long either, but I'm doing around 90 when I hit 4th and still pulling and howling, both the car and I making noises like a beast. I'm fast approaching triple digit speed but running out of clear road ahead, so I let off the throttle, coasting back down to 75.

Car appears to be tracking well, and a few flicks of my wrist to check the steering confirms that it feels heavier at speed than the old rack did, and is more responsive. I like it, a lot.

I merge from the 78 into I-15 South, which has two more lanes and less traffic. Work my way over to the far left lane, clear shot to the horizon. From a 3rd gear roll I stand on it, and SQUIRT down the road. Grabbing 4th and staying in the throttle this time, I'm quickly approaching the 120 mark, still pulling strong.

The car doesn't seem to want to run out of steam, but I don't want a ticket, and traffic is getting heavier up ahead, so once again I lift the throttle and coast back down to a sane speed, at the same time working my way over to the right lane to take the next exit. I put it in 5th while I'm doing this, and note that the car pulls better in 5th at low RPM than my old 2.5 auto did in 3rd/sport at high RPM.

I'm listening to the car, no untoward noises, no unusual vibration, my only complaint is that the shifter is still KA-CHUNK notchy going into gear, and there's just a bit of side to side slop on the clutch pedal, which I chalk up to the temporary clip.

And for some reason, my face hurts.

I check myself out in the mirror, and the pain is quickly explained...I'm grinning so hard my ears are reaching for the top of my head.

Long story a bit longer, I drive the wheels off the car that day, trying to break in the clutch and shifter. I'm careful not to do any clutch dumps, though I did bark the tires going into 2nd once. I was a happy man, the car was much faster and more responsive than I expected, and just felt better in every aspect.

I don't even wince when I stop for gas and pay $2.49 a gallon for 91 octane, thinking at that price it's still cheap fun.

That evening I stop by my office to pick up a couple of things (mostly just an excuse to drive some more), and two of my co-workers are there playing Rainbow Six 3. One owns a '99 E46 328i Sport, the other owns a 2001 RSX-S, both manual. Both of them have "played" with me in the past with the 325is, and the results were usually in their favor, though I was never soundly thrashed.

They wanted to check out the car, so I handed Martin (the E46 owner) the keys so he could drive it, while Bill and I waited outside. Martin is a pretty aggressive driver (though his car is bone stock), and I had the pleasure of hearing my car wail up and down the streets surrounding our office for a few minutes.

He comes back, and I get real worried. You know that grin problem I was experiencing? It seemed to have spread to Martin. He's gushing about how FAST the car is, and he's in absolute love with the shifter, pumping me for information on how to get one and how hard it is to get installed.

Bill wants his drive, so he climbs in and takes off, snorting about Martin's shifter fetish. Now keep in mind that Bill is a die-hard VTEC poster child, a trait he inherited from our boss, who owns an NSX and an S-2000, and the RSX is one sweet shifting machine.

He drives off and I once again hear my baby being let loose on the side streets, and Bill is gone about twice as long as Martin.

Climbing out of my car, my worst fears are realized! He, too, has contracted the grinning problem, and Bill doesn't grin about anything. He simply says "VERY nice", hands me the keys, and walks back inside.

-to be continued

May. 14, 2003 - "Patience, my ass!"

May. 13, 2003 - "I didn't know you were gonna kill it"

Not satisfied with the lower parts, I asked Habib to get me the strut mounts as well, which would give me 100% of the '95 M3 geometry.

I stayed with my 325 Dinan springs and Bilsteins, and picked up the Dinan sway bars to go with it, (making it a Stage 2 if anyone cares) so in one sense, I'm not totally M3, since I'm running a control arm mounted 27mm swaybar. But I couldn't justify ditching perfectly good and well-tuned matched parts just to get a strut mounted swaybar. So, I'm a wee bit heavier in the front than a real M3, as the M3 strut mounted swaybar is smaller diameter and therefore lighter.

So, he remounted my Dinan springs on the M3 hats, and I had him throw a set of stock M3 springs on the old M3 struts and shocks, (parts I'd aquired when I was going to convert to stock M3 geometry last year). That leaves me with a perfectly good set of H&R springs to sell or hang onto, since the wreck had those installed.

