flyboyX's obd2 s52 engine swap blog

[flyboyx]

and finally, for those of you that work backwards, here is a diagram from c101 to x20

[atlzhp6m]

Thanks for posting all of these details. I'm sure I will use a lot of this info someday.

I'm planning on buying a salvage MZ3 and doing a full OBDII swap into my e30.

If you have a donor car with all of the modules and wiring harnesses, why do you have to splice into the E30 harness vs Replacing with Z3 harness and components?

I'm sure there is a good reason for doing what you are doing, I'm just confused.

[matt]

Can you do me a favor and post a pic of your EWS module and ECU? Does the ECU say "MS41.1" on it?

Sorry, I hadn't done my research, you're right about EWS3.

[flyboyx]

Thanks for posting all of these details. I'm sure I will use a lot of this info someday.

I'm planning on buying a salvage MZ3 and doing a full OBDII swap into my e30.

If you have a donor car with all of the modules and wiring harnesses, why do you have to splice into the E30 harness vs Replacing with Z3 harness and components?

I'm sure there is a good reason for doing what you are doing, I'm just confused.

don't limit your search to only an mz3. an e36 or e46 m3 would work fine too. you just won't have the rear suspension from these cars.

a far as the wiring harness is concerned, it doesn't really work that way. the mz3 and e30 body harnesses are so much different. how would you connect the mz3 harness to the e30 instrument cluster for example? there are probably 100 connections on the mz3 harness that are different from my little old 318.

Can you do me a favor and post a pic of your EWS module and ECU? Does the ECU say "MS41.1" on it?

Sorry, I hadn't done my research, you're right about EWS3.

matt, as you requested, here are some photos of my obd 2 components.


for all of you electrical masochists, here is what the inside of the ews module looks like





this is the hall effect switch for ews that is attached to the clutch. i am still trying to decide if i should try to figure out a way to attach it to my e30 clutch or just bypass it. you can see the wiring diagram in this thread above on the previous page. by looking at the diagram, i think i could just run a hot in start and run wire to this pin on the ews and be done with it.




this is the microchiped key, and the ring antenna on the ignition switch. i sure wish this would fit in the ignition tumbler of the e30. haven't tried it yet, but i have my doubts.

[matt]

That helps a LOT thanks. I really appreciate that.

If you'd like to swap that out for a DME with disabled EWS (or send it to me and let me figure out how to disable the EWS on that one) let me know. It's kind of what I do. :)

[matt]

Do you know the SW version running in the ECU? Or do you have INPA or a GT1 or Autologic that might tell you?

Thanks again.

[flyboyx]

That helps a LOT thanks. I really appreciate that.

If you'd like to swap that out for a DME with disabled EWS (or send it to me and let me figure out how to disable the EWS on that one) let me know. It's kind of what I do. :)

on one hand, i hate to wimp out like that, but why don't you pm me with your phone number and we can discuss it. up to this point, i hadn't considered it because i wasn't aware of anyone that offered this service without a lot of engine mods.

Do you know the SW version running in the ECU? Or do you have INPA or a GT1 or Autologic that might tell you?

Thanks again.

man, i really don't have any idea what this is.....? tell me where to look for it.

[flyboyx]

today i pulled the interior and carpet out of the car in about an hour or so. you may say this has nothing to do with an engine swap, but actually, it has to come out for a couple of related reasons. i need to run the coupe battery cable to the trunk and i also place the three wires to the tank for the fuel tank pressure sender. i have a really nice cable from the mz3 and also one from one of my e30 coupe parts cars. i plan to use the one out of the mz3 for a couple of reasons(assuming it is long enough). first, it is red. this really isn't an issue for me, but you never know who is going to try to jump start the car during its life. second, the diameter is a little larger than the e30's. third, the connections in the engine compartment will easily attach to my wiring harness without modification because they were designed for it.



unrelated to the engine swap, i plan to use the mz3's heated power seats. i removed the wiring harness from the z3's body harness. these also need to be placed below the carpet. the dash isn't out yet, but i will be installing cruise control and a 13 button obc. more on this down the road.

if anyone needs a tan sport vinyl vert interior in good shape, let me know.

[matt]

on one hand, i hate to wimp out like that, but why don't you pm me with your phone number and we can discuss it. up to this point, i hadn't considered it because i wasn't aware of anyone that offered this service without a lot of engine mods.



man, i really don't have any idea what this is.....? tell me where to look for it.

