Robs E46M BRG Street Build

[robgill]

Back at the cold garage, I've started on some side projects. In preparation for the SMG to 6spd conversation I finished up the pieces I can do while not having access to the car. First was all the work on the transmission. Got the converted bell housing back and installed. Small beed of Loctite 5970 always works well for me on these (also the rear diff cover).





Some grease on the reverse arm roller bearings to hold them in place. Sometimes you have to jiggle the arm with a screw driver to get the housing to slide on.



While I was in there also replaced the front seal, guide sleeve and fork pivot. Tapped it in with a 36mm socket.


Old sleeve pretty worn:


With the bell housing back on, moved onto the various detents and GPS sensor. Tapped new threads for GPS sensor and installed with new detent spring and Thrust/Detent pins some thread sealer:



Also replaced the 1/2/3 detents that are on the top of the trans. Help full kit from FCP Euro with all the parts.




And lastly a new Guibo! Fully refreshed transmission ready to be installed.

[robgill]

Another SMG conversion item I knocked out is building a wiring harness for the clutch switch install. I hate splicing wires and wanted to do this with all the correct OE connectors and pins. I also wanted 100% functionality of GPS sensor from cruise control. Here are all of the parts I used:

Parts
1 x 61116911072 - This is harness from BMW that has the correct clutch switch connector as well as matching color wires to the body harness.
2 x 61130056960 - Wire that comes with 2 female pins already installed and is long enough to reach the EWS and DME
1 x 61138364833 - Elo-Power pin plugs into an open slot in the DME box connecting to the GPS sensor
1 x 61136925611 - 4 pol connector to extend body harness to brake switch without splices
1 x 61132359994 - 4 pol connector to extend body harness to brake switch without splices
4 x 61131383672 - Male pins
4 x 61132360043 - Female pins

Tools you need:
90 degree Pick tool to de-pin connectors
Wire stripper
Crimp tool



The basics of the wiring from the black clutch switch connector are:

Pin 1 - to Brake Pedal Switch Ground
Pin 2 - x60002 Pin 20 DME or direct to Gear Position Switch
Pin 3 - to Brake Pedal Switch (12V)
Pin 4 - to Pin 8 in EWS

Building off this excellent DIY; Instead of splicing into the the brake pedal switch wires, you can de-pin that connector and then re-pin with those wires connected directly in the pin:



This then allows you to add a 4-pol connector that goes from body harness -> short extension -> brake switch -> clutch switch -> EWS/GPS/DME. Some additional detail:

1. Depin blue wires from purple and blue connectors 61116911072 using metal pick tool
2. Depin pin 2 black connector (blue/brown) wire
3. Insert 61130056960 into black pin 2
4. Replace other end 61130056960 with 61138364833. This assumes you are using GPS (Alternative is to leave female pin that goes directly to DME)
5. Depin Pin 4: Bl/Sw (Blue w/Black Stripe) replace with 61130056960. Plugs into the female pin into position 8 in the EWS connector
6. Insert 4 original wires into 61136925611
   1. Pin 1: Br/Sw (Brown w/Black stripe)
   2. Pin 2: Bl/Br (Blue w/Brown Stripe)
   3. Pin 3: Vi/Ge (Violet w/Yellow Stripe)
   4. Pin 4: Bl/Sw (Blue w/Black Stripe)
7. Trim wires to a couple inches long then insert into 61132359994
   1. Pin 1: Br/Sw (Brown w/Black stripe) + Br/Sw from clutch switch
   2. Pin 2: Bl/Br (Blue w/Brown Stripe)
   3. Pin 3: Vi/Ge (Violet w/Yellow Stripe) + Vi/Ge from clutch switch
   4. Pin 4: Bl/Sw (Blue w/Black Stripe)

Completed harness! All plug in play no splices.



One last note here on the clutch switch. Lots of info in the forum on this but here is my basic summary. The correct switch for this conversion that does not require custom coding is 61319122700. Couple challenges with this...

