[Aus335iguy]

I feel lazy and poor looking at your car mate

[Socket]

Originally Posted by Aus335iguy

I feel lazy and poor looking at your car mate

Hahhahaha quote of the day !!!

[jzx_andy]

Originally Posted by Aus335iguy

I feel lazy and poor looking at your car mate

[jzx_andy]

Well, this didn't last long. I managed to get a deal on a 3.15 M3 rear end conversion and will be pulling the thing apart again.

[Socket]

Originally Posted by jzx_andy

Well, this didn't last long. I managed to get a deal on a 3.15 M3 rear end conversion and will be pulling the thing apart again.

what??

[jzx_andy]

Originally Posted by Socket

what??

It's a diff from a E9x M3 DCT (has a 3.15 ratio final drive), and axles and driveshaft to suit. Pretty much the same setup as what you went with.

[Socket]

Originally Posted by jzx_andy

It's a diff from a E9x M3 DCT (has a 3.15 ratio final drive), and axles and driveshaft to suit. Pretty much the same setup as what you went with.

ooooooooo nice... you will be very happy when you install it mate

[jzx_andy]

M3 rear end bits arrived, with a full set of basically every fastener that came off the wreck lol:



Diff housing cleaned up OK and looks beefy next to a large housing 335i diff.



Unfortunately one of the CV's is gone, so this project has been delayed and I'm now on the hunt for a RHS M3/1M rear axle.





In other news, I had the opportunity to vulture heaps of parts from a couple of E9x M3 wrecks and picked up various interior and exterior bits, carbon kevlar crash bars, any good front and rear liners, and basically anything else that was up for grabs and could help me bolt M3 body panels to a E92 non-M.

I've basically committed myself to bolting on a E92 M3 front end and side skirts, and running a hybrid M-Sport/M3 rear bumper setup with custom rear quarters. This means the car can have wider tyres allround and likely a lot less silly camber on the rear - less stance and more raceboi! While buying a better fitting set of wheels is the more sensible option, I love the Advans in this spec, I've always want to rock some bigboi wheels and this is the only way it can be done such that the Advans are kept, and they are made more functional.

While I have amassed a bunch of parts, there is still a lot of random bits and pieces needed like a few front guard liners, headlight/bumper brackets, LHS front guard, underbody splash trays and very likely a new front bumper and bonnet.





Got all the bits home then realised the bonnet came off a E90 M3, which doesn't fit E92/E93, so back it went. The seller was great to deal with and refunded me no questions asked - he even gave me a damaged E92 bonnet for free to make up for it.



Also got a pair of damaged bumpers while I was there. Have since vultured all the miscellaneous bits from them, like side mounts and headlight washer nozzles and covers, but I think they will be destined for the bin as a brand new one from BMW Sydney is about $1,300 AUD shipped which isn't as crazy as I thought dealer pricing would be on a M3 front bumper. Not sure how fixable the white bonnet is, as e9x bonnets are aluminium and most of the damage is near the body lines, but I'll see how close I can get it before I start looking for one that's in good shape.

This M3 widebody replica project is a massive undertaking and basically means the car will be cut up and completely resprayed.

I am considering changing the exterior colour to BMW Individual Brilliant White, as it's a bit different to plain old white, but close enough to Alpine White 3 so the door jambs etc don't look too obvious. I do not want a full respray lol. The Brilliant White colour uses Alpine White 3 as the base, but has a pearl/metallic top added on top. Here's some pics of what I'm aiming for colour wise, minus the CF roof of course.





I would also like to graft the 335i lower section into the M3 bumper as I think it looks far nicer than the E9x M3 rear grille/diffuser/exhaust section). I think something like this will look awesome.

[jzx_andy]

I got to work over the past week on the interior.

