Gizmo
Banned
Good evening BMW Fanatics, it has been a while since I have posted content on local forums. I have been keeping to myself and spending lots of time in the garage staying busy on various projects but thought it was time to return to fanatics with some content for you to peruse, this is my latest project and one I have been itching for quite sometime to build.
The Touring was a 2003 318i Auto with 162 000km, it belonged to my nephew who lives in George[font=verdana, geneva, lucida,], Western Cape which is a little over 1000km from me. He had motor issues from day one and owned it for a little over a year until the engine blew a chunk out the block between cyl1 and 2. I bought it off him as a non runner after a George bmw mechanic stripped the head off exposing the damage to the block.[/font]
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Came with spare wheels
Transported the 1000km to Johannesburg by a courier who deals in non runners.
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Arrived safely and in my garage awaiting its fate.
Didn't take much time dropping out the engine/drivetrain remains.
As a rolling shell I was able to do some pressure washing under the carport instead of the garage.
Enter the donor car, 2003 330d manual 6spd
Teardown
Stripped out the interior for a few reasons, to access wires and to clean up the interior components piece-by-piece and transfer over to the green 330i sedan seen in some of the pics. At the same time I transferred the Harmon Kardon system and electric roller sunblind from the white 330d to the green 330i.
The green 330i is looking fresh with the grey interior.
Back to the 330d sedan, looking at the differences between the connectors where body harness meets engine management.
Petrol vs Diesel connector
The converting over, label everything!
My garage is so full at the moment I cant park my daily's inside..
Replacing shifter linkages and seal on gearbox while its out. Will do more maintenance while things are easy to access.
White sedan body wiring successfully converted to 330i spec (which is what it will become)
Now to convert the touring body harness to diesel which is where Im at as of today.
A couple things I forgot to photograph was the rear subframe/suspension swap over and also the fuel tank/lines/filler neck swap over. The diesel uses a return style fuel system whereas the petrol uses a dead-head system, because of this the tank breather system was also different and needed swapping over too.
Wagon with diesel subframe and fuel tank.
Forgot to take pics of the 3rd pedal and associated parts install but it involves removing the entire dash and HVAC system to install the hardline.
For better interior access I put the front end on one of my home made shop dollies and rolled it away from the lift, very easy to move the car about the garage and turn it around so natural light can light up what you doing. I work completely alone so every job has to be a one man job and not back breaking.
I got the green 330i's interior swap 99% finished yesterday, one or two little things to sort out and then time to find her a new home.
Replaced the selector shaft seal and all the shifter components to freshen up the feel, added a shorter shifter at the same time.
Deleted the EGR system
Pulled the intake to install a swirl flap delete kit that I imported, unfortunately its the wrong size kit.
Swirl flaps are still in good shape nonetheless.
Engine/drivetrain married to the wagon chassis. More sexy wagons in the background.
Finished up the wiring, soldering connections, heat-shrinking joins ect. I also blanked off the EGR port on the exhaust manifold by cutting off the end of the pipe and tig welding in a blanking plug to close it off.
First start video
First start
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Ebox looking factory again after tidying up the wiring chaos.
DSC unit swapped from white sedan over to the touring and I did an extensive brake fluid flush of the whole system making sure there's no air bubbles or old fluid left behind. Clutch pedal feels great and brake pedal feels new again, success!
Got the pdc wiring finished, pinned to the correct distribution blocks and fuse 24 installed ect. PDC working as factory and because canbus connected it can be diagnosed if faulty in future. Clutch switch wiring is also complete as well as the extra wire to the cluster plug.
PDC gong had to be wired along with the system install.
Last pic, my Main Coon and two moggies approve all the new upgrades.
All the interior is installed and that side of things complete. Engine bay area 99% complete, just have to insulation tape the harness on passenger side and get AC system a regas after lockdown. I took the car on its first drive to the shop and back, all feels solid and Im stoked about the turnout. The extra torque is exactly what the heavy touring body needs, Im sure this will give my white 330i touring a good run for its money, especially here in Johannesburg which is 6000ft above sea level.
