2018 F81 M3 Touring 6MT Build Thread

[GERMAN M3]

Originally Posted by stein_325i

Absolutely stunning

Something BMW should have designed years ago and brought to the US.

[JagR2611]

Originally Posted by GERMAN M3

Something BMW should have designed years ago and brought to the US.

+1

[AlexFL]

Man, this is like heart transplantation. Hope for the best possible outcome.

[Jim B]

Originally Posted by JagR2611

+1

+2

[eljay]

So happy to see this!

Can you outline the general very high level steps involved? I'm not familar with newer BMW transplants.
For example, I know that in Audi world, people are swapping S4 drivetrain into A4 Avants. That involves dropping the drivetrain (engine, tranny, front, rear subframes, driveshaft etc) into the Avant body along with ECU, cluster, main body harness and all the interior modules. This is to get around all modules being married to the ECU.
Then extending the body harness with hatch harness.

Is this the same process, or do you need to do more? Like programming etc.?

[TouringM3]

Originally Posted by eljay

So happy to see this!

Can you outline the general very high level steps involved? I'm not familar with newer BMW transplants.
For example, I know that in Audi world, people are swapping S4 drivetrain into A4 Avants. That involves dropping the drivetrain (engine, tranny, front, rear subframes, driveshaft etc) into the Avant body along with ECU, cluster, main body harness and all the interior modules. This is to get around all modules being married to the ECU.
Then extending the body harness with hatch harness.

Is this the same process, or do you need to do more? Like programming etc.?

This is going to be a complete swap, so:
Full interior, full drivetrain, wiring harnesses, even the hard brake lines and battery lines are getting swapped over.

Here's the general rundown:

Strip the wagon
• Drop the rear subframe
• Strip the engine bay peripherals
• Drop the front subframe
• Strip the fuel system
• Strip the interior cabin
• Strip the doors of all wiring, motors, glass, etc..
• Swap the transmission tunnel mounts ;(

Strip the sedan
– Same process

Combination time
• Cut off the wagon fenders
• Weld on the M3 flares & wheelhouses
• Paint the full car
• Create the hybrid rear bumper (combo of the M3 / Wagon)
• Connect the chassis wiring harness
• Build up the dash and minimal interior
• Connect the driveline and engine harness
• Test electronics
• Fix all the shit that doesn't work
• Fix the rest of the shit that broke
• Assemble the rest of the interior
• Fix more things
• Burnouts

[NorthBuddy]

Originally Posted by GERMAN M3

Something BMW should have designed years ago and brought to the US.

Well, in 2022, ...

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/...m-power-kombi/

[cookiesowns]

let me know if you need help on the tuning & coding side of things!

While you have the engine out, might as well upgrade the clutch

[redEYEjedi]

Originally Posted by TouringM3

I'm sure you're right.
My project "coach" Ryan at Dynasport made sure that when i was on the hunt for my F31, that i was looking for an LCI version – so all of the standard wiring and computer systems would be of the same generation. That should help significantly.


Where i'm fully expecting to run in to snags / jobs:
• Transitioning the M3 body harness to a power tailgate
• Patching in the KAFAS (lane / collision) system from the F31 into the F80 harness
• Patching in the power moonroof into the F80 harness
• Other shit that i didn't expect

Good coach haha. Similar process for the e91 swaps. Sourcing LCI For both vehicles makes the process easier. Genuinely excited for you. I've owned my F31 for 3 years and thought about this swap when I first was shopping the car. But after going through 2 E91 swaps, I had to keep things stock and simple for my own sanity.

[TouringM3]

Originally Posted by cookiesowns

let me know if you need help on the tuning & coding side of things!

While you have the engine out, might as well upgrade the clutch

I will for sure, and thank you!

I'm probably going to bite the bullet and go ahead and do the crank hub fix while the engine is out. I'd like the flexibility and peace of mind to be able to run a full "stage 2" E85 tune without worrying if i'm going to randomly "explode my timing".

I don't know a lot about the capacity of the stock manual transmission clutch – any input on that?

[TouringM3]

Originally Posted by NorthBuddy

Well, in 2022, ...

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/...m-power-kombi/

EXACTLY THIS

The whole reason i'm doing this project right now is because I want to generate as much interest as possible for an M3 Wagon in the states, and help convince BMW N.A. to bring the G81 over here.

I have a spring / summer tour route loosely planned, and if i can get the car built in time, and make decent contacts with the BMW marketing team, my hope is to get some sort of public goal of "X# of commitments or deposits will make the business case to bring it here"

I figure if BMW + authorized dealers offer refundable deposits (like Tesla) then there will be no downside for all of us who really want one to put some skin in the game.


This is a very rough draft, but i figure why not share the concept with you all to make it better.