Ended up giving the M3 rear seat assembly, M3 door cards, rear centre console and centre console armrest a good clean. This may be some OCD level E9x autism, but the M3 rear seats, centre armrest and door cards all have Novillo leather, which is a bit finer and supple than the Dakota leather found in the factory non-M's. I mainly grabbed them as the Novillo is a closer match for grain with the Merino leather that's found on my front seats.

Restored all the leather bits with Leatherique Rejuvenator and Prestine Clean (this stuff is amazing) and fitted everything up. Here's some quick pics that I snapped the other night.





The rear centre console and cupholders are looking a little average. I may remove the soft touch coating from them, which is something I previously did to all the plastic pieces found on the front half of the interior.

Car is meant to head out to an amateur track event in the next few weeks which should be some good fun. Never pushed the car that hard as I've never taken it to a track, so will be interesting to see how the car and I both behave in that setting.

[TSilver335i]

This build

[jzx_andy]

Thanks man, short of a built motor I think it's going to end up ticking all the boxes in 2022.

[jzx_andy]

Not much to share since last month with regard to the widebody itself.

Still collecting and hoarding parts as usual. Ended up sourcing a bumper from a E90 M3 wreck that is in pretty good shape, and a perfect bonnet from a E92 M3, so the damaged bumpers have gone away for free. Got the second front fender new from BMW.

Here's some pics of the more usable parts that I've sourced:





Stuck on a pair of 335i fender indicator stickers to the M3 items. Thank you to Socket for providing these to me!



Will be selling the dented (white) E92 M3 bonnet from my earlier posts for cheap if anybody wants it - the power dome and hood vents are in perfect shape, and can be cut and welded to a non-M e8x/e9x bonnet.

More recently, I went on a track day. Lots of fun and definitely recommend for anyone. Wish I'd gone sooner when the car was far closer to factory spec.




Also changed the fuel filter this week as a nice bit of preventative maintenance.

Lastly, I've been tossing and turning on colour choices for the exterior, since the M3 widebody conversion presents an opportunity to paint the entire exterior in something nice. Presently thinking about getting the exterior of the car done in Suzuka Grey, which is a VW/Porsche/Audi colour that was offered by BMW as an Individual colour at some point. It looks rather white in photos, but it's definitely closer to an offwhite or very light grey, as shown in the last pic below, when compared to a white sheet of paper.









Need to get a few samples done up to make my mind up - photos/videos are always deceiving.

If anyone has any suggestions/recommendations on a colour choice, I'd appreciate it. Looking to keep the contrast between the exterior paint and engine bay, door jambs etc very subtle, so I don't want to stray too far from light colours. But I want something that pops and will be looking to settle on a choice within the next week or so.

[jzx_andy]

Small update.

Single turbo kit ordered.

[Aus335iguy]

Originally Posted by jzx_andy

Small update.

Single turbo kit ordered.

Small update huh ?

Which one did you end up going for ?

[jzx_andy]

Originally Posted by Aus335iguy

Small update huh ?

Which one did you end up going for ?

JMC Tuning / N54 Developments RHD kit:





Planning on running a Pulsar GTX3582r with a twin scroll rear housing. The kit features an equal length manifold with a bunch of zirconia coated pieces, and looks to be amazing value for money.

Given what happened, I also ordered a Motiv Reflex+ which also arrived. This will control the MAC solenoid, provide sequential port injection control, retains true flex fuel capabilities and might also control a secondary LPFP. Time will tell but it looks like a great bit of kit on paper.

[Aus335iguy]

Holy shit bro thats going to be quite the weapon.

[Brule]

That manifold is pure greatness.

Going a small turbo is very smart it will be an unreal powerband with the sound to match!

Real nice, I cant wait to see it up an running!

[jzx_andy]

Not much substantive progress as of late, however the car is going in next weekend to start the process of hacking up the rear quarters and widening them to E92 M3 spec.

Still waiting on the black bonnet to arrive, but I'm more or less committed to the widebody project and don't want to delay things. Am I realistic in thinking the widebody, respray, ST and M3 diff can all be done in 2022?

