Project: E36 Compact with M57N & DCT

Svmp

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Dec 23, 2019
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M50 DCT & M57 DCT
First of all, i was a little unsure in which category to post this, so moderators, be free to move to a better suiting category if you feel like it.

Some background....
I've been building a E36 Coupe with M50 turbo for years now, and the last big upgrade/modification i did on it, was putting in a DCT transmission from a E89 Z4 35is in last autumn. Although i didn't have time to test it for more than a couple hundred miles before winter, it was such a positive experience, i started another project with a DCT in the winter and hopefully will have it at least running and shifting in 2020.

So, long story short. It's a hellrot E36 318ti with some minor options like M-Sport package, nothing fancy. The car was my girlfriends old daily driver, but it was so badly rusted she upgraded to a E87 1er instead. I had a burning desire to do something "new", and i thought it would be a interesting idea to couple a diesel with the DCT, and all this in a "lightweight" car (yes, we all know the compact isn't in fact that light:grinning:). The car has been progressing a little at the time from the beginning of the year, and at the moment almost everything is ready for the engine to be lifted in.

Engine/transmission:
  • M57N (iron block) with 30d pistons (completely overhauled with new gaskets, bearings and piston rings)
  • M57N head with grinded cams and stiffer valve springs
  • M57N2 335d stock turbochargers (will go hybrid in the future)
  • M57N R90 pump
  • M57N 30d injectors (will go 535d injectors in the future)
  • GS7D36SG from F82 M4, stock

Goals for the engine are nothing special for now, just the usual 400hp/800Nm, as the DCT is what inspires me the most, and also takes most of the time.

Chassis:
E28 typ210 differential case with E46 M3 LSD and diff rear cover
E46 M3 MK60 ABS (better wheel speed signal for the DCT)
Reinforced trailing arms with E32 hubs mounted for custom driveshafts

Body will be just some 3pc 17" AC Schnitzer wheels and a huge rear wing to begin with, it's the technical things that are more interesting for me.

Some pics...


What it started from:

fkbvobx.jpg



Test fitted the whole package first, fitted nicely.

xbOYGHZ.jpg

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Had a couple of flywheels made, 8kg for the diesel, 6kg for an M50.

HmVmp9x.jpg


What 250k (miles) of EGR does to a diesel engine and some results of sodablasting it away.

W7g0xXJ.jpg


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Will also fit Fxx-series paddles on the OEM M-Tech steering wheel. They mount nicely with an adapter i designed and 3D-printed. I have these already in my other car with the DCT, and it's a proven recipe which works nicely.

GOCM5Yz.jpg




On the F-series DCT software side i've spent countless hours of decoding the messages in the bus, and also built a little test bench to be able to simulate things.
I also have a little logger/configuration utility constantly evolving as i go further. Made it much easier to follow up on things and changes. It records and spits out .CSV-logs.

x2LPg3v.png
 

fmorelli

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Oh this is something .... can't wait to see how it plays out. Welcome aboard!

Filippo
 
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scrllock

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Dec 17, 2018
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Did you change your gear ratio? M57 can't enjoy the stock e46 final drive I'm sure
 

Svmp

Specialist
Dec 23, 2019
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M50 DCT & M57 DCT
Oh this is something .... can't wait to see how it plays out. Welcome aboard!

Filippo
Thanks! :) Hopefully it will be finished in a couple of months.

Did you change your gear ratio? M57 can't enjoy the stock e46 final drive I'm sure
I separately bought a final drive ratio which is 3.15. Combined with the M4 DCT will give a nice 155-160mph in 7th gear @ 4500RPM, and the engine max rev is 5000RPM. :)
 
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aus335iguy

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Nov 18, 2017
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335i DCT 2009
Glad you posted. This is really interesting. Definitely out of the box thinking!
there’s a few of us in the DSG section here I know would like to here about various can messages on f80 DSG’s 😎
 

aus335iguy

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Nov 18, 2017
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separately bought a final drive ratio which is 3.15. Combined with the M4 DCT will give a nice 155-160mph in 7th gear @ 4500RPM, and the engine max rev is 5000RPM. :)
the DCTs are notoriously fastidious about final drive ratio so I’m curious how this was achieved? The f80 dct has a 3.46 final drive from what I’ve read. Do you manipulate the wheel speed signal in any way ?
 

Svmp

Specialist
Dec 23, 2019
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M50 DCT & M57 DCT
Glad you posted. This is really interesting. Definitely out of the box thinking!
there’s a few of us in the DSG section here I know would like to here about various can messages on f80 DSG’s 😎
Thanks!
There’s truly a lot going on in those two PTCAN-buses on the F-series, i have it mostly figured out and mapped, as far as the gearbox control goes at least.

the DCTs are notoriously fastidious about final drive ratio so I’m curious how this was achieved? The f80 dct has a 3.46 final drive from what I’ve read. Do you manipulate the wheel speed signal in any way ?
Yes, just by manipulating the speed sent to the DCT. Of course this will not be needed in the future as xHP releases their software for these. :)
 
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Torgus

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This is so cool. That car is going to be fun to drive. The m57 puts out gobs of tq deleted on factory turbos. Once you upgrade them or go single turbo it should get really interesting especially paired to the dct.
 

fmorelli

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Really the issue with this setup is E30 rear end trying to manage all that power. I love this build because I'm a diesel guy (Powerstroke, N57, Mercedes diesel) ... but the 318ti is a nimble car and drives like a go-kart. It does best with light weight up front and about another 50-100hp at the rear. Much more than that and things just get out of balance and ugly. Nonetheless I love this build!

