Nick_318is

[Nick_318is]

I spoke to Warsteiner a few months ago about that! Decided to go another route, hopefully someone will take it off his hands, lots of knowledge about what he built and a really nice guy.

[Nick_318is]

Well it's been a long 7 months, but, the new engine and it's accessories arrived today!!! Hope to have it in the car within the next couple weeks.

[Nick_318is]

Getting close... Some pictures of the progress:

Engine out, getting it clean:


Old vs new:


Getting closer, you can see the ceramic coating on the header.

[DesktopDave]

Glad to see that car back on the site. Subbed for updates!

[Nick_318is]

A couple recent updates, got the motor fully ready last week, we had an issue with swapping the bolts on the alternator ground. Corrected it and put a new alternator in to be safe. Next time we tried to fire it, we had no spark or fuel. After trying another DME car fired right up with a stock tune and with the original computer with the Dinan tune I had before. Seems like the chip that I got with the motor was bad. Hope to have a new chip in a couple days and take the car home in a couple days, put a bunch of miles on it, and have it at the track next weekend for a proper work out.

Ready to fire up:


1st drive:

[monty23psk]

Congrat and...re-u-ni-ted and it feels so good...

[DesktopDave]

I love that you left the hood off for that first drive!

Congrats!

[Nick_318is]

I picked up the car last Tuesday, put 500 miles on it by Thursday night, did an oil change and took it to the track on Friday.

Ended up with a leak from the radiator, it might have just been the cap. Luckily a few of the guys I knew at the track were super helpful and we found a radiator locally and installed it. After a bitch of a bleeding (anyone have tips, I need to drain it and replace it with proper coolant and distilled water) I was back in business and really enjoyed the rest of the weekend. I'll post a video in the next few days. Pretty happy with the way it's turned out.

[DesktopDave]

They aren't fun to bleed. Be sure you had the correct gasket on the thermostat, the sealing ring on the correct side, etc.. Also be sure the bleed passage on the thermostat housing surface is open, a little RTV is enough to choke that up.

I always tip the nose up and mix a pretty watery mixture, like 2/3rds distilled water. I also like to have a few spare bleeders handy, I've cracked them before. It's never frozen up @66% H2O, even in Pittsburgh's [formerly] brutal winters. I also like the WaterWetter surfactant additive from RedLine, like 1/2 bottle.

[Nick_318is]

Got the coolant taken care of over the weekend. Bought a vacuum tool, and my god, it's a true godsend, made this a very quick and easy job and nice to check that the whole system holds pressure(or vacuum in this case) without leaks. Combine that with a genuine BMW radiator cap and i'm back in business without any leaks.

But that's boring, here is a lap from my track day last week: https://youtu.be/_kBtUI5A5Cc

Picture of it ready for action:


After it's first good wash in over a year:

[timothymcn]

Wow. Which MM setup did you go with? What's your "review" after one track day?

[Nick_318is]

I ended up going with the 2100 Rally from MM. I only have about 1,000 miles on the engine at this point and want to spend some more time with it.

So far I'm pretty happy with the engine. It keeps a lot of the character that I love about the car, it didn't mess up the weight distribution and it loves to rev more than before (redline is approx. 7700 rpm with peak power at 7300). It's a blast to rev up and the lightweight flywheel and clutch setup is great.

Somethings still need to get sorted, the shop I used gutted my cat, it makes the car sound terrible, I need to get a straight pipe or a different set up to improve this. I also feel like the tune probably has room for improvement. The engine does seems quicker than a stock M42, but my lap times at the track did not improve as much as I thought I'd see.

At the end of the day I spent a lot of money and am not sure that I got as much as I hoped to. I don't regret it because I love the M42 and the handling of the car. But, I do wonder if I wouldn't have been better off going to a S52 or similar swap and spending less or similar money.

My plans for the next few months are to drive the car until it gets too cold, then sort out an exhaust setup over the winter and explore tuning options (BMWMAN did you ever get your squid tune worked out?)

[YYZE30]

Nice work Nick! Glad to see you ripping the S**t outta that m42

What are you tire specs? 215/40/17? and alignment results?

[Nick_318is]

Nice work Nick! Glad to see you ripping the S**t outta that m42

What are you tire specs? 215/40/17? and alignment results?

Thanks! The tires are 215/40/17 dunlop direzza ZIIs. I have M3 offset bushings and it looks like the alignment specs are around -1.5 - 2.5 degrees of front negative camber with 1mm toe in, and 3mm toe in rear with 1.9 degrees of negative camber. I've upgraded all the bushings and I'm running a 22/19 sway bar set up, Dinan springs and billy sports, it's a nice set up for a dual purpose car.

Over the weekend I pulled my intake and injectors, upgraded to 24lb Bosch "blue top" (they're pink!) injectors. I got a new upper intake manifold gasket yesterday and put it all back together tonight. I also bought sssquid's MM2.1 tune and put it in the DME.

[YYZE30]

What are the spring rates on the Dinan? whats the lowering it offers... are you running ST sway bars? Do you have camber plates up front?

Love what you have done with your e30.