zboot's 328ti Project - A couple years early

[Philly]

All i know is I had to smash that plastic grommet out with a long screwdriver + hammer from inside the car... as did Jim according to his manual... lol

but i dunno about all these different cables... i just chopped my ASC cable off before pulling the m44, and ran the 6cyl cable through the firewall to the pedal.


Post up that connector photo on BF's... im sure someone there can tell you what its for.

[zboot]

Originally Posted by Philly

All i know is I had to smash that plastic grommet out with a long screwdriver + hammer from inside the car... as did Jim according to his manual... lol

I see. I guess I was thinking of the grommets at the throttle bodies. So, the 318ti throttle cable can't be used? Based on this, I'm guessing the two I have connected are:

318ti throttle cable
6cyl idle control cable

[Philly]

yeah im talking about the black plastic thing that sits in the firewall, it clips in and is a PITA to get out.

i don't know anything about idle control cable or anything... all i ran was the throttle cable.

and i don't think you can use the 318 cable due to placement of the throttle on M44s length wise... but if you have it in there, and its doing what its suppose to do, maybe it does work.. lol

[zboot]

So, here's a swap progress update:

- I figured out the issue I thought I had with the transmission. After pulling it out and finding out that I'd assembled it correctly, calling a buddy of mine and having him go out to his car, turned out that nothing was wrong. . .

- I finally got a matched set of DME, EWS , and key. Unfortunately, my motor mounts are in a post office that is unlikely to be open on saturday. So, I'll be able to get everything except the radiator, cooling fan, and headlights reassembled/connected up. However, without the motor mounts, I'm not going to attempt starting the car.

So, what does this all mean? - I may be cooling my heels till tuesday to actually get the car running. . .

[zboot]

Further update (and I just realized that my camera is in pittsburgh, sorry guys):

So, turned out the post office was open and I got to get my engine mounts. I'm a bit tired now, so rather than list what I accomplished, I'll just list what's left:

- Connecting up DME, EWS module, and other control modules I removed
- Getting the 6cyl cat on the exhaust headers
- Figuring out what to do about the (+) battery connector (that I don't have) and wiring that into the harness.
- reattaching the a/c condenser
- reattaching the radiator and coolant hoses
- reattaching the aux fan
- this would also include the front cross members.

At this point, I'd
- put in a couple gallons of fuel
- fill the oil pan
- fill up the coolant
- fill up the power steering
then try to start the car. I'm guessing it's going to be rough since the cats are not really on the exhaust (got one in, the other is the devil).

Assuming the car starts and idles, I'll flush the oil, PS, and coolant after it runs a bit, then refill.

If I can't get the cats onto the exhaust headers, then I'll just clean up and go back to pittsburgh. Worst case, I tow the car to a muffler shop on tuesday since I have to have exhaust work done anyway and just let them do the whole thing.

If I do get it on, then i'll drive home sunday night. I'll still be back on tuesday to swap rims and the rear end of the car.

[zboot]

So, added a couple gallons of fuel, coolant, oil, and ps stuff (atf). I'm leaking PS fluid. . .but perhaps that can be fixed.

Connected battery, taking care of (+) connections using a jumper cable at the moment. Go in car, turn key, hear a buzzing sound when key is first turned (assume fuel pump), starter churns for a few seconds then stops.

I'm thinking that my battery is too weak after sitting for the past month. Measures 11.81V. According to wikipedia , this is a 0% charge.

So, I guess I'm going to have to get a rental on tuesday so I can try and jumpstart the car. Hopefully, that's all it needs to start.

[Philly]

nice dude! can't wait to see it going!

its a good sign your hearing the fuel pump priming too...

[zboot]

Thanks, sometimes it feels like you're the only one who reads this

Any tips for getting the exhaust onto the exhaust headers? I'm near giving up and just tacking it onto the list of things for the muffler shop to take care of.

[Philly]

lol, well i had alot of help when I was doing mine... woulda been in a PITA if I had to have at it all by myself for some stuff.

I used a BFPB...

big fuc....riggin pry bar

[zboot]

hmm. . .I'm thinking that I'm going to just pay a shop to install it as well as weld up the exhaust

[zboot]

So, I'd say the swap is 90% complete.

The 318ti cooling fan didn't fit, so I'm going to have to keep an eye on engine temp from now on.

Stuff left to do:

- Get cats onto exhaust headers
- Secure rear portion of cat to car
- Have muffler + y-pipe welded to cat
- Buy battery terminal thing and connect (+) cables
- Charge battery
- Swap e30 subframe and trailing arms for 318ti ones.
- switch out brake pads and rotors
- complete front end reassembly
- reattach ds door panel
- reattach glovebox panel
- Install new wheels
- tape heat/sound deadening material so it doesn't impede driveshaft.

My tires are supposed to arrive today in Erie. My plan for completion:

Drive to Erie tonight. While battery is charging, do the rear end swap, brake pads/rotors, and attempt to get the exhaust onto the headers. In the morning, goto HF and buy the battery terminal and automotive tape. Take care of the remaining wiring, tape up the sound/heat foamish thing, do door panel and glovebox panel.

With battery charged, hopefully start car. If good, let it idle a bit and cycle fluids through the car, then drain and refill. Go get tires mounted on rims, return and put it on the car, finish front end reassembly, then take it for a test drive. After that, come back, clean up garage, and go home.

Then Wednesday I can take the greyhound over and say goodbye to Erie

If I don't get the cat onto the exhaust headers, then I'd have to find a shop in Erie to do this. In which case, I'll have the car towed to the shop Tuesday and probably return Friday to pickup.

Either way, I plan to be done with this by Friday!

[Philly]

nice man! looking forward to seeing it go!

id be a little wary about not having the electric fan anymore... did you upgrade your thermostat to an 80c?
if not, id definitly put that on my list of things to do soon if you plan on using the Ti rad for awhile... as well as maybe a 6cyl Aux/Pusher fan. I got mine for $125 CDN, im sure you could find a much cheaper one.

On that note though, if your all stock in the cooling department and plan to keep it that way for a little while, make sure you use 2-3 bottles of "redline water wetter" - that should help a little.

Sure would suck if you did all this work and it overheated and blew a HG

[zboot]

Yeah, I'll have to do that. I've seen stuff on bimmerforums about a fan delete kit where people changed out the thermostat and used water wetter. Though I'd feel a lot better if I had a fan in there. I'll be looking into the 6cyl one. . . likely will put it in the same time I do the ac pump.

BTW. . .what's the status on that ?

[Philly]

crap, you know i totally forgot about that...
been busy job hunting and stuff... I ran out of my unemployment benefits, so it looks like I won't be getting paid to scour BMW forums all day anymore... lol

ill get back to you in a couple days on the compressor, ill look around at used prices, factor in the difference of shipping from Canada, and give you a fair deal based on that

PM your address and Ill look into a quote before the week is out!

[96cali]

nope, just jealous!

Originally Posted by zboot

Thanks, sometimes it feels like you're the only one who reads this