The first exhibit is my saphire blau metallic '82 528e (build date sept. '81), currently with 192K miles (10K on new engine). Modifications include urethane upper control arm bushings, KYB gas shocks with Vogtland springs (lowered in front), front euro bumper (see below), and now a swap of the entire drivetrain.

The original 3-speed automatic transmission coupled to the torquey eta engine was not a bad combination except for the lack of top end HP. Well, now I have changed it into the car BMW shoulda' woulda' made. It blows away the old combo, makes an awesome new sound from 3k RPM on up to 6k, and acheives similar mileage. I did the work over about five months and encountered several minor setbacks (like shattered crank reference sensors, brake fluid running all over the driver's carpet, headbolt threads coming out of the block, etc.) but am very pleased with the result.

For the automatic to manual conversion I took most parts from an '84 325e

  • 5-speed overdrive tranny and shift console
  • flywheel
  • clutch master and slave cylinders
  • clutch pedal and associated bolt
  • brake pedal rubber cover (which I installed after cutting my old pedal)

    The driveshaft came from a manual '88 528e. I got the tranny crossmember and shifter boot new from the dealer (both are cheap items). I used a random spring I found in my toolbox to help the clutch pedal come all the way up. And to hold the rear of the shift console up I bent a piece of sheet metal, drilled a bolt hole, rivetted it up in the tunnel, and fastened it to the console with a rubber donut in between.

    I replaced the 2.93:1 open differential with a 3.73:1 limtted-slip from a 325is. The only hang-up was that my old diff had not only the early style centered mount, but the cover was slightly longer on the bottom. Rather than risk oil leaks I bought another ('83-'84 I think) e28 cover to put on the new diff.

    So where does the extra power come from? The new engine has a 325i cylinder head, intake manifold, and throttle body (plus associated plumbing). Connecting the ICV (in the old location) involves some hacked hoses and tape :) The engine also has custom ROSS pistons which are the same volcano shape (dish within a dome) as stock 325i pistons but with added compression height (1.5mm IIRC) and 0.5mm overbore. Plus I made two changes to the fuel injection: a 3.0bar pressure regulator and a modified EPROM for my 007 Motronic box (which BTW, had a socketed chip). It has a raised rev limit and more spark advance at low RPM/high load.

    Tests on a chassis dynamometer showed the air/fuel ratio leaning out at full power, which is not a big surprise considering I originally had some pinging before dropping a few degrees of ignition advance. I made 142rwhp at 5200 and 152rwtq at 3900 with the ECU I had been using. With a later version ECU I made 147rwhp at 5200 and 165rwtq at 4000.

    I bought a Holley adjustable fuel pressure regulator which fits in place of the stock unit. I intend to boost fuel pressure by 10psi or so to correct the AFR issue. I need to experiment with the Motronic units more also, as I suspect that the later ECU has a separate ignition table for WOT but I don't know what the actual spark advance is and how it compares to the old ECU.

    This is my "custom" body work which consists of a euro front bumper, the later US front valence, and $5 autozone turn signals. At first I thought it looked a little funny but it has grown on me and now I can barely stand to look at e28s with the stock super bumper.

    I made a pair of mounts like this for the bumper (the BMW mounts and associated doodads really add up if you buy new).

    My previous 3ers (an e21 and e30) having been killed by rust, I've moved on to this '80 320i.

    The floor was rusted due to a leaky windshield seal letting water in. Inside the trunk was a bit rusted also, but the car was otherwise much cleaner underneath than the others. I did a half-assed sort of paint job on it (but at least I removed the trim unlike whoever did the last one).

    I swapped in the engine from my e30, a 2025cc M10 with L-jetronic.

    AC compressor is gone so the battery was moved across to make room for the AEM cone filter. I welded an extra alternator mounting arm to the side of the car for attaching the AFM. I used the alternator and starter from a 533i. Note the adjustable fuel pressure regulator and the red lever for idle speed control.

    I converted the M10 to a distributor-less ignition using the Megajolt Lite Jr. control unit and Ford EDIS ignition module and coil pack. Since I am only using the outer-most row of my crank pulley, I welded a toothed ring from trigger-wheels.com to the inside lip of the second row. The VR sensor mounting bracket was fabricated from scraps and attached to the bracket that holds the PS pump on an e30.

    So far I have been able to get a small improvement in low- and mid-range torque and throttle response. Plus there is the cool factor of being able to run a serial cable under the dash and monitor the ignition system in realtime via notebook computer.