Onto some pics:
Couple with my other touring.
The Touring was a 2003 318i Auto with 162 000km, it belonged to my nephew who lives in George[font=verdana, geneva, lucida,], Western Cape which is a little over 1000km from me. He had motor issues from day one and owned it for a little over a year until the engine blew a chunk out the block between cyl1 and 2. I bought it off him as a non runner after a George bmw mechanic stripped the head off exposing the damage to the block.[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]
[/font]
Came with spare wheels
Transported the 1000km to Johannesburg by a courier who deals in non runners.
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]
[/font]
Arrived safely and in my garage awaiting its fate.
Didn't take much time dropping out the engine/drivetrain remains.
As a rolling shell I was able to do some pressure washing under the carport instead of the garage.
Enter the donor car, 2003 330d manual 6spd
Teardown
Stripped out the interior for a few reasons, to access wires and to clean up the interior components piece-by-piece and transfer over to the green 330i sedan seen in some of the pics. At the same time I transferred the Harmon Kardon system and electric roller sunblind from the white 330d to the green 330i.
The green 330i is looking fresh with the grey interior.
Back to the 330d sedan, looking at the differences between the connectors where body harness meets engine management.
Petrol vs Diesel connector
The converting over, label everything!
My garage is so full at the moment I cant park my daily's inside..
Replacing shifter linkages and seal on gearbox while its out. Will do more maintenance while things are easy to access.
White sedan body wiring successfully converted to 330i spec (which is what it will become)
Now to convert the touring body harness to diesel which is where Im at as of today.
A couple things I forgot to photograph was the rear subframe/suspension swap over and also the fuel tank/lines/filler neck swap over. The diesel uses a return style fuel system whereas the petrol uses a dead-head system, because of this the tank breather system was also different and needed swapping over too.
Wagon with diesel subframe and fuel tank.
Forgot to take pics of the 3rd pedal and associated parts install but it involves removing the entire dash and HVAC system to install the hardline.
For better interior access I put the front end on one of my home made shop dollies and rolled it away from the lift, very easy to move the car about the garage and turn it around so natural light can light up what you doing. I work completely alone so every job has to be a one man job and not back breaking.
I got the green 330i's interior swap 99% finished yesterday, one or two little things to sort out and then time to find her a new home.
Replaced the selector shaft seal and all the shifter components to freshen up the feel, added a shorter shifter at the same time.
Deleted the EGR system
Pulled the intake to install a swirl flap delete kit that I imported, unfortunately its the wrong size kit.
Swirl flaps are still in good shape nonetheless.
Engine/drivetrain married to the wagon chassis. More sexy wagons in the background.
Finished up the wiring, soldering connections, heat-shrinking joins ect. I also blanked off the EGR port on the exhaust manifold by cutting off the end of the pipe and tig welding in a blanking plug to close it off.
First start video
First start
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="
Ebox looking factory again after tidying up the wiring chaos.
DSC unit swapped from white sedan over to the touring and I did an extensive brake fluid flush of the whole system making sure there's no air bubbles or old fluid left behind. Clutch pedal feels great and brake pedal feels new again, success!
Got the pdc wiring finished, pinned to the correct distribution blocks and fuse 24 installed ect. PDC working as factory and because canbus connected it can be diagnosed if faulty in future. Clutch switch wiring is also complete as well as the extra wire to the cluster plug.
PDC gong had to be wired along with the system install.
Last pic, my Main Coon and two moggies approve all the new upgrades.
All the interior is installed and that side of things complete. Engine bay area 99% complete, just have to insulation tape the harness on passenger side and get AC system a regas after lockdown. I took the car on its first drive to the shop and back, all feels solid and Im stoked about the turnout. The extra torque is exactly what the heavy touring body needs, Im sure this will give my white 330i touring a good run for its money, especially here in Johannesburg which is 6000ft above sea level.
Onto some pics:
Couple with my other touring.
