Ragnorak's S54 318ti Swap with Videos

[Ragnorak]

Just a few updates from my IG (@dasGoldfinger)

Polished up the vanos/thermostat housing and cleaned the engine bay after my VANOS accumulator line took and **** and soaked everything:



I took one of my friends (gnarlycreature on here) for a ride for the first time and after going over a bump at about 45 mph we heard something like a license plate fall off. I pulled over at a gas station and my plate was still there, so we just continued on ripping it. Checked the car when I got to work this morning and figured out what blew off...



Soooo... time for a new exhaust tip. Wasn't too upset about it in the first place, the huge oval tip from the AA Race Exhaust was a bit too ricey for my tastes anyway. This gives me a chance to do a new tip or even a new rear muffler section. Haven't decided yet.

[Ragnorak]

Small update. Finally cranked down my coils now that the strut hats are swapped and the front will tuck a bit. Also, weighed the car in again.

[anassa]

Do I read that correctly? 2734lbs with the S54??
How??? Compared to a stock 318ti have you done any weight savings???

Thats crazy pwr/weight

Looking awsome!

[Ragnorak]

Originally Posted by anassa

Do I read that correctly? 2734lbs with the S54??
How??? Compared to a stock 318ti have you done any weight savings???

Thats crazy pwr/weight

Looking awsome!

Thanks!

Yes, it scaled in at 2734. Power/weight is roughly 7.0 lb/bhp right now. I'd like to get it down to 6.0 lb/bhp by the spring. For reference, the E92 M3 is 8.7 lb/bhp stock. A stock C6 Z06 is 6.2 lb/bhp but will still be much faster than my car I'm sure due to shear HP and torque.

The 2734 weigh-in is without the following in the interior:

• Passenger's seat
• Rear Seats
• Hatch sound deadening, tool kit, etc.
• Spare Tire

Still has the front carpet, door panels, driver's side Vader, etc. I can put everything back to stock in under 10 minutes, so it's really not excessive weight reduction. I also have the battery in the trunk for those wondering about the F/R weight distribution.

Most of the mods to the engine and suspension added weight to a stock 318ti.

• Z3M Roadster F&R suspension is heavier
• Coilovers are a bit lighter than stock
• Larger, heaver S54
• Larger, heavier 188 mm diff
• Larger, heavier, 6-speed transmission
• Full 3" exhaust, relatively lightweight
• AC system completely deleted
• Washer fluid system deleted

My end-term goal for the car right now is to turn it into a street-legal track car. Something NA, as light as reasonably achievable, easy to maintain, powerful, and with good grip. Think GT3 RS, just less impressive hah.

I need to go wider on the fenders to fit some real meat. With the cold weather I'm burning the tires off my first three gears. Changing the gear ratio isn't an option.

As a side note, I DD'd my car all summer without AC and didn't really care. Never was a fan of AC when the weather was nice but I can see it being a pain if you live much further south.

[stevenwrichards]

How is life with the 4.10 rear end? Seems like you'd be spinning through half your gears with that kind of ratio ... I'm looking at a rear end for my S52 swap and am thinking the 4.10s are too short but, at the same time, it's not my daily driver ...

[twinturbom3]

Just went over your thread.
2734 LBS
If you remove all sound deadening,
put a recaro driver seat
remove airbags
remove front head lights, put carbon head light blanks
carbon hood

do you think you may go down to 2600 lbs?

[anassa]

Originally Posted by stevenwrichards

How is life with the 4.10 rear end? Seems like you'd be spinning through half your gears with that kind of ratio ... I'm looking at a rear end for my S52 swap and am thinking the 4.10s are too short but, at the same time, it's not my daily driver ...

You have to realize that he also has a 6spd, I have a 3.46 (stock ti ratio) and I am sitting at 3500 at 75 - any higher with no 6th gear to shift into is very uncomfortable.

[M-technik-3]

With what gear box and rear that is listed it's 3360 rpm which isn't bad but I think if it was mine I would check out a 3.73 and go to a 40% lock up for less slip.

Dig the CF Airbox, I was at one point considering buying Eric's S50 out in Colorado as it came with many of the toys like that but was to steep.

S54 is the way to go with low mileage engines still available is nice. Might be time to try and shift some more weight back, but honestly not much left to move.