Anyway, I've got a pair of generic 50mm metal fender flares that can be used as the donor metal for the rear quarters. The E9x M3 rear fenders are about 30mm extra per side at their widest point and I'd like to keep it that way, as I'm not a huge fan of the 50-80mm overfender kits that are available for the E9x platform. This means my factory rear quarters and rear bumper mounts will need to be cut and extended by about 30mm, and the resulting hole will need to be filled with metal and smoothed out to contour with existing body lines from the quarter itself and the other plastic panels that form part of the rear wheel arch.

Here's a quick pic showing the metal flares we've picked up to work with.



These metal flares will need to be cut, shaped and welded in so it looks OEM and lines up with the existing "fender bulge" lines that contour from the sides of the E9x M3 rear bumper (on one side) and the rear 10-15mm of the rear of the E92/E93 M3 side skirts (on the other side) to the rear quarters. The plastic M3 panels will serve as great reference point.

I couldn't find anyone who was letting a E92/E93 M3 shell go for cheap and OEM rear quarters are approx $2k ea plus shipping/taxes, so I settled on premade fender flares with custom work as the way to go about this widening process on a budget. These flares will also allow us to use more metal and much less filler than another job that I've seen on these forums and have decided to emulate. Couple of pics below of the said job, thank you to Raj off the UK section E90post.















Raj is the original experimentalist/pioneer with this "OE" E92 widebody conversion, and his own build is nothing short of amazing, check it out here: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1074528

As an aside, I had an F8x steel BBK show up. These rock the same 4 and 2 pot Brembo calipers found on the F3x 335/340i's with the M Performance BBK option, but with slightly larger and 2 piece ///M rotors.

I managed to grab these for a steal from another forum member who pulled them off his brand new M2C after about 600km odd. No idea if my front wheels will clear them but they were going so cheap that it was a case of "buy first, and ask questions later". Hopefully they will fit and I won't need to size up to 19's. I think these brakes along with everything else that's financially ruined me this year will bring the ethos of the whole build together (ala a mental sounding 3 series M Coupe with some nice F8x bits). So much for having a relatively cookie cutter 6AT ST 335i.



These brakes really are in great shape save for some minor markings on one of the rear calipers - seems like it was scraped against something. The brake lines and stickers on the rear of the calipers all look brand new and the rotors themselves are the same thickness as what's quoted on RealOEM. There are adapter kits to fit these to an E9x 335i with minimal modification, which is great.

[Aus335iguy]

Mate you are mental(in a good way
the front callipers should bolt straight up to the stock uprights albeit they will be at the 370mm rotor position. Should give you an idea of whether the rims will clear. Not sure about disc offset but again it can't be too different right ? 🤪

[Aus335iguy]

Originally Posted by Aus335iguy

Mate you are mental(in a good way
the front callipers should bolt straight up to the stock uprights albeit they will be at the 370mm rotor position. Should give you an idea of whether the rims will clear. Not sure about disc offset but again it can't be too different right ? 🤪

Also you might want to get the M3 master cylinder.

[jzx_andy]

Good idea man, will keep an eye out for the M3 master cyl.

[jzx_andy]

So I've been working on the widebody project over the past week or so.

Took the rear bumper off and swapped the carbon kevlar rear crash bar, and sussed out what else needs to be changed to fit the M3 one on. Just need to swap the inner guard liners and plastic side mounts, both of which I picked up from a wreck a few months ago.



Moved on to the front end and started taking things off. I bought the entire front clip off a M3 so off went the factory one.



M3 clip on with the carbon crash bar



Had to deal with a few issues with the fenders not lining up well. Had to undo the Active Steering module from it's bracket and tuck it into the cavity that's behind the passenger side fender. It normally sits just outside that cavity which is an issue with M3 fenders.

Ended up looking like this today



She's looking a bit thicc