1.3 Motronic Up-Grade & 2.7i How To

[884door]

thanks alex. another question though

how much should we be looking to spend on this conversion? and any tips on where we might be able to find the parts, other than craigs list?

I'll sell you the complete conversion including most gaskets, ecu etc. for $350+ shipping, PM me if you're interested.

[call me jack]

I'll sell you the complete conversion including most gaskets, ecu etc. for $350+ shipping, PM me if you're interested.

I need to figure out how to PM, but it's on the way!

[SoopaGhetto]

Are there any differences between the e and i temp sensors? I know the 'i' thermostat housing only has two sensors and the 'e' thermostat housing has 3 but im referring to the actual functionality of the primary sensors needed for 1.0/1.3 operation (excluding the thermal time). im thinking the dme/cluster coolant temp sensors are the same...

Also, when pulling the harness of an 87 325i, i noticed that the oil pressure sensor uses a fuel injector looking clip but only one wire. the 86 es i have only has a single wire spade type connector. would that oil pressure sensor fit in the same place or would it be better to just splice that connector?

there was a 90 525i which im pretty sure utilizes the m20. would anyone happen to know what dme it may have? i think i read 340? should be comparable to 173 and be better than 153 right?

currently im attempting to do just the 'e' to 'i' 1.1/1.3 conversion with just the 'i' intake/tb and afm. im hoping this would give my eta a nice pick-me-up due to the the better engine mapping

[call me jack]

Can some body give me a list of exactly all the sensors i'll need?

i'm trying to put things together, so i need to know what to look for in my parts cars...

[hotballs]

Grab the thermostat housing, it should have all the sensors you need. You also need the crank position sensor on the front side of the engine next to the toothed harmonic balancer aka crank pulley. You need the throttle body with the TPS sensor attached to that as well. You also need the 8th plug wire or what ever it's called that pulses on one of the other plug wires. You'll notice there is another plug coming off the spark plug wires which doesn't go to the coil or a spark plug. That wire.

I think those are all the sensors. You could of course just read this thread from front to back, but it's so long I doubt anyone does that anymore.

[hotballs]

Are there any differences between the e and i temp sensors? I know the 'i' thermostat housing only has two sensors and the 'e' thermostat housing has 3 but im referring to the actual functionality of the primary sensors needed for 1.0/1.3 operation (excluding the thermal time). im thinking the dme/cluster coolant temp sensors are the same...

Also, when pulling the harness of an 87 325i, i noticed that the oil pressure sensor uses a fuel injector looking clip but only one wire. the 86 es i have only has a single wire spade type connector. would that oil pressure sensor fit in the same place or would it be better to just splice that connector?

there was a 90 525i which im pretty sure utilizes the m20. would anyone happen to know what dme it may have? i think i read 340? should be comparable to 173 and be better than 153 right?

currently im attempting to do just the 'e' to 'i' 1.1/1.3 conversion with just the 'i' intake/tb and afm. im hoping this would give my eta a nice pick-me-up due to the the better engine mapping

You won't be able to run the 'i' AFM with the 'e' harness/dme. You could just change the harness and everything including the dme, but you need at least an i cam and dual valve springs to really utilize it. etas are the same as the 325i up to about 4500 rpm whether or not they have a bigger intake it's not going to make a difference.

You should be able to use any of these DME's, but I'm not sure what the differences are.



The temp sensors are the same, and you can splice that wire.

[acolella76]

so you can splice the 'e' temp sensor wires to the 'i' harness instead of new sensors and a housing?

[SoopaGhetto]

You won't be able to run the 'i' AFM with the 'e' harness/dme. You could just change the harness and everything including the dme, but you need at least an i cam and dual valve springs to really utilize it. etas are the same as the 325i up to about 4500 rpm whether or not they have a bigger intake it's not going to make a difference.

You should be able to use any of these DME's, but I'm not sure what the differences are.



