///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

[Fair!]

Saw this guy post on bimmerforums.com. They are building an E36 M3 for StreetMod class with a 4.4L DOHC V8 from a 740 and some E34 3.0L V8 5-spd trans (that bolts on, cool). They didn't want the cost or weight of the ZF6 spd ($3000 used is common) like in my 540i.

Doing it on the cheap... got a running '99 740 4.4L engine with 80k on it for $500. "Then we verified that the V8 is lighter than the 6. Booyah!" $500 for the trans and another $100 for a starter. So, $1100 in a DOHC V8 drivetrain. Cool. Motec, custom headers, and their goal is a whopping 320 rwhp.

http://www.fortune3.com/comp73891/?p...-45.html&&il=1




They had to MAKE A DRY SUMP set-up for the car, because the 4.4L front sump pan didn't come close to fitting and they need to keep the K-member stock to meet SM rules. The have done some ghetto engineering on a few things, like the massive steel barstock welded to the frame for the motor mount, and the 10degree list to starboard the motor has to clear the steering shaft. The 4.4L has a massive, water cooled alternator that is part of the block that they decided to axe off. Oh, and they are using some BMW hydroboost brake MC, which they hate. They also explored a Honda S2000's booster, but hated that worse. Gotta give them my secret fix for moving the stock booster.


Wheels for the M3 are 17x10 and 17x12 CCWs. Oh so sexy... I want to touch the hiney!

Will be in contact with them and colaborate on some swap details - we both seem to be hitting the same obstacles.

[John in Houston]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

That is Erik's car from Edge. He's a pretty good guy. Teucci met him at Nationals this year.

Those are the flairs that Teucci is putting (or going to put) on the 328 to run 275s or 285s.

[Fair!]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

That is Erik's car from Edge. He's a pretty good guy. Teucci met him at Nationals this year.

Those are the flairs that Teucci is putting (or going to put) on the 328 to run 275s or 285s.

Yep, it's Erik. Seems nice enough.

Those flares look pretty ghetto... but if they'll cover phat wheels, who cares? How much are they? I assume they are fiberglass.

[John in Houston]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

Don't know how much they are yet.... still trying to locate them. Erik had his stuck on with double-sided tape at nationals.... part of why they look like crap.

[Tommy R]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

Yeah, I met Erik and his co-driver (Rich?) at Nats. Good guys and this project looks like it has promise! Glad to see them progressing. Yeah, the flare looked like ass. They were pop riveted on. I think he mentioned doing some changes there, but I don't recall...

T

[Dean!]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

??? You can buy an entire 4.4li V8 motor for $650 ?!?? and a tranny for $500 ?

Can't even get LT1 and T56's that cheap

[Fair!]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

??? You can buy an entire 4.4li V8 motor for $650 ?!?? and a tranny for $500 ?

Can't even get LT1 and T56's that cheap

Well, there was some Dean Dealing, Duck eBay Upgrading and prolly some Jord0n Math involved.

The 7 series always depreciates like mad (waaay more than a 3 or 5 series). He bought a running car that was smoking badly. Luckily, he knew about a cronic PCV failure with the 4.4L and that's all it was. He checked compression and it was perfect. The trans was from an older E34 car, which is a bit dated, but he did the research and found out it bolts to the 4.4L and has E36 M3 internals, so that was just good salvage hunting.

I'm sure through normal eBaying or salvage yard buying this drivetrain would have run him $1000-1500+. and it's not like 4.4L BMW V8s are hot for swaps - these things are freagin HUGE. Like all DOHC V8s...



It takes a lot of work to squeeze this monster into the E36... unlike the LS1.

[John in Houston]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

Hey... that's Koenig's mystery motor. As in, it's a mystery where that GD thing is Probably right where Fair left it, huh?

[hancheyb]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

I dunno, that looks ghetto to me. And really, if you're going to do a SM car like that, it isn't nearly extreme enough to be nationally competitive, IMO. All it takes is someone dropping a bigger, badder BMW V8 in there to kick your A$$.

Like Teucci says, no one has ever built a REALLY rules prepped SM car yet.

[Tommy R]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

It's certainly not the powerplant (and debatedly platform) I'd have chosen. Aluminum 3.0 from an E46 with a huffer would have promise and reasonable weight, though. They say the V8 is lighter than the S50 they yanked, but that's not saying much.

I love their header mock up. "What do you mean I have to take another dump? Can't we just pay someone to make the headers??"


And is there room under this car for two of these collectors?


I would've left some more material on the right-side of the tranny mount.


T

[Fair!]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

Hey... that's Koenig's mystery motor. As in, it's a mystery where that GD thing is Probably right where Fair left it, huh?

Last time I saw his then new 347 it was about two hours from firing and sitting in a freshly Fair Detailed engine bay. It literally needed an oil prime, a distributor stab and some plug wires to RUN. I begged him to finish it that very day, but his back hurt or something.

That was FIVE YEARS AGO.

That boy makes me crazy when it comes to his Mustang. Car could be so nice with so little work. His excuse? "Motor is not good enough to even start."

West Side (the shop who built this 347, before he started at SAM) ain't Lingenfelter but damn, it would run and be fun! Instead he drives the Ranger.

You know what? Hell, I might call and offer him some $ for that car. Damn... why not? Could get it running in an afternoon and DRIVE it home.

[Fair!]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

Speaking of old pics... what ever happened to the red-headed goober on the right in this pic?



He built some ghetto 347 too... but it ran, at least.

[Fair!]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

I would've left some more material on the right-side of the tranny mount.

Yea, their tranny mount leaves a lot to be desired. Ghetto Fabulous!

This is our design:



Going down to the garage in a second to final weld (and re-weld the ugly ones!) this piece. Then I'll grind the welds somewhat smooth.

Note that more than one tiny bolt holds each side on and the plates that clamp each side to the chassis are more than ONE SQUARE INCH. Oh yea, and I use a (gasp!) poly bushing. I'll have pics of those up soon. It looks so much nicer when mounted under the car.

[John in Houston]

///M344 Project - 4.4L DOHC V8 in E36 M3!

Speaking of old pics... what ever happened to the red-headed goober on the right in this pic?



He built some ghetto 347 too... but it ran, at least.

What was his nickname... stinky? or something like that. Maybe it was Bo (as in B.O.?) Dunno what happened to him. He built a hoopty 347 and then couldn't afford to keep gas in it (driving it to work everyday). Think he must have moved.