The E36 That Wasn’t ALLOWED In America! We SLAM and MAKE JAM On A Turbo Diesel Touring.

My wife has been killing the merch game, check out www.chelseadenofa.com to support the channel.
Today's video takes me back to my first love of e36's. I was 15 or so and I saw a video online of a black diesel e36 touring drifting around intersections in the rain. Obviously back then I didn't realize you couldn't just bring one over here and I had to wait like 20 years! But hey the time has come and I picked this one up from my good friend Lukas over in Poland from DM Imports a few years ago... Then waited some more haha.
We got the car and immediately put some BC Racing DS series coilovers and Kosei K1's I had sitting around to get the classic stance right. Then we got a chip tune from EndTuning, took apart the ECU and soldered in a chip receiver, and cranked up the boost. Now the clutch slips haha, so we have to figure that out. But it's been an amazing car, gets 35+mpg and is fun to drive on the daily without standing out.
Be sure to support the channel and comment, like, and sub. Even if you don't like the video, let us know how we can improve in the future. Since I have left Formula Drift we will be pushing this KZbin as one of our main outlets for you guys. Thank you!

[@joto1571]

It's strange to see a drift champion on the other side of the world enjoying a car with a Polish license plate from my neighborhood :D

[@H1GHD3FF]

seeing a KFC food chain in Warshaw was strange

[@richardvank]

@@H1GHD3FFKFC is all over Europe

[@H1GHD3FF]

@@richardvank shocking for me

[@robertzebranowicz338]

I live in the city this car comes from.(Bielsko-Biała,Poland)

[@mrirondans]

Chelsea is the only person I know who would win a Formula DRIFT championship then put out a video about a diesel wagon.

[@obsidian....]

💯% 😂

[@mirekvlasak7356]

Common thing in Europe is swap them with m57d30.... I'm sure you know they are so easily tuned and pretty solid...couple friends have them over 300hp and like 600-700nM 💪😉

[@alinetskyi]

It's not an injector light actually, it's for glow plugs.

[@turbot888]

yea if u grew up on a farm u know u know lol

[@shannacollins4741]

Or driving a diesel truck in the winter!

[@shannacollins4741]

@@turbot888 u def do not have to grow up on a farm to know what a glow plug is !🤦‍♂️

[@alinetskyi]

you just have to grow up in Europe @@shannacollins4741

[@turbot888]

@@shannacollins4741 right 👍

[@Mahti51]

You can use m50/m52, m20 or m30 flywheel etc. But have to add 6 small pickup pins to the backside of it for the rpm sensor. The overheating issues and headgasket problems are mostly caused by bad tuning, and running too much fuel and boost with stock restrictive exhaust manifold and turbo. I've tried running up to 50 psi without problems, and on my daily I've been effortlessly running 36 psi and 6000rpm with a big turbo for over a year now, having just under 300whp.

[@scottpatersonphoto]

I’ve had my Touring for 11 years, they’re so good. The mounts behind the front seats are for the load cover - it splits in half. So you can use the net to go floor to roof, to stop stuff (or dogs) coming into the front

[@CrAzYDr1veR]

do a m57 swap... 25tds is 143 stock, 25td (nointercooler) is 115 stock at startup it heats the glow plugs, no injection before turning the key.

[@josesantiago4541]

12 valve engine

[@CrAzYDr1veR]

@@josesantiago4541 yes u are right i was thinking of the m57 head in my mind

[@victorkrivor2174]

Amazing car! Just wanted to add some info for the dash, the injector light is for priming the injectors, then the light to the left is actually the glow plugs, you wait for the plugs to get hot, which then turns off the light, and start the car.

[@chelseadenofa]

I knew it had to be injection priming! Thank you!

[@TheXshot]

Polska! And just to add; yes we do tow with these in Europe!

[@nicanatorxx2]

You can't use an m50/52 flywheel, the M51 crank sesnor uses pickups on the the flywheel. If I recall I think you can use M57 flywheels, need to check that though.

