E30 Touring M52 Swap

[Mr Vapour 76]

Yep correct. I have read soooooo many threads and how-to wikis, and they all use a different box, and I'm doing it in a e21 so it's the same but not quite

[polley 916]

Yep correct. I have read soooooo many threads and how-to wikis, and they all use a different box, and I'm doing it in a e21 so it's the same but not quite

Yeah there is a lot of info out there for sure, and a lot of it is rubbish.

Luckily BMWs are pretty much lego cars (the older ones anyway) and if you have a friendly wrecker you can mix and match sh*t.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2136]

Can't figure out what driveshaft to use.

Someone thinks they can't use e36 mount arms.

Swapping engine mounts because lhd / rhd lol.

maybe I didn't read the thread properly

All of which has been covered, except the lhd rhd mounts which is not needed to be commented on. OP knows the engine doesn't spin the opposite way just because it's right hand drive.

[polley 916]

All of which has been covered, except the lhd rhd mounts which is not needed to be commented on. OP knows the engine doesn't spin the opposite way just because it's right hand drive.

Oh true? Cause I had a engine out of a import so installed it backwards and upside down with the engine arms installed opposite sides. Just gotta make sure you use a driveshaft from a jdm daihatsu charade with the medium case diff, otherwise if you're using a small case you want a drive shaft from a x5.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2136]

I remember my first beer

[nick496 269]

A diesel or a petrol X5? Jap or Euro import? Polley pls advise.

On a serious note, spent the weekend working on trying to get it started.
EWS seemed to be clicking open, and I was cranking fine, though just wouldn't start.
After a bit of investigation, turns out all the wiring on the crank sensor had molded together, so while the engine was running before I pulled it out, it must have only just been hanging in there, so with all the movement, it must have rubbed together.

Strange that the diagnostic tool didn't pull that up though.
So after a trip up to Auckland at 2:30PM to Pick A Part to get another crank sensor, swapped it over and was greeted with this:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AW644AbB4N1zGZc9VFCwTF5VFZMTz8W3uw

Laid it all out and trimmed out the auto parts of the loom this evening.

Cheers to Andy as his thread from 2010 on R3V, as that wiring diagram was pretty much bang on.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showpost.php?p=1988202&postcount=44

[polley 916]

A diesel or a petrol X5? Jap or Euro import? Polley pls advise.

Still awaiting comparisons and excel sheet from Ron to advise on best to use.

[nick496 269]

Time for a bit of an update.

Got the driveshaft shortened and balanced, which ran me less than $250, which was a decent chunk less than a 325i driveshaft someone was willing to part with.

So got that installed this weekend, and the wheels turn! It was a very satisfying moment.

Exhaust was not fully done, but couldn't help myself and drove up and down the street making a large amount of noise.

Now I have an interesting issue.

While doing the swap, I've put in a Z3 1.9 shifter, and replaced the gearshift rod joint, and also the plastic washers.

My shifter does not sit straight when installed, but points about 10 degrees towards the driver. However the arm that holds the shifter is sitting straight, and fully in line with the transmission tunnel, and the gearbox sits fine on it's original mount.

Here it is in 3rd:

Here it is in 3rd with my pushing it to the left:

The shifter itself has a bend, presumably this is supposed to be countered by some parts?

Anyone got some ideas as to why? I'm pretty sure all I need to do is heat up the selector rod and twist it to counter the bend in the shifter.

So now just have to get the exhaust welded up, and tidy up a bunch of things before going in for a cert.

[KwS 2429]

Are you sure the shift lever isnt back to front? IIRC they can be installed around the wrong way and it pushes the shift position off to the side.

[Rubix 434]

My M coupe shifter does the same thing (tilt). Supposedly a fault with some of the pins that hold the shifter and is fairly common - I like it personally as the shifter is closer, also doesn't seem to have any negative effect whatsoever, the shifter in my car is the tightest one with I've ever felt, also has a ridiculously short throw.