Ours was an M-technic car, 5 speed, with California roof. Not many of those around.

Filippo

IMG_20180517_065028.jpg
 

Svmp

Specialist
Dec 23, 2019
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M50 DCT & M57 DCT
Love this project, I've promoted it to the featured page!
Wow, thank you! :flushed:
This is so cool. That car is going to be fun to drive. The m57 puts out gobs of tq deleted on factory turbos. Once you upgrade them or go single turbo it should get really interesting especially paired to the dct.
I think a compound setup is the only right way to have some drivability on these. I was actually going single turbo at first, but it would have been a hybrid GT2260V. I've seen my fair share of guys strapping big Holset chargers on these, and the result is a powerband from 3500-4500rpm, not really into that myself. Of course with proper sizing and supporting mods you can make a big singleturbo work also, but these OEM compounds are "easy" to just bolt on. :grinning:
Really the issue with this setup is E30 rear end trying to manage all that power. I love this build because I'm a diesel guy (Powerstroke, N57, Mercedes diesel) ... but the 318ti is a nimble car and drives like a go-kart. It does best with light weight up front and about another 50-100hp at the rear. Much more than that and things just get out of balance and ugly. Nonetheless I love this build!

Ours was an M-technic car, 5 speed, with California roof. Not many of those around.

Filippo
That's a nice compact you got there, Hellrot also? :) I agree with you that the power/torque figures will be ridiculously big for the E30 suspension setup, but we will see how it goes. The parts it's built with will easily take the beating, but the geometry and functionality cannot be good compared to a modern suspension.


Last year i made a display for my other E36 with DCT, that fits in the original E36 cluster in place of the fuel consumption meter, it reads gear status and DCT oil temp from CAN-bus. It also displays Sport-mode, up/down arrows during shifts, and boost pressure/EMAP when launch control is activated.

Mmj3YW5.jpg



Now, for the Compact, i made a "v2" of it with integrated speedometer/RPM control, because i will have the speed signal only on CAN-bus in the future, due to the E46 M3 diff thingies... Also, RPM i'm not quite sure of, but i think there's no RPM output on my DDE as it's from an E6x, and they have a full CAN-controlled cluster.

1c7gLXq.jpg



3tJTHha.jpg


Did some testing and everything seems to work just as planned. The display itself is a very bright OLED so no problem seeing it in daylight/sunshine. Too bad it's not available in orange/amber, so i need to put some amber tinted film on it to get it to match the OEM cluster lightning, like in my other car.
 

fmorelli

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@barry@3DM just fabricated an Öhlins TTX rear suspension setup for an E30 M3 track car ... so if you need help getting that rear sorted out, he's the guy to go to on the suspension side of dealing with that power.

Looking forward to your progress.

Filippo
 
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ShocknAwe

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Jan 24, 2018
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Very. Cool. Build. Glad I surfed the forum a bit today and got to read about this. I'm definitely not much of a diesel guy, but always wanted to tinker with one and am absolutely loving what you're doing with this, especially with a DCT to get fast shifts and stay in the torque band.

Keep us posted.
 
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Svmp

Specialist
Dec 23, 2019
62
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M50 DCT & M57 DCT
@barry@3DM just fabricated an Öhlins TTX rear suspension setup for an E30 M3 track car ... so if you need help getting that rear sorted out, he's the guy to go to on the suspension side of dealing with that power.

Looking forward to your progress.

Filippo
Thanks for the hint, good to know there's solutions for the rear end. Will probably need something like that in the future. :grinning:

This a proper build. Hat off to you, you’ve done some amazing work here! It’s really refreshing to see something like this as a-pose to the regular forum posts. Will be following this closely.
This is an awesome project man. Cant wait to see the finished product!
This thread is something I dream about
Very. Cool. Build. Glad I surfed the forum a bit today and got to read about this. I'm definitely not much of a diesel guy, but always wanted to tinker with one and am absolutely loving what you're doing with this, especially with a DCT to get fast shifts and stay in the torque band.

Keep us posted.
Thanks guys, truly appreciated! :grinning:

Having some trouble on my other car, so things are going a little slow now... I did however find a OLED-display that stated "RED" as color, and soldered another board to try it out.

SiRnmQN.jpg


vgJZxJL.jpg


The camera doesn't really catch the correct color but it's more OEM amber than red, which is good, will be using these in the future.
I have one small pinhole of rust to be fixed on one of the front inner fenders, and after that i will hopefully be able to do all the brake piping and install the MK60 ABS unit.
 
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Svmp

Specialist
Dec 23, 2019
62
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M50 DCT & M57 DCT
Yess, i'm familiar with those, but i already have everything bought for my both cars. Did buy OEM connector + pins straight from BMW, two MK60 units, two master cylinders, two YAW-sensors etcetc from the scrapper. Sensors also brand new E46 sensors installed in all corners. Rear end needed some spacers to fit correctly but the 3D-printer sorted that. :grinning:

sDhhZFY.jpg


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Also made a little adapter for the original brake booster pin so that the E46 Master Cylinder can be bolted on directly.

OyeJ0Av.jpg



And this is btw how the hub package looks now with the E32 thingies, spacers, ABS-rings and everything...

bF1d2Ix.jpg