kws

I can't make this stuff up, I really can't. I found out why the Vanos isn't working, and it's not what I was thinking... I have been messing around for the past few days trying to get INPA and DIS to work properly. I can get INPA to read everything but the DME (ECU), but I finally got DIS working today, and its reading the engine DME. This means I can finally read engine codes and see if there is anything obviously wrong. That's a yes then. This was the only code, thankfully. I had wondered about the TPS since the reading from live data in the VNC (Vanos Control unit) in INPA was weird, but the VNC didn't have codes for those sensors, only Vanos related ones (of which it had an old code for something random in German, which wasn't an active code). So what was weird? Well, the Throttle Position Sensor either read as below, with the engine off And didn't change when the throttle was opened, or did this when the engine was running (also note the two bars at the very top not reading anything) That reading looked familiar.... almost like it was reading engine position. I disconnected the plugs, and checked the wiring colours. This was the plug off the TPS And the Intake Cam Position Sensor These two live right next to each other, and have identical plugs. I check the wiring diagram, and sure enough the TPS colours were wrong. It should be Brown, Brown/Black and Red/Yellow And the CPS should be Yellow, Black and Shielded Brown So, what does that mean? Well, the two connectors had indeed been swapped. I swapped them over, connected them as they should be, and checked in INPA again. The TPS now read correctly, and I also noted that the two top bars now also had a reading, so suspect that's linked to the cam sensor. You can also see from the above photo, that the engine finally idles at the correct RPM now too. Obviously the engine thinking it was at WOT, but not moving, was causing the DME to keep the idle up. The result? Its picked up a lot of down low power, almost like the Vanos is now actually doing something. Funny that. Easy way to gain power, much easier than Type-R stickers or a pod filter. The exhaust sounds different too, I suspect this is down to the cam timing being correct now, instead of the inlet cam just sitting in one spot (or maybe even varying depending on throttle position!) With the idle also correct, unfortunately the misfire at idle is more obvious. Hopefully it's either Vanos, or something simple like spark plugs or coils. I'll check them out shortly. I can only presume this switch happened when the previous owner had everything unplugged to replace the head gasket. That was in 2016, so obviously it's been wrong for a while now, but confirms that I was right about the Vanos not working. It's still slower than my old M3, but hopefully rebuilding the Vanos can make that gap closer.

