BimmerBum's 330ti Thread...
 

I have decided just to make a thread about this car rather than do updates in individual postings...

The car... 1998 318ti with 1995 M3 S50... and stock everything else...

http://www.angelfire.com/de3/bimmertoyz/Picture_789.jpg

The AFE intake is gone and a conforti is on the way. The fit on the AFE was terrible, I will not be buying afe anything for a long long time. We replaced the Vanos unit today using a Dr. Vanos Stage 2 kit. It went very smoothly but all the noise was not gone. I believe there is a lifter or two making a racket... I am going to run some engine cleaner then switch to a lower weight oil and see if that does the trick.

http://www.angelfire.com/de3/bimmert..._Frame_220.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/de3/bimmert..._Frame_221.jpg

The car runs very very strong. In current trim it is supposed to have around 280 hp. I refuse to wash it or put the engine covers back on until it runs perfect!

So what gives it the 40 extra HP? The injectors and HFM? Or the upgraded Vanos?

Where are you heading with this? What is your goal?

It looks like a total sleeper... :)

The injectors, chip, 3.5 hfm, and intake are supposedly good for 40 or so hp.

Not exaclty sure where I'm headed with this one. Once it runs correctly I will be addressing the rest of the driveline, suspension, and brakes.

It is much faster than people suspect with the single tip and '318ti' badge.

I love it!!! I can't wait to do my swap one day. Keep me posted on your car.

My pile of parts so far consists of:

M Coupe Transmission
M Coupe Rear Trailing Arms and Brakes with Axles.
M3 Front Brakes
M3 Master Cylinder
1 Piece front strut bar
3:46 limited slip
M Coupe Differential cover
Urethane rear sub frame and trailing arm bushings
E30 M3 front control arms
Brembo slotted rotors
ZKW Euro Headlights

The BTS suspension is on the way out. I will likely go with some flavor of GC coil over set up.

psh ugly ;)

lol gimmi gimmi gimmi!

someone's having withdrawals :tongue:

nice looking ti, what are you doing for inspections?

Nice...what'd you do for exhaust? Dr.Vanos stg 2...cams in your future?

Exhaust is just stock M3 to where it would not fit anymore then into a 2 in 1 out muffler... looks stock.

Well... yes cams are coming but... see next post.

Alright. After doing the vanos the power band was back in check and it seemed to run much smoother BUT there was still a ticking... annoying.

Well the ticking turned out to be what we believe is a knocking on cyl #6. I pulled the plugs and found oil on that plug as well.

I don't know as much as I would like to about this car/engine's past anyway so I have made the decision to pull it all apart. I will have a lot more confidence when the car goes back together my way. How crazy I get with the rebuild is going to depend on what I find inside.

I am a little bummed but I will enjoy the car much more when I know it is right.

I will continue to update on this thread. I will have some stuff for sale soon as well.

On the bright side, I am currently sporting a 95 CS with an M50 with S50 cams and software. 220 hp from what I have read, pretty fun!

http://azbmw.org/index.php?name=Foru...&p=78728#78728
S50 rebuilt parts

Nice price! ...and I sell parts! If I were further into this thing I might jump on that but I am considering a bit of a performance rebuild.

Sorry to hear about that happening, you were just getting things sorted out. I would certainly figure out why cylinder six died before you start your rebuild. A faulty part could easily reproduce the problem on the rebuilt engine (please don’t ask me how I know).

Was the plug saturated with oil? That would lead me to think that the engine had bad rings and therefore should have smoked a bit upon a cold startup. I had a leaky valve cover on my engine and it soaked the spark plug every time I removed it which made me believe that I also had bad rings.

Rod knock is usually associated with pre-detonation and in some cases overreving. I had a ticking noise once that I swore was rod knock or a valvetrain problem but it ending up being a small leak in my exhaust manifold gasket.
If you do decide to rebuild the engine yourself be sure to take pictures of everything before the disassembly and to mike the crank and to use a plasti-gauge to check the bearing clearance especially if you have the crank turned. Also make sure that you purchase the correct undersized bearings for the job. Everything else is pretty straightforward on these engines, use plenty of assembly lube and follow your preferred break-in procedure to the T.

I can certainly understand what must be going through your mind right now but be advised that there are some members on this forum that has been exactly where you are now and we are happy to lead a hand if you need it. -Dan

Thank you for the support and kind words!

I do indeed plan on finding the source of both the knock and the oil on the plug.

At the very least I also plan on having the rotating assembly balanced together.

I am fortunate that the other cars I have around here are also quite fun to drive so I am not nearly as bummed as I could be!

Between both of our builds I have a feeling we're going to be busy for a long time, it should be worth it once they are complete!