My m50 swap

[vectorsc]

Where did you find the diagram?

[ahriley91]

I know. I'll clean it up.

[jrdeamicis]

There is some really nice cable management out there that could look a little better than the E-tape.

Flexible sheathing
Big Heatshrink.

[ahriley91]

Wiring!!

A little update. Tonight I tackled the wiring. I found a great diagram with pin and color matching. Worked like a charm. Took some picks of the process. And I am gonna be using the blower motor. I don't remember why I took the cover off. haha. On to the pics. Not very exciting pictures, but I know pictures are more entertaining then no pictures. haha

[dranttna]

if your not using your blower motor, just hide the harness behind the cover. looks 100x better than a harness cover across the firewall.

good luck with the swap

[ahriley91]

Yo ahriley91, maybe I can swing by your place to see your progress as I will be trailing right behind you as I'm doing mine. I too, plan on painting my engine bay all flat black. I still need to discharge the a/c unit and I believe the previous owner installed the new r134a, I think thats the new stuff they use now that is more environmental friendly? Anyway, I need to pressure wash the bay too and then tape up the areas needed before the spraying starts.

So I'll source an ix booster and an e32 mc brake set up. For the engine mounts, what did you decide to go with? The e28 535i motor mounts that I believe, need spacer as oppose the the e28 M5 motor mounts that do not need spacers? I also believe that it's recommended that these mounts be welded to the crossmember to keep the engine from jarring forward to where the fan clutch won't blade into the radiator? Man so much little stuff to understand while doing the conversion. But will be all worth it when complete.

Well, I went with the 535i mounts. I'm 99.9% positive you don't need to run a spacer for the mounts. I just got the e32 brake booster too. Going to get the new drive shaft this weekend and the master cylinder. Tomorrow is going to be a loooonnnng day and night. Then Saturday is going to be a very early morning for a college student. I think that getting up at 8:30 on a Saturday is early. My buddy and I are going to be getting the supplies to do all of the painting and hiding of holes and taking off the brackets that I do not need anymore. I believe that I am going to be tucking wires as well. Makes the bay look super clean in my opinion. I will up date with some pictures after tomorrow and Saturday. I'm also doing the wiring harness tomorrow.

[ahriley91]

Just to confirm, I now need the g260 shifter linkage parts, right? Because the transmission is now farther back, the stock 240 ones won't work.

[E30 Devil]

Yo ahriley91, maybe I can swing by your place to see your progress as I will be trailing right behind you as I'm doing mine. I too, plan on painting my engine bay all flat black. I still need to discharge the a/c unit and I believe the previous owner installed the new r134a, I think thats the new stuff they use now that is more environmental friendly? Anyway, I need to pressure wash the bay too and then tape up the areas needed before the spraying starts.

So I'll source an ix booster and an e32 mc brake set up. For the engine mounts, what did you decide to go with? The e28 535i motor mounts that I believe, need spacer as oppose the the e28 M5 motor mounts that do not need spacers? I also believe that it's recommended that these mounts be welded to the crossmember to keep the engine from jarring forward to where the fan clutch won't blade into the radiator? Man so much little stuff to understand while doing the conversion. But will be all worth it when complete.

[ahriley91]

A little update for today. I finished up the brake booster. Turned out pretty good. I pulled the tranny. I should have pulled the whole thing out as one unit. Stupid me. Not a big deal though. Super easy to take out. I need to pick up the e36 driveshaft and e32 master cylinder and reservoir this week. Today just involved me staring at my empty engine bay. haha. And wondering who I was gonna borrow a pressure washer from. I have one I can use now. More to come later.

[ahriley91]

A little update

Hm, we just pulled a friend's M20 with flywheel, starter and all, too. I think we scrapped the clutch and flywheel. :(

Trust me, I hear you on price. I'm graduating come Spring, and I'm doing the clutch when the trans is off of my M50 too.

Lucky you. I'll be done with my first year. If you fine the clutch and flywheel, would you let me know? Thanks in advance.

So Sunday involved prepping my brake booster and painting it. It turned out very good actually. haha. It is now time to clean up the engine bay and fill unnecessary holes and hide wires and just make it look brand new and super clean. I'm gonna be painting the engine bay black, which in my opinion, looks really good with a grey, red, or white car. Hopefully will have some more pics up later.

[Wh33lhop]

Hm, we just pulled a friend's M20 with flywheel, starter and all, too. I think we scrapped the clutch and flywheel. :(

Trust me, I hear you on price. I'm graduating come Spring, and I'm doing the clutch when the trans is off of my M50 too.

[ahriley91]

True. I would just need to find those things within my price range...Which is low for a college student. haha. I'll see what I can do.

[Wh33lhop]

An M20 flywheel and clutch should hold the torque fine (you'd need an M20 starter too). You could always do an M50 FW/clutch as well, but the M20 single-mass flywheel shaved down is almost half as heavy as the M50 flywheel.

[ahriley91]

Probably. It was a brand spankin new clutch. I would want to get a higher performance clutch, but they just cost so much...probably something I shouldn't cheap out on though.

[Wh33lhop]

The 3.73 lsd is actually the next thing on my list. Just gotta get more money. That always seems to be the problem with these things. I actually changed the clutch a month ago and have driven a total of 23 miles on it. haha.

You're using an M42 clutch? You're going to burn that poor thing up with the M50...