[nick496 269]

Currently waiting for a friend to weld up my exhaust so I can go for a drive that's more than just up and down the street.

So I spent the weekend wrestling with my wiring, making that all tidy.

While I was at it, I decided to track down why my electric windows wouldn't work with the doors open, and the key off.

All my fuses were fine, and had good power. Ended up going through and cutting out my immobilizer, just to be sure that wasn't the issue.

But no, it turned out that someone had plugged the power input for the blue relay under the glovebox into pin S of the accessory connector, so the window switches only got power with the key in the ignition.

I swapped it into pin Z, and everything worked as expected.

Finally have that feature I'll use twice a year working.

[nick496 269]

Are you sure the shift lever isnt back to front? IIRC they can be installed around the wrong way and it pushes the shift position off to the side.

I did try it in the reverse position, and it is straight, but points all the way to the rear of the car, so probably need a longer rod.

My M coupe shifter does the same thing (tilt). Supposedly a fault with some of the pins that hold the shifter and is fairly common - I like it personally as the shifter is closer, also doesn't seem to have any negative effect whatsoever, the shifter in my car is the tightest one with I've ever felt, also has a ridiculously short throw.

But like Rubix, I don't think I'll mind too much, since it points closer.

Sadly still have a lot of slop in the shifter, most which seems to all be coming from the gearbox pin itself, as the play in the bushing themselves is minimal, but the overall play is massive.

[nick496 269]

Figured I'd update this while I'm waiting on parts.

I think I've gotten to the bottom of my window issue. I think my fuse box is my issue, I have a nice burnt out line on my circuit board.
Now I'm not certain that it isn't my fault, but I can only assume that due to the window setup, that it was an issue prior to my ownership.
So a fuse box swap is on the cards in the future.

Exhaust got welded up, so have been driving it since, lots more power than the M20B20 that was in there before, and faster still than my old 325i
Have noticed that when downshifting from high rpm, I shoot out a lot of smoke, so suspect the CCV needs replacing, as when I've taken the intake manifold off, there has been a lot of oil around the inlets on the engine.

Wiring has been tidied up, and I re-pinned the M52 engine look into the C101 connector, so it's looking very tidy in there.

Now for some engine bay shots

So she went in for a cert a couple of weeks back, and failed on a couple of things
-No accelerator stop (I removed this when taking out the carpet)
-Driveshaft hoop brackets not rounded off (to prevent just cutting through the floor)
-No nylock nuts, or alternatively spring washers on the driveshaft hoop brackets
-Improve brakes

Also, during the testing phase, my heater core burst... But that's not a requirement for cert/wof, so that has been bypassed for now.

Now the improve brakes is an interesting one, for the braking test, you need to stop several times from 100-0 with no significant increase in brake fade.
I was getting the first 2 stops without much fade, then on the 3rd and 4th was experiencing fade.

I've checked out my brakes, the front disks had some nice grooves on them, and some Fargo pads.
So I've ordered some new front rotors, and Hawk HPS pads for all round (probably overkill), so just waiting on those to show up so I can fit them, test and take in for a recheck.
Fluid had been bleed 2 weeks prior to the testing, so don't think that was the issue.

Now have a bunch of things to sort out once I've finally passed the cert process
-Replace radiator temp sensor with 80/88C one (starts to heat up sitting in traffic)
-Fix heater core
-Replace radiator (have spotted a pinhole leak)
-New o2 sensor (scan reveals heating on one of the probes is broken)
-Replace CCV
-Swap fuse box

Hopefully the pads show within the couple of weeks so I can get the cert all sorted before the E30 meet in October.

[Mr Vapour 76]

Can you remove the circut board, if it's just the one line you will be able to solder in a bit of normal wire to replace the burnt section. 

[Mr Vapour 76]

Glad to see this is coming to an end and that you are able to drive it . 

 

Well done that man 

[nick496 269]

On 9/4/2016 at 0:14 PM, 1BMF said:

Can you remove the circut board, if it's just the one line you will be able to solder in a bit of normal wire to replace the burnt section. 

