E92 M3 Project

[Matthew97]

Purchased a relatively clean, HPI clear, E92 M3 manual in Mineral Grey. The car has a bad engine. Usual story, rod bearings. Crankshaft and 4/8 rods are scrap so currently on the hunt for an engine.
The car itself is clean, and stands me very little so whilst it is apart, I'm going to take the opportunity and rebuild a lot more of the components on it, including the entire front and rear suspension, and some of the interior, to hopefully make it a very clean yet affordable M3 by the time I am done.
Will upload progress as I make it on here.

 

[Matthew97]

So upon purchasing the car, it had already had the engine removed, weirdly through the front. This meant all the front end bits needed collected as well when purchasing and then what was left of the engine.

So after completing an inventory of everything to make sure everything was there, I began looking into the engine.
The crankshaft was scrap, 3 rods had nearly welded themselves to it. My first thoughts were a new crank from BMW and 3 rods, but quickly when oil pump replacement was factored in, this because unfeasible.
Now I'm beginning to look down the route of a second hand engine, and an in depth refresh of the whole car.
Rear suspension removal up next

 

[AlpineF30]

Subscribed to this.

Rod bearing spinning was the thing terrified me when I had mine.

Are second hand engines still commanding a big premium?

 

[gav525]

Nice wee project this if the car didn't cost that much to begin with!

 

[Woodcutter]

Lovely M3, but tell us more about that wee 924?

 

[KevM]

I remember the 924 advertised. It came as a pair of i remember correctly?

 

[dddrrift]

if your thinking of parting with this at any stage pm me, id be interested

 

[Big Pimp]

2JZ engine transplant

 

[Matthew97]

Subscribed to this.

Rod bearing spinning was the thing terrified me when I had mine.

Are second hand engines still commanding a big premium?

It's a common issue for sure. Whatever engine I get whether it has a receipt for them or not, it'll be getting ACL bearings and oem bolts as soon as it gets here!

They are mad money in NI but in England they can be got for 5k or so and upwards. Not cheap by any standards but worth doing on this one

Lovely M3, but tell us more about that wee 924?

Not mine (anymore) unfortunately. Weird story below

I remember the 924 advertised. It came as a pair of i remember correctly?

Depends how old you are or how good your memory is
I bought this thing when I was 16 about 9 years ago, it and another silver one were advertised as a pair in Ballymena.

I sold both a year later. The other disappeared into nowhere (OIL4855), but this one was very clean and seemed to change hands every few years as I seen it advertised.
Most recently it was advertised on done deal when a good friend of mine bought it about a month ago. Now it's back in my shed for a few weeks!

 

[Matthew97]

An update on this car has taken quite a bit longer than expected. My wife and I had our first child born in early December, so it hasn't left much time for fiddling with the M3 in the shed!
Anyhow, I did manage to find the time to source and purchase an engine. I really only needed a bare unit, but this complete engine came up for sale locally at a price I simply couldn't turn down. It was cheaper than bare engines in England, and about half the price of an engine from a well known breaker here in NI.

It's a mostly complete DCT engine, with low miles from an accident damaged car. Super happy, and now just waiting on an engine stand coming!

I did manage to have a good look underneath the car, and removed the exhaust as well. It is crusty, of course having laid up for a few years, coupled with our delightfully salty roads, however I cannot see any rot and most importantly, no holes in the subframe!
Planning on getting it stripped bare over the next couple of weeks, and the rear subframe is booked in locally to be acid dipped and then powder coated.

I think my hopes of having it on the road this summer are dwindling away!

 

[Matthew97]

Again, much longer between updates than I would like- but progress has slowly been made!
Got the engine mounted on to a stand, and started into the rod bearings. Some ACL race bearings and new OEM bolts for this one. + lots of assembly lube

The bearings were not too bad compared to some that I have saw, however going off a few of the shells, they were definitely due replacing. Long, tedious process of torqueing, loosening and re torqueing but approx 4 hours later they were all installed. - With the lend of a very nice digital snapon torque wrench!

Having gone to refit the sump, while cleaning it I realised it had quite a problem. - Car was accident damaged at the front and I can only imagine a kerb or something similar may have met the front edge of the sump! Brook fab in Dromara welded it up and had it good to go in no time!

Finally after much scrubbing and cleaning, the engine is back together. We have new rocker cover gaskets, sump gasket, breather o rings, vanos o rings, camshaft sensor o rings, exhaust manifold gaskets, rod bearings, bolts, egr gaskets and a couple of new sump plugs and seals.- Some fitted, while the rest I am finishing tonight tonight.
Planning on installing the front belt assembly this weekend while the new(used) oil cooler I purchased is getting flushed by a local company for my own peace of mind.

Next up, I have a new LUK clutch to fit, some new gearbox bits and pieces and then the two can be put back together.
I'm aiming to have the car running, and possibly on the road by the NW200 weekend, so the clock is ticking now!

