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The E46 330ci Track Car Build Thread

32K views 381 replies 65 participants last post by  Mr. Bigglesworth 
#1 ·
So, This post made my @westopher had me thinking. Am I doing the right thing?

I was bequeefed (sic) this car from my departed brother, Kenny (also known as Chip) in 2012. At the time it wasn't my first choice of car, but it was a clean example that was reasonably well cared for. That was until he got a little too sick to be able to drive. Then it just sat. For a while. I moved to NYC, and then ended up moving around every year. It became less than sensible to street park an aging BMW with no tools, nowhere to work on it, and needing to switch parking spots twice a week. Then it sat some more.

I've been through a lot with this car. It's scared me when it randomly shut off on the Deegan in the Bronx, it's made me smile with how smooth the engine effortlessly builds revs. I've thought about selling it a million times, thought about its potential, scooted it up to Connecticut to store for a year, accidentally backed into it, worked on it, broken things on it, moved myself to and from several apartments with it, and its gotten me to and from job interviews, work, weddings, etc.

Now living in Baltimore, it's the kind of car that gets respectful nods from the squeegee kids sitting out on Pratt street, but also doesn't look out of place rolling through fancy parts of DC and Annapolis. Without turning this into a sappy love story, I f**kin love this car. It's so good. IMO it's the sweet spot between refined analog machine and enough tech to make it comfortable and feel modern. Even if it's an automatic...it's just such a good thing.

But all good things must come to an end, right? I love the car, this is obvious, but I'm an enthusiast. Like you, I need more.

For a few years now I've just thought to myself "hey...LS swap the thing and be done with it" which all sounds good and is easy to say. But after giving it a lot of thought and knowing that I now have a reliable and fair specialized BMW mechanic less than a mile away...I'm wondering if maybe I should stick with the M54 motor.

This means I would be able to do more with the money, and most of it would need to be done anyway (strip the chassis and address any and all corrosion, POR-15 the **** out of everything, recoat, etc.) Basically without even touching the drivetrain, interior, or exterior I'd be tackling pretty much everything in this video:




Before you ask "what do you want the car to do?" I want it to go fast and I wanna have fun. It'll be a street legal car that I take to the track that retains most if not all factory creature comforts. I want it to be balanced but also make people laugh and maybe scared a little bit. I want the car to last forever.

Spec E46 suspension kits are $5k. Manual transmissions are abounds. I keep thinking about how nice it would be to have a built NA straight 6 that IMO sounds better than the S54, and kinda keeps the spirit of the car alive. But then I get swayed by thinking about doing huge burnouts and having something absurd to play around with.

What say you TCL? Big honkin Chebby V8? Or buttery smooth straight 6 with cams, full exhaust, head work etc.? Let's argue.

Car Wheel Vehicle Tire Grille



TL;DR - LS Swap or no?
 
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#2 ·
I6 all day. 1, I personally think engine swaps are for project cars, not your one and only car. And 2, I6 is a unique and wonderful engine, whereas LSs are available in all sorts of things.

My vote is, keep the car as is and freshen it up/tasteful mods. If you want a V8/something else, go buy a V8/something else.
 
#10 ·
x2. I drove an E46 330ci about 15 years ago and remember thinking how perfectly balanced the car was. Either keep it as is, or sell it for a muscle car. The non-M E46 has been getting lots of love lately on auctions, especially if it's in good shape like this one seems to be.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Sooo I've spent a lot of time reading about how to squeeze power out of the M54. The winning combo seems to be an M50 intake manifold with port matching, catless headers, and cams. But you're still not looking at that much power. Sub 300. That being said, how much power do you really need? I have no problem keeping pace on a mountain road in my even slower 325, it lacks a little on the track but you're already ~35hp up from where I'm at. The chassis is the shining point for this car, and the M54 is actually quite reliable, and does sound quite nice IMO.

What I would do is whatever suspension mods you already have plans for, a limited slip diff (I'm very happy with my diffsonline unit), a ZHP steering rack (the yellow tag 712 rack. one of my favorite things I've done to my car, if not my favorite), and then the basic motor bolt ons listed above. Also maybe a BBK for the front, I've read that 330 rears are generally adequate for track use but you'd likely want a little more stopping power. At least it's not the pathetic discs I have on my 325.
 