Fair point, though I'm pretty sure that's one of the main power distribution lines...

[nick496 269]

For a laugh, I went to a local dyno day. Because I hadn't run my car on a dyno before, and was curious.

And just a reminder, we all know that every dyno is different blah blah, results aren't always that accurate....
But here they are:

So that's a generous reading of 136.5KW ATW, and 460Nm of torque.
So would suspect it reads high, as my motor wasn't well looked after prior to my ownership. 

But it does have quiet a nice line, and was able to confirm that my fuel mixture of 1 to 11 wasn't as bad as I thought, though I am burning oil at the higher RPMs.
Those with the keen eyes will spot that it was entered in that the test gear was 3rd, but did confirm the data entry error as 4th.

 

Also went off to the local WoF man, and he failed me on...
My front left brake line, having a bubble in it.
Which annoys me a touch because
-I didn't look well enough when bleeding my brakes
-My certifier didn't look at my brake lines while saying my brakes were fading

So will get that replaced, and see if that fixes my fade issue.
Still waiting on brake pads, and they won't be in until later on in the month.

Edited September 14, 2016 by nick496

[hunter 408]

was behind you in traffic around Tristram street last week mate on my bike, car sounded really nice.Looks good on thoce black wheels too.

[nick496 269]

Brake lines all replaced with new rubber lines, that fixed my fade issue funnily enough, and managed to pass the WoF.
Hawk HPS pads also showed up, so put those on also along with new front rotors. Seem to stop faster, but will wait for things to wear in properly.

Put it all together, and took her in for the cert recheck, and I've passed. So now to wait a couple of weeks for the actual plate to show up.

The whole process took longer than I hoped, but about what I expected.
I think the main reason why things took a bit longer would be waiting for one part to be complete before moving onto the next for things like the driveshaft and exhaust. Then finding out about the brakes and waiting for parts to show up.

Now to replace the fuse box, and the heater core.

 

 

[_BRS_ 209]

Awesome, pleased to get the cert nailed! Who did your cert out of interest?

[polley 916]

That circuit board is repairable, and if you can get your AFR closer to 12.5ish you should pick up a bit more power. 11:1 is filthy rich, especially for a NA car.

[nick496 269]

On 10/3/2016 at 11:35 PM, _BRS_ said:

Awesome, pleased to get the cert nailed! Who did your cert out of interest?

Yep, glad that's all done. 
It was done by Noel at Nostalgia motors.

[nick496 269]

On 10/4/2016 at 8:19 PM, polley said:

That circuit board is repairable, and if you can get your AFR closer to 12.5ish you should pick up a bit more power. 11:1 is filthy rich, especially for a NA car.

It would be repairable, but I think I'll just do a replacement.

Yeah, I've got to replace the O2 sensor, then check over my intake when I do my CCV, as there will be a few things to plug up.

[Jibs05 86]

Very cool! and that is a pretty healthy looking dyno graph

[nick496 269]

A bit of an update since I've been using it a bit over the holidays.

1. It makes an excellent tow vehicle (towed a car trailer up to Auckland)

2. It pulls out sumps alright (Kinda doing burnouts in your driveway is a great way to meet all the neighbors it turns out)

 

3. It could do with an LSD (see marks left in second video)
4. It burns a lot of oil

I ended up replacing the CCV unit and hose with new ones, however hasn't affected the oil smoke that comes out the back.
So yep, my ill maintained engine isn't healthy, and uses oil. Who would have thought.
Plan is to just leave it until it finally dies, and then put in another.

Ended up going up to Auckland yesterday for a bit of a parts mission, grabbed an Mtech 2 kit from Ray, and also AC heater core, loom and pipes from an E30, and a compressor and lines from an M50.

The E30 touring is definitely the most practical E30, as it can fit all of it's parts individually inside itself with ease.

 

Waiting for summer to wrap up, and then start the long process of adding AC to the car.