[@AIT4ITAIT]

From E39 or E46 you can find M57 flywheel that suits (alteast what guys are doing here)

[@meizerone2690]

Can you use the diesel clutch and flywheel on an M50/52?

[@chelseadenofa]

Thank you for the heads up

[@rimvydassalomskas8512]

Best flywheel and strongest is from m47 150hp with 5 speed box takes 1000nm torque like nothing

[@peterisvimbsons4839]

@@rimvydassalomskas8512Yep. And you can weld the twin disc together and you have a single mass flywheel and its perfect. Had that done to my M57 E46. Had the boost up to make around 300-310hp w a 170kW turbo.

[@knuden]

Once had an Opel omega 2,5 tdi with the same engine. With a chip tune it made 170 hp. Loved going sideways with it in wintertime☃️miss that car so much😢 hope to see more diesel content👍

[@exvils]

8:00 you should be able to put m50/m52/m54 clutch, flywheel and pressureplate, you can also use tds crank in m50/m52 to get more stroke, also same thing with 324/524td, its just not intercooled and with smaller stroke.. but clutch still fits.. most overheating problems would be caused by cracked head or damaged combustion chamber.. or by damaged headgasket.. like same problems as every other diesel cars have from that era (lack of maintenance, worse casting (core shifting and stuff like that from that era manufacturing techniques) 11:36 glow plug light.. you can start it anytime, plugs only heats chamber like in bellow 8-10°C for like 1sec, and when its 0°C then for like 3-4seconds, and in much more freeting temps like -12°C for like 10seconds

[@HeartLessGem_]

This needs to be pinned asap 👌🏾 nice info man 🤙🏾

[@meizerone2690]

Do you know how much more stroke? Equal to the 330i crank? Any adaptation or is it plug and play? Also, can you use the m51/m57 clutch and flywheel on an m50/m52? I know that the m51 and m57 are not the same engine, but I figured, bmw didn’t bother changing the gearbox and bolt pattern, so I am assuming everything is plug and play?

[@shannacollins4741]

ALWAYS HAVE TIME TO WATCH THE 2023 FD Champion Chelsea DeNofa in whatever hes doing cause no matter what it is its always BANGIN !

[@modyfiedvlogs]

I had two OEM 325tds sedans. M51 is not as good as the m57 but they work! Mine had 12mm dieselmeken pump, bigger turbo, injectors ++. So fun and underrated cars with soul!

[@salami_tom]

happy to see you posting more vlog style stuff chelsea you probably have the best e36 content on the site rn

[@waffentreager6286]

Ayy I daily one 325tds touring :D People here use the crankshaft+rods+pistons from the tds, grind down 3mm from the piston and put the whole thing in M50B20 and its basically stroked to 2.6L that way and they sometimes turbo it or keep it like that.

[@Adviceblock]

You can use a flywheel and clutch from m57d30/ 530d 330d but you have to change trigger points for the fuel pump. And u have to lathe the diamiter a bit for it to fit on. Had one of these with a big turbo and intercooler setup, ran about 300hp, no problem

[@qers]

These are very fun cars, pretty easy to tune too. I'm so jealous of the Kosei K1s, they're so perfect on E36s

[@stevenpatterson4080]

I'm so happy you're posting more content of any kind, just keep up the good work

[@SKOMPAS]

I think most of the bad rep the m51 gets is from Range Rovers it came in, allot of weight, towing and a heavy 4x4 system to run. The m51 will run on absolutely anything, trans fluid, engine oil and vegetable oil! You can put a pretty big turbo on these and make really impressive power with just bigger injector nozzles and more fuel pressure and if you really want to go crazy you can buy a larger fuel pump element or put a fully mechanical pump from a 324td. Not all that many videos that aren’t 8 seconds long, filmed with a potato and from 12 years ago about these, especially not in English. There is an old man in my town with a RHD 325tds I have been trying to buy for years, so in the mean time I have been doing lots of research! Also all the comments about how much better the m57 is are true but they have sensitive fuel pumps and injectors and don’t really like American diesel, any ones for the American market where heavily de-tuned and still had carbon issues and fuel pumps going bad.