The rear suspension was a no-brainer, the mounts and geometry are identical, with the M3 parts being a bit beefier, and having the larger vented rotors. We checked the wheel bearings, they were fine, and the RTAB's are fine as well, showing signs of replacement sometime in the past.

So, I leave that afternoon, with visions of track time dancing through my head, and return the following afternoon to check up on them.

Wow. These guys were fast. The engines and drive trains were now out of both cars, and mine looked like, well, a boat. There was absolutely nothing underneath my car at this point but sheet metal, some wiring, and the gas tank. And this big hole where the engine was. I remember standing underneath the car, with my head sticking up through the engine bay, wondering what I'd gotten myself into.

At this point we started moving into uncharted territory...the transmission swap. We knew there would be no issues with the drive train, since, well, the engine and transmission were made for each other. But the pedals, hydraulics, and wiring took some head scratching. We all agreed that the best time to do these things were while engine and trans were out, giving us plenty of room to work.

I'd followed threads and dug up every bit of information on this board and others about the process, but nobody had done a real write-up on it. So, armed with vague information like "bypass neutral safety", "rewire backup lights", and "tap into the brake reservoir for clutch lines", we figured it out, mostly. I've posted on another thread about the process, no need to totally repeat it here, but it took some splicing, a meter, and a good set of schematics to get the job done. Nothing major, just required some ingenuity.

So, closing time at the shop, time to go home and dream about short-shifting and flywheel clatter.

The next afternoon, I drop by, and holy crap, the engine is in, they've installed the LTW flywheel, pressure plate and new clutch (old clutch was pretty chewed up, so was the pressure plate, so that made me feel good about getting the new parts).

Habib points out the fuel filter for me. Seems that in the '95, the fuel filter is located just to the left of the transmission tunnel, under a cover. On my '93, the fuel filter is mounted low, inside the engine bay, and mounted to the block. He had to do some fancy fiddling to get the new fuel filter to work with the 3.0 block, since it didn't have the mounting points, and my 325 chassis would never be able to let it be mounted the way the M3 was.
But it was in, secure, and accessible.

So at this point, they were in the process of installing the ZF tranny.

This goes a bit less than smooth, with some difficulty in getting the damn thing seated properly. the shaft didn't seem to want to seat fully into the clutch bearing. We were concerned about the TMS flywheel, the possibility of having the wrong clutch kit, etc. But with a lot of finagling and cursing in four languages later, it was installed.

Then they go to hook up the SSK linkage, and find they have some real clearance issues...less room on the left side than the right, but it goes together. Then comes the tranny mount. It won't fit. At first, we panic, thinking the '95 part won't work with the '93 auto, and start wondering where we can find a '93 manual tranny mount in a hurry, because without the mount, the job is on hold.

Habib scratches his head, then checks out the motor mounts. The right front is on backwards, angling the rear of the engine to the left. This explained the difficulty getting the transmission to seat, the clearance issues with the shifter, and why the tranny mount bracket doesn't line up.

A few minutes later, the motor mount is corrected, and the tranny mount bolts right up. Ten minutes after that, the driveshaft is up and mounted to the rear diff, and it's about closing time again.

No way I could take the car at that point, as we were still waiting on a few parts. The wrecked radiator was bad, and my 325 had a cheap aftermarket radiator on it that was showing signs of leakage, so we wanted that replaced.

The water pump in the M3 engine was STILL PLASTIC (at 72k miles, even), and showing cracks in the impeller. Worst of all, the thermostat was broken in four pieces, though all were still wedged in, and hadn't gotten sucked into the system. So, next morning the BMW metal water pump, radiator, thermostat, and aluminum thermo housing were to arrive, along with one other important part. Clips that held the pedals on the pedal bar.

At the same time, we had the Evan's Tire shop next door dismounting the fairly new Toyo Proxies FZ4 tires from my known good 10 spoke wheels, and swap them with the AVS I's from the wrecked car with a fresh inside balance.

The next morning, I was at the shop bright and early, because it was the day the car was to be started.

Now, the wrecked M3 was built in 5/95, and therefore had EWS II, which as you know, has coded ignition keys, a transmitter on the ignition switch, and the car just won't start if the code isn't received. The '93 had no such gadgetry.

My dilemma was twofold. One, I had to have a working harness and DME on the 2.5 when we were done, so I could sell it. And two, I needed some way of disabling the EWS, rather than trying to retrofit the parts onto my car, no easy task.