So four years ago (woah, four years!) I had a rather decent early E36 M3. Unfortunately I made the mistake of selling that car, and M3s aren't getting any cheaper, so now it's harder than ever to get another one. Rubbish ones are expensive and good ones are even more expensive. A couple of months ago I purchased an E91 335i, which although having been modded, so it was fast, it was as dull as bricks to drive otherwise. I wanted another analogue car, like an M3, where the only driving is done by me, not a computer. I put the E91 up for sale and got offered an E36 M3 for a swap, which of course I'm going to be super interested in. Unfortunately the seller was someone reluctant to provide VIN details of the car initially, and it turned out that it was actually a 328i that had had a full M3 conversion. Initially I wasn't interested, I wanted a "real" M3, but the more I thought of it, the more a reshelled car actually made sense to me. I didn't want to modify my previous M3 much, as i was concerned about ruining its "originality", so a car that already wasn't original means i can do the mods i didn't do to the previous M3. It sadly also means that it doesn't hold the same value as a real M3, but oh well. So this is what I have ended up. 1996 BMW 328i Shell (New Zealand New) Boston Green Metallic Slicktop The donor M3 was a South African spec BF92 1996 M3 in Daytona Violet 3.0L S50B30 engine (no emissions gear, no cats, but the full fat engine unlike the early SA spec cars) 5 Speed manual with LSD Vader seats (Nappa leather) M3 suspension and brakes The donor had aluminium doors, but they weren't carried over The only mods are 20" Chrome Work VS-KF Full sound system with full boot install and a sully sik early 00s flip up touch screen headunit Everything else is stock M3. Unfortunately the car is a complete basket case, and has way more issues than expected and more keep popping up every day. The good thing is that I love a project, and fully intend to have this car as a nice solid car I can enjoy driving. The good first New headlining Good condition interior (except steering wheel where all the leather has been removed) Tidy exterior (and Boston Green is a stunning colour!) Smooth gearbox and quiet engine (other than Vanos noise) Head gasket and timing chain recently done, with head professionally cleaned up So far the issues identified are Vanos is dead. No power below 4000rpm, and can hear the usual grumble/rattle. Starter doesn't always engage first time (free spins and engages when key is released, and then will start next try) Passengers window only goes up about an inch at a time Ignition barrel sometimes free spins Airbag light stays on a long time before going out. Codes for passenger occupancy sensor Shifter bushings well and truly gone A high idle A vacuum leak (since fixed, idle still high) Headlight low beam not working on one side (since fixed. Fuse) Oil cap hemorrhaging oil All exterior rubber seals badly perished Driveshaft coupling cracked and falling to bits Clutch bites at the floor and the clutch pedal is offset/twisted to the left Washer bottle sensor failed No ext. temp sensor connected Gearbox selector shaft seal leaking Hose clamps missing or loose on fuel lines under car Front LH tire losing pressure 20" wheels rub on all four guards And there will no doubt be more things I discover as i go. In the meantime the car is mostly driveable, albeit leaking oil from the oil cap quicker than I can clean it off, and pumping the tire up each time I drive it. The plans are to fix all the above issues, starting with the wheels are are stupid and huge, and then finally getting around to doing some mods. I have also ordered a bunch of other parts already, including Vanos seals. Unfortunately the seller twisted the truth on the KM the donor car had on it, claiming the cluster fitted to the car was sourced from a friend and is from a different M3, and the original donor has about 80,000km less than the cluster (and the donors cluster was faulty so it was sold). INPA confirmed that the cluster is the one from the original donor.... so yeah. I'm looking at maybe fitting a pair of Recaro seats, as they are more comfortable than the Vaders, but need to look further into he mounts for the floor. The sound install in the boot will probably be coming out and standard boot linings/trim fitted. The subs sound average, likely due to settings on the amps, and i don't care enough to set them up properly. I also want to upgrade the suspension, but keep standard-ish height (due to my steep driveway). Thinking Koni shocks and either stock springs or H&R. Swaybars are apparently a good upgrade too, as are binning the original rubber bushes. This is the story of my 1996 BMW M328i In the meantime, here are some photos.

"no cambelt! Free tank of gas! New tires all around*!" *Snow tires, but they're as good as high end Pirellis, honest. Tires all all the same thing.

Same with some NZDM early 90s BMWs. No cats, no O2 sensors.

Well today has been somewhat bitter-sweet. Little Snicket has been moved onto a new owner. It was inevitable that I would sell the car, and the biggest factor was that since getting it road legal over a month ago, I have driven the car about 3 times. The Honda does all the daily work, and the BMW does all the other weekend work (its summer, I'm a big fan of air conditioning, which the Mini didn't have). It wasn't fair to Snicket to just sit outside, in all weather, not being driven. I'm sad to see it go, it was a cool little car and I put so much work into it, but the young guy that bought it is real into old cars, and is looking forward to enjoying actually using the Mini. His ownership is a trial by fire though, since right now he is on a ferry and about to drive the car back to Christchurch, over 400KM away! Easily the longest drive the car has made in at least 4-5 years, if not longer. Oh well, good bonding with the car I guess, fingers crossed it all goes smoothly. In order to get Snicket ready for the sale today, (I'm embarrassed to say) I gave it the first clean since I bought it. Actually came up pretty well. It's a shame I never got around to polishing the paint as I think it would have come up pretty well. Even the Honda got a wash, and that was WELL overdue for one (oops). After the wash my Wife and I cleaned all the windows, and noticed a tiny little baby praying mantis chilling on the roof. Somehow it hung on despite me earlier washing the car with some vigor, and lots of water. It turns out we forgot about the little guy and when we got back from a quick drive to fill the tank, sure enough it was still hanging onto the roof! I thought I should relocate it to the garden, but not before it gave me a fist bump and explored my hand So that's the end of this journey. Snicket has gone to a new home where it should get more use, and my hard work can be enjoyed. I'm just glad I saved it and put it back on the road instead of it ending up in a crusher and being reincarnated as a Chery or Ssangyong.