[@matasblot3606]

lmaoo yep, whenever i did my oil changes i would pour my old oil into the fuel tank after filtering. to bad i m57 swapped it now i got a fast ass car but no more oil in the fuel tank 😅

[@lifeoflemski]

These in a range rover are good with a manual. The rads in the range rover break in the middle and that causes over heating in them as water doesn't go through the rad. Other issue in a range rover is when tuned no one (UK wise) that I know actually do an uprated clutch set up

[@E2XDYY]

9:50 those anchors are used to move the dog guard behind the front seats, so you can fold the rear seats for the doggies. There should be clips on the sides of headliner also to secure it :)

[@marcinperkowski5677]

Exactly

[@shona5512]

My workmate has one of these swapped with a M57B30 out of a E90 335d.. It makes 405hp and it is an absolute torque monster.. It's honestly scary how well it pulls for something with 'only' 400hp.

[@cumbob]

700ftlbs tho

[@branflake34]

Them 2 ‘rings’ on start up is your glow plugs. LET THAT LIGHT GO OFF BEFORE STARTING!!!

[@hexagonosaurus5848]

Not needed in California you dummy

[@cs2294]

The e36 whisperer is back

[@b34rdy]

Ive still got mine that had an s50 in it, currently got a 1uz stuffed in it and lying neglected. Though you should m57 this and make it cool. Watch out for rust jest below the keyhole on the tailgate, they are pretty bad for that. Also for anyone wanting to cage one of these, a 4 door cage fits perfectly so no need for a fully custom cage (unless thats what you want)

[@conorfinn2462]

The flywheel has 3 kinda higher points built onto it for the crank sensor . So if changing you would have to sort that on new flywheel

[@tuciaman]

These anchors under the rear seats are for that dog net/trunk cover thing, you put it there when you pull down the rear seats and the net is straight over front seats.

[@chelseadenofa]

Ah yes! Thank you!

[@driftlover17]

Bmw e36 325tds originally had 228mm clutch (same as e34 525tds), but there is also bmw e39 525tds and e38 725tds with 240mm clutch, all the cars have same zf gear box, same m51 engine, so you should fit clutch and flywheel from 525tds e39 or 725tds with 240mm size

[@meizerone2690]

What about height counting the flywheel? Can you use the m51 or m57 flywheel and clutch on an m50/m52?

[@patrikvnencak2923]

these are really popular in our country . (Czech Republic) . Lot of youngsters using this for illegal activity , drifting in cities and stuff like that . Ngl , i want in future not Tds but 335Dx . (newer one and TT ) . But these are easy to tune , not gonna eat you with consumption and you can just push fuel pump and it will smoke like crazy and with straight pipe ? Pffff Roaling coal like nothing . But if you put some money in it (injectorst , intake , proper ECU map ) it can be really decent petrol nightmare . Nice to see you riding this kind of car .

[@AakePrkl]

the yellow light that lights up for a moment when you turn the key is for glow plugs. when its on, the glow plugs glow. glow plugs are these long rods that go in the head and stick out in the combustion chamber just a little bit and when they glow it starts easier because compression isnt the only thing trying to start it. you can start it without letting it glow but it will sometimes take longer.

[@ernestgodden]

I just saved two old Range Rovers, 1998 and 1997 with this exact engine. My one without the EGR valve and metal intake manifold is a spaceship compared to the newer one with plastic intake manifold... I'm not sure if this applies to your TDs but might be interesting to play about with, my fuel pump was worn and the revs would drop crazy fast. Luckily I had a spare Bosch VP37 which fixed that fault. I am running an Auto gearbox however Cool to see one roaming about in the States!

[@gummikazy]

you had the numbers for a 325td(113hp), this is a 325tds with intercooler(142 hp). They use the same turbo intercooler and injectors as the m41 318 tds

[@Sharkuis]

Thanks, now another car i didn’t know I wanted till now 😂

[@ILKTTRZ]

This is exactly what I want. ✅️90s bmw ✅️ diesel ✅️wagon

[@kurtwagner16]

The little sign on the dashboard you showed before starting the car ist a indicator for the glow plugs. when that sign is on, the glowplugs preheat the zylinders. Important - they do not ignite the fuel, they preheat.

