Mods and upgrades explained - Very Long!!

Great stuff that pirate's put together, so what i would like to know, Single Turbo charger for my 316i e36 Beemer or greater capacity engin, say 325/328i. Which is best?

Royco, if you go for a bigger motor you will need an new ECU and maybe a new wiring loom too, a bit expensive all up. Turbo wont give you much grunt in the lower rev range which is where the small 316/318 motors lack power, try a small supercharger, I have had both in the past and the supercharger gives a better spread of power particularly in the lower rev range, might be more expensive than a turbo but they give less hassle, worth the extra. Cheers

I think there is a company that makes a super for the 318. Downing Atlanta or something. DASC?

Originally Posted by crisscross

I think there is a company that makes a super for the 318. Downing Atlanta or something. DASC?

You got it. Downing Atlanta SuperCharger(DASC). I believe they are no longer around so the only ones you'll find are used ones. Supposedly it's a very substantial gain that would make it comparable to the NA m3 engine. If it was me I would just change cars though. Don't know what youre options are

dont forget about high performance ignition coils

DASC sent me a quote for there kit like a year ago there kit gives you quite a power boost if i recall and you retain your 318 (or 316) gas millage when not getting some. kit was amazingly expensive though if i recall.

I have a 328i and had to get new coils anyways because one of the cyliders was not firing. so i opted for the high performance. got a pretty good boost in power and also a boost in fuel economy. im getting around 22 in the city and 31 on the high way at 75.

today i took off my air box limiter and also the boot that attaches to the front of the box. no difference in feel but the sound is amazing.

I haz mini keg CAI



Heiniken now replaced with New Castle

Hey everyone i have a 1992 325is that i got for real cheap. Long story short it was in an accident years ago and sat for 9 years inside a body shop. Now i have it. Besides the body work i already plan on replacing the raidatior, the resivor, belts, hoses, alternator, pads and rotors, and change all the fluids. I picked up a set of m3 wheels, and plan on buying a full active auto werks exaust from a guy i know off of a 98 m3. Can anyone tell me of any other things to look for or keep an eye on? The car its self runs really good fires right up idles good the shifter is still tight, it dosent have that sloppy feel. I also want to replace the suspenion but i dont know whats good and whats not with these cars im not looking to spend thousands on coilovers. I just want a nice setup thats stiff and handels well im not really concerned with ride quality. Can anyone help? Any information you can give i will appreciate. Thanks. By the way my name is Dan.

Raceland coilovers are cheap and stiff and allow you to adjust rideheight, and i think there still under 400 bucks. I love mine and have had them for over a year.

as far as mainatinence items go i'd just go through everything with a fine tooth comb, sitting can be bad for a car and its rubber parts.

welcome to the 'fest.

Hey Dan welcome to the site!

This may be a breach of rules or whatnot, but for some local help join up here http://www.wibimmers.com/board/forum.php?

Its a nice little site were us WI peeps hang out, and the guys there have jumped in to help me on more than one occasion

How many miles are on it? Probably fairly low mileage if it was parked for 9 years.

I herd mixed things about raceland coil overs people saying their not safe. Why would a company make a product for a car that wouldnt be safe? The car has 157 xxx mi on it. From what i could see all the bushings seemed to be decent. It was in a heated shop most of its life so the car besides the driver side damage is in really nice condition. Its rust free and the engine bay is clean besides the dust from sitting so long. When i got it started and drove it down the road for the first time just to see how it ran, when i parked it it leaked a little oil from what it seemed to be the pan. Maybe a pan gasket? Or rear main seal?. Either or im not too concerned because both can be fixed fairly easy. .Although the list is long on things to fix/ replace on this car i feel its worth it and really wont take long once i start really working on it, and will have a nice ride. As far as the coilovers go ill mostlikely go with raceland. I also like the fact this car is the non vanos version. I hear better things about this engine version