• 61319122700 is no longer available from BMW. It is superseded by 35426876898 which is not correct. If you order from a dealer using 61319122700, you will likely get 35426876898. There is new old stock out there and I got one from ebay. Just make sure they confirm it is 61319122700.
• Also 61319122700 is a lot of times called the "brown switch". It is not always brown... I have on that is black. What matters is the part #.
• The easiest alternative that is available to is 61319122701. 61319122701 is the euro version and has one tradeoff, it does not support that clutch safety feature (clutch in to start car). So you have to code that out of the EWS. If you just plug in 61319122701 the EWS will not allow the car to start.

[robgill]

A lot of travel the last few weeks and I also got distracted by a side project; helping my dad restore his 1973 240z. But things are getting ready to ramp up! I should be picking up the car next week and we did a final walk around today. Also stopped by BMW Restore Seats to check in on the interior. Couple preview shots!

[nyc951]

Absolutely gorgeous. But we need pictures of the Z!

[AWE46M3]

Incredible - such a fun build to follow.

[0-60motorsports]

Nice!! Can't wait to see the interior installed with the OG.

[bavarian3]

that engine is immaculate. can't wait to see this progress

[robgill]

Absolutely gorgeous. But we need pictures of the Z!

Fixed the link above so it goes to the right build thread!

[Onefastsicilian]

Couple final items before paint. First got the OE CSL trunk installed. Why OE? It fits perfect with no BS. I just lined up the bolts in the same place as the original trunk.



Then swapped the new hood on the track card over to this car. Bye bye Nardo wrap!



For bumpers I decided to go with a new OE rear bumper (no pdc). And for front a Mile End CF bumper!! Super happy to pick one of these up (thanks @Gt4!)





This time around I decided to handle car transport to the body shop on my own. Tow trucks in the Bronx can be a real hassle... Also my street is pretty narrow and I would rather move the car on an off hour with no traffic. So pushed it out of the garage, rolled it down the hill, and loaded it onto a U-Hual dolly 😂. Worked great and only a couple miles to the body shop!





Back at Mamaroneck Auto Body for paint!! In good hands with Mario, Marco and Marco Jr.

Those are great guys there! Nice to see you attack this project

[Maxima SE]

Oh man what an epic build. cant wait to see the final product !

[robgill]

Back from paint!! Picked it up a few weeks back and started the rebuild. Paint looks awesome as expected.







Went with the Uhual dolly again to get it home. Bit of an adventure getting it back into the garage but a neighbor helped me give it a push!



Back at home!



Got right back at it with all of the engine trim. New firewall insulation, steering column guibo and front suspension. Also had the front subframe blasted and powder coated.



After installing new flywheel and clutch, got the trans bolted back on and drivetrain ready to be re-installed!

[0-60motorsports]

Oh that looks gorgeous

[SUPREM3///]

Damn, great choice on color

[robgill]

Got the motor back in! Feel like I've got this pretty well perfected on Quickjacks. Once I get the subframe bolts lined up the rest goes in pretty easy.





The went after each of the subsystems. Started with the trans/clutch. I had previously started the SMG conversion by cutting out the shifter hole and installing the clutch pedal and lines. Similar to Rosso I went with Rogue Engineering short shifter and new pedals from Pedal Haus.



Also removed the gas pedal "kick down" and installed new Rogue Engineering pedal bushings. So much easier to do all of that by just taking out the entire pedal assembly.



Next was the front suspension and steering. New OE control arms, Rogue street FCABs and steering links attached to refreshed steering rack and powder coated subframe. Also replaced the steering guibo which was actually in pretty good condition.





I'm going to refresh the front knuckle and brake shields when I install new coilovers and brakes (still debating that that solution).

[robgill]

Next up was all of the pulleys and then the power steering system. One weird thing is the OE Geba water pump has some extra aluminum that interferes with the pulley. This has happened to me before so not a huge deal, just trimmed it down with a dremel and all good. Als replace the steering pump and all of the idle pulley and belts.



New power steering reservoir and lines:





New A/C Condensor and power steering cooler back on. No the A/C and Power Steering systems 100% back together!



Last big system was the cooling. Installed a new OE radiator and hoses. The radiator was interesting, apparently OE is now "NRF" which is owned by Modine and made in the Netherlands. It had one fitment issue where a platic tab interfered with the A/C line connections, took some minor trimming:





After some coding to remove the SMG it was ready for a test start. Fired first up first crank! I confirmed the new clutch system was working correctly, then let it fully warm up and changed the oil. All looking good and no leaks 👍.

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