24v w/ Auto Trans Info? Wife's Car, Don't Flame lol

[Schnitzer318is]

LOL, as the title says, the wife is daily-ing an 87 Eta automatic we bought out of a field and resurrected. She loves the car and the m20b27 runs surprisingly well with 400,000 miles on it except for the ridiculous amount of piston slap it has. Seriously... it's as loud as a diesel. I posted a video in the build thread on page 2 if you want some lulz.

But, long story short... who knows how long for this life that engine is. We have an m50b25 (non-vanos) sitting on an engine stand from another project in the garage. I have it listed for sale with some e34 swap parts but the more we think about it, the more enticing swapping it in with an auto box is sounding (for her to daily obviously).

I have not been able to find a ton of info on the swap... basically just a reference here and there. I realize widening the trans tunnel is in play, a harness for the auto computer needs to be wired in, and running new trans cooler lines.

Can anyone point me in the direction of any information relating to the auto trans aspect of a swap? Or provide any additional insight. I have spent a decent amount of time looking but am not having any real luck other than what I mentioned above. Thanks in advance for helping if you can, and not flaming if you can't. I realize this is not a very desirable thing for most enthusiasts, but I am happy my wife shares my love of e30's and want to make hers as enjoyable for her as my turbo 318is is for me. :-D

[justin_l_]

Janobi or something like that I believe did a 24v auto swap and had a wealth of knowledge on it. Try to search for his username.

[Schnitzer318is]

Janobi or something like that I believe did a 24v auto swap and had a wealth of knowledge on it. Try to search for his username.

Yep, I found more threads to go on... including his. Thanks for reminding me about him. Turns out I had actually posted in that thread back in 2010 but he was jaded about the lack of info and kept some aspects of the swap a quasi-mystery. He did link to where the info is though... so big thanks for that. If I do get stuck once under way he seems willing to help swaps in-progress so I'll shoot him a PM if I get stuck.

Okay, have some more reading to do tomorrow. Thanks again Justin.

[328ijunkie]

Can be pretty easily done, little more wiring involved but for the most part should be doable. I've done a few auto 24v swaps into
Early e34s that had m20s

[nrubenstein]

Honestly, an M50NV just isn't worth the effort. Pick up a regular M20 and shove that in. Unless you stick the 5spd ZF auto from an M3 in, the transmission will be just as bad, too.

[justin_l_]

Everybody says a non vanos engine isn't worth it but I had a blast upgrading from an eta setup to a nv m50. It was quick, reliable, and cheap.

[Schnitzer318is]

Can be pretty easily done, little more wiring involved but for the most part should be doable. I've done a few auto 24v swaps into
Early e34s that had m20s

Cool, that definitely helps my "it can be done" without too much more difficulty than a manual 24v swap. Not sure if it will be "easy" lol, at least for me, since this will be my first 24v swap.

Everybody says a non vanos engine isn't worth it but I had a blast upgrading from an eta setup to a nv m50. It was quick, reliable, and cheap.

And that's all we are looking for. It has 20 more hp than an m20b25 and runs a helluva lot smoother and reliably. That said, if our m20b27 didn't sound like a diesel truck... we probably wouldn't even consider it.

Honestly, an M50NV just isn't worth the effort. Pick up a regular M20 and shove that in. Unless you stick the 5spd ZF auto from an M3 in, the transmission will be just as bad, too.

I respect your opinion, but disagree for the reasons stated above. The GM trans out of an e36 (imo), while still 4spd, is still an upgrade over the 4hp22 in ours. I'd rather use the 5spd you mentioned though... and in an ideal world I'd buy a 95 M3 to swap everything from.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I know preliminary threads like this are kind of shunned (understandably) but was looking for some immediate guidance after spending more than a few hours looking up info. It was late I guess and I just couldn't seem to put together the right combination of search terms.

[Midweste30]

Are you looking for an auto or do you already have one in your possession?

[Schnitzer318is]

Are you looking for an auto or do you already have one in your possession?

Not currently.

