Hellrot e36 'vert with euro m3 power

[Smokey Bear]

I wanted a z3 or some form of convertible for this summer but I just couldn't scrape together for anything that I really wanted. I saw this on donedeal and I decided I'll have it ready for summer next year!



It's a 318i auto with black leather and a semi automatic roof. Underneath the car is in really good condition. All the jacking points are solid as is the battery tray. The exterior is good but has some dents and the interior needs some tidying up.

I was trying to sell my drift car but nobody would pay the money I wanted so I'm going to pull what I need from it to make the vert cool.

It's a 3.0 euro m3 with coilovers and wheel spacers and some other stuff that I wont be using.



I'm not sure whether I'll use the polished motorsports or the style 5's off my e34. The e34 is a long term project which I'm not finished yet so it doesn't need the wheels.



I also can't decide whether I will dye the sport leather I'm getting black or go and dye the whole lot saffron or caramel.

I want this thing to be real low when I'm done, I'm not too hung up on whether I can drive it fast or not I'm not even sure if I'll put an LSD in it.

The plans so far with the vert are :
swap subframes and running gear from m3
Paint the kit as the m3 is mugello red
Pick up sport leather seats
Roll the inner arches maybe even flare them
Sort out stance fix some dents
New headunit and speakers
Make some adjustments to the roof
Lock away in garage until next summer
Possibly buy a hardtop also

I'm hoping the total cost not including the m3 will be under €1200 seeing as all I have to buy is the leather and some paint.

I'll keep this updated as I go and get some better pictures too, the above are just after I collected the car and it was sitting up for two years.

[Smokey Bear]

I began taking both cars apart today, took about seven hours at a relaxed pace but both cars have front and back ends removed. Good news on the interior, have lined up vaders for the front. I had originally intended changing the interior to saffron or caramel but I think vaders will be perfect in black. Opinions welcome on the interior though!

Here's some pictures of today's work, none of the vert because my phone went dead in typical iphone fashion.... Tomorrow I hope to get both cars back together except the back end of the vert. Will have to wait until Monday to get poly bushes for trailing arms and I might get some braided brake hoses too if they are available on short notice.







Will also be getting Konis for the front next week. Not sure if I should try to get bilstein shocks. Fk seem to be poor quality.

[Thate34Guy]

Looks good, keep us posted. Want to see more of that e34!!

[Smokey Bear]

E34 is currently getting an m57, I was trying to put a thread together just now but I'm full of whiskey and my phone is too small

I'll get proper wheels for both cars when they are done but for the moment it's motorsports and rc090s

[Thate34Guy]

E34 is currently getting an m57, I was trying to put a thread together just now but I'm full of whiskey and my phone is too small

I'll get proper wheels for both cars when their done but for the moment it's motorsports and rc090s

Haha just got off work and already have a bottle in my hand! Best way to relax after a long day.

[Smokey Bear]

Some pics of the engines on the ground. It was easiest to drop the entire subframes.







The abs units are also different, the convertible has a 4 channel abs pump while the m3 had only a three channel system. I decided I would prefer the car to have as much as the original m3 parts on it as possible and I didn't want to have any problems with the abs not working afterwards so I am swapping all the metal brake lines also.

The m3 abs pump



The 318i pump



To do the swap I will have to remove the brackets from the m3 and weld them into the vert shell. It's a massive pain in the ass but I don't want to make a complete Frankenstein car so it must be as close to an m3 as possible.

The 318 also has some other brackets around the engine bay such as these coil brackets. These will also have to be removed and the bay re painted.



And the drivers turret on the m3 to show the difference.



Also removed the pedal boxes today.



These updates aren't exactly fun or interesting but I tried googling some of these things and there was zero info on this swap. When I started out I thought the chassis would be exactly the same between the two cars but apparently not.

[Smokey Bear]

Finished late last night, had an update mostly written and then the phone went dead. Fuuuuuuck.

