318i + m52b28

[millsamus]

nice project looks good! Are you finished now?

[honkey]

thats cool man. this makes me want to go home and tear my m42 out. it's just sitting in my garage needing control arms and bushings so maybe its a good time to tear her down.

[monkeytaco]

Couple of questions about your swap:

1. What did you do suspension wise? Do you still have the 318 springs in, and whats the ride height if you do?

2. Does the medium-case diff bolt up to the 318 drive shaft?

Cheers mate!

I still have the stock springs in it, I'm weighing my options right now for lowering, as I don't want to bust up my oil pan (it hangs lowwwwww) but I do want the car a bit lower. I suppose I'll either fabricate or buy a skid plate once I do lower it.

The medium case 2.93 would have bolted up to the 318 driveshaft, but I used a driveshaft from an 87 325e with my zf transmission. I'd search the dohc sticky thread for your specific application as pretty much all of them are in there. I do know that e34 diffs won't work, but e28 diffs do if you swap the output flanges.

also, the torque and rev-happiness of the m52b28 in the e30 has changed my life. :)

[Leo_328i]

Couple of questions about your swap:

1. What did you do suspension wise? Do you still have the 318 springs in, and whats the ride height if you do?

2. Does the medium-case diff bolt up to the 318 drive shaft?

Cheers mate!

[Leo_328i]

It certainly has been helpful, thanks very much!

I'm really wanting to make the swap as easy and painless as possible which means I should really get an E34 525i wreck and just a set of E36 motor arms and E28 bushes and have everything!

Thing is that in Australia the M52 motors have the alloy block which makes the engine a whole 50lb lighter than the M50 motors which really makes me want to get a 2.5l M52 motor. Engine prices here in Australia are obnoxious which puts a 2.8l motor at around $2000 for a good one and about $1000 for a 2.5l

Already have an E36 328i so want the revvier 2.5l for something a bit different, bet the 2.8l's torque and response is awesome in an E30!!!

[monkeytaco]

Well done mate! Video has been removed though :( Your build thread kinda clarified some things for me.

I'm planning on doing an M5X swap on my 1990 318 and if I were to opt for an M52 I was also hoping to keep the OBD2 stuff for the sake of simplicity and cost.

What did you find so difficult about the E39 wiring harness? I wonder what the difference is between the E36 harness.

I had removed the vid to replace it with an edited one, then my computer crapped out. :( I'll get one with the exhaust on soon.

The big differences with the obd2 e39 harness and obd2 e36 harness are the lack of an x20 plug. There are 3 smaller plugs on the e39 and I had to trace ALL the wires on the harness from the DME and get proper functions from the e39 ETM. In the end I couldn't defeat EWS because of a signal that comes from the e39 body electronics. I would have had to take a BUNCH of sensors from the e39 to make it work. I should have had TRM just delete EWS for me.

I still have all the e39 diagrams and my connection harness if I ever run into a future build like this, but trying to keep EWS and obd2 cost me about 3 months of time(evenings and intermittent weekends).

I'm very happy with the obd1 conversion, only cost me new sensors and a wiring harness (already had other obd1 stuff), $300 or so. I can also tune my 413 dme myself, which is a HUGE advantage over obd2 for me. Plus all my sensors are brand new, along with all my gaskets and such so the engine has lots of life before needing major service(hopefully).

I've put 1 tank and about 300 miles on the car now and it's working awesome. Way more torque than any m20 I've driven and it revs really fast. Dyno late this month or early next (mountain region meet) so I can see true numbers.

I'm glad this was helpful for you, if you have other questions, post them up, I'm happy to help!

[Leo_328i]

Well done mate! Video has been removed though :( Your build thread kinda clarified some things for me.

I'm planning on doing an M5X swap on my 1990 318 and if I were to opt for an M52 I was also hoping to keep the OBD2 stuff for the sake of simplicity and cost.

What did you find so difficult about the E39 wiring harness? I wonder what the difference is between the E36 harness.

[Vtec?lol]

thats nasty loud but good job.

[monkeytaco]

I have never seen an E36 with an Self adjusting pressure plate.

Me either, my original clutch came out of a 98 528i. The e36 m3 clutch is way better and lighter anyway.

[328ijunkie]

I have never seen an E36 with an Self adjusting pressure plate.

[monkeytaco]

A little video of my m52 powered 318


Watch this.

[monkeytaco]

Today was an epic day.

After buying and installing my m3 clutch, getting that in a few days ago and then getting the transmission bolted back up yesterday, today was final wrap up.

I got the driveshaft torqued down and did a final check of all my nuts and bolts. I wired up the diff speed sensor and adjusted the brake pedal height (had to screw the clevis fork down a bit further to get the pedal to sit right).

I still have a few things to tidy up under the bonnet, but it runs(well) and moves under its own power.

I tore up and down the street a few times just for fun... it is awesome. I'll update with video once I get it downloaded.

I promptly got everything together and headed to the muffler shop. It will be ready to pick up on thursday!

[monkeytaco]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for posting up the knowledge you have gained.

No problem, I figure that I couldn't have completed the swap without all the info others gave away for free, so I'm spreading the joy.

Hit me up when you do your swap if you need more info!

[rightcoastbias]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for posting up the knowledge you have gained.

In the coming year, I plan to swap a M5X into my 1991 318i. I'm adding your notes to my many '91 specific spread sheets and saved threads.

BTW: Not to muddle your thread. Yes, the 1991 318i ETM seems to be missing a large portion of the wiring pages. For instance, Injection Electronics section is only 1360-1. The 1992 (e30) 318i ETM Injection Electronics section is 1360-1 up to 1360-5.

In the 1992 e30 318i ETM, it indicates Pin #8 is Yl/Wt Fuel Rate and Pin #14 is Bk/Wt clusters car-speed output. So, yeah. I found the 1992 e30 ETM to be somewhat helpful. Although, I have not used my harness. ^_^

[monkeytaco]

The verdict is in, the clutch disc was in correctly. However, I am apparently retarded as the pressure plate is the self adjusting kind, and since it wasn't new and I don't have the tool for compressing it(if there is one). I'm looking at a whole new clutch.

You may ask why I didn't put a new one in earlier? Well this is a budget build and the clutch was nearly new when I got the engine/transmission.

I'm poor. Fml again.