2000 BMW M Coupe. A clown shoe for pimpm3

If you're keeping the mechanical fan you should be replacing the engine mounts unless they've been done recently.

That said, something to consider...you really don't need the mechanical fan. I ditched mine and swapped to the lower temp e-fan switch. Never had any temp issues even running ~30% more power than stock through a non-intercooled supercharger. With the lower temp switch, the low speed fan would kick on at ~195* and kick off at ~190* after a minute or two of running. Extrapolating based on the switch temps, that means the high speed fan should have been coming on right around 210*. AFAIK I only ever managed to kick the high speed fan on while autocrossing. Ditching the mechanical fan removes a failure point (fan through radiator and/or upper coolant hose which runs pretty close to it). Also allows you to ditch the rear fan shroud and allow better air flow through the radiator instead of it all just ramming straight into the front of the engine and having nowhere to go. And gets rid of some of the semi-truck fan noise...though my fan clutch was probably bad and contributing to that.

Can you imagine what a S54 version is like? Must be killer.

What does $961.00 of BMW maintenance items look like?

Kind of like this.

Step one,  easy stuff.  Cigarette lighter.  I don't smoke but I figured let's install the correct one.

Always wanted a 911.  This is as close as I am getting anytime soon.

New hatch struts.  They sagged when it was cold out.

I have those same mud guards on my elise! 

One thing I always do is replace lug bolts with studs.  I had a wheel come off the 2008 bmw powered rx7 in the 2008 challenge when its lug bolts stripped.

75mn ecs extended wheel studs should make sure that doesn't happen again.

I also swapped out the dumb chrome door handle trip for the stock black ones.

mr2s2000elise said:

I have those same mud guards on my elise! 

We seem to have similar taste in cars...

pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) said:

mr2s2000elise said:

I have those same mud guards on my elise! 

We seem to have similar taste in cars...

Way too much!! 

So I started working on the cooling system refresh.

Started obviously by putting it on jack stands and removing the old parts.  It went quickly, the only issue I ran into was removing the fan clutch.  I ended up buying a 1 1/4 wrench which fit perfectly.

Started reassembly, but stopped for happy hour on the beach.

Have you checked the driveshaft guibo?  Good opportunity while it's up on stands.

I am hopefully installing a new one tomorrow, along with some new transmission mounts.

In reply to pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) :

Hope you slathered those ECS wheel studs with red loctite and torqued them to 35ft lbs.  I did and they still were loose, with several being finger tight.  I took them out and went back to lug bolts.  I've installed studs in almost all my cars and that was the first time I had that happen to me...

When you bleed the cooling system it helps a lot if you've drilled a small hole in the thermostat.  Make sure that hole is at 12 o'clock and you have the nose of the car up in the air.

In reply to docwyte :

I used the blue lock tite that came in the kit.   Sounds like I need to pull them out and get some red tomorrow.

Finished installing the cooling system.

I decided to return the fan and fan clutch. The Mishimoto radiator is thicker and there is not a lot of clearance.

Are you doing anything to account for ditching the clutch fan? You probably want at least the low temp fan switch.

I was going to order one.  Also it's got a giant spal fan on the front behind where the oil cooler is mounted.

Speaking of the oil cooler, I covered the braided lines with rubber where they pass through by the headlight.

Nice, always wanted one of these.

In reply to pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) :

I'd add an electric puller fan for behind the radiator too and wire it into the fan switch.  I deleted the mechanical fan and fan clutch from my 98 M3 and regretted it.  The electric fans are good but they don't move anywhere near as much air as the stock setup.  I wouldn't run that car without some kinda puller fan behind the radiator...

The spal actually kinda throws a wrench into my advice. Is it controlled by the stock wiring or an aftermarket controller? To my knowledge they usually aren't set up to be two speed, which is how the stock system works. I suppose it could be powered by just one speed of the stock system, in which case you'd want to figure out which speed it is before deciding what to do about the temp switch.

Assuming it's a decent fan (the stock one actually flows pretty well) or a decent aftermarket one (which that looks to be) it'll be fine without a puller fan. Maybe ditch as much of the stock rear shroud as possible to make it easier for the pusher fan to move air. Though I ran mine for a year before ditching the shroud and it didn't really seem to make a difference. I wonder if something about the M3 fan/ducting setup is different, a M3 owner friend told me I would need more cooling as well but it worked fine with the stock radiator.

The electric fan currently comes on with the AC.  I am concerned with the low clearance between the radiator and the mechanical fan, especially if the engine moves around a little.

The pusher fan is a Spal 16 inch high performance pusher based on the part number on it.  It looks like it moves over 2000cfm.

https://www.jegs.com/i/SPAL/063/30102047/10002/-1?gclid=CjwKCAjwtqj2BRBYEiwAqfzurztruIhb4YTBidkZMQxO7UvHeJ4HPeIefdAWaWJEPRAuJXj_HZJ5NxoCG08QAvD_BwE

Sounds like it's wired to the high speed circuit then. So you would want the low temp switch, that should turn the fan on in the 205-210*F engine temp range.

Bimmerworld sells an electric fan kit.  You can either wire it up to the stock fan switch, in which case you need to choose whether you want it to come on at low temp or hi temp, or you install an aftermarket fan controller.

Either way, I wouldn't run that car without a puller fan behind the radiator, preferably the stock one with a new fan clutch

I am ordering a spal puller fan and relay kit from bimmerworld.  I was going to wire the switch into the factory low speed setting.

I figure between the 16 inch spal pusher fan up front and a 16 inch spal puller fan it should be pretty safe.  Also the radiator is thicker which is what is preventing me from comfortably installing the new fan and clutch I bought so it should have a little extra cooling capacity.

In other news I pulled off the leaking valve cover.  Oddly it seems like it was leaking on the upper side of the engine.  Maybe the PCV is bad and its forcing oil out?  I am replacing the CCV when it arrives with my second round of parts from FCP euro.  Hopefully it will be here tomorrow.

Everything looked clean under the valve cover.  Unfortunately there was a ton of rtv on the cover so I am going to need to clean it up carefully before reinstalling it.

Installed the new valve cover gasket, and new plugs.  I also installed new spark plug boots while I was in there.

I then changed the oil and filled the cooling system with a 50/50 mix of BMW coolant and distilled water.  I let it idle in the garage afterwards to get it up to temperature.  So far so good.

The CCV parts still have not arrived.  I am hoping they show up tomorrow. 

In other news I am dropping it off at the paint shop next week to get both bumpers, the hood and the spoiler painted.

You'll like the Bimmerworld fan kit.  Reference my E36 M3 thread here for wiring it into the fan switch...