'75 2002 DD Project - Non e46 Content

Originally Posted by chmiel21

subscribed! Awesome project man

Originally Posted by m3sobad

old school love it!

Originally Posted by BillyJoelR

Subscribed!!!

Originally Posted by hardtop

subscribed! can't wait for another update

Thanks!

Originally Posted by jwm5

m10 owner here... waiting for the answer

I guess it was a bad hint... I should have said 'add it to another m10'.

Either way this is what you get (sorry for the crappy cell phone quality, I forgot the DSLR):

awesome work man, hope to get the funds to do something like this in the near future. College sucks my bank account dry.
what happened to the styling of bmw's
have you guys seen this f30 bullshit yet? I really miss the square-bold lines of bmw's. Especially the physical line going down the whole side of the car just above wheel level. Been on every car since the '02, disappeared with the facelift e46 bs.

Originally Posted by jwm5

m10 owner here... waiting for the answer

obviously an m20

So after much debate, it looks like she may be down and out for longer than I anticipated. But it's all for good causes.

First, more body panel inspection, so off with the fenders:





Both fenders must have been replaced right before she was resprayed before because they are both very clean (unlike the rest of her). I'll be able to fill in the reflector holes ala euro style and have some nice clean fenders.




Then I needed to get the windshield out and see how bad the rust under the seal was. In the pic you can see how the entire frame was starting to rust out. Luckily it seems that I got to it just in time, it's only surface rust and should clean up fine:




Then as I was taking off the front bumper I managed to drop one of the fog lights. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.....



Next thing on the list was to start unwiring.... Everything.... Thankfully electronics are at a minimum on her, so this was much simpler than say an e36 or even and e30. A couple of pointers, label EVERYTHING. You never know how long it will be until you are re-wiring and you'll pry forget what that little connector went to.




---------- Post added at 03:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:26 PM ----------

Fuse Box:








A pic of the ignition switch so I can remember how it connects:



And Finally after about and hour and a half of wraslin' the two harnesses were free. On '02's there are two different harnesses. The engine harness which holds all of the stuff that makes the car go, and the Body Harness that does everything else (lights, gauges, dash etc). They connect together along the firewall underneath the dashboard.

Body Harness (you can see all my painters tape labels lol):



Engine Harness:

With the wiring out of the way, I was able to finish taking out the rest of the interior.

Carpet, Steering Wheel, Dashboard, Pedal Box and pretty much everything else gone:




Here's the stock e-brake set up. It is very prone to being wobbly and hard to operate. Sooo I picked up an e46 handle assembly from ebay and will be retrofitting it in place.

Stock:



Stock no longer:



I forgot to take a picture of the new handle in place, but it will fit very nicely with a little massaging.

---------- Post added at 03:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:39 PM ----------

Now for the fun part...

Load leveler = God Send when removing the m10 and transmission combo.





Getting closer.....



And FREEDOM!!

That is one oily engine lol:




And it seems like there's all kinds of room in there....



Popped the head off, fairly clean but with lots of carbon build up. I'm thinking this was mainly due to her running pretty rich and worn out rings/valve guides (burning oil).



And the bottom end, sorry for the shitty resolution, I had terrible lighting.



Trying to clean up the block a little bit. All the covers and accessories will be getting soda blasted and cleaned.

And finally, what is one the way....

The Ups fairy is bringing me a lovely 5-speed transmission for the m10 from a lovely e21 in Cali.



Complete with some spares:




And then of course there is always the dirt cheap craigslist finds.... Not sure which direction I'm going to go with it yet, but when they're this cheap you can't pass them up. In case you missed it a few posts back:





I'm not sure which one I'll end up going with, the M10 can be a real screamer when built up, but the M20 can put down bigger numbers for the same cash. It will most likely depend on whether or not I can find a proper tranny for the m20 that doesn't cost and arm and a leg. 5-speeds from an e30 will work, but they don't have the mechanical output for the stock 2002 speedo, which is one of my favorite parts of the car.

Time will tell. Luckily I probably won't have enough free time to really get much done on her in the coming weeks, so I have plenty of time to make up my mind.

this project just got serious

good luck man, subscribed!

Originally Posted by jwm5

this project just got serious

Your telling me, now if only I could get some time to work on it lol.

Originally Posted by udelaware30

good luck man, subscribed!

Thanks, I'll probably need it

good luck man. I love build threads especially on older cars. Let me know if I can help. I recently redid the m20 in my e30 and am planning on some bolt on goodies you might enjoy as well.

