hey i found a 93 318i with no motor. i was looking to put an m3 motor into it. do i have to change struts and suspesion parts aswell to handle the extra power? let me know

Was the car free, if not its not worth the time and money. Everything is interchangeable between all E36 cars. Sounds like a good candidate for an LS1 swap.

the car is not free. the person wants between 600 and 1000 for it. still worth it? how much stuff do i actually have to change?

You don't have to change the struts but I would recommend it for the car to handle correctly. If the M3 motor is from a 95 M3 all you have to do is swap everything under the hood from the radiator to the rear end and brakes. Technically you could just bolt in the engine and harness to your existing trans and it will work fine and leave everything else as is but that's the bare minimum you could do to get the car running. The rear end wont last very long and the car will handle like shite but it all depends on you and how much you want to spend.

thankyou for the help. i definatley thought it was going to be alot more work than that. not saying it isnt alot of work but i was thinking like new motormounts and a bunch of fabrication to even get the motor to fit.

Any E36 engine bolts right in, not hard at all, just laborious.

yeah thats kind of what i figured. im more worried about reinforcing things to handle the extra power. or if i even need to do that.

Well even if you didn't need to do it, don't you think a 318 (which is basically the economy model for all intents and purposes in the US market) with the M3 engine would be a bit unbalanced? BMWs have never been about straight line speed without the handling and braking and chasis poise and stability to back it up.

For me it would have to be a full M3 conversion (at least suspension and brakes and things like that, the body isn't quite as important though I do love the way the E36 M3 looks. A lot.

There are reinforcement plates for the rear subframe that should be installed. All non-ti E36 models are at risk for subframe tears in the rear no matter what drivetrain is installed. As far as balance and such goes, youre going to be adding ~70lbs to the front. If auto and changing to manual, youll lose weight. Suspension and brakes arent required, but are recommended. I installed M3 brakes on my ti with just a 2.5L install and the car stops quicker than it did with the 1.9L. Set up the suspension with long term goals in mind, meaning, not just 6cyl springs and shocks unless youre looking for a stock look, stock handling, and stock price. If you want coil overs, save up for them and buy for the non-m setup becuase of the sway setup for m3s.

All the stock components the 318 will have are enough to hold the m3 3.0/2L engine and get it up the road. How long it lasts, thats all up to the driver. If you constantly go out and beat on it, the stock components will break prmaturely, IE. driveshaft bushing wear and tear, rear small case diff breaking, etc. You can just drop the engine in and go, i did it. Just buy as you go and as needed, just make sure you have cash onhand to replace things that just......BREAK!!!

i guess it would be unbalanced. i havent really thought about everything. it just came up. me and my dad wanted a project car to do and a lady at work said she had a rolling 318 chassi. i just really wanted to know how much stuff i actually had to change to put an m3 motor and tranny into the 318.

bluebimma thanks for the info. that realy helped out alot. now its just time to talk to my dad and see what he wants to do. hopefully i get the ok and can start looking for parts.

AS far as balance goes, the E36 chassis was designed from the get go for an in line six, ever look at where the head is in relation to the firewall on the M42 as opposed to the M50. The M42 is farther away. The M50 is pushed as far back as possible. Even though the Getrags are the same their mounting points on the chassis are different. The drive shaft on the M50 cars is shorter so even though the M50 is heavier the car still maintains its 50/50 balance due to engine placement. That's why you have to use everything when doing the swap.

AS far as balance goes, the E36 chassis was designed from the get go for an in line six, ever look at where the head is in relation to the firewall on the M42 as opposed to the M50. The M42 is farther away. The M50 is pushed as far back as possible. Even though the Getrags are the same their mounting points on the chassis are different. The drive shaft on the M50 cars is shorter so even though the M50 is heavier the car still maintains its 50/50 balance due to engine placement. That's why you have to use everything when doing the swap.

Really? The Getrag x-member for the 318is is the same part as the Getrag x-member for the 325is as well as the ZF x-member for the M3. Same BMW part number for all three. How is it that they have different mounting points on the chassis?

If the trannies are the same and the x-members are the same, then you are implying that the mounting holes are in different locations on the 318 unibody compared to the 325 and M3 unibodies. And if that is true, then how can one swap a complete 325 or M3 drivetrain (engine, tranny, driveshaft, diff) into a 318 without first extending the driveshaft?

I think it is more likely that the mounting points are the same, and that the reason for the difference in driveshaft lengths is that the M50/S50 use a larger diff. The driveshaft is 2" shorter to make room for the larger diff.

With respect to the "balance" dispute, I think some of you are not quite right. The only real weight distribution difference between a swapped 318is and a real M3 coupe is going to be the difference in the differential weights, which is not that much. Suspension differences won't matter, because it is not possible to change the F/R weight distribution by changing the suspension.

throw an RB25det in it.. and post the write up so i have a guide =D

Really? The Getrag x-member for the 318is is the same part as the Getrag x-member for the 325is as well as the ZF x-member for the M3. Same BMW part number for all three. How is it that they have different mounting points on the chassis?

If the trannies are the same and the x-members are the same, then you are implying that the mounting holes are in different locations on the 318 unibody compared to the 325 and M3 unibodies. And if that is true, then how can one swap a complete 325 or M3 drivetrain (engine, tranny, driveshaft, diff) into a 318 without first extending the driveshaft?

I think it is more likely that the mounting points are the same, and that the reason for the difference in driveshaft lengths is that the M50/S50 use a larger diff. The driveshaft is 2" shorter to make room for the larger diff.




I'm not one to argue but why is the shifter assembly/bracket that's under the car attached to the tranny longer on an M42 chassis which suggests that the tranny is more forward than an M50 chassis. I'm not sure but maybe there are different holes in the chassis that allow the trans to be moved back or forward depending on the engine used. The bellhousing bolts on an M42 chassis are easily accessible from under the hood where an M50 chassis are hard to get to cuz they are further back. I have to look at my car to confirm this. Its been a while since I've pulled the trans on both my 318 and 325 I know there is a difference.

The fact that you have a 318 makes it a good candidate for any engine swap. It has a great chassis and its not like your messing up an M3 or anything so just throw something in there and have fun dude!

hey guys thanks for all the help. one last thing. does anyone know about how much this will all cost? ive seen motors and tansmissions for about 4-5k but ontop of that how much more on average will it cost?

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=831204&highlight=325ti

Thats my build and total for everything, not as much as yours will cost due to the fact that your engine and tranny will cost ya.

Engine = 1.5k-3k
Tranny = 300-900

I'm not one to argue but why is the shifter assembly/bracket that's under the car attached to the tranny longer on an M42 chassis which suggests that the tranny is more forward than an M50 chassis. I'm not sure but maybe there are different holes in the chassis that allow the trans to be moved back or forward depending on the engine used. The bellhousing bolts on an M42 chassis are easily accessible from under the hood where an M50 chassis are hard to get to cuz they are further back. I have to look at my car to confirm this. Its been a while since I've pulled the trans on both my 318 and 325 I know there is a difference.

I think those shifter brackets are different lengths in many of the E36 versions. That may be why you can take (for example) a standard M3 shifter and use it as a short shifter on a 318. There is an article at understeer about this.

Don't forget that the bellhousing *could* be shorter, which would move the engine back but wouldn't do anything to the location of the tranny. I'm not saying that the bellhousing IS shorter, just saying that it could be.

hey guys thanks for all the help. i ended up buying a 328is. so looks like im going in that direction instead.