N52 Swap Discussion

[Caperix]

There is a utv unit that silver mine motors uses in a kit for s30 nissans. It won't be as cheap as a junkyard electric rack but it is very small with a remote module.

[jbontke]

Right, Belgium I think. He's using the EPS from a European car, forget which one.

The Prius one looks good because it operates completely in fail-safe mode and the ECU is remote mounted. It looks like the motor fits right above the pedals.

There are also the GM version in the Vue and such. They have the ECU integrated which is nice, but also makes it bulkier and more difficult to fit, and they also have a Vss speed signal that dials-back assist with speed which would be nice.

Finally, there are the MR2 hyrdro-electrical units which lets you use the hydraulic rack, but they draw a lot more current and I'm not sure how well they go to idle when there's no demand. I've seen a lot of people say they run at full speed all the time which would be annoying.

An install kit for a Prius EPS would be money!

The only belt-driven accessory left on the N52 would be the alternator and we could probably find a motor-driven alternator....

That is the guy.

Since there are a million prius... (priui?) I think they would be an easy source. I work with programming hardware, so I thing using an existing speed signal to turn off or possibly turn down the amount of assist is possible. I am headed to the junk yard this weekend, hopefully I can find what I need to get started.

[hoveringuy]

I have been toying with the idea of this. I need to go and get a rack and see if I can make a kit. There is a guy that makes one already, but its $$$$. I think I can make it much cheaper.

Right, Belgium I think. He's using the EPS from a European car, forget which one.

The Prius one looks good because it operates completely in fail-safe mode and the ECU is remote mounted. It looks like the motor fits right above the pedals.

There are also the GM version in the Vue and such. They have the ECU integrated which is nice, but also makes it bulkier and more difficult to fit, and they also have a Vss speed signal that dials-back assist with speed which would be nice.

Finally, there are the MR2 hyrdro-electrical units which lets you use the hydraulic rack, but they draw a lot more current and I'm not sure how well they go to idle when there's no demand. I've seen a lot of people say they run at full speed all the time which would be annoying.

An install kit for a Prius EPS would be money!

The only belt-driven accessory left on the N52 would be the alternator and we could probably find a motor-driven alternator....

[jbontke]

I need to order a Prius unit to play with it. They work in basically anything and are completely self-contained, a lot of hot rodders use them.

I have been toying with the idea of this. I need to go and get a rack and see if I can make a kit. There is a guy that makes one already, but its $$$$. I think I can make it much cheaper.

[hoveringuy]

I need to order a Prius unit to play with it. They work in basically anything and are completely self-contained, a lot of hot rodders use them.

[Northern]

Electric PS rack or column?
Something like Z4 "manual" rack + PS column? It's bulky so fitting one is probably a large undertaking.

[hoveringuy]

Best I see is PN 12317543083 which is a 155 amp unit. Not worth the swap for me unless it's a 90 amp or such

[nando]

maybe from a 1 series?

[hoveringuy]

I'm looking into this as well. Could also be a good solution.


Does anyone know which model had the smallest alternator on an N52?

Ooh. good question.

I know mine came off a 328i and even it's 180A. I would love a smaller, svelte, 115A unit like the e36 had, but with the CAN voltage regulator I don't know how easy it would be to mix and match.

[MWC]

prius, MR2, RX8 power steering EPS pump maybe?

I'm looking into this as well. Could also be a good solution.


Does anyone know which model had the smallest alternator on an N52?

[2.5-12]

prius, MR2, RX8 power steering EPS pump maybe?

[hoveringuy]

This is going into a racecar so I am definitely going to be cooking that baby with gas lol.

So the whole Cayman pump assembly will swap onto an N52, or you can swap the regulator from pump to pump?

Going back through the thread I realize I may have mixed up 135mm and 135 bar in a few places. The pulley you had made is 135mm, which matches most e36 pulleys. What was the diameter of the pulley off the Cayman pump? Was it 135mm as well?

Yes, I was cooking my PS fluid and temps were in the 285 neighborhood as I recall, and that's in Seattle! A cooler would have obviously helped but I'd rather address the temperature at the source. I like not having extra plumbing and crap to leak.

I don't remember if the Cayman pulley was a different diameter because I wasn't going to use it, but the offset was different. They're cheap on ebay! The regulator looks slightly different but they're interchangeable. The pumps are all a Luk-30 with differences in the pulley offset. I looked at swapping the e90 shaft into the Cayman pump to keep the same offset but it wasn't very easy to do.

[MWC]

Unless you plan to use an intake manifold other than the 3-stage (N54 or ITBS) then you probably don't need to worry about the PS pump overheating because the engine won't make power past the stock redline of 6900rpm anyway.

It matters if you plan to bump up the power band to peak at 7500rpm or higher though.

Agreed, I'm going to rev it to at least 7500 rpm though, probably higher just to see what happens. I'll start with the N54 manifold but am excited to see what happens with the S54 stuff if that goes anywhere.

If hoveringuy was overheating his PS in an E30 I will for sure do the same with a slightly heavier car and Hoosiers.

[nando]

Unless you plan to use an intake manifold other than the 3-stage (N54 or ITBS) then you probably don't need to worry about the PS pump overheating because the engine won't make power past the stock redline of 6900rpm anyway.

It matters if you plan to bump up the power band to peak at 7500rpm or higher though.

[MWC]

The Cayman uses a different pulley offset, I forget how much and which way, but yeah. The Cayman regulator dropped into the stock N52 pump will also go a long way towards reducing heat but the larger pulley helps a lot, too. If you're not tracking it you may not need to worry about it.

This is going into a racecar so I am definitely going to be cooking that baby with gas lol.

So the whole Cayman pump assembly will swap onto an N52, or you can swap the regulator from pump to pump?

Going back through the thread I realize I may have mixed up 135mm and 135 bar in a few places. The pulley you had made is 135mm, which matches most e36 pulleys. What was the diameter of the pulley off the Cayman pump? Was it 135mm as well?