The temp sensors are the same, and you can splice that wire.

yea thats what im doing. changing out all the 'e' electronics for 'i' electronics as well as the intake manifold. But you are saying that its not worth it? i coulda sworn i saw a thread about the intake being changed out and seeing a difference. But id rather not waste time doing just the intake if its gonna be negligible. i almost wanna just put the i head on and be done since im going turbo hopefully. but i have no clue when funds would be available for boost and id rather boost with 9.0 (731 head) than 8.X (885 head)

im about to just get an 'e' head and drill the fuckin holes myself and get i cam/springs...but im afraid of it blowing up from lack of lube due to improper drillin :(

at pick n pull, i got EVERYTHING except trigger wheel/afm/icv/ecu for around 50 bucks no joke. thats why im anxious to put on that manifold hahahaha

[acolella76]

yea thats what im doing. changing out all the 'e' electronics for 'i' electronics as well as the intake manifold. But you are saying that its not worth it? i coulda sworn i saw a thread about the intake being changed out and seeing a difference. But id rather not waste time doing just the intake if its gonna be negligible. i almost wanna just put the i head on and be done since im going turbo hopefully. but i have no clue when funds would be available for boost and id rather boost with 9.0 (731 head) than 8.X (885 head)

im about to just get an 'e' head and drill the fuckin holes myself and get i cam/springs...but im afraid of it blowing up from lack of lube due to improper drillin :(

at pick n pull, i got EVERYTHING except trigger wheel/afm/icv/ecu for around 50 bucks no joke. thats why im anxious to put on that manifold hahahaha

Go ahead and put on the manifold. It will give you more mid-range power but it will all be restricted by the smaller valves on the 'e' head resulting in not a huge improvement in high end power. I guess you could get the valves opened up to 'i' specs and use 'i' valves... but that would be mucho dinero.

Seems like you're doing what I'm doing... motronic swap in prep for boost :pimp:

[hotballs]

. but i have no clue when funds would be available for boost and id rather boost with 9.0 (731 head) than 8.X (885 head)

im about to just get an 'e' head and drill the fuckin holes myself and get i cam/springs...but im afraid of it blowing up from lack of lube due to improper drillin :(

at pick n pull, i got EVERYTHING except trigger wheel/afm/icv/ecu for around 50 bucks no joke. thats why im anxious to put on that manifold hahahaha

Yeah it's nice and cheap at the p'np. Why would you rather boost with the slightly higher compression 731 head? Lower compression is better for more boost, 8.2:1 885 head 2.7 block. 9.0:1 isn't really crazy high though.

I have a 731 head with i valves and an i cam. We had enough room to put +1mm on the intake side and +2mm on the exhaust side of the valves. So the exhaust valves are just straight i valves, but the machinist ground down the intake valve by 1mm to fit whatever meat was left in the smaller seat of the 731 head. All the machine work was $425. So that's about the bulk of the swap for me.

It rips to say the least! If I was going turbo I would just use an 885 head. Cheap simple and the cam and all that are already in there. If you drill the holes on the 200 head and put an i cam in with dual valve springs, then that's also doable. You just have to assemble and reassemble the head which isn't too hard, maybe lap the valves. You can see where you have to drill the holes, it's like a 1/8" drill bit. Either way this is all pretty much just cheap/free moddin, so if you fuck up you can do it again.

[acolella76]

so do all the sensors HAVE to be replaced with newer ones? It seems like the difference between most of them is just the connector... could I just splice old sensor to new harness?

[hotballs]

The temp sensor for the e and the i is the same so it would be the same connector. You need the i thermostat housing with all the sensors in there to go with the i harness.

[SoopaGhetto]

The temp sensor for the e and the i is the same so it would be the same connector. You need the i thermostat housing with all the sensors in there to go with the i harness.

is that really a NEED or a worth while suggestion? If the connectors are the same, wouldnt it be a matter of connecting the i harness to the e sensor and be done? im trying to minimalize all the crap i may need to pick off but i think i may just put the i head on the e bottom. could the eta water pump be used with the i head? i dont want to go out and get another radiator...or is it dependent on year?

[hotballs]

There are 4 sensors in the e thermostat. There are 2 in the i. Either you get that extra one different sensor in the i thermostat and two bolts and put that in the e thermostat or you just get an i thermostat with the 2 bolts and 2 sensors in it. It's just easier to swap in the i t-stat and I mean it's another 5 bucks or something once you're grabbing everything else you need for the swap at the yard.

[acolella76]

Is there any way to test if sensors work? I'm pulling my harness and sensors from a junkyard... i want to make sure everything works before i put it in the car.