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-   -   My 2001 BMW 328i (E46) build thread | EDIT: New video & upgrades on page 15 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/189534-my-2001-bmw-328i-e46-build-thread-edit-new-video-upgrades-page-15-a-5.html)

Looks very nice, did you got this colored or did it just lost the blackishness on the first photo?

BTW, did you consider this same fabric for your Fortuner as well? I think the stock one is horrible.

Thanks, well in broad daylight it looks like the darkest of grey but in shade / evening / night it looks black. This is how the fabric is, did not colour it to achieve the end result :thumbs up

No.

For the amount of parts you swapped over from the donor car, would it not have made sense for you to just buy the 328i from the owner and swap in your manual transmission? And give the empty shell 318i to the owner of the 328i so he can do a full M3 swap with supporting parts? Anyhow, the swap is already done and looks pretty nice! Congrats on the car! Will watch the video when I get home.

Thanks Jalajprakash,

Well firstly that 328i wasnt for sale, but only the engine was. Also that was a ‘coupe’ & im not really sure how viable your suggestion would have been considering mine is a sedan.

More details in the video :)

Just saw the video. The 328i owner wanting to retain the coupe body shape for his M3 swap makes sense. If both were the same body shape then maybe swapping the cars and the transmissions would be easier for both parties.

Your car sounds pretty nice too! :thumbs up

Congrats on a successful engine swap, Karan. In the real world,I believe you couldn't have got better than a 25k run M52TUB28, that too locally. Since your coolant system is also now effectively 25k old, that known gremlin is also taken care of. Double Vanos failures/ unsuccessful rebuilds are also a known and common problem with this engine family, hope you are covered on that front.
Love your project goal of deriving max driving pleasure, rather than top speed or say 350+HP via the supercharged route. This car is so tight, nimble and beautiful, there is so much more fun to be had, than just blasting down a straight. Attaching a pic of my e46 320i Msport if you don't mind.

Yes it does :)

Thanks !

But still i will be doing a rebuild of the entire cooling system with new parts (hoses, fan, radiator etc) as its highly recommended for a 15+ year old car.

Yes, driving pleasure is the ultimate goal hence will be focussing on suspension, brakes etc...

Seems you forgot to attach the pic.

Car Parts Arrived :D



Kit includes a BMW OE Short shift kit & the famous goose-neck ZHP Weighted Shift Knob;



^ Its unbelievable that BMW had such an short throw kit as OE (comes with a official BMW part number) for the E46.

Gearbox rebuild kit (Bushings, Shifter Rod joints, Washers, Bearings etc) to get back the precise gearshift quality :thumbs up

A picture clicked at one of our last German Car meets @ BKC;

Any hardcore engine modifications planned?
Any external mods planned? Every time I check your thread, I am always like "Man, this guy can make an NFS BMW M3 GTR type car out of it". :D

The current state looks very clean and elegant. My suggestion would be to go for a good set of BBS alloys, an M3 front bumper and an M3 CSL boot :)

Nice project!

I have played with the E46 a little.

I owned an early (2000) 330 coupe, 5 speed manual with lots of options and some AC Schnitzer bits. Nice car, very competent, but perhaps a bit bland. The E36 328 was more of a drivers car in some ways. The drive by wire throttle and lack of LSD hampers the E46 a bit.

I also helped a friend do a ground up build on an E46 M3. We built one good one from 2 in bits, and converted from SMG to manual.

They are quite good to work on for a fairly modern car - much nicer than many others the same age.

Hi Karan - firstly congrats on this immaculate swap and build.

Secondly, for swapping an automatic to fit your manual, were there any mods or tweaks done to the engine to accommodate the manual gearing because its DNA had auto since inception? I’m not sure if my question is being put across correctly.

75% increase in power is just explosive I can say clap:

Any remap done post the installation to the ECU to exploit its explosive potential further? :D

No hardcore engine mods planned now. As i stated earlier ProjectE46 is in quest for driving pleasure & not speed :thumbs up

Hey v12,

Only in pics the car looks clean, but once you see the car in flesh it does require a repaint. Once the mechanical upgrades are in only then i will divert my attention to the cosmetics.

Hey thanks Rob, i personally prefer the e46 over the looks of the e36. Regarding Driver engagement im not sure as i have never driven an e36 but im currently satisfied with the driver connect i am getting driving the e46 compared to any modern BMW.


Hey Gururaj, thanks for the wishes.

The transmission was a bolt to bolt fitment with the new engine. Regarding tuning of ECU to blend with the new transmission it was not needed/necessary but we will do it eventually.

What a fascinating project Karan! Many congratulations for the car as well as the successful engine and transmission swap clap:. Glad that you aren't planning to go overboard with the modifications on this car. I'm pretty sure the engine swap would feed your need for speed. One suggestion though, please keep the cosmetic mods limited and subtle. Would love to check her out in person sometime, give me a shout when you're heading for a zombie drive or something.