#44 ·
Sooo I've spent a lot of time reading about how to squeeze power out of the M54. The winning combo seems to be an M50 intake manifold with port matching, catless headers, and cams. But you're still not looking at that much power. Sub 300. That being said, how much power do you really need? I have no problem keeping pace on a mountain road in my even slower 325, it lacks a little on the track but you're already ~35hp up from where I'm at. The chassis is the shining point for this car, and the M54 is actually quite reliable, and does sound quite nice IMO.

What I would do is whatever suspension mods you already have plans for, a limited slip diff (I'm very happy with my diffsonline unit), a ZHP steering rack (the yellow tag 712 rack. one of my favorite things I've done to my car, if not my favorite), and then the basic motor bolt ons listed above. Also maybe a BBK for the front, I've read that 330 rears are generally adequate for track use but you'd likely want a little more stopping power. At least it's not the pathetic discs I have on my 325.
Thanks for this. I've looked up some 712 racks and they're still affordable, and I'm all about upgrading brakes too.


Anyways, as far as power goes if you want any appreciable power increase, an S/C is really the only answer. But, i don't think this car needs that type of power. The stock M54 never left me wishing I had more power quite frankly. I did have dreams of doing a full N/A build to make a beautiful screamer though. Maybe get it somewhere in the realm of 250-300WHP N/A; that to me is perfect. That said, I'm not a fan of swaps, and i think if you want to go LS you're better off just buying a car with one in it already.

Sounds like you have some attachment to the vehicle as well, this makes it all the more worth it to make it a revived e46, not into some Frankenstein, and hold on to it. In the long term, a clean example with a warmed over I6 is going to get the looks, not an LS.

My vote is thus warm over the I6, and keep for a long time. I think eventually the E46 will be sought after similarly to the E30, whereas I think for the E36 and E92 gens, it will only be the M cars that keep peoples interest. And if it isnt, you still have a wonderful driver's car that was built in an era where tech had creeped into improve cars and add safety, but not yet taken over and isolated the driver.
Lots and lots of attachment to this car. As I said my brother owned it for a few years and he basically gave it to me because it knew I would take care of it. And here we are. The car is currently in the shop getting a bunch of small stuff (and a couple of big things) that I can't do myself done.

I've already addressed the cooling system, suspension was refreshed with stock Bilsteins a couple years back, and I'm currently replacing the window seals (3/4 windows done) and windshield cowl (done).

The dash cams require having the headliner dropped, and there are already new B and C pillar covers waiting in the car. I'm having them toss the old ones and replace with new ones. I have black M3 sport seats, steering wheel, and aluminum dash trim and door handles inside.


@TheDarkEnergist
I’m big on emotional connections to cars, so I say if you can justify it, keep it. You seem to care about it.
I think the quest for monster power is a great way to win a dick swinging contest on FB, but there is something to be said for cars with usable power. My personal opinion is over 350hp for the street gets a bit pointless. I’d rather wring out my weak ass 4 banger on a back road any day. Manuel and some suspension work with the right tires is going to do wonders for your car. If you do that, and it’s still not scratching the itch you can move onto the power or maybe another car, and I’d bet most of the money you spent, if you wrench yourself anyways, will be gotten out of your selling price and desirability of the car on the current market.
I'll absolutely be keeping it, 100%. Forever. That's the point in making this project something reasonable and maintainable. My reasoning behind the LS swap was mostly the aftermarket support and ease of adding power.

But you do make good points. Growing up I could only think of having a 500hp car for the street, but now that I'm on the street all the time, I just want something with enough power to get out of its own way and then some.


If this is your only car and you live in downtown Baltimore, I'm not sure I'd want anything particularly nice or anything that brings attention to what I'm driving. Also, if this is a daily driver, I'm not sure I'd want a suspension setup from any spec racing series--unless you're planning to race/track it. I'd probably go with some type of low boost FI kit and catback setup for basic street driving.

The use case for the car is really big consideration of the best direction to go, IMO.
Probably should've mentioned this but this is my only car for now. My fiance and I are planning on getting either a Bronco in a year, or something else depending on availability. THAT car will pull daily duty, freeing this car up for work that needs to be done.

And the use case is basically a street legal car that I track whenever I can. My fiance is pretty good with letting me have my hobbies that get me out of the house, so I do think I'd actually be able to make good on the promise of wringing it out in the right (safest) place.




I would LS it. I had a 330Ci, mine was an 01. It was fun, but... I have a buddy that has an E46 wagon with a turbo'd LS. It's ****ing absurd, in all the best ways. It is an absolute blast to drive. Wanna putt it around, no worries at all, thing is super driveable. Want to do a burnout the length of a football field, yes... Even a non turbo version would be a hoot.

