E46 325Ci to 330Ci Motor Swap Project

[kyiro]

Hi everyone.

Owing to a run in with some water last year I've spent the last couple of months transforming my doting little 2003 325Ci A/T into a thundering 330Ci. Project's been going well so far, with just a little water leak that's now started to bother.

I'm going to be posting some pics here for everyone to see the effort involved in this, hopefully I can get around to a good writeup so that future peeps who are interested in this kind of swap can read up on it, heck knows I needed the help and I couldn't find much info on the net for it.

Anyhow, pics will be coming later as will a full writeup, just wanted to know if anyone here had attempted/completed the same sort of job and what your experiences were.

 

[Sankekur]

Interesting project, it should be nice to have a 330Ci in the coupe form

And you better post pics quick, else the fanatics might start baying for blood

Did you also convert it to manual or do you still have it as an auto?

Did you replace all the bits of the cooling system with new parts or did you use used parts, if the latter it might be a good idea to replace everything with new parts, just for the heck of it, seeing as you will be working on the cooling system in anyway.

 

[P1000]

Nice, I can't wait to see the pics+writeup.

 

[moranor@axis]

raise: cant wait...

 

[msm]

I wonder what was the logic of BMW not bringing the 330ci coupe to SA, like they did with some other countries :thumbdo:

 

[WyKiD]

Interesting....look forward to some pics and more details....

 

[moranor@axis]

I wonder what was the logic of BMW not bringing the 330ci coupe to SA, like they did with some other countries :thumbdo:

the sadan is stiffer... dont know if that had anything to do with it...
but i do love the way the coupe looks

 

[Muney]

I wonder what was the logic of BMW not bringing the 330ci coupe to SA, like they did with some other countries :thumbdo:

the sadan is stiffer... dont know if that had anything to do with it...
but i do love the way the coupe looks

I think it was a matter of demand. They probably didnt think that demand would be as great for some reason. Wish they had brought the 330ci over here. The coupes are sweet.

 

[kyiro]

Did you also convert it to manual or do you still have it as an auto?

Did you replace all the bits of the cooling system with new parts or did you use used parts, if the latter it might be a good idea to replace everything with new parts, just for the heck of it, seeing as you will be working on the cooling system in anyway.

Hey Sankekur, I've kept the Auto transmission after checking everything including part numbers, gear ratios and final drive ratios it seemed that the 330Ci Auto used exactly the same transmission and the final drive is within acceptable limits. I would actually want an SMG transmission but that's a bit too much cash and time currently.

Cooling system wise I kept most of the 325Ci's parts as they work directly with the 330Ci. According to my research everything should handle the new engine load though I have swapped almost every seal/gasket flushed and cleaned the system etc...

I'm still testing to ensure the cooling system is adequete for the 306S3 motor.

Pics are coming need to get around to dumping everything from my camera, hehe.

 

[Sankekur]

That is cool, I don't think you should have a problem with the load that the parts of the cooling system will have to take, I am more referring to the cooling system on e46's being pretty weak, so it is always a good idea to replace as much as you can with new parts when you are working on it, trust me is is pretty cheap insurance.

So how far are you with this conversion, I am assuming you are pretty far into it, almost done?

Might I recommend converting to manual, you won't look back (Also there have been guys that have done this kind of thing that could help you out)

 

[kyiro]

That is cool, I don't think you should have a problem with the load that the parts of the cooling system will have to take, I am more referring to the cooling system on e46's being pretty weak, so it is always a good idea to replace as much as you can with new parts when you are working on it, trust me is is pretty cheap insurance.

So how far are you with this conversion, I am assuming you are pretty far into it, almost done?

Might I recommend converting to manual, you won't look back (Also there have been guys that have done this kind of thing that could help you out)

Apologies for the absence, I had an incident involving a curb while testing out some of the fixes I'd applied to the cooling system. The 3.0L engine makes quite a bit more power than I'm used to in that car! Had to replace the rear right lower wishbone (bent the old one beyond belief) and some stabilizer end-links while I was there.

I'm back on track now. As you can tell I have the engine in, everything hooked up and the car is drivable, the big thing I'm missing is an airbox (the 325's doesn't fit on the 330i's MAF) and I have a small leak from the timing case which I suspect is a bad gasket. Once I've got those issues sorted it goes off to the shop for a dyno-tune and some cosmetics (new bumper that needs spraying) and then I need to look into the transmission service for the auto.

I actually like the Auto transmission on this car, but what I want most of all is the SMG! The transmission service on this car is going to cost me around R2.8k in Oil (need the BMW oil as there are no equivalents in the country that I'm aware of).

So to summerize if anyone can help with the following I'd appreciate it:

1. I need an Airbox or something equivalent (cone filter, CAI) that will fit on a 330i/ci.
2. I'm also trying to get rid of some of my old parts. I have most of my 325's engine lying around my garage but I'll post that in a different section later, when I'm done.

Here's to hoping I can get the last bits sorted and get back on the road.

 

[kyiro]

I finally got round to uploading some of the older pics, so here goes:

Just got her back here from the shop that stripped it for the insurance, they did quite a number on her.

The big bad tag, this is why the insurance didn't want to fix her.

What my garage looked like right at the beginning. The floor is strewn with parts from the stripping that was done, boxes are full of plastic bits and bolts.

Obviously my first step in this whole process was assessing what I had, so that's where I went next, putting together lists of parts that I had gotten back (if you look carefully you might notice I'm missing my exhaust manifolds here) and what was salvageble.

I've got some newer pics but I'm looking for the pics from when I brought the 330 engine home so next up, organising, making lists and getting the new engine.

Edit: Moved files to new host. Don't know why the old one would be blocked though, but looks to be working now.

 

[andrewbuch]

Can you try moving the pics to photo bucket or something.. as where ever they are hosted seems blocked

 

[kyiro]

Hey Everyone,

After all the long hard work I've finally completed it. All that remains is a dyno-tune and some body upgrades that I'm completing.

I'll move the entire DIY article to its own thread to keep everything together and upload tonnes more pics as soon as I have a bit of time.

This has been one wicked ride to the end, hehe.

 

[ekseniks]

:bravo: Sounds like it was an epic job! Well done! Looking forward to more pics :rollsmile: I don't know what it is but forum people and pictures... We love 'em! :inlove:

 

[Crash_Nemesis]

you still have your 325 intake manifold??? might want to buy that from you.

 

[kyiro]

you still have your 325 intake manifold??? might want to buy that from you.

PM sent.

Will do with the pics, just need to download, sort, resize upload, damn that feels like it'll take forever, lol.

 

[Sankekur]

Awesome, glad you are done with it :rollsmile: Now time for pics....