[@user-wz2jy9nc3s]

E46 330d touring next? Those you can make realy fast!

[@the900bot]

Throwback to the videos of the red 323i you’d post videos about, glad your bringing that vibe and educating the viewers again with e36 content That and the karting track you’d do drift school at

[@amarcilic3247]

11:36 I daily a diesel and can for a fact say that light is not a injector light but a glow plug light, glow plugs are used to increase the heat in diesel engines for easier combustion since it has no spark plugs. Anyways awesome E36 hope to see it soon again.

[@Grouiiiiik]

Reminds me of my old beater from like 13 year ago. 325tds with 300,000+ kms, ran like crap after a bad pump job. Just had to eye ball the pump timing, change some gaskets and it went like a champ then my dad went up to 470,000+ kms with no troubles other than the alternator and bushings. Those engines are incredibly strong. The downside is that fuel economy is bad compared to other diesel of the era (almost all 2 liters 4 bangers though). Seeing you make a review of this car is hilarious 🤣 (in a good way).

[@Grouiiiiik]

By the way if its a tds then 143hp. The td was 113hp.

[@davidcollier4979]

This is so sick, I picked up a crashed 325TDS manual sedan here in NZ and swapped everything over into a 328i vert, probably the only 325TDS vert in the world

[@hexagonosaurus5848]

Nope

[@davidcollier4979]

Any links? Wasnt able to find any others that had been built when I built it about 6 or 7 years ago

[@duxryedits1602]

i thought the light on the dash before you start was the glo plugs warming up

[@chelseadenofa]

There is a second light. Looks like an injector sprayer to bump the compression or something to help it start

[@deraldo313]

Heck yeah denofa content! That wagon is sick 🎉

[@Spectre.24]

Videos not over until I see the arm clapperboard.

[@BigBenlolz]

Hell yeah, love the Touring content from the US lately, I also have a black one.

[@deeze67]

The indicator before the start is for "warming up" the glow plugs, diesel needs some heat for the fuel to combust.

[@yaboidaryl1]

My US 93 318 has the 7 button obc if you convert to the 18button you just have to add the second white connector and the pins there’s a KZbin video explaining it all and then you can see gas mileage and tons of other things !!

[@stankhunter666]

I love to see the chill side of Chelsea on the basic car side of love orginal stuff that got me so into him on his older content around 4 to 5 years ago or so

[@angeloah]

You’re the realest thing they ever wrote, and it’s why your my favorite drifter gone pro and back, ever, forever. Congrats on the diesel wagon.

[@r8mysetup]

diesel and wagon is just so much yesss

[@sisch6916]

Nice to see a tds in the states! :-) There are three kinds of e36 Diesels. A 318tds with 66KW/90HP, 325td without intercooler with 85KW/115HP and the 325tds with intercooler 105KW/143HP. There known for bad cylinder heads (cracks) when there not getting warmed up and cooled down properly. Streched timing cains are also a thing which they make them start bad and smoke a lot... sometimes the Injection Pump starts to leak, but a sealing kit from Bosch is installed easy in one evening in the garage...

[@maksymilianukosz2284]

Sb polish plate form my home Town! Love it

[@damn_pal_9311]

Chelsea confrats for the tds Must know bout tds is: head cracks = above 2k rpm until 90C degrees Stock turbo isn’t good for more than 1.6 bar go 2260 or above Dont do evrymod Cummins 12mm fuel pump element to go 300ish hp with 2260 or above Go isolated fuel filter U can run black diesel no problems and many more but these one are important Great vid 👍 Dont break the car

[@GeneralSlev]

my daily is a e46 20d with egr, dpf, swrillflap delete it has a light tune 184hp 380torque and it has crazy good mpg on highway it is 50 and if i push it 46. bmw really did make some amazing diesel engines! and im kinda sad you guys didnt get them in the usa

[@rocavelli20]

If you wanna keep diesel, swapping in an M57 would be very beneficial. The 3.0 is a bit more reliable and has a higher floor than the M51. (240ish whp 380wtq)