LS it. Who cares if it's been done to death, you tryin to win a unique guy car show or are you trying to have a blast with your car?

Definitely the latter. I don't do anything to please anyone else, so I don't think I'd be disappointed either way. The real question is which road would lead to the least amount of headaches and down time when things break.


Another vote for just keeping it well maintained, an ageing E46 should have plently of things to keep you busy, like peeling a-pillars and rotting bushings. I even like the stock exhaust on the E46 330i's, its got a nice growl to it so I probably wouldn't swap it out. If I were to mod anything, I would put some Ohlins R&T coilovers on, they're daily-friendly coilovers that are pretty well reviewed. I wouldn't go too low though, I'm from that part of the world and Baltimore streets are not exactly smooth.

Also, I may be mistaken, but doesn't the LS swap in the E46s have some weird stuff that's needed, like a hydroboost brake conversion because the master cylinder doesn't fit?
Haha, yeah man. There is no lack of things to fix on this car. I honestly really like the way the motor sounds too. The AFE intake I have gives it some awesome induction sound and it's got a really clean rev.

I definitely plan on building and refreshing 'the car' as a whole before I start really messing with the engine stuff, but once I do, there are some pretty impressive LS swap kits available with some really well-made looking parts.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but if being near a good mechanic might influence your decision, and you want the car to last forever, I don't think you want this to be an LS swapped BMW. It obviously can be done but it's not the kind of thing that's going to yield an, erm, OEM+ result.
I don't think anything you said is out of line. This guy near me truly is the real deal and he's commented several times on how nice the car is and how he appreciates customers that take care of their stuff. That does come into play when I don't have a lift or a garage.

That's really what's been keeping me from going all-out on this thing. It's not a 325, or a beater E36. Even the mods I have done have been thoughtfully researched and almost all the parts are OEM. It's yielded some solid results so far.

The problem is that that's not street/track, it's full on racecar. Something like 800lb springs and damping that's set up for a car weighing hundreds of pounds less. On the street the car would neither ride nor drive right. You'd likely be much happier with something like KWs, or ideally, Ohlins. Camber plates I also would not mess with unless you're getting weird tire wear at the track.

Another point, the rear subframe/chassis is liable to crack on these with hard use, it may already have. It can be welded and various companies make reinforcement kits.
Really appreciate your posts here. Subframe bushings are actually part of what the car is in the shop for now. I'm having them diagnosed to make sure they're ok. If they're not, I'll be addressing that before anything else, honestly. Bushings, reinforcement plates, and of course arrest any corrosion before any of that's done.

Also checked out the R&T Ohlins setup and it's much cheaper than the spec setup so, that's a win.

Not to mention there's companies like Wiring Specialties that make plug and play wiring harnesses. Here's one for an LS3 but they have other options. I'm still team M54, keep it simple, but if OP wants to go LS it's good to know about these types of kits
Yep, I've been in casual contact with Vorschlag Tuning who, according to who I spoke to are still making LS Swap kits, and mentioned it's one of their strongest lines of business currently.

Something super important that's not engine related and hasn't been brought up. The way the rear trailing arms are designed, there is slight change in toe when the suspension compresses. This means your alignment will be changing mid corner. This can be fixed with a spherical bearing in place of the rear trailing arm bushing. Poly bushings tend to bind and don't really fix the problem. Since you mentioned tracking the car, this is a must do upgrade. It's likely a part of the spec E46 package but others have suggested good reasons not to go that route, so if you end up piecing together your own suspension package include this.
Great point, and thank you. This kind of stuff has definitely been on my mind as I'm a little paranoid about the subframe bushings. The last thing I wanna do is be one of those guys that throws power at a chassis that isn't ready for it. I've also had too much toe start to eat diffs in previous cars and this is one of those random tidbits you don't learn with some casual digging.
 
#6 ·
E46 coupes are lookers still, and well kept stock-ish examples are harder and harder to find. So on that note: if anything, manual swap it (if I’m reading your post correctly and it is currently auto) and find a higher ratio limited slip rear end if it doesn’t already have one. The 6 speed isn’t necessary, the 5 speed ZFs are stronger, more plentiful, cheaper, and are functionally identical (the 6 speed is basically the 5 speed’s ratios plus a .81 overdrive).

