E46 Fanatics Forum banner

Just another S54 Sedan swap

252K views 972 replies 101 participants last post by  djnekkon 
#1 · (Edited)
So i have a 99 328i i bought when i was 16 and i have always wanted to do a m3 swap. im now 22 and getting the ball rolling. here is my progress after a couple days.
pic 1 is a pile of junk parts i got.

2 can someone say tow motor?

3 shows the exhaust removed (its for sale 99 328i exhaust 200 obo)

4 is the heatsheilds that were next

5 is a pic of me cleaning up the rocks after taking down the heat shelds (so i can still creep without locking up the wheels)

the last pic is just a pic of my car how it sits. lots of room to work huh
 

Attachments

See less See more
6
#2 ·
here is some more progress i made today

pic 1.took off the front brace, and snaped off one of the bolts that holds it on :banghead:

2.what driveshaft?

3.this is a pic of the clip that i cant get off my shifter linkage. someone give me a tip!!!

4. this is the only damaged wire i could find on my engine. would it be ok for me to solder and shrink tube it and call it a day? or will that only cause problems? i think im going to do that but if it wont work for some reason, please let me know.
 

Attachments

#4 ·
im doing a 6 speed manual tranny. and yes all the m3 drivetrain will be included. so far i have about 2k replacing the broken stuff from my donar car and buying random stuff. also invested a 05 gsxr 750 (traded for donor car) paid 3k for the gsxr and it was a 600 swaped the 750 motor for about $500 then traded it for wrecked m3 (without a shell) so basicly all the parts minus the body.

I have most of the parts ill need with the exception of the nuts and bolts. unlike everyone who has done this before me i will not be spending 20k+ just to do the swap.... i may end up spending that much in the long run if i decide to go FI though..... who doesnt like FI?

so total investment is at about 5k. for now....
 
#5 ·
Good luck with everything man! Keep up the progress here so we can see how it's going. I just picked up a complete M3 rear end. I'm waiting to get a 6 speed transmission before I install it which will be pretty soon. I'm hoping to swap an s54 next summer. Props for doing the work yourself and saving a lot of money. :thumbsup:
 
#10 · (Edited)
thanks man feel free to ask me any questions you might have about the swap.

so after working on my car all day then going to work at my real job last night, i ended up getting about 6 hours of sleep (look at my post times) im awake and ready to get stuff done on my car before i have to go back into work.

I should have the tranny out by noon, and possibly even the rear before i got to work at 2. (ill be happy with just the tranny) updates coming in about 15 hours when i get off work
 
#8 ·
yea where the scrambler used to b, i did work cleaning omizzle's stuff out of the way and put it infront of where my car is so he can still get to it.
 
#9 ·
yea thanks alot, i looked into it last night (after i posted) and i figured out the clip has a little tab on the inside (hard to get/ hard to c part) and you need to push out the tab then get the clip to flip upward. i was going at it from the outside :banghead:
 
#12 ·
i was hoping i would see your name as well as the select few who know what this is about.

im swaping the entire pedal assembly. even the brake... i know mite46 had problems with this (fitting the booster or something?) but Jesseppi or whatever his name is did it with no problems? other than drilling 2 new holes.. so hopefully it wont be a big deal.

Im going to try to use the 328i FCM and hook it up to the m3. so all lighting and doors (maily the rear) still work. if someone has any more info and can elaborate how how to do this that would be great. i was told by someone who did the swap they used the body's FCM and made it work with the M3 stuff so the back doors and all the lighting functioned normal without having to splice in the rear doors and doing all that fun stuff
 
#13 ·
Nice project! :D
 
#14 ·
Ok this clip is really starting to piss me off! I know how it works but I can't get a screw driver behind to get the tab out?
 
#15 ·
Got it! I just had 2 lower the trans a little.
 
#17 ·
The front clip is the one I was having troube with. Now its the trans bolts. I just snaped one of my craftsman universal joints trying to get the top right trans bolt
 
#21 ·
After having a very un eventfull day I started thinking and came to this same solution. I don't kno why I wasted 6 hours messing around, could have had the front clip off and the motor and trans out. That's where I will start tom I think.
 
#23 ·
Thanks!

Today I'm gunna take out the rad. And hopefully get most of the front end off (bumper support ext.). To prepare to pull the motor and trans
 
#24 · (Edited)
didnt get much done lately, rad fan out (and now for sale along with everything else). got stuck trying to pull off the lower hose to drain the coolant cuz had no stregenth in my arms after working so much...decided to take a brake. im busy all day today so ill be back at it tom. thinking about taking the front off with the rad still attached? anyone ever do this?
 
#27 ·
love your interior. any more pics?

im thinking about doing a LSB interior. but only if i go through with my original idea to paint the engine bay LSB and the exterior AW
 
#28 ·
a little progress. and one for fun
 

Attachments

#31 ·
i think i might do the rear while im waiting for sisco to bring over his engine hoist. i want to get to that soon anyway because im putting the tuner motorsports subframe re-enforcement (unless someone suggesst another brand) on before i put in all the m3 stuff.
 
#36 · (Edited)
i started getting at the rear subframe, but i got stuck trying to figure out how to disconnect the brake pad sensor, anyway i just figured out i didnt trace the wire long enough to get to the connector.
 
#37 ·
got everthing (i think) dissconnected from the rear end except the 4 main bolts that go through the diff carier (subframe). just waiting on another set of hands to help me stablize it as i lower it down..

so who is going to be my first sponser?:rofl:

i guess i should worrie about getting the car done first then hope for some supporters
 
#39 ·
i read where a guy used an epoxy that is stroger than welding... i cant find the link at the moment but they tested the epoxy and the welds at equall weight and the welds broke while the epoxy held strong
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top