Black & Tan 332iT

[discoelk]

Are you keeping it narrow body?

[Bry5on]

Are you keeping it narrow body?

You know it

[discoelk]

Hell yeah. The m-tech sedans are my favorite E46 form factor. The wagon is a close 2nd.

[Bry5on]

Okay, yesterday the clutch arrived. The Z4M and e46 M3 pressure plates are laser engraved with the same part number (and the slave cylinders are the same PN). This confirms that the clutch force should be the same between the two. The disc is of course a different part number due to spline count, but @George Hill will be comparing the disc PN with the 330i clutch to see if it’s the same. If so, this makes a strong argument for the 330i flywheel/clutch/gearbox combo working just fine behind the s54.




Gearbox went in just fine after moving my wideband O2 sensor to the other bank. An O2 sensor in this bung will foul on a mounting boss on the bell housing. For install, I ended up reusing my M3 transmission mounts as they felt considerably firmer than the Z4M/330i new and used parts. The M3 ones fit without modification, just have a longer stud on top.




Here is the sum total of weight saved from the transmission swap - the mass damper on the back of the getrag - 3.5lb


I’ve been doing more homework on windshield urethane for bonding carbon as well - do not do this! The urethane is typically made black with carbon, which is conductive. Because carbon fiber is higher on the nobility scale than mild steel, the windshield urethane can electrically connect them and cause galvanic corrosion between the carbon and steel in wet, humid, moist or salty environments. The result will be the chassis steel being slowly eaten away over time. So for the trunk floor I’ll be using more white 2K urethane that we used on the roof, along with paint over the steel, and using sealed stainless rivets. Stainless is in between mild steel and carbon on the nobility scale, so I figure this is a good compromise. We did the same for the two rivets we used on the roof. Word to the wise!

[Bry5on]

Alright, here we go! First off, let's start with a scan of the area while we have good access, as I'm going to need to design a bracket to support the center section of the valance, and also a method for easily popping off the center to get access to the trailer hitch, which I am most certainly keeping.


Then we get to pulling that evap wiring back through the loom so we can run it through the trunk floor like the M3. Always an absolute sticky mess.


Tidying it back up




Now let's slap some paint on all that bare metal. Of course I got overspray on the valance where the tailpipes exit in the process.


Then let's start the bond+rivet process with a copious application of 2K (non-conductive) urethane and a couple different grips of stainless sealed rivets. Not pictured is me welding bolts to the inside of the passenger side muffler bracket, both things are stainless. It was about this time that I realized the donor for the trunk mold had a good sized dent in it -_- far too late to change course and we'll just have to see how we get along with the evap canister.







And since we can't use the metal stud mounts for the evap canister with this trunk floor, let's bond some fancy studs in using 2 part epoxy



And here's the finished product, looks like an M3, just more expensive!


And a bit more tidied up, now looking like an M3 touring. It looks like I'll even be able to manage to retain the felt floor liner from the touring as an extra stash cubby, more on that later


All that's left is driver's side exhaust studs - two are easy, two are complicated - and waiting on remaining parts to button it up