You’ll spend a dumb amount of money on doing internals and the M54 will never make more than 250hp. It’s just not worth the cost. If you really want power, try to find a used supercharger kit. The M54 is a delightfully smooth and torquey motor, not a powerhouse and not built for high rpm/high stress track work, so my recommendation is to put a decent exhaust on it and enjoy.
 
#7 ·
I feel like LS has been done to death.
 
#9 ·
I keep thinking about how nice it would be to have a built NA straight 6 that IMO sounds better than the S54
That resonates with me. Of my vehicles, the E46 is the only one I want back. If I could have walked into a dealership and purchased a new one with updated tech, I would have. I only sold it because I got to the point where it was, either spend buckets of money getting it up to snuff for the next 150K miles, or move on. Being a year out of law school meant newer/reliable transportation was the responsible/safe decision. Of course though the E92 that replaced it was a basket case.

Anyways, as far as power goes if you want any appreciable power increase, an S/C is really the only answer. But, i don't think this car needs that type of power. The stock M54 never left me wishing I had more power quite frankly. I did have dreams of doing a full N/A build to make a beautiful screamer though. Maybe get it somewhere in the realm of 250-300WHP N/A; that to me is perfect. That said, I'm not a fan of swaps, and i think if you want to go LS you're better off just buying a car with one in it already.

Sounds like you have some attachment to the vehicle as well, this makes it all the more worth it to make it a revived e46, not into some Frankenstein, and hold on to it. In the long term, a clean example with a warmed over I6 is going to get the looks, not an LS.

My vote is thus warm over the I6, and keep for a long time. I think eventually the E46 will be sought after similarly to the E30, whereas I think for the E36 and E92 gens, it will only be the M cars that keep peoples interest. And if it isnt, you still have a wonderful driver's car that was built in an era where tech had creeped into improve cars and add safety, but not yet taken over and isolated the driver.
 
#11 ·
@TheDarkEnergist
I’m big on emotional connections to cars, so I say if you can justify it, keep it. You seem to care about it.
I think the quest for monster power is a great way to win a dick swinging contest on FB, but there is something to be said for cars with usable power. My personal opinion is over 350hp for the street gets a bit pointless. I’d rather wring out my weak ass 4 banger on a back road any day. Manuel and some suspension work with the right tires is going to do wonders for your car. If you do that, and it’s still not scratching the itch you can move onto the power or maybe another car, and I’d bet most of the money you spent, if you wrench yourself anyways, will be gotten out of your selling price and desirability of the car on the current market.
 
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#13 ·
I’m biased towards a good I6 and would absolutely keep it that way. Though V8s are certainly not long for this world in “normal” cars, there is something equally as special about a strong I6 pulling towards redline. If this was a total POS that you picked up for $1500 on Craigslist, sure, do the swap. But for this it feels wrong.
 
#14 ·
If this is your only car and you live in downtown Baltimore, I'm not sure I'd want anything particularly nice or anything that brings attention to what I'm driving. Also, if this is a daily driver, I'm not sure I'd want a suspension setup from any spec racing series--unless you're planning to race/track it. I'd probably go with some type of low boost FI kit and catback setup for basic street driving.

If this is a project car, the SBC is an interesting option. There's a guy at a local C&C who has an e46 coupe with SBC. It never fails to grab attention when the car starts up. And regardless of how "played out" the SBC transplant thing is, the guy always has a small crowd around his car at some point during a C&C. On one hand, it seems like a fun project with a lot of upside. OTOH, that particular car has a bit of a kit-car vibe to it. It's a project where things are always being figured out.

The use case for the car is really big consideration of the best direction to go, IMO.
 
#18 ·
No. Just no. That particular instance is only mildly acceptable because its a 318 and the motor in that thing was anemic. Otherwise, just why. That is a case where the LS was a good option, not a VQ.
 
#19 ·
I'm a big fan of well done swaps and have been a part of doing many over the years. The LS in this car would be as light, and have great balance due to being shorter than the I6 and thus sitting farther back. It would be at least as reliable as a BMW engine.

BUT... in this case the 3 liter 6 is a gem of an engine and with a few minor tweaks is about the best choice for the money. It would cost quite a bit to do the LS swap correctly and well. And would be apart far longer. My vote is to stay with the stock engine with a few tweaks. The engine in our ZHP was about the perfect balance of power in that car. 250 hp would be a really nice goal with the manual trans in there.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Turner Motorsport built a pretty darn nice 330 ZHP project car some years back, here's the writeup on it. Cams, header, different final drive ratio, H&Rs, etc. Came out pretty sharp. If it were me, this is what I'd do.