 

[Matthew97]

Finally getting things moving. Got the engine gaskets all finished. Laid all parts out with the new engine mounts, clutch, spigot bearings etc. Had to order the tool from work to align the twin disc clutch properly. Took a week to get here of course.

With the engine all back together, I got the flywheel cleaned up and mounted, and then installed the clutch with screws, release bearings, springs, fork etc all renewed also. Once together, I got the gearbox fitted.

Had to drop the front subframe out of the car to get the engine back in, with the depth of the sump and how far it sits back, it was a bit of a nightmare to get in and lined up. Thankfully once in, I was able to work through the mess of lines, plugs, plastic housing parts and pipework.
Moving underneath, I got the shifter mounted with the new bushings, pins and clips, the gearbox plugs and pipework (with new seals) back together, and then got it mounted properly.

I purchased a known good, used engine oil cooler and got it flushed locally for the project. Upon fitting, I quickly discovered that LCI oil coolers are not the same and subsequently my oil pipes do not work with it, or the oil filter housing... Now I'm waiting on the old one being flushed fully and returned. Also have to change the oil filter housing as it has a different spacing for the idler pulley on it between pre LCI and LCI!

First start up should be towards the weekend with the goal of having it on the road next week..

 

[Boksic]

Are you sticking with those wheels? Good to see progress!

 

[Gaz]

Good work! It’s a really great base for a project, modern and very driveable once done.

I had one of these a couple of years ago and really liked it, the engine is a gem and with the right exhaust sounds fantastic - I had a DTD like this on mine

 

[Matthew97]

Are you sticking with those wheels? Good to see progress!

Going to stick with them for this summer I would say. I plan to find a set of M359 comp wheels in silver later in the year. Those plus some carbon pieces and paint will be the winter project! Just want to drive it for now!

Good work! It’s a really great base for a project, modern and very driveable once done.

I had one of these a couple of years ago and really liked it, the engine is a gem and with the right exhaust sounds fantastic - I had a DTD like this on mine

Thanks, that sounds fantastic. Where can you purchase one? Had a quick google search but nothing appeared

 

[Matthew97]

So after some fiddling- namely throttle actuator swapping and idle control valve issues, we got it started at the weekend. No O2 sensors and no exhaust from the manifolds back, so it was a bit lumpy and plenty of flames. No radiator on yet so only wanted it to run as proof of concept before I build it back up. D/S bank manifold was quite oily after, I'd imagine being upside down on a stand and not remembering to try to clean the oil out would do that.. Excuse the mess of the shed in the video..
Hopefully a couple more nights we will have it moving under its own power!

 

[Matthew97]

Since last update-
Realised the car wasn't running just as it should. The startup that it did manage, it was spitting flames which as cool as they are, wasn't ideal. It also wouldn't restart. After some advice from friends/people who know these engines- turns out, it was suspected I had the flywheel on wrong. The crank signal reads of it on these, and there is a dowel which was damaged from the removal process.
New flywheel and dowel pin, box off and everything back together with a new slave cylinder also. Car started right up. Proper good feeling hearing it run, and run well.

Engine bay started to look a bit more together. It'll be going to get detailed at the start of June.

Changed the gearbox and diff oils with new bungs

Swapped out the white, broken angel eyes for some meaner looking yellows. Which I love the look off.

With some more alignment of the front end, finally got the car together so I could see what it looked like for the first time since I bought it.

Took it for a drive, have done approx 250 miles and it has been perfect. Sound is incredible. Passed MOT the day after it came out and had no advisories which was a nice bonus.

Personal plate on, and some photos after Cars, Bikes and Coffee in Craigavon with @Steve750 and his M5.

Next up, a professional detail (not by me), some carbon, and 359 comp wheels

 

[KevM]

Flip, I saw this at C&C and didnt even realise it was the same car!! Thats some going, fair play to you!

 

[Big Pimp]

That’s phenomenal work

 

[Lauren_E]

Only twigging on who you are now lol. Seen you arriving at the c&c on Thursday. Car looked well

 

[chopaholic]

Great work, E92 M3's are such class cars. @PeteMoore welds looking good too.

 

[Jonny_W]

That looks fantastic. Did you buy it Banbridge direction

 

[Matthew97]

That looks fantastic. Did you buy it Banbridge direction

Yeah I believe it came from Banbridge. I bought it from a guy I work with, who had just bought it from a guy he knew (already with the engine etc stripped)

 

[Jonny_W]

Yeah I believe it came from Banbridge. I bought it from a guy I work with, who had just bought it from a guy he knew (already with the engine etc stripped)

Could be the same car, I know the previous owner if it is. The reg and wheels looked familiar lol

 

[Matthew97]

Could be the same car, I know the previous owner if it is. The reg and wheels looked familiar lol

Can't even remember the guys name. Had a few docs inside it with it on but just cleared everything into the bin. Hadn't had mot since end of '21