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/edwardstown/wheels-tyres-rims/performance-titan-17x7-5-wheels-suit-au-fg-ford-magna-380-camry/1065365516 HTH.

Is there any way to determine before buying them, if they are suitable for certifying? Is that something id have to ask my chosen certifier? Ill drill holes into my tunnel if i have to, but rather mount it to the bracket if possible.

Speaking of certs, is this sort of attachment for the seatbelt OK for cert as long as the bolt meets spec? It mounts to the base that bolts to the floor of the car, and the recaro sliders mount to that base.

Wouldnt it be an awesome world where you could opt for them to just not put the wheel details on the plate?

It'll say "OE F&R" or the likes for wheels

Looks like it has the JWL standard marking? usually means its a JDM-YO wheel. Probably doesnt help, but nothing else to go on with my minimal knowledge.

Yes. PM me if you know anything i should know

Is you put a whole engine/driveline swap into a lower spec car, does it need drive shaft hoops and stuff for cert? Example is taking a 328i BMW, and swapping EVERYTHING from a same year/model M3 into the 328i shell. Engine, driveline, suspension, interior, everything but body panels. I understand it needs a cert for increase in engine size etc, just wanted to know how strict it is since its all factory bolt in with no mods. Also, when getting said cert, if its on standard suspension, does it need to have the wheels noted on the cert or is there a way for the wheels to just not be listed? (looking at a car that has had all this done, and it currently has garish wheels on it and would want to return to stock which is a different size, but current owner would cert the car as is with the current wheels)

On this same topic, say your car had some sick juddies in it, and no other mods. You wanted to remove said sick juddies becuase you got old and had to hang your flat peak up, and revert to standard suspension. Could you just drill the rivets out of the plate and roll stock? What if you wanted to sell the car in future, could you reinstall sick juddies, rivet the plate back on and get mad cash selling to a flat peaker?

Can confirm diagnosing board issues is a total fuck around. My 0.4 Speeduino board had issues with the ground plane not being connected to certain pins on the board, so i spent ages tracing everything back and soldering in extra jumpers to fix it.

It's mentioned in the first post the check valve is in place and new. Still worth testing it's working properly or swapping out. OP, have you tested the booster with a vacuum pump to check it can hold a solid vacuum (not just a "by ear" or "feel" test)?

I'm not worried personally. I'm a big fan of seeing other people tinker no matter the setup. Nothing like some @Roman graphs and science to go over my head but impress me.

Tunerstudio is super easy to learn the basics, and for MS there are soooo many tutorials and forum posts that almost everything has been covered at some point. I'd say go for it, personally. Just as an aside, Speeduino is now available as a prebuilt board

Playing with, building and tuning my Speeduino was awesome. Grass Roots ECU at its best. Links are great, but more a chequebook setup than megasquirt etc. Nothing wrong with that but not really what diy is about. I have another Speeduino sitting here waiting for another project.

Fuel is easy, especially with auto tune, but getting ignition just right without a dyno/knock gear is a lot harder.

One thing i need to ask if youre buying an ECU, is what is the preferred ECU for your tuner? You dont want to end up with an ECU your tuner doesnt want to work with, unless you're prepared to travel or tune it yourself.

I can see no reason for this not work work, its basically exactly what a patch harness is. Just make sure everything goes to the correct pins and it should work.

Cant imagine you would get much cheaper than a 14point7 SLC Free or Spartan2 without it being rubbish?

Lots of mk1/2 bits floating around in the various NZ Facebook groups, if you aren't on there already. May need to make a post on there and ask.

I have used rods from Bunnings to stick a couple of bits of aluminium together, seem to recall they were flux cored but using proper flux might help. Needed heaps of heat though, so a decent torch. Scrub the area around it with a scotch pad until it's spotless.