MadaboutKitcars

Hi all, I have finally started on my Sportster, had some bits to take off before the building could start. Have started a Flikr diary, not much on there yet but its a start. Hopefully the link will work


http://www.flickr.com/photos/53317098@N03/

Awesome

Thanks Patrick, hopefully look as good as yours in a few months. Got a lot of work ahead of me.

A bit dusty but apart from that it looks like a brand new chassis! Looks like a good buy, good luck with the build.

...peter

I'm right behind you.

I'm collecting my Sporstster kit this Friday (17th) along with all the bits from the donor which I got Marlin to dismantle for me. (Oil and other ex donor muck on the driveway wouldn't win me many brownie points).

I'm putting a build log on Flickr as well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/marlinbuild/. Not much there yet either but there's pictures of the Roadster I built in the late 80s, and a couple of pics of my donor.

I'll follow your build with interest so I can pick up some tips as I go along...........

Nigel

Thanks Peter, it is really good nick like new so got myself a bargin

I am ordering my new front hubs and discs this week. I also want to put some new ball joints on as the chassis was not stored very well and they dont seem brilliant. I have however looked back at the posts and it seems that they are not as easy as firdt thought

I know I will be back with question and Nigel, feel free to ask I will help if I can, what age is your donor?

Glen

[COLOR="Blue"]what age is your donor?[/COLOR]

It's an E36 1994 L reg 325i coupe with the M50B25 lump in it.

I drove it down to Marlin a couple of weeks ago and there was no holding it back!! Only problem was some very noisy front hubs. So I have taken delivery of new hubs and discs today.

OK, I am going for a newer donor, '98 323i. I need to find one as the previous owner sold the engine, gearox and V5 that Marlin had supplied......shame!!

Seems you have beaten me to the front end bits, where did you get them?

Yipee lots of new builds to watch!
(making me feel a bit 'broody')

Good luck. Makes mine look positively advanced!

I think the 323i has the M52 engine which I was keen to avoid. I understand the ECU and EWS are something of a challenge with that, and later, engines. Timbo on this forum has had fun and games with it you have any problems. And Patrick has added a link that may help.

Front discs and caliper service kits came from Brakes International [url]www.brakesint.co.uk[/url] and hubs from Euro Car Parts [url]www.eurocarparts.co.uk[/url]

It'll be a pain not having the V5 if you want an age related plate. I think the rules say that you need at least two major components from the same vehicle and that they must be of provable age, otherwise its a Q plate. There's at least one thread on this forum on the very subject.

Nigel

Yes, watch out for the M52 engine's EWS - I've had an 'expert' looking at mine for a while now, due to reliability issues (EWS kept getting out of sync for no reason that we can find), he is now trying to re-programme the ECU to bypass the EWS completely. Will let you know if this works...
Good luck
Tim

Another new build - Huzzah!

Interesting to see that Marlin appear to supply the chassis with the steering column hole precut, and reinforced with a collar of some form...

I am looking to buy another donor car so I can get the age related plate, I need engine, gearbox, propshaft and driveshfts (it looks like the other guy took a hammer to the ones I have)

As for the ECU issues, I would really appriciate any feed back so I can tackle the issue early or I could always look at putting an after market one on such as Omex etc.

Thanks

Mine was pre-cut, with a reinforcing collar supplied separately.

Mine was precut - in the wrong place.......

Good luck to the new builders and remember you are supposed to be enjoying it!
It will be interesting to see if you can better our build times!

Robin

Because the ECU, EWS and key (and instrument cluster) are all inter-connected and inter-dependent, they must all be from the same donor. So it is not very easy to bypass any one of these components.

As I said, I will let you know if my attempts to re-programme the ECU to bypass the EWS is successful (or not). I would certainly try to use as much of the donor loom as possible (I had the engine supplied from FAB via Marlin which didn't come with much loom).

The main issues with regard the interface between the two looms are speedo (fairly easy fix with an aftermarket magnetic sensor on the rear diff, just remember to include a wire for it) and the temp gauge (I have 3 sensors, one for the ECU, one for the fan and one for the instrument gauge). I think the tacho and oil pressure were fine once I'd found the right wires, and the lighting circuits are ok.

The problem came in linking the ignition to the EWS to the ECU correctly, and this is where I may have gone slightly wrong, but with the original loom (and instrument cluster) in place, it may well be fine...
Hope this helps
Tim

Posted this a little while ago, these guys should be able to help with syncing ecu and ews as well as reprogramming the ECU if needed

http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2728

Glen,
I will ditto the warnings about e46 based M52 engines.
The EWS/ECU and instrument cluster are fiendishly complicated. I think I eventually figured it all out after hours of study, but I have decided it wasn't worth the potentail unreliability in an open top sportscar. If you breakdown anywhere you will never get it going. If you get a double VANOS engine, its double trouble as the only aftemarket ECU I could find that is designed for these are DTAfast top of the range and this kit starts at about £1000 plus a couple of mapping sessions!!
Added to this you will need a pair of cats to pass the emisions.
Even the guys listed by Patrick above wouldn't help me as it wasn't fitted in a BMW car with all the dashboard intact.
I'm not saying it can't be done (and I nearly did it!) but you need to do some serious research and have some deep pockets.
Try to find a pre 1995 car with an M50 or M20 engine.........
....no EWS and lower emission standard to meet at the IVA.

If that hasn't put you off, then start by reading this....
http://www.unofficialbmw.com/images/BMW_EWS.pdf
(and that's the simple version!)


...peter

Thanks for all the advice guys, I think I need to do some more research and probably go for a slightly older donor with the M50 engine, I am assuming that the M50 is not as complicated. I do like a challenge but this seems a bit too much of one!!.