After conferring with someone with multiple 24v swaps under his belt who just purchased the m50nv I had on Friday... I'm just going to pick up a 95 M3 auto as a donor car for which to get the whole running gear. Seems it will be the easiest way to go since this engine/harness combo I had was from a 5spd car and the M3 would have the benefit of extra power and an extra gear on the trans.

Thanks again to those who responded. If anyone else has anything to add feel free to chime in. Not sure how much this m20b27 has left to give, so will probably just run it until it drops and then search for the donor car. ~400,000 miles is pretty respectable for the ol' heart.

[mr2peak]

After conferring with someone with multiple 24v swaps under his belt who just purchased the m50nv I had on Friday... I'm just going to pick up a 95 M3 auto as a donor car for which to get the whole running gear.

That is an excellent idea. Much easier and worthwhile.

Extra points if the e30 is a 4 door for utility. More in character for the auto.

[DesertBMW]

I did two of these swaps, and I am currently doing third. 4L30E is excellent transmission, it responds well in E30 chassis and it actually feels faster than it's manual counterpart. It fits using all bmw parts. Driver's side tunnel on a lower side needs little hammer work but not that much, I over did it on my first one. It is possible to fit without any hammering if the linkage is modded. You will use E30 AT crossmember on driver's side you will put E36 trans mount and on the passenger side you will put E30 AT trans mount for proper leveling. Driveshaft use one form 325i/325is that uses the 4L30E. Shifter system use one from 325i 92-95 and computer must be from the same. Just get everything from 1992 325i then to make it all sound simple, but then get cooler lines from 92-95 525i to match with engine oil pan. You must install engine with transmission from the top and with E34 cooler lines already installed or there would not be room to install the cooler lines after.
M3 5HP18 transmission will not fit the E30 tunnel and it is inferior transmission compared to 4L30E in my opinion. BMW improved the quality on 1996-1999 4L30E, all clutches are metallic instead of organic and it rarely fails and when it fails it is do to lack of fluid. 92-95 models will simply fail from mileage, organic clutches wear out and it fails. You can't use 96 to 95 do to difference in electronics. This is why I am doing a swap from 1997 328i auto to E30 now.

[Schnitzer318is]

I did two of these swaps, and I am currently doing third. 4L30E is excellent transmission, it responds well in E30 chassis and it actually feels faster than it's manual counterpart. It fits using all bmw parts. Driver's side tunnel on a lower side needs little hammer work but not that much, I over did it on my first one. It is possible to fit without any hammering if the linkage is modded. You will use E30 AT crossmember on driver's side you will put E36 trans mount and on the passenger side you will put E30 AT trans mount for proper leveling. Driveshaft use one form 325i/325is that uses the 4L30E. Shifter system use one from 325i 92-95 and computer must be from the same. Just get everything from 1992 325i then to make it all sound simple, but then get cooler lines from 92-95 525i to match with engine oil pan. You must install engine with transmission from the top and with E34 cooler lines already installed or there would not be room to install the cooler lines after.
M3 5HP18 transmission will not fit the E30 tunnel and it is inferior transmission compared to 4L30E in my opinion. BMW improved the quality on 1996-1999 4L30E, all clutches are metallic instead of organic and it rarely fails and when it fails it is do to lack of fluid. 92-95 models will simply fail from mileage, organic clutches wear out and it fails. You can't use 96 to 95 do to difference in electronics. This is why I am doing a swap from 1997 328i auto to E30 now.

Thank you very much for the info. If I am reading you correctly your suggestion is 95 M3 S52, 97-99 E36 Auto w/ matching trans computer, and e36 driveshaft from anything using the 4L30E. Did I get that right?

Can you elaborate on the problem with the 95 M3 auto box? That would simplify things greatly but if it isn't possible (or ideal) then I'll have to go a different route.

[mr2peak]

Sounds like you should use a 96+ S52 car

[Schnitzer318is]

Sounds like you should use a 96+ S52 car

I didn't want to deal with OBDII or EWS. Or an OBDI conversion...