We do all our own software work, from reverse engineering to tuning and flashing, so we can do absolutely whatever you need. (well, we will be soon, we haven't really "released" MS41 tuning yet) I can do a 100% stock file with no EWS. But for some reason, I don't think I've seen a SW version with EWS3d yet. I've already got all the EWSII stuff figured out though, so it shouldn't be too much of a challenge.

The software version won't be on the ECU anywhere, you'll have to read it out with one of the tools I mentioned. That's no big deal, I was just sort of hoping to get the version so I can find the software without buying an ECU from an MZ3.

[atlzhp6m]

anymore progress updates?

[flyboyx]

two weekends ago, i re torqued the main bolts, installed the oil pump and pickup tube, and put on the e34 oil pan. i also changed all the lower end gaskets. at this point, i am just waiting for my damn clutch to finally arrive so i can get my getrag 260 mounted to the back of my engine.





i made a wiring harness for the fuel tank pressure sensor. it has been routed from the firewall back to the tank. i have to take the tank out in the next few weeks to install the sensor.

i have sold off a good portion of the parts from the mz3 that i won't be using. almost everything went on local craigslist. i did ship a few things here and there. i still have the rear clip, sway bars, and a few other parts. to this day, all of the parts that i have so far sold have more than made up for the initial cost of the car. so, to summarize, the engine, differential, seats, and all of the other parts i am keeping from the car are now less than free. granted, i have to have a place to store the car and also take the time to part it out. lets just say that at this point, i am very happy with my investment.





over the weekend, i removed the dash from the car so i could get in there to add the cruise control and obc wiring harnesses. i installed the trunk mounted battery cable from the mz3 roadster.




on the vert, i needed a hole to get the wire from the cabin into the engine compartment. the knock out tool pictured is the prettiest way to do this. you can use a hole saw, but you have to be careful of the a/c lines behind this metal panel. the knock out tool makes a professional looking hole that looks like it came from the factory. it just turns out that i happened to have the right size in my shop. the battery cable came with a nice body grommet that fits perfectly into this hole. i had to take it off the harness to snake it into the car from the rear.




the hole looks too small in the picture, but that is the wide angle perspective from the camera lens.



i temporarily mounted the mz3 electrical junction block to the back of the strut tower. using this block is a little better than the one in an e30 coupe because the positive wires from the s52 harness are designed to connect to this without any modification.







i had to use a pry bar to expand this opening a little to fit the cable though.



the mz3 cable is actually a little too long for the e30, but that sure beats the opposite problem. i can poke some of the wire back into the hole where the wire comes into the trunk. i will be adding as much of the coupe cable hold down that i can use so this wire won't be flopping around in the trunk. i would say the installation looks factory professional.

[flyboyx]

this weekend i accomplished a few odds and ends. the correct f***ing clutch kit finally arrived after 2 damn months of playing keystone cops with the company i ordered it from. just so everyone else can learn from my personal pain, the 328 pressure plate sent to me by mistake will not fit the m3 flywheel. there is about an inch diameter difference between the two. i installed this and also got the tranny mounted to the back of my engine. yes, that is the mz3 e36 flywheel and clutch setup. everything bolted together fine to the getrag 260 and rotates free.






i have the engine installed for a test fit. plan to pull it back out soon to paint the engine bay and also clean up and paint the engine. at first i didn't feel very convinced that the engine mount arms were correct even though i took them off the e36 myself. you see, on each side of the cross member, there is a inner hole for the engine mount stud and a slot to the outside. the m42 motor mounts were positioned in the inner hole and an alignment "nub" on the bottom side of the mount went into the slot. i tried to install the s52 mounts that way, but that made the engine assembly about 1 and 1/2 inches too wide. the problem was solved easily by rotating the motor mounts 180 degees so the stud went through the outer slot and the alignment nub into the inner hole. go figure.