 
#23 ·
I would LS it. I had a 330Ci, mine was an 01. It was fun, but... I have a buddy that has an E46 wagon with a turbo'd LS. It's ****ing absurd, in all the best ways. It is an absolute blast to drive. Wanna putt it around, no worries at all, thing is super driveable. Want to do a burnout the length of a football field, yes... Even a non turbo version would be a hoot.

LS it. Who cares if it's been done to death, you tryin to win a unique guy car show or are you trying to have a blast with your car?
 
#27 · (Edited)
Eh... I just did an LS swap on one of my dad's cars and he didn't spend near that much. Changed, trans, motor, management and a bunch of odds and ends to make it fit right. I think all in we did it for about 5500. Trick is, just do the 5.3 put a good set of heads and a cam in it and it will make over 400 at the wheels. You can find 5.3's all day long for $1000 - $1200. Look for an LM7. We got my dad's for about $600 out of a bone yard.
 
#28 ·
Another vote for just keeping it well maintained, an ageing E46 should have plently of things to keep you busy, like peeling a-pillars and rotting bushings. I even like the stock exhaust on the E46 330i's, its got a nice growl to it so I probably wouldn't swap it out. If I were to mod anything, I would put some Ohlins R&T coilovers on, they're daily-friendly coilovers that are pretty well reviewed. I wouldn't go too low though, I'm from that part of the world and Baltimore streets are not exactly smooth.

Also, I may be mistaken, but doesn't the LS swap in the E46s have some weird stuff that's needed, like a hydroboost brake conversion because the master cylinder doesn't fit?
 
#29 ·
For a few years now I've just thought to myself "hey...LS swap the thing and be done with it" which all sounds good and is easy to say. But after giving it a lot of thought and knowing that I now have a reliable and fair specialized BMW mechanic less than a mile away...I'm wondering if maybe I should stick with the M54 motor.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but if being near a good mechanic might influence your decision, and you want the car to last forever, I don't think you want this to be an LS swapped BMW. It obviously can be done but it's not the kind of thing that's going to yield an, erm, OEM+ result.

Before you ask "what do you want the car to do?" I want it to go fast and I wanna have fun. It'll be a street legal car that I take to the track that retains most if not all factory creature comforts. I want it to be balanced but also make people laugh and maybe scared a little bit. I want the car to last forever.
Thanks for this. So many people leave it open ended and then the replies just describe cars they would want. This is a reasonable build we can shoot for. Some thoughts:

Spec E46 suspension kits are $5k.
The problem is that that's not street/track, it's full on racecar. Something like 800lb springs and damping that's set up for a car weighing hundreds of pounds less. On the street the car would neither ride nor drive right. You'd likely be much happier with something like KWs, or ideally, Ohlins. Camber plates I also would not mess with unless you're getting weird tire wear at the track.

Manual transmissions are abounds.
Do it. There's plenty of guides for E46 M3 SMG conversions, it won't be exactly the same obviously but stuff like clutch pedal and mounting points and stuff will be a good reference for you.

I keep thinking about how nice it would be to have a built NA straight 6 that IMO sounds better than the S54, and kinda keeps the spirit of the car alive. But then I get swayed by thinking about doing huge burnouts and having something absurd to play around with.
If you want to LS swap something for all those smoky burnouts let it be a dedicated project car you don't have an emotional attachment too. Maybe a hooptie E36 you find cheap somewhere. S54 is the only logical swap I can think of here for street/track/longevity as the chassis and such were designed to accommodate it so it's mostly finding parts as opposed to making them.

Another point, the rear subframe/chassis is liable to crack on these with hard use, it may already have. It can be welded and various companies make reinforcement kits.
 
#30 ·
Please don't take this the wrong way, but if being near a good mechanic might influence your decision, and you want the car to last forever, I don't think you want this to be an LS swapped BMW. It obviously can be done but it's not the kind of thing that's going to yield an, erm, OEM+ result.
Disagree completely. Both on the reliability and the driver friendliness.
 
#31 ·
I'm in the Baltimore 'burbs (I can see the city skyline from my kitchen window) and take my car to the track, so let me know if you want to hit up any events next season.

I did an LS swap on my MkIV 1.8t GTI last year. Well, actually I sold the GTI and bought a C5 Z06, but whatever. That said, the I6 is the soul of a 3 series. I like the suggestions to refresh the car and improve it where you can.
 
#35 ·
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