Preparing for a M50 swap into a 318i

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I know, I should search. Well I tried searching and I'm okay reading so give me links if its already discussed. But I'm looking for what all i should take out of the 1984 318i to Prepare for a M50 swap. The car has no engine, and the engine harness is cut from removal. Any pictures would help.

How do I remove the full engine harness and leave the chassis harness is my main concern.

Thanks

EDIT: I think I got the engine harness out, here is the green connector that came out with it and the silver box i unplugged a piggy tail of wires from, is this silver box the DMV and does this silver box need to stay in the car?

[evandael]

On the firewall, look for the little cylindrical connector. Unclip the bracket, unscrew the piece that connects the top from the bottom, and boom, pull them apart.

That's your C101. One side is engine, one side is body. It is from here that all swaps shall be born.


Now go search.

[Farbin Kaiber]

^note: he has an early 318i, there is no round connector, OP will be hunting for ages trying to find what you speak of, I already told him about the square connector, and in fact explained this already to him.

[evandael]

lawl. i missed the one key detail.

wasn't there a book called 1984? must be a big deal or something.

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Anyone have any say on my wiring ?

[Farbin Kaiber]

That green box it the idle control unit, it goes. You will need to pull the DME (ecu/that silver box) out as well.

How about some underhood shots now?

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will get those this weekend, finishing up final exams. And thank you.

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How hard is the wiring with all the diagrams to go from a body harness on the early 318i and the m50 engine harness? and where are some i could buy if i went with a connector? and guys on here?

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hello?

[Roysneon]

Wedophones.com has Electrical Trouleshooting Manuals online for free. I also have an adapter I bought from EricT when he was still making them that I never used. Its for an 84 318i to an M50tu. Pm me if you're interested.

[evandael]

i don't think anyone is posting in this thread because we (and now i'm speaking for others, so forgive me) would very much encourage you to figure it out yourself.

read this and all related links in its entirety: 24v swap FAQ

this too: more 24v swap info

become familiar with this site: realoem.com

learn how to read your ETMs (electrical troubleshooting manual), for both your car and the donor chassis: 1984 318i and http://www.wedophones.com/BMWManualsLead.htm

here's an example just for the hell of it. to get your M50 to run properly, it needs to share the following wires with your e30; those for the alternator, coolant temp, oil pressure, ignition switch, fuel consumption signal, engine speed signal, vehicle speed signal, CEL, fuel pump relay, and starter. the oil level signals are optional. in addition, all of the harness grounds need to be properly secured.

anyway, back to the wiring. you have to look in the ETM's to find the instances where your E30 already passes this information through the chassis-to-body connector (square c101 on your car), take note of which pin it occupies in the connector, and what color wire it is.

so for the ignition switch in your 1984 318i...



your harness connector uses pin 10 with a green wire


then do the corresponding research on the e36 side, which, for this example, is from a 1995 325is (this is NOT definitive, you need to find the exact pin information for the year/model of the car you're getting the motor out of) is seen here (note, you aren't looking for the c101 on the m50 harness, but rather the x20 connector)



so the ignition switch from the m50 harness goes through pin 21, also with a green wire. this means somehow, your e30's pin 10 needs to line up with the m50's pin 21... which brings up the next point.

you keep asking for a harness adapter.. don't trust them. do the research, verify each and every wire for your specific swap, then either make your own adapter with spare c101 and x20 connectors, or relocate all of the x20 wires/pins into the corresponding square c101 for your car (this latter option is a lot cleaner and more professional looking).



put in a bit of time, then come back to us with specific questions, which are far more easy to address than 'what all do i need to do to swap?' the answer to that is simply research, research, research. that said, we want you to succeed and have another badass 24v e30 on the forums, but we aren't going to hold your hand the whole way. :up:

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Awesome, that helped. Not being sarcastic either. ha Thanks, I will do some research on wiring and come back to questions later.