So a rundown of what was done yesterday:

Old p/s resivoir bracket in the 318i



This was removed because the s50 has the resivoir mounted on the engine
Removed and ground back:


The new position for the abs pump bracket was cleaned ready for welding



It was then TIG'd in place. I measured that it was exactly two fingers from the turret on the other shell so using my precise measurements it now sits roughly where it should be.



Didn't take pictures at the next stage but I bolted the pump to this bracket and put the other support bracket in place. The second bracket was then tacked in place, the pump removed and some runs of weld put on.

I was really under pressure for time so I bought paint in Halfords which wasn't a perfect match but will look fine because it's going to be covered by the coolant bottle, abs pump and charcoal canister.

During paint:


In between coats of paint was a perfect time to install these:



I really didn't want to waste time taking the arms off the axle and taking the brake shoes off etc. so I went to town with the hammer and chisel.



The old bushes came out easily enough because I was able to stand on the arms while I was hammering. I don't think they would be as easy to do on the car afterwards. I didn't want to have to spend any money on the suspension at this time because the car will not be driven for six months at least but these rear trailing arm bushes in my experience require the arm to be taken off unless a special tool is used (which I don't have) so I allowed myself to spend money here. Brake lines also need doing but these can wait until Nct or when the car is put on the road.

New poly bush fitted, another advantage of poly bushes here is they are easier than standard bushes to install.



I wouldn't usually be a fan of poly bushes, to the point that I bought and installed a master bush kit for my last build made of hard rubber, but this bush is a weak point on e36s and having driven my friends old e36 which had these fitted (probably the only reason I even bought an e36 for the road) I thought it would be a good upgrade.

[Smokey Bear]

Here's a quick shot of the p/s res. removed and painted:



I gave the brake servo a shot of satin black before reinstalling because it had been peeling from brake fluid spillages over the last 20 years seeping into the paint.



The abs pump from the m3 was reinstalled and I didn't have to bend the brake pipes (also taken from the m3)so I think finger spaces should now be accepted as a Systeme Internationale unit of measurement :tounge:



The master cylinder was put back in, also during this time the manual pedal box from the m3 was put in as this is attached to the brake servo.



Work stopped for a couple of hours while I went to collect these :



Was quite lucky to come across them, they were in the "want" list but I hadn't expected a set to come up so I had to have them.

Got back fairly late but I really wanted the back axle on the car before today so...



Put it on the motorcycle lift... Would have been lost without that, really handy bit of kit.



Got the cables all connected while there was some space:



Lined the stud up with the front subframe bush




Dropped the ramp and bolted everything up



Then it was home time.



Should have the car rolling in a couple of hours, just starting back at it now!

[e34///M]

always Sub'd for a vert build.. hardtop maybe?!

[Smokey Bear]

Thanks, yeah a hardtop is on the to do list definatley! They look so good with the top on in red.

I got the engine in before I left tonight, had to push it back to fit another car in the garage so I got to see how it sits...







When I get my motorsports for the rear of the car back from my friend I will more than likely have to roll the back arches and maybe flare them. The from seems to look ok but it will be lower with more are loch gap when I take off the rally tyres and put a road tyre on there.

I was running a 20mm spacer all round but I'm thinking of maybe going for 30mm on the front ant 20mm at the rear. Opinions?

[pDubs]

Interested to see more of this!

[Smokey Bear]

Picked up a new throttle cable yesterday and ordered a couple of new cables for the roof mechanism. Brakes and clutch are bled and it drove under its own steam today.



It's going to have the exhaust repaired hopefully tomorrow.

[Huynh]

This was my car in its prime. Ended up selling it. Hardtops are hard to find but worth it.

[Huynh]

I just saw your from Cork. My fiancé and I went to Ireland in February. Dublin, Cork, Killarney, and Galway. Cork was our favorite city!

[Honeyman328]

Nice transplant to a rot free shell. Always a bonus and should be a loyal friend