[icegrill]

Did you weigh the costs of buying a wrecked m3 and replacing damaged parts vs clean and cutting up?

[cookiesowns]

Originally Posted by TouringM3

EXACTLY THIS

The whole reason i'm doing this project right now is because I want to generate as much interest as possible for an M3 Wagon in the states, and help convince BMW N.A. to bring the G81 over here.

I have a spring / summer tour route loosely planned, and if i can get the car built in time, and make decent contacts with the BMW marketing team, my hope is to get some sort of public goal of "X# of commitments or deposits will make the business case to bring it here"

I figure if BMW + authorized dealers offer refundable deposits (like Tesla) then there will be no downside for all of us who really want one to put some skin in the game.


This is a very rough draft, but i figure why not share the concept with you all to make it better.

On the N55 M2, it seems to somehow be weaker at around 580ftlbs depending on age. And also where it comes in in the RPM curve. I'd imagine the S55 is the same.

If you plan on going more than stage2 power numbers, an upgraded clutch is ideal.

[James F]

Unbelievable work gone in, much respect

[eljay]

Originally Posted by TouringM3

This is going to be a complete swap, so:
Full interior, full drivetrain, wiring harnesses, even the hard brake lines and battery lines are getting swapped over.

Here's the general rundown:

Strip the wagon
• Drop the rear subframe
• Strip the engine bay peripherals
• Drop the front subframe
• Strip the fuel system
• Strip the interior cabin
• Strip the doors of all wiring, motors, glass, etc..
• Swap the transmission tunnel mounts ;(

Strip the sedan
– Same process

Combination time
• Cut off the wagon fenders
• Weld on the M3 flares & wheelhouses
• Paint the full car
• Create the hybrid rear bumper (combo of the M3 / Wagon)
• Connect the chassis wiring harness
• Build up the dash and minimal interior
• Connect the driveline and engine harness
• Test electronics
• Fix all the shit that doesn't work
• Fix the rest of the shit that broke
• Assemble the rest of the interior
• Fix more things
• Burnouts

Thank you for the rundown!

This is truly a conversion rather than "just a swap".

Can't wait!

[TouringM3]

Originally Posted by icegrill

Did you weigh the costs of buying a wrecked m3 and replacing damaged parts vs clean and cutting up?

I did, but i'm a really picky motherfucker so i knew i would drive myself insane. For example:

HAD to have the competition seats.
FULL leather
Black interior only
Manual transmission
ICON headlight package

I would have waited around forever either finding that car, or buying one close to it and spending (shudder) close to retail buying the replacement parts.

Plus, the likelihood of having to replace a bunch of other shit off a wrecked car made me way too nervous.

Nothing like swapping over broken parts into a complete build just to have to strip it apart again and debug.

NO
GRACIAS

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by TouringM3

I did, but i'm a really picky motherfucker so i knew i would drive myself insane. For example:

HAD to have the competition seats.
FULL leather
Black interior only
Manual transmission
ICON headlight package

I would have waited around forever either finding that car, or buying one close to it and spending (shudder) close to retail buying the replacement parts.

Plus, the likelihood of having to replace a bunch of other shit off a wrecked car made me way too nervous.

Nothing like swapping over broken parts into a complete build just to have to strip it apart again and debug.

NO
GRACIAS

This is the right mindset. Its actually going to save you time and money in the long run of the build. Cheaping out by getting a wrecked car is just going cost you more than you think once you find out stuff is broken and needs to replaced like you said. Not worth it. If you can afford to, do it right

[TouringM3]

It's all good fun until you have to order $870 of replacement plastic clips, tabs, and door / roof gaskets.

BUT

I do not want a completely converted luxury drift wagon that rattles like a retired Geo metro rally car.

[alex@horizonmotorsport]

Following

[TouringM3]

Hey Everyone –
I wrapped up the edit of the first vid episode tonight.

You all will get to know that I really just want to make this as approachable and interesting as possible, so if you check it out and have any feedback, send it my way.

[TouringM3]

Little update inspired by the Carbon Buckets in the G8x M3/M4.

I said to myself: these are dope, i wonder how much they cost and when they'll be available.

(IMO it is literally the only improvement over the F8x platform).


Here's the scoop from Kuni BMW here in Portland:
The current retail price indicates $5,502.91 per seat, but they are not yet listed on our online store. Part Number 52-10-8-067-463 (Same number applies to each seat).


So, not going to do this right now, i just flat-out dont want to add $10K to the cost of this build, but at some point in the future i'd consider it.

They are NOT road trip seats, and they take some very deliberate body contouring to get in and out of without totally wrecking the bolster material (over time), but once you're in, you are IN baybee.

[Equilibrandt]

I was hoping to find out if you could pull the seats off but good god that's astronomical. Maybe wait until someone wraps a G80 around a pole near you and scavenge them.