Okay, time for part 2. There were some really big steps forward ...and a small step back. Lets pick up right where we left off - talking about transmissions
So the GS6 transmission has a "brace" on the back of it that can be bolted off - this, paired with different transmission crossmembers, allows for fitment over a wide variety of applications. The current brace on the car extends back pretty far and uses transmission mount receptacles not suitable for an E36. But I could at least get an idea if it was in the right spot and see if things seem to fit when the transmission is in roughly the right spot. Good news is things seem to be in roughly the right area and there appears to be adequate room for shift linkage!
But before doing too much more with that - I had to wait for the GS6-37 brace I ordered to see if it'd fit...
Next, a simple win - I replaced the two ABS lines I had removed when I relocated the ABS module
Next, I wanted to focus on the areas that were causing fitment issues, I started by bending this brake line out of the way, as the engine was occasionally hitting the firewall and hitting the line. It's not pretty, but it is out of the way now. Also, it wasn't exactly pretty before so nothing was really lost. I may re-do it later, bending a new line, but it's not an urgent priority - that's a cosmetic detail
I don't have any good "after" pictures of the next step - but I trimmed a lot of random brackets out of the engine bay. Pretty much everything on the driver's side shock tower and frame rail except the clip for the round diagnostic port. Most of those brackets are visible in the below image though they may be hard to see
I was looking at the N62 and noticing that the A/C bracket looked very familiar. Sure enough - the A/C compressor from an M54 Z3 bolted right up to it. The rear bolt is in the right location, but needs a spacer and a longer bolt. This (probably) means I don't need custom A/C lines!
Next... my transmission brace showed up early! I got a text from DHL that my package was showing up from the UK and the only thing I had ordered from there is this brace. Once I had it at the shop I checked if the bolt holes lined up. It fit perfectly. And then the brace fit on the Z3 automatic trans crossmember perfectly
Getting excited now. I have applied a LOT of "If A =B and B = C then A = C" logic to this swap and so far it has yielded positive results. Now lets get the transmission in and see if it fits
I'm not gonna lie - there was very little drama with this process. It also did that really nice thing where the engine sort of just gravitated towards it's spot. As soon as I got under the car everything was pretty much lined up. I just bolted it in. I don't have the shift linkage yet though - and it seems very tight up top. There's a chance I may need to drop the transmission down a little bit to have adequate clearance for the linkage. Also - the first linkage I ordered was 100% wrong, I can tell without it even arriving. I ordered some linkage that should work for a GS6-37. Will that, too, work for the GS6-53 like the brace did? Time will tell...
I figure small spacers between the crossmember would work well to drop the trans a bit for clearance on top if needed but we aren't quite there yet
Speaking of engine mounts - with the trans in place, the engine height will be determined by the driveline angle. Eyeballing it put me in the below location
It's definitely higher than where I had it sitting when I had it mocked up in place. Buuut... this location makes more sense and has better fitment literally everywhere. It may even be possible to do valve cover gaskets with the engine in place. Hooray for basic maintenance possibly not being an engine-out jo
Oh and the hood seems like it will close... maybe just barely - the Valvetronic motor plugs are just barely touching the insulation - but it should work
Some other good news. I think. Not positive yet. But the steering linkage (the one farther from the camera) is attached to the splines on the firewall and seems like it will sit in the right spot. The picture makes it look a little closer to the header than it is
Note the header design - they merge in the middle, then hug the block as they go down before heading rearwards. Every single BMW with an N62 engine had a steering rack, so the headers were designed for steering rack clearance. The passenger side header I have already had in place, I just removed it to make it a little easier getting the engine in and out. The main question is the driver's side header but I am optimistic. I will also be cutting the catalytic converters off which will help a lot no doubt
So lots of good news... but, as promised, there is some bad. Potentially very bad. But there is always a solution
In the below image you will see an M54 alternator almost installed on the N62. It would fit, I'm not sure if that exact one would - something weird was going on with the nut on the back of that alternator, it was hitting the N62's alternator bracket. But I have another where the nut is recessed in the alternator housing properly and it fits. Anyways. Remember in part 1 when I talked about how they design the engine to be as wide as the heads? And the Z3 frame rails are not as wide as the heads on these engines? That's fine when it comes to engine mounts - just get custom ones made. It is way less totally fine when you realize the alternator is sitting right where the frame rail is
That may mean notching the frame rail. But it may not. I test fit the engine, then tried to fit the alternator in place. I couldn't get it angled around the bracket properly, the frame rail interfered. I'm going to try it again, but with the alternator being installed on the engine first, and installing the engine complete with alternator. If that doesn't work - I'm notching the frame rail Oh and the front subframe does need to be notched very slightly on the rear. It does technically "fit" right now - but the oil pan is rubbing the subframe. That's a bad idea. I'm going to take about 3/4" out the back of the front subframe. I will not use subframe spacers or anything else like that - the suspension and steering rack will use the stock mounting locations, in order to preserve the stock handling characteristics with absolutely zero compromise in that regard. In fact - I even believe the stock Z3 X-brace will still fit on the car! Which would be great, to protect the N62's plastic lower oil pan in a car as low as the Z3
So that's where I'm at now. Next time I work on the car, I will likely do the wiring changes needed and dig into the wiring diagrams a bit to try to find out where the last "unknown" harness goes and/or what it does