bmwe21.net forums

I started this topic already on the dutch part of this forum, but Jeroen asked me to put it here also. so here it goes:
sorry about the crappy phone pictures, but its all I have. Saving money on a phone to put in the car

I bought the project like this: (November 2013)

Put the car on stands, and try to fit a e36 front subframe


the 323i on the background is a very nice one, but its not mine though....

stripping:




Made myself a "spit" to put the car upside down. much easier working than a lift




started grinding away a bit of the tectyl.


whole chassis is now seam welded. much more ridged than the stock spot welds.

floor where the seat normally is:

rear wheel arch:


under side of the car:


a friend of mine took some proper pics









As you can see in some of the above pictures, the welds started to rust pretty fast. you can see it get worse each day.. so grinded back all the welds again and painted all the welded areas. So a tip to everyone: don't wait a week, but paint after you welded!












cut a piece out my donor..



test fit:








I figured a e21 diff wouldn't last the power and torque from a v8 very long, while abusing it with drifting. I think a e34's diff will.
so I made a plan fitting a e34 rear axle....


first I made a frame to fit a e21 rear axle, to define the position of the mounting rubbers, so the axle will be straight and keep the same wheelbase.


tried the frame on the e34 rear axle:

welded the e21 mounting rubbers onto the e34 axle:


I wanted the axle to be as high into the car as possible (the axle on a e34 sits way higher under the car)
so I had to cut..



I had to cut a hole in the rear seat to make room.


checking how to make the rear mounting...


welded the cut out sections back in, and placed strongflex bushes


made room for the diff, and started at the rear mounting.

this will be connected to the rollcage later on.


there is a hole in my rear seat


cut a piece out my donor and bend it a bit.

Many thanks Ad, we have some special projects going on in the Dutch section as well and they're worth sharing indeed!

Really good work. Nice to see what you guys are doing over there.

cool project adje! i am almost at the end of my m60 e21 project now so if there is anything i can help you with information wise please pm me. nice fabrication btw!!

excellent work, I like the rear beam, you made it look like it is meant to be there.

Thanks for the comments!
Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside

Impressive! Do you know the difference in track width with the E34 axle/arms?

The total difference in track is 14cm. Measured at the hub

I took a look at my e38 740i donor car. I want to take out the engine soon.
I figured I need the EWS box behind the glovebox, the key antenna and the box it is connected to.
but as far as I can see this is integrated in the huge cable loom. is there an easy way to get it connected? or do I have to take the whole loom out?

I figured the engine will run with only these 2 connectors connected to the engine loom:



does anyone know what the function is of each of these cables?
or maybe has a wiring diagram of the e38 740i ?

Hey buddy! not sure what that shit is in your pictures :S I did not have to screw around with ews. basically what you need to do is find the big round plug that goes into the wiring loom box on the left hand side of the engine as you look at it from the front. it will be a round screw on connector. now you must find the following wires

green/white - ecu on/off supply 12v to this
green - ecu powersupply 12v to this
green/purple - fuel pump relay signal ( this can go to your relay to activate your fuel pumps, it is controlled by your ecu.)
black/yellow - starter (12v to this on a push button n/o switch)

I have been fiddling with EWS in E36's but not familiar with these conversions. But there are several options to bypass the EWS depending on build/version (most likely to be EWS-II or EWS-III), believe reprogramming the ECU is the most common one.

there is no big round connector in the wiring loom in this car. only the diagnose connector.
I'd like to keep the ews original. if the engine has run in the 740, it should run in the e21. when I have trouble with starting in the future, then I know its not the ews.
yesterday I got the engine out. today I'm going to look if I can get all the wires out that I need.

here's an update:
I wanted to make a seperate system for the hydraulic handbrake. so i bought an other pair of e34 callipers, and made them fit to my rear control arms.

I cleaned all the 4 rear callipers, put new seals in, new pads and new discs.
this is the result for now:


I allso repaired a bit of bodywork




and i took the engine out my 740i donor car.


I took the whole cable loom out from the engine bay to the steering colum, to be sure i have everything i need for the EWS to start the car. And now i can allso hook up the 740i dashboard in the e21.

i put the engine in to have a look how things will work out.
the front is in the engine lift, i put a jack under the gearbox.

[imghttp://i61.tinypic.com/fbzvp5.jpg][/img]



this is just a temporary fit.
I hope to make my subframe in front of the sump, but i don't know how at the moment. I allso have to figure out the position of the steering rack.
and i have to decide where to fit the engine mounts: all the way to the front, attached to the subframe. or fix it straight to the chassis.
the height of the gearbox is still to be alligned.
I allso have to think where the exhaust manifold routing will be. i'll have to make one from scratch.

here are some pictures of the subframe mounts i made previously.


the rest of the subframe will be welded to these.