Originally Posted by dprater58

I herd mixed things about raceland coil overs people saying their not safe. Why would a company make a product for a car that wouldnt be safe? The car has 157 xxx mi on it. From what i could see all the bushings seemed to be decent. It was in a heated shop most of its life so the car besides the driver side damage is in really nice condition. Its rust free and the engine bay is clean besides the dust from sitting so long. When i got it started and drove it down the road for the first time just to see how it ran, when i parked it it leaked a little oil from what it seemed to be the pan. Maybe a pan gasket? Or rear main seal?. Either or im not too concerned because both can be fixed fairly easy. .Although the list is long on things to fix/ replace on this car i feel its worth it and really wont take long once i start really working on it, and will have a nice ride. As far as the coilovers go ill mostlikely go with raceland. I also like the fact this car is the non vanos version. I hear better things about this engine version

Joe (Poorboysracing) has racelands and loves them i believe franklyn (eight thirty) has them too

i have rokkor coilovers and i heard that rokkor is a sister company of raceland but rokkors have a stiffer spring rate either way youll be fine with either setups just make sure you reinforce your mounts

Checked out the rokkor coilovers they seem like the way to go for me. This exaust system i want to buy is used off a 98 m3 its a full active auto werx header down pipe and muffler and all. The guy wants 600 is that a good deal?

I got a question, I got a 1997 318ti & I was wondering how should I go on the mods ? everything is stock. and I just want specific things I should get. Not too pricey Lower than $400. Ouh and how can you make your muffler a little quieter? Its kind of too loud.

LOL, thanks!

Am I wrong or are underdrive pulleys larger not smaller? Otherwise you would be overdriving..... I have uuc underdrive set on my car however it was purchased that way I would go compare but really not worth the effort. Just thought it might be an edit you might want to make...

Originally Posted by Mr600

Am I wrong or are underdrive pulleys larger not smaller? Otherwise you would be overdriving..... I have uuc underdrive set on my car however it was purchased that way I would go compare but really not worth the effort. Just thought it might be an edit you might want to make...

What's an underdrive pulley?

An underdrive pulley is a replacement accessory pulley that bolts up the same as stock, but has a different size (ratio) and material specifications intended to free up lost horsepower. By increasing the diameter of each accessory pulley, the speed at which the accessories are turning relative to engine RPM decreases.

Does this actually make horsepower?

Underdriving the accessories does not add power to the engine, it frees up the power that is normally wasted on overdriven accessories. The theory is that a larger pulley will drive the accessories slower thus reducing their parasitic horsepower loss. No more power total, but more power sent to the wheels. As an additional benefit, the reduction in wear (less usage) on the accessories due to the lower duty cycles can extend the life of these parts.



I stole that, but it should answer your questions nicely.

Originally Posted by Road54WE

dont expect OEM fit.[img]http://www.youngbin****************[/img]
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Originally Posted by Road54WE

but it should answer your questions nicely.
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Your pictures didn't work in your post.

Originally Posted by dprater58

Checked out the rokkor coilovers they seem like the way to go for me. This exaust system i want to buy is used off a 98 m3 its a full active auto werx header down pipe and muffler and all. The guy wants 600 is that a good deal?

sorry to answer an old post, but thats a good deal for the m3 exhaust. You just gotta remember it's from an S52 obd2 car and if yours is obd1 you will prob have to plug the bung for the extra o2 sensor and i think you might have a couple vac lines to cover aswell. S50 headers/exhaust bolt up no prob

thanks for the help on wat mods to do to a bimmer!! but i was also wondering how much boost can a stock motor take but with all the mods but no internals take??? ppl say u can run from 6-8 psi... is that true??? and were is a good website to get aftermarket parts for bmw...

I would Check FenderBender's turbo build thread. Pretty sure it was mentioned there how much boost it can handle

14psi

Sense not much information is written about OBD2 conversion into your OBD1 project car, I decided to write what is needed and what is not when compared to OBD1 and OBD2 conversions.
Argument: what is better the 93-95 obd1 engine management or 96-99 engine management?

If you are putting M52 or S52 into your OBD1 E36 then it would be the best way to go with OBD2 system that came in that same donor car.