I like this.

Why not go M20? Or M30?

Originally Posted by mvrk10256

good luck man. I love build threads especially on older cars. Let me know if I can help. I recently redid the m20 in my e30 and am planning on some bolt on goodies you might enjoy as well.

Thanks, I'll let you know if I get stumped on anything.

Originally Posted by southpaw

I like this.

Why not go M20? Or M30?

M30 = too much weight up front for not that much horsepower

M20 = still a possibility, but I have to find a tranny to work with it and I have some sentimental attachment to the m10.

But time will tell, depends on what will match up to my e30 rear subframe with 3.73 lsd. I'll be picking that up this weekend so I can figure out how to fit it to the stock mounts.

if you do go M10 let us know what you do to it... I have always been under the impression that there is not much you can do with them, unless you go big $$$.

I would go with the m20 - more power for not that much more weigh

with either engine forced induction is the only real way for big numbers.

Originally Posted by jwm5

if you do go M10 let us know what you do to it... I have always been under the impression that there is not much you can do with them, unless you go big $$$.

I'll be sure to document it either way I go. and I supposed it would depend on what you mean by big $$$, which ever one I end up with I at least was to get a hotter cam, maybe up the compression ratio and use individual carbs for right now (yea even on the m20). There's just something about a carb'd '02 that seems right with the world. The only way I would change over to a fuel injection set up is if I decided to turbo her, and that will be stage 2 down the road.

Originally Posted by mvrk10256

I would go with the m20 - more power for not that much more weigh

with either engine forced induction is the only real way for big numbers.

I know what you mean, it's definitely got a lot more umph. I just can't decide where I would stop the mods then. If I went with the m20 I couldn't use the 5-speed I picked up (i would have to run an e30 unit), which would mean I need an electric speedo run off the driveshaft or diff housing. And the m20 would grenade the stock diff, so that would need upgraded along with the axles and brakes all around. It just seems like a slippery slope that would take away all the classic '02 goodness.

What it boils down to is cost vs. power vs. ease. The m10 with my suggested mods will end up being ~140-160 hp at the crank NA or 180-260 turbo'd. Compare that to the m20 which could easily put out 180-200 NA or 300+ tubro'd, but atleast twice the cost. I just can't decide.

I dont know about the m20 grenading the stock diff. but I would definitly get an e30 LSD. I do not know if you would have to mod the whole rear subframe to accomidate it or not. But I do know a guy who can really provide you some real info as he has built several 2002 w/ boost and engine swaps.

his name is Steve Peterson and you can reach him at steve@blunttech.com.

BTW he runs Blunt tech and will get you the absolute best prices on OEM stuff. Also the customer service is top notch.


I use him for all my stock e30 stuff.

Haha, I know steve. I actually just ordered a new ignition key, vin # plate and some other misc stuff from him. Yeah he is the guy to go to for OEM parts, I already had him price out the OEM turbo body flares and air dam.

Alright, so after much thinking it seems like this is how everything is going to shape up, at least mechanically:

M20 engine
- stroked to 2.7L
- Schrick 272/284 cam
- Uprated valve Springs
- ~10.0 C.R.
- ITB (S54 pieces)
- Megasquirt III w/ injection and timing control

E30 Rear Subframe assembly
- 3.73 lsd
- stock disc brakes

5-speed Getrag 260
- SSK w/ 'gated' shorud
- lightened flywheel
- M5 Clutch


I just purchased the itb on the ebay, and I'm getting the subframe/lsd/brakes from a donor car on saturday. I'm a little sad to be ditching the bike carbs, but the idea lives on with some other '02ers. I just can't say no to this setup. Plus I've always wanted to try tuning and EFI system.


Sorry for the lack of picks. I'll post up some of the parts when they start to come in.

Hopefully this will make up for it:

Nice. thats gonna be a nice m20. wish i had that kind of cash. you going to go with the IE kit or is gonna be an eta block and i head?

The plan is an 'eta' block, 'eta' rods, 'i' pistons, 'i' head and then shave the block down ~2 or 3mm to get the CR back up (without the shave it's about 8.0). The amount of shave depends on the clearance the pistons have with the head. I'm not going for a ridiculous hp build or anything like that, if I was it would be a turbo build. I'm going for more of a 'fun' engine that will sound and pull great. Also the megasquirt should let me get the torque curve to be more of a torque line, i.e. very very flat, which is always a good thing.