[Socket]

Great work on the audio upgrade. That was a major job.. I hope it sounds better now you have everything finalised

[F31B48]

Originally Posted by cheerio

Here's a comparison of the old and new valve.
Hilariously, the intermittent high pitched whistling sound that was annoying the hell out of me seems to have gone away now

The old valve seems mechanically solid; the flap doesn't budge when pushed. The motor just doesn't seem to be moving as much as it should. Can this be caused by oil ingress?

I've disassembled quite a few faulty disas and they're always full of oil. I've just cleaned them up and reassembled with a little grease on the gears and they have all worked afterwards. They have a very small oil seal on the shaft which seems to be the cause of the oil ingress.

[cheerio]

I've definitely been enjoying the L7 retrofit - it's not mindblowingly good or anything, but after a few months, it's never bothered me in the way the base system always did.

The spare DISA is sitting on the bench, taunting me. I think I'll have to crack it open sooner or later

I've since made a couple more retrofits, which I neglected to post about earlier.

First up, some electric sports seats with memory, adjustable bolsters and lumbar. Wow, these are great. Was keeping a lookout for some of these for a good 6 months, and managed to snag them for a bargain price. Unfortunately the leather is a bit tired looking, especially on the drivers side. Anyone know if the seat / back cushions can be swapped from the semi-electric sport seats common in the 320i?

Was super easy to install, as I'd prewired the extra power pins and added the drivers side CAN lines at the same time I had the carpets out for the audio work. Just needed to do the coding and they work great.




I also managed to pick up an M3 steering wheel for $250. The leather is slightly cracked at the top, but eh, it's good enough to use, and much nicer than the basic sports wheel that was there previously.



Only catch is - the SSG paddle shifters don't fit it! I didn't realise this, but the M3 wheel has differently shaped paddle cutouts, and on top of this, it actually has the paddle mounts in a different position; they're more sharply angled than on the sports wheels.

I picked up some unwanted M3 paddles (just the aluminium bits) locally, then designed and 3D printed some switch modules for them. Used standard microswitches for that nice *click* sound, and 8mm neodymium magnets to pull them shut, similar to how a lot of sim racing paddles are constructed.



The switch action is very clicky and satisfying, compared to the SSG paddles. I'm not sure how they compare to the OE M3 paddles, as I'm not prepared to pay the ludicrous price for a set. As for positioning, it was quite difficult to get the paddles in the right spot, but they felt pretty good to me.

Sadly, after using them for about a week, I parked in the sun, which promptly melted my beloved switch modules. I'm currently setting up a new printer which can print in non-melty ABS, so hopefully I can make a new and improved set soon.

Does anyone else have an M3 wheel with paddles, or know someone who does? I'd love to get someone to try out the magnetic switch modules and give some feedback.

[the deacon]

I'm in South Africa and also have 323 with a little too many retrofits. non idrive to full CIC , retrofitted m sport steering wheel with paddles , retrofitted dynamic cruise control , e90 m3 seats , m3 control arms, xhp transmission flash.

I'm very interested in the 323 to 325 tune (I've got the msv70 dme) , didn't know you could modify the intake manifold to fit the missing disa valve.
Great work 👏

[cheerio]

Originally Posted by the deacon

I'm in South Africa and also have 323 with a little too many retrofits. non idrive to full CIC , retrofitted m sport steering wheel with paddles , retrofitted dynamic cruise control , e90 m3 seats , m3 control arms, xhp transmission flash.

I'm very interested in the 323 to 325 tune (I've got the msv70 dme) , didn't know you could modify the intake manifold to fit the missing disa valve.
Great work 👏

Great to see a fellow 323i enjoyer
Do you have any other retrofits planned?

[F31B48]

Originally Posted by cheerio

Ended up using NCS Expert to edit the model code in the car's VO from *PG76 (323i) to *PH12 (325i), then running ISTA-P, which flashed the EGS to 325i spec.

Presumably there's some easier way to do this with WinKFP, but I couldn't be bothered figuring that out. Please reply if you have any ideas on this.

I'm going to try programming my trans with the 325i software. I changed my model code to VB12 with NCS Expert, then did a measures plan with ISTA/P to see if it would want to update the trans and it did, so i wrote down the ZB number from ISTA/P and I'll now try to program it with WINKFP. HOPEFULLY it won't overwrite my 325i tune. What are your thoughts on this process cheerio ? Did you use a Bimmergeeks cable to do yours?

[cheerio]

Originally Posted by EvaBmw

I'm going to try programming my trans with the 325i software. I changed my model code to VB12 with NCS Expert, then did a measures plan with ISTA/P to see if it would want to update the trans and it did, so i wrote down the ZB number from ISTA/P and I'll now try to program it with WINKFP. HOPEFULLY it won't overwrite my 325i tune. What are your thoughts on this process cheerio ? Did you use a Bimmergeeks cable to do yours?

That all sounds pretty reasonable, and if it overwrites your tune, not a big deal, you can always reflash it.

I used a generic cable, but I had to flash the fixed firmware to it in order to flash the EGS. Bimmergeeks cable comes with this firmware already flashed, so would work fine.

[cheerio]

Exciting news!

So I've decided to N52B30 swap the car... found a relatively good deal on a lowish km 2009 example nearby. For now I'll be keeping the 325i driveshaft/diff/axles and exhaust, but definitely want to swap in a 330i exhaust later. LCI 330i conversion will be fun, seeing as they never sold here.

I've also been planning an 8HP45 swap for a while now. Have figured out how to run N20 E84 software on one, which is (mostly...?) compatible with the E90 chassis. I have *not* yet figured out how to flash custom tunes to it, which is going to be a big undertaking. Plan is to eventually port the N52 F10's transmission tune over to the E84 firmware, plus a few tweaks to make it better match the E90, and run that.

[shannon1]

Wow, exciting times. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[cheerio]

Here it is!


One E60-spec N52B30. Gave it a good look over before purchasing and it's definitely a little bit sludgy inside, but not catastrophically so... bought it anyway. Fingers crossed it will run well.

There's a laundry list of gaskets and fasteners to be installed/replaced, and bits to be swapped over from the original engine, before installing this thing. I'm looking forward to doing the oil pan gasket with the engine on a stand, lol.

Next on the shopping list is a 8HP45 and some custom wiring.

[jzx_andy]

Do you think the N20 TCU/software may present issues when paired with an N/A motor? The Lamik seems to be awesome, but it's a pricey bit of kit once you factor everything in needed for an 8HP swap.

[cheerio]

Yes, it'll be tuned for the wrong torque converter, and the shift points will be totally off. I don't expect it to drive very well until the custom tune is sorted. That being said, I am a little worried that the mismatched tune could damage the clutch packs... worst case, the car will have to sit in the garage until I figure out the tuning.

Lamik seems to have a pretty well figured out solution, but I'm put off by the high cost. I also suspect that the OEM TCU will be better at choosing the right gear under a variety of conditions.

[Greger]

nice work.