Re: E36 v2
Well before the flywheel/clutch could be attempted I wanted to check if the exhaust would come undone from the manifolds at the flanges. These have probably never been removed on most of these E36s, and my previous one was a f*cking nightmare - with studs spinning/nuts rounding/snapping, had the lot.
I was hoping for better news with this one, as long as this would come off the flywheel/clutch job would be much easier as the exhaust would just come off. The centre section has to be removed to get the gearbox off the engine.
Heated the nuts up and 5 of the 6 came off with ease, just one stud snapped..
Access is easy with minimal fuss when they undo like that. If you have to start cutting/drilling broken studs its an absolute nightmare as there is no room to work at all!
With this taking so little time, I decided to try and fit the M3 Evo exhaust manifolds I got a couple of months back. Picked them up cheap as some muppet had cut one of the flanges off at some point, so they didn't command anywhere near the price tag of what people usually sell them for. Its also important to get the Evo ones as the lambda ports are in the correct place for putting them on a 328, whereas the 3.0 ones have the lambdas in the centre section. Dropped on lucky with the right ones.
I was a bit reluctant to start removing the manifolds as I had read about people snapping studs, etc. I already have a set of 24 studs and nuts for the new engine (new E90> style), but didn't want to use them on this old engine - so I would be re-using the studs if all went well.
The standard 328 manifolds were removed in about 20 minutes, with most of the studs winding out along with the nuts. Really easy to get to all 24 nuts with everything still in place. Front bank off..
I had also read this job had taken some people 2-3 days to complete, and how much of a nightmare access was with fitting the M3 manifolds on with the engine in. I decided to remove the steering column linkage to make life a little easier, as there is no chance the manifolds would go in with it still there. Simple as sliding the assembly down on the splines, then up off the rack. Makes it easier if you unbolt the rack and move that forward too..
Anyone who has seen one of these on a BMW before will know they have a rubber part in the middle, under the heatshield. They wear and most are likely on the original item, giving a bit of play in the steering (along with a bit of vibration damping I guess). I managed to get a solid replacement 'kit' from a lad on another forum, so this was a good time to fit it. More on that lower down.
With enough access we offered up the M3 manifolds to measure what sort of piece needed welding on to replace the flange.
Quite a tight fit to get in even with the column linkage off, both manifolds have to be lifted up at the same time. Luckily I had quite a bit of 2" pipe in various shapes spare, so measured up, cut a section and then welded a piece on on with a new flange..
Some difference to the stock 328i items indeed. Obviously now the standard centre section is no use, as it usually goes upwards to join the short manifolds, so it needs shortening also.
Before doing this we fitted the manifold to the car and got on with putting all the nuts on. Typical that at this point there was sideways rain, hailstone, wind, the lot. Having started it I needed it finished so the job went on, even in the grim weather this country seems to always produce.....
...many hours later :sleepy: ...
Well the claims of it being a bad job with the engine in are correct - more like what an absolute nightmare of a job, and I rarely think much is difficult! Getting all 6 individual gaskets on is the first trick, then being able to tighten all 24 nuts up with limited access took a vast array of different tools to say the least. Many times during this I did wonder why I had attempted to change it before the new engine goes in. Got there in the end though - sorry to say a complete newcomer would have no chance, and it actually would take days not hours lol.
I also drilled out the standard rubber on the steering column linkage, bolted together the solid part and put it back on, works well..
At this point we gave up for the day, cold, wet and tempers tested. I have already modified the centre section to meet with the M3 manifolds, just needs fitting in daylight, so I will update the final bits of the swap tomorrow, hopefully with a video included.