Siemens MS41.1(OBD2) DME is better and more powerful unit than Bosch 3.3(OBD1). There are many features that MS41.1 does better like: More precise ignition timing because on M52/S52 crank sensor is mounted on the block and reads directly off the crankshaft, while OBD1 reads the timing from the front pulley and timing teeth are mounted on the rubber harmonic balancer that vibrates and not better than solid tooth gear mounted inside the engine on the crankshaft, more precise injection with ability to turn off each injector if the coil goes bad on that cylinder to prevent fuel flood, bigger injectors, running loss valve with remote fuel pressure regulator, helps reduce fuel vapor and temperature, better on board diagnostics. Quality knock sensors that never go bad. And more…

OBD2 conversion does not cost more money than OBD1 conversion. Lets say you bought the M52/S52 engine and want to buy all the OBD1 parts, the first problem is knock sensors are expensive and you need two of them, used ones are not good because most of them crack, they are very poor quality. Plus you will need a tune for that red 413 ecu for your M52, so just the cost of those two parts will pay for quality OBD2 dme flash for your swap.

With a proper OBD2 MS41.1 ecu flash your OBD2 engine management will be the same as if you were installing obd1 engine management. DME can be programmed so that it does not look for these emissions components and not throw a check engine light:

You will NOT need to run/have SAP air pump, nor the SAP valve, just weld the manifolds or use block plate, or simply run aftermarket header system.
You will NOT need to run/have fuel tank pressure sensor, nor charcoal canister valve, nor exhaust muffler flap solenoid
SAP pump purple relay will need to be there, but it already comes on the OBD2 harness already so just keep it there, do not plug in any other relay there or you will burn the harness.

SAP valve vacuum solenoid will need to be plugged in, but It already comes installed on your M52 so just keep it there, if you use the M50 intake manifold then It can be flashed out of the ecu also. Plug the vacuum line in the manifold. Remove the vacuum canister junk.

Remote fuel pressure regulator with running loss valve is a form of an upgrade, run it if you can, it reduces the fuel temperature, and fuel vapor bubbles, saves you fuel, or it also can be flashed out of the ecu.

You will use the OBD2 purge valve that is located under throttle body, and just run the line to your OBD1 charcoal canister output
No need for ASC/ABS signals connected to the ECU
EWS can be turned off and you don’t need to have any of the EWS junk components, no need to cut any wires. If you want EWS then use the EWS junk and let it just control the starter for anti theft protection. E30/E36 locks are not easy to crack, so the need for EWS is just an overkill
There are few OBD2 tuners in the US, but I can only speak of what I can tune and code, so if you have any questions please private message me. I have plenty of OBD2 ecu units ready to roll, no need send me anything, keep your own obd2 ecu, sell it along with the matching ews junk on ebay and use the money to buy quality flashed ms41.1 and it almost comes out free cost at the end.

You can just wire the OBD2 plug to your 20 pin diagnostic connector under the hood so that you can check the codes with regular obd2 scanner, no need to run the wires all the way inside the car.

These photos are to show you what I am talking about***********:

EWS2 module plug, bridge starter wires if you have EWS2 E36



SAP pump relay leave it plugged in, comes on the OBD2 harness anyway



SAP valve solenoid, leave it there, just plug the vacuum port on the manifold



3 way running loss valve, it is an upgrade, run it if you can, it is small and compact, fits anywhere



Post cat. 02 sensors, you don’t need them, but if you want to run dual cats then just run them



Fuel pressure sensor, you don’t need this at all


Carbon canister valve, you do not need this, OBD1 already had the charcoal canister in the front, and valve is mechanical integrated in the fuel tank.



Muffler flap valve solenoid is flashed out of the ecu.



This is my testing car , with stack of OBD2 ecus ready to be custom flashed with quality tunes. And Tuning/Flashing software. I have the ability to flash any MS41.1 ecu to whatever tune or car, even 528i, make ms41.1 ecu into ms41.2. As long as it says ms41.1 on the side I can do it. MS41.2 is the ms41.1 with different software for S52, just minor difference in the software nothing major. I can make the ms41.1 software work same as ms41.2.


I hope this answered all of your questions,

The suspension is a must change for my e36. I hit about 70...turn on the ol' cruise and get sea sick. It has a mad bobbing. was told to get the whole thing replaced but struts and all is expensive. I'm 19 with a super super tight budget. Any help pirate? also would like a lot more kick in becky's ass (thats what i named her) you think the best first upgrade to performance would be a computer tweak?

spanks a lot for all the help so far

-T-rev