My E36 Build Thread

Alright so the time has come for me to make my build thread documenting everything I've done with the car since I got it as well as future projects. So without further due here it goes.

It all started as a 1995 BMW 325is that I got in February of 2010. This is how I got the car, bone stock aside from the black grills which I did almost immediately.




Nasty bottlecaps




I knew before I even got the car that I would turn it around and make it my own, starting with my first real mod to it which was the HD Lip




Gave the car a better look, but the front fascia still had a lot of road rash and all the lowers were still black, not very good looking.




Finally managed to get the car into the paint booth that summer and resprayed the front fascia as well as all the lowers around the car, so much cleaner looking.




Still had those bottlecaps haha




While I had the front of the car apart I also decided to French my foglights myself with some stained glass spray paint. and get some xenon look headlights.







Added BMW license plate as well as clear corner lights, side markers, and tails lights. Also ordered the M3 Door Moldings from DDM thought they flowed a lot better than regular ones.



And some Style 30s!!




All of this took place within the first year of me owning the car, I took my time and also did work on the mechanical side as well including dropping an M52 in it after the original M50 was determined to have a crack in the head causing it to overheat.

Determined that the engine was going to be rebuilt or replaced towards the end of 2010 so what better Christmas gift than a new motor. I ended up swapping my motor for a good running M52 at another shop and once I got a hold of it we tor it apart and rebuilt it from the ground up, the bottom end is a built to handle some boost, the current head on it was shaved and had some work done on the valves as well as a M50 intake manifold and M52 headers.

I was running on hopes and dreams for a while haha




Pictures of the engine as it came together, took the opportunity to spray everything in high temp paint as well, went with a clean Black and silver theme.










Stuck with stock cams since I couldn't find a set of M3 ones on such a short notice and I needed the car as soon as possible.




Threw the front timing cover and oil filter housing on.







Now for the rest of the accessories




Pictures with M50 headers but I swapped them for the ones off the M52




More or less ready to go in




Engine went in beautifully and started on the first try. Unfortunately I still have the autotragic in there, don't worry I'll swap it soon enough, but despite that the engine runs like a dream and pulls like it should. Also threw a DIY CAI in there just for kicks.

Once I got done with the engine rebuild I took it easy for awhile and didn't really do much with the car until after the summer time when I realized that it was time for a suspension refresh, I went with PowerFlex Poly bushings all around the car and Rokkor coilovers, I don't track it or anything so I didn't need anything horribly expensive and they've held up well so far, I do drive spirited from time to time and they handled well. Decided to drop it about an inch all around, gave it a good clean look without sacrificing the ability to DD it.

In addition to the drop I also got a Euro Tag







Really liked how it all came out and over this past Christmas season I put two 10" Subwoofers and a 600W amp by Powerbass in the trunk. Don't have any pics of the actual setup but here are some more of the new stance with my friends E46 and his dads E38 in the background.




For the longest while i had the "M3" logos in the side trim because DDM messed up my order and sent me those instead of the Motorsport International ones so I had those in there just to fill in the gap but it was bugging me cause my car is not an M3, but that would be taken care of.




Most recent upgrades to the car included the new Motorsport International emblems from Khoalty




3K Highbeams also from Khoalty




And the red needle and Aluminum Gauge Ring mod from you guessed it, Khoalty




Thats it for now but I will be ordering some DJ Autos from DDM in the near future and am looking into an exhaust, probably the AA Gen3 Replica if I can find one somewhere. Thanks for looking.

wow!

great work man !! blows my build out of the water

Damn whats up with you guys with clean motors


You MOTOR IS NOT MANLY WITH OUT GREASE STAINS HOMIE!

but damn nice work man

Originally Posted by Mr Gusta

wow!

great work man !! blows my build out of the water

I don't know about all that, you have got one hell of a build yourself.

Originally Posted by Dino1394

Damn whats up with you guys with clean motors


You MOTOR IS NOT MANLY WITH OUT GREASE STAINS HOMIE!

but damn nice work man

Haha I know right, but thanks man

Sir, colour me impressed. I now know my goal for how my engine will look in two months.

Ed.

Thanks very much man, I really liked the way it turned out to. I was going to try something a little more radical but decided the silver and black look would look clean and really brighten up the engine bay to. Best of luck with yours man, what are you putting in?

I'll be putting the same drivetrain back in , with just a new tranny. I figure since I've got motor mounts to do anyways, along with headers, shift linkage, etc to do, I might as well go full hog.

Sounds good, headers will definitely be a lot easier with the engine out.

Build is looking good, Justin!

BTW, the fender I got from you last year color-matched perfect. I only wish the rest of the paint on the car was as good as on that fender!

Hey thats great to hear man, I'm glad it worked out for you.

Just curious how much do you think I could get for this if I were to sell it?

Likely?

$5k-ish?

Depends on your local market. Up here, I'd say closer to $6-7k. Though not many people have too much spare coin these days. And those that do, are holding on to it it seems.

That doesn't sound bad, might be testing the waters soon.

Look what came in the mail today! I had them shipped to my parents address since I won't be home for a couple of weeks and was so excited that I had them open them up while I was on video chat with them and send me pictures of them, you know to check for any damage...and because I was really excited I know I'm a child.

Great work!

Thanks, I can't wait to get back home and do the headlights and other things I have planned.

Alright guys been awhile since I updated the build thread, I did do the headlights, along with some other small things like M3 catback, LED License Plate lights, windows tinted etc. however one of the greatest mods is being done right now and is awaiting my arrival back home this evening for it to be completed. I won't bother posting any teaser picks since again I'm away from home right now but I promise you its a good one and something I've wanted for a long time, new pics to follow tonight or tomorrow.

this thread is awesome! I'm jelly of the engine refresh!

Hey dude I think your build is great, I should be starting my motor build this winter but I have a dumb question khoalty a website?

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Thanks guys, its much appreciated. And yea just khoalty.com good products and great customer service. Now without further or due here are some pics.



Put in the DJ Autos, but not before I took them apart and painted the high beam lens yellow to match the fogs.



Also put on an M3 catback and LED license plate lights from ECS Tuning.



The biggest mod wasn't the Sport seats I got from a crashed car but the 5 Speed Swap that I did along with it. Yep finally did the Auto to Manual Swap topped off with the E46 ZHP Shift Knob I also did the FDM, didn't put in an electric fan and its held up great. And thats all I can think of now. Looking at getting some pedals but don't know if I want to go with these http://www.amazon.com/BMW-Pedal-Blac...=bmw+e36+pedal or these http://www.amazon.com/BMW-Manual-Alu...=bmw+e36+pedal or these http://www.amazon.com/Pedal-Carbon-f...=bmw+e36+pedal.

very good sir.

Some pics of my friends E46 and his dads E39 wagon with something special under the hood...





Full Dinan package engine we got out of a wrecked 540 sedan. He swapped into the wagon resprayed it and backed it with a 6 speed transmission and LSD. Car has the supercharger system, throttle body, software (automatic software since the sedan it was in was an auto), MAF, the engine has been built by Dinan as well as the suspension to go along with it. The clutch is a custom made Stage 4 to handle the power this beast puts down. Hasn't had it dynoed yet, but with the right software it should put down a decent amount of power, Dinan want to actually have the car at their HQ in California but we are all the way in GA so it'll have to wait, apparently its the only one they have record of in a wagon like this.

Any opinions on which pedals I should go with, I think the black aluminum would look cool but I'm not sure.

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