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Mador

1990 E34 M20 to M50 Turbo conversion

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Last weekend I pulled an M20 engine out of my E34 that was like a slow whale..

I took this friday off (today) and drove to Temuka to pick up my complete M50, Got most of the Electrics installed properly with the rubber grommets and what not, but have run out of light and will get onto getting it installed tomorrow haha, will get pics up when i get a cam

No doubt will ask for a few hints on plugs and what not

Oh and I have a question, I left the Manual Getrag in place, will the flywheel and clutch fit the M50 from the M20? its a single mass or whatever flywheel

Thanks!

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Heres some pics on the Car

Cant bring myself to wreck it and am giving it a cert and revin after a turbo build

PelicanParts in USA have alot of parts in their catalogue is there anything like that here in NZ?

I placed and order for $800 of suspension parts to bring it back to life

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Yup common practice

but you will need to take some meat off the back of the flywheel

and use an e21 release bearing.

EDIT - beaten to it lol

Edited by Ben

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Nice thread on it, glad to know it will work, have a spare getrag 260 aswell, but dont know wether to use the Getrag 240 or 260, I have all the mounts, and exhaust system even, to have it installed and running tomorrow, but will wait for turbo conversion

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What are you using for tuning?

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Yup common practice

but you will need to take some meat off the back of the flywheel

and use an e21 release bearing.

EDIT - beaten to it lol

alright so definately need to cut some of the flywheel off? alright, anyone know someone in CHch who will do this?

I have a Mill and a Lathe but wouldnt have a clue on balancing it?? if im right it needs to be perfectly balanced

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What are you using for tuning?

I have a standard ECU i put in this afternoon when I bolted the loom to the firewall, got carried away and tried to rush install before dark,

also have a megasquirt im gonna flip a coin to use or buy something tuners recognise :S no idea, i like to mess with things myself so thinking megasquirt

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http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-...n-452310716.htm

Makes it sound easy, is it really that easy?

Nope dont bother with a piggy back

dme uses internal ignitors making it difficult to tune ignition timing

Either get the dme remapped or use a standalone

Ive looked into every alternative including fmu, safc2 etc. and these are the

only two that are worth doing imho

Just use your megasquirt its been proven to work and

it will save you alot of time and effort

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+1 for not using a piggyback. Especially not for that price

If your not going to be tuning it yourself i'd suggest using what your tuner would prefer to use. A megasquirt might save you money up front will cost more in the long run.

Another option (although quite expensive) is link's plug in for m50 engines. They'll cost you the same as the other plug in link ecu's

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Alright awesome ill stick with the MS, have found a wiring diagram for it too so that makes things easier, now just need to find a diagram for the M50 harness to wire it together, I see people wire the MS into the passenger floorwell, cant you just leave it in the stock ecu box? run a serial cable into the glovebox for the tune?

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Ive got the engine in the garage and have put most of the loom back together, and all the manifolds back on and what not, im stuck with a few things

Next to the MAF connector there is another smaller connector, whats this for?

Next to the MAF Intake Pipe to Throttle Body there is a small bolted in 2 piece hose tail connectors, what are they for?

Under the Throttle body there is a coolant in and out tail connectors, what is the third one for?

Thanks for your help!

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Ive got the engine in the garage and have put most of the loom back together, and all the manifolds back on and what not, im stuck with a few things

Next to the MAF connector there is another smaller connector, whats this for?

Next to the MAF Intake Pipe to Throttle Body there is a small bolted in 2 piece hose tail connectors, what are they for?

Under the Throttle body there is a coolant in and out tail connectors, what is the third one for?

Thanks for your help!

charcoal canistor valve. nothing to worry about, can leave disconnected.

dont understand what your trying to describe. got a picture? if its on the airbox it could be the thermostat for the throttle body heating system

pretty sure its part of the charcoal canistor setup. block it off if not using the charcoal canistor.

Edited by polley

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charcoal canistor valve. nothing to worry about, can leave disconnected.

dont understand what your trying to describe. got a picture?

pretty sure its part of the charcoal canistor setup. block it off if not using the charcoal canistor.

You mean that little reddish brown thing thats over by the front wheel/ LH headlight? I dont mind using it again, for now anyway as I think I know what you mean and will get that sorted thanks

and I think it may be the idle control valve connection thats on the same loom as the MAF connection

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Edited by Mador 525i

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Im not familar with the E34 so im not aware of its location but its for venting the gas tank, its controlled via a valve by the DME. Goes from the gas tank through the charcoal canister, then to the intake manifold / throttle body. (thats it in your first digram)

Yes thats the idle control valve.

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Im not familar with the E34 so im not aware of its location but its for venting the gas tank, its controlled via a valve by the DME. Goes from the gas tank through the charcoal canister, then to the intake manifold / throttle body. (thats it in your first digram)

Yes thats the idle control valve.

sweet thanks for that, the other guy said leave it - but im guessin BMW put it there for a reason so im gonna leave it alone to do its thing lol

I just looked at the ICV after work and ive already hooked it up to a cable that came from underneath the manifold that looked about right so Im still stuck with the cable that comes off the loom bout 60mm down from the MAF sensor

Id really take some pics but I havent got any batteries till Payday -_- only takes lithiums alkies are dying at the flash lol

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the plug that comes off by the MAF plug is for the charcoal canister valve..

BTW, you prob want to remove the charcoal canister and just let the fuel tank breathe freely.

Edited by polley

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wouldnt doing that vent fuel vapors into the engine bay or where ever it is you decide to vent it?

honest question, thought it wouldnt be to happy letting fuel vapours get near hot things or sparky things haha.

i spent the couple of minuites hooking it all up just to be safe, as hes said bmw put it there for a reason why not use it? it must do something purposefull

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They're really an emissions thing.

Dads E30 never had one - it's NZ new, and has NO emissions gear on it. The hose coes up from the engine bay, and curls over than finishes!

I would have thought it would have the charcoal cannister - they don't hurt performance, and must be cheap enough!

No reason not to connect it really. Unless it becomes a nightmare

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Like Allan said, its for emissions.

If your getting rid of the standard DME, you will have to setup your aftermarket ECU to control the valve. You also have the potential to overpressure the fuel tank with boost if you get it wrong.

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Ahh sorry CLICK! that plugs for the Vent thingy... -_-

Good point on having to deal with running it on the MS would rather have less to worry about that more in the ECU department

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just saw the projects sub, could someone move this?

thanks

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Nice project man, im doing a similar conversion, but to M52B28. Keep the updates coming...

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ALRIGHT!!! After bout 4 weeks of trying my best to hire an engine crane, FAIL, Bought one today with a Bonus we got from work at end of tax year ($320 for quality control lol) got it from super cheap auto, bloody cheap chinese engineering, but it worked, M20B25 is out

Left the gearbox in to position the M50 against the Getrag 240 so I can get some dimensions to make some custom mounts lol

The M20 mount fits the M50 so Im gonna see if I can mix and match mounts to get is close, might be able to get something right,

If anyone needs to Borrow an engine crane in CHCH give me a yell

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