[@manqkasgarage6215]

7:56 you can put whatever flywheel you want . On this e36 tds the flywheel is 228mm as the e39 tds is 240mm. So I use the exact same clutch and flywheel on my m42b18 turbo and I rev it to 7500rpm and it revs fast and doesn’t drop rpm like this one. The tds internals are pretty heavy that I think is the problem. Here in EU we use the crankshaft from that engine to stroke m50b20 and with the tds rods the stroker rev to about 6gran cuz it’s so heavy rotating mass,but you can put 2.5bar of boost at that and it’s just holds. And last the best mod that you can do on a 2.5tds is to swap it with m57😃

[@robwigglezz944]

I wish we had more diesels cars. Too much mpg for the govt

[@calebbonvillain8839]

Dude I'm so stoked for you Chelsea! Congrats on all the success, I know it didn't come easy. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾I'm rooting you still. Also looking forward for the future has in store for you.

[@Mustardmartin]

My 97 318i's (plural sedans haha) had the 7 button OBC hence why you have never seen them probably haha. QUIRKY CAR, MAN!

[@Blastafary]

The heating problem is related to the 6th cylinder not being properly cooled, hardcore M51 enthusiasts like to drill a hole from cylinder 5 to cylinder 6 to get better cooling. I've owned an M51 for more than I care to admit and the best thing you can do is M57 swap it. However, I understand your desire to keep it original because it's rare in the USA. Good luck with it! Also, another VERY common problem is the fuel pump giving out. The moment the thing starts to idle weird you know you're done for. Some machine shops fix them but they are incredibly expensive to rebuild. One more thing, you can tune it to hardcut at ~4800RPM and it sounds insane, however it will roll ALOT of coal.

[@RDChanse]

i love the old late 80's diesel mercedes w124 wagons they were 7 seaters mechanical injection. crazy reliable. they had level adjustable headlights aswell.

[@nickisslamin]

my wife and i have a brown mk6 tdi wagon and LOVE IT for the fuel economy

[@peanutbutterpadre1519]

Pre 97 diesel don’t have to smog in California 👀

[@franciscodiaz1214]

Chelsea for FD Judge Who else agrees ? 👇🏽

[@wobblysauce]

I miss mine… love the parcel blocker just on a drop-down when not in use.

[@Squatch.0]

that curly-Q light is your glow plugs

[@tloh141]

its crazy that some wagons are the most aerodynamic cars on the market under 100k. blows peoples mind when i load up Airshaper at the shop with a volvo wagon selected.

[@deraldo313]

The part where you're giving the rundown of the car would make a great KZbin short. I've been seeing some guys pull in millions of views just from clipping their vids

[@expert4009]

swap it to a m57d30. more refined diesel engine from bmw that handles great power with simple bolt ons and a tune.

[@daviddetweiler7658]

just FYI that tie down under the rear seats is a normal BMW touring item. its for the dog net/cover that would come down to prevent them from coming forward

[@watt0455]

Man I love nerdy e36 shit. Even if it does my head in alot of the time when you need it cos somethings gone wrong

[@JB-Mk1TDI]

11:35 that light is glow plugs warming up “preheating the cylinder for cold starts”

[@thenewcraft5582]

Cool car! I kind of want one of these but of course they're not very common in the US. Been keeping an eye out on some 90s/00s manual wagons (some diesel) for a daily to clean up and just enjoy.

[@FORDLYFAOTEAROA]

That thing is a dang specimen,elite unit yo!

[@TrackDaddy909]

Epic freaking views! You're a wild man! Loving it!

[@matthewirish453]

I think the 325td was 113bhp but the 325tds was 143bhp if I remember

[@donkeykong4181]

We just picked a '97 tds here in the US. Pretty crazy that more than on has made it over here.