I'd already picked up a used AA chip for the car, tuned for a HFM and 21.5# injectors, for a 506 DME, which was what came on early build '95 M3's. And as a bonus, this chip would work in the 413 DME that was in my '93, but it would not work in the DME that was in the M3. I hadn't quite figured this out when I bought the chip, so essentially, it was not going to suit my needs, though it was a nice backup, for if all else failed, I would revert to using the '93 DME and eat the loss on the engine sale.

A few calls, emails, and some thread searching, and I found a few ways to get around the EWS issue. The first involved getting a new chip burned with EWS disabled, a very clean solution, but that was a bit pricey. The second method involved, well, hacking up the wiring harness, in a method I won't disclose here.

I decided to go with the first method, and being a sucker for marketing, and wanting to keep my badge legit, I opted for Dinan. It took some wheedling by my local BMW parts guy to get a Dinan chip with EWS disabled, as they don't normally do this sort of thing. Then we had to get them to burn one for a HFM and LTW flywheel (idle bump) that was not sold by them, another little sticking point.

But my parts guy came through, and the chip arrived inside a week after me ordering it. To keep Dinan happy and to blow some more money, I had a big bore throttle body shipped with it.

The cooling system parts arrived, and the tires were mounted, but there was some bad news about the clips we needed for the clutch and brake pedal assembly. They wouldn't arrive until the next day. Not letting that stop us, we proceeded with getting the car cranked and road tested, before it went next door for an alignment. The cooling system parts were installed, wheels put on, and the car lowered.

So, giving me the keys, Habib and Hamed waited while I tried to crank the car. Turned the key, lights came on. Pushed in the clutch, and turned it to start. CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! No start. Made sure it was in neutral, released the clutch, and tried again. CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!.

Damn. My first thought was the EWS. The guys checked all the harness wiring quickly, and everything was connected fine. So, we pulled out the DME, and popped the cover. ECU chip was seated fine.

So, for a quick sanity check, and since it was sitting ten feet away, we plugged in the DME from my 2.5, complete with stock 2.5 chip. Jumped inside, turned the key..and it started. It wasn't real happy sounding, but it was idling fine.

So, either they had sent me a bad chip, or it didn't disable EWS. A call to my dealership got me connected to Dinan..who confirmed that the chip they sent me was EWS enabled Stage III, based on the part number, and furthermore, that they did not sell a 413 EWS chip disabled, contrary to what my parts guy had been told.

Crap! I could return the chip, and order a JC chip from TMS, and have it on Monday, and they guaranteed they'd disable the EWS (and for only $250!)..but that was a four..count 'em, four day wait, this being Thursday. And there was no way I was going to drive around with a modded S50 using a stock M50 chip, and my silly ass had JUST sold the AA chip and shipped it off, thinking I wouldn't need it.

Impatient me, I decided to go with plan B and keep the Dinan chip. So, after some schematic digging and armed with the black magic I'd received from some board members, we attacked the harness and did the nasty. Of course, the first wire we clipped was the wrong one, and that had to be reconnected. But the second try worked. The car started with the "proper" chip! Woo hoo!

Ok, time for the road test. Habib had the honor of that, and I stood by with a silly grin on my face as the car rolled out of the garage on its own power. It sounded great, even with the stock exhaust.

Habib rolled it out of the parking lot and onto the street, and gently drove it off, and was soon out of sight. I stood outside smoking for a couple minutes, wondering how it was going, when I heard this howling engine from the street behind the shop, some distance off. It stopped, and I didn't pay much more attention to it. A few moments later, I hear it again, this time closer, and looking in the direction of the sound, I see my girl coming down the street, Habib heavy on the throttle.

Daaaaaaaaaamn! It sounded awesome, and it was hauling ass. Habib makes the corner, and pulls back into the lot, grinning from ear to ear. He gave it a big thumbs up.

I wanted to drive it, but he talked me out of it. "She needs the alignment, you want to drive it when she's all ready, not before!"

He sold me on that, and also the fact that the clutch pedal was not connected properly. And, he wanted to get it up on the lift to check for leaks and such.

So, I left the shop, more anxious than ever, since I was THIS close. But it would have to wait until the next morning.

-to be continued

May. 11, 2003 - A Monster is born...and my wallet begins to die.