[@benjones1180]

Definitely that light is injector priming light , iv built plenty of these motors they are hard as nails definitely go solid flywheel you can’t feel the difference to drive and the drivability is much better

[@luiscosta1018]

That spring light its the resistence of the glow plugs its getting hot, on diesel the glow plug its only a metal point getting hot, after the engine gets started and hot the glow plugs stop working and the car stills idleing. Its better to the engine when you wait till the spring light come off, its when your glow plugs are on right temperature to start the engine. Basically, to test glow plugs you just need to see if current passes at normal voltage, while spark plugs are tested for spark. Correct if im wrong guys..

[@liamholcroft7212]

get rid of the egr and cat. The egr will mix soot from the exhaust and oil from the pcv system and you will have sludge in the inlet manifold. The cat restricts flow and increases EGTs. I'd straight pipe it too, diesels don't get to loud so it won't be antisocial but it will sound great.

[@Etienne_Diecast]

I had the weirdest and most random dream last night that chelsea was gonna run FD for BMW corporate. And now this video popped up in my feed. Good luck to your next chapter. Enjoyed watching you every single time

[@nickisslamin]

that’s the glow plug light or grid heater depending on how that engine is set up

[@Mrtyguy]

So cool!

[@francoboris2059]

where i live they swap the 330d e46 motor in this e36 25tds

[@petersanpeter863]

Definitely would want to swap that to the e46 330d engine. I’ve got a 2001 330d e46 wagon, I swapped the m57n from a post 2003 with a six speed manual in, about 300 bhp and buckets of torque. Great daily.about 50 mpg on the highway and a top speed of 160 mph. Oh, and the glow plug light is what you see on startup. Not injector light

[@premiumxperiments6059]

As far as I’ve researched when i was doing manual swap on my e36 328i the zf from the diesel works across all m5x engines, all that changes is gearing ratios. I could be wrong tho but id be 80% sure an m52 flywheel will fit.

[@feltonbland4317]

The Swirl line on start up is actually indicator for your glow plugs warning up

[@peterisvimbsons4839]

For us in the coutryside of the eastern/northern eastern europe - TDS is the God😂 After going to the point you noted the stock HP levels, thats a TD tho. But those have manual fuel pumps, if im not mistaken, so you just need a screwdriver to turn up the fuel

[@stefankronawitter8844]

That coil icon in the speedometer doesn't mean it's spraying in fuel. While the icon is there it pre-glows the glow plugs for easier start up of the engine.

[@SupraStar29]

The springy thing is a light for the glow plugs. Since ur in Florida its not really a necessity. Cool e36!

[@chelseadenofa]

Yea these still need to wait, they are finicky

[@G_Ozare]

I love wagons. this thing is SICK!

[@WTFtrollsFTW]

Im from Europe and i love them. I have an Opel Omega with basically the same engine, it rips hard

[@R19Robbin]

Something about turbo diesels 👌

[@KurumaDesigns]

These are cool, very rare, even here in Norway

[@luckgrip252]

"There's no added compression from fueling" statement is wrong. The reason RPMs drop so quickly is because when injectors switch off, the diesel engine still maintains its compression stroke which in turn slows it down quicker because it doesn't have throttle bodies (Okay, newer cars do have one - dedicated TB or built in manifold, called "swirl flaps" - for fuel efficiency and emission reasons, but you can easily get rid of it and it still runs like nothing was ever there really)

[@edgarberumen2298]

Dude this thing is sooooo sick !! I want a wagon sooo bad for a daily

[@atsv2829]

I have the same engine in a 7 series e38, worst engine for the mass on the car but still moves enough for daily driving even when the pump is untouched and no any powermods! The e36 is lighter and if its touched up it should move badass like for sure.

[@motorpath]

Great content. Keep em coming!

[@JoeyLovesTrains]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen E36 wagons. It is pretty subtle but man I’m sure it turns some heads for those of us that know it’s not a usual car you see in North America

[@josephsamsor1698]

I have a 335d and love it. Just needs a manual. If I could get the parts easily I’d do it. Such a capable engine and I get 30mpg driving like an idiot with 350hp.

[@cumbob]

Same, i was thinking 8hp swap over manual though. You could import 330d parts for manual

[@yourlocalhooligan]

idk why him saying saggy headliner made me laugh so much