I wanted the engine in the car mostly so i could figure out where to mount the diagnostic port, the relay box, and the secondary air pump on the right side of the engine compartment. i also wanted to sort out the mods that i will need to do to the shifter.




i also fabricated the transmission mounting brace. since i have a ton of parts cars, the easiest solution was to cut part of the brace from a second bracket and weld it to the one i intend to use. i made all my cuts with an angle grinder with a thin cutting wheel. on the left side where the part of the second brace was welded on, i first cut a large square hole into the lower bracket so it would be easy to get the nut on the mount for that side. i used a little mig to tack weld the upper piece in place, then took it over to my shop and finished it up with the tig. i know the welds aren't professional, but they will work. i bought a pair of e21 tranny mounts from bma for about 5 bucks each.



i wanted to start cutting up the shifter carrier, but i ran out of time.

i did cut the shifter selector rod in two pieces as well as the rod from the mz3. plan to use the e30 rod from the trans to about 2/3rds of the way back. the mz3 rod is a larger diameter than the e30. the e30 rod will just barely fit inside the shaft from the mz3. this will make it easy to hold it in place when i get it lined up to weld.

i would have posted a couple more photos, but i am sitting around in a hotel in torreon, mexico and the internet is stupid slow. i ran out of patience.

i still have a lot of wiring to do. i gave a copy of my electrical diagrams to a this russian electrical engineer/bimmer nut buddy of mine to make sure everything is in good order. i am just waiting to get them back. my soldering iron is heated up and standing by.

not that there is any relevance to this thread, but a couple of weeks ago, i made myself a nice little wiring harness for the heated power mz3 seats. they are so much more comfortable than the stock e30 seats. i expect they will really add to the drivability of the car.

[flyboyx]

this weekend, i installed the transmission mount. it fits well, but the tail stock on the trans seams to be skewed a bit to the passenger side. i played around with the shifter carrier also. here is a photo of the getrag 240(below) and getrag 260 carriers. the better choice for modification would be the longer of the two. since the carrier will need a dog leg fabricated into it(thus increasing the total linear length) i plan to fabricate the dog leg by cutting out a section about 4 inches back from the front mount eye. i am going to weld that on a 45 degree angle. then follow up the intersection from the back section to complete the jog. i'll post a photo when i get the chance to work on it.


for the hell of it, here is a comparison of the stock e30 shifter compared to the stock shifter from the mz3. if you are a noob, the z3 shifter is the one on top.



I played with the wiring a bit. i have all of the components pretty much nailed down on the passenger side. i just need to get the brackets welded to the inner fenders. i had to slide the two large red battery wires in the harness over toward the passenger side about 8 inches. there was too much wire on the driver side and not enough on the pax where it connects to the battery terminal block.

i cut one side off the mz3 fuse box to use the dovetail mounts. this was the best solution it affix the x6031 and x20 connectors to the firewall. i don't have a photo yet, but i used the same screw holes that mount the c101 from the e30.

i installed the fuel line hoses from the mz3. they have quick connections on the end of the hose that match the fuel rail on the s52.

i went the the local pick a part and found a couple of items on my list. i have been fooling around with installing hydroboost on my car. a few months back, i picked up the system from an old e24.



everything was fine and dandy until i installed the engine.



i think it would work out fine if the engine were something other than m/s5x. there is no way around the conflict with these parts. the good news is that i read a thread a while back that you can use the hydroboost system of a 7 series e23. this is what i found at the just yard this week. if you are going to add hydroboost to your e30 with a 24v swap, it is going to have to be the booster from the early 7 series. notice how about a third of the booster is actually inset behind the firewall. this will get you the relief you need to clear the throttle body. the e23 is at the top, the e24 is below.


an added benefit to going with the hydraulic brake syst is that the diameter of the master cylinder is much larger than the one from the e30. e30 on the left, hydroboost mc on the right for comparison

here is a photo with the e23 booster installed. the intake boot and maf will pretty much fit with out conflict at this point. the rear orifice on the bottom of the boot has slight interference with the hydraulic line on the front of the master cylinder, but there won't be any issue connecting the hose.



i know...you are probably asking why i would want to install this on my car. well...i ask you, why the hell not? i have already modified a rabbit booster that i am sure would work fine. i just want more braking power. i have hydroboost on my diesel f350 daily driver and i love the system. i expect i will love it just as much on my bimmer.

[flyboyx]

i haven't had a lot of time to work on my project lately. lots of other obligations getting in the way. i finally picked up my 2 door ix and brought it home this week. i spent the day yesterday screwing around with that.

i found a nice out the way place to mount the hydroboost reservoir. originally, i wanted to locate it on the driver side motor mounting bracket, but the top needs to be mounted above the brake booster. otherwise, the fluid could drain back and overflow.

the accumulator is going to be mounted below the booster on the driver side. i cut the mounting bracket off the e23 so it would be a little easiser to fabricate.

i went through the 20 or so power steering hoses that i have laying around in search of suitable ends for my project. using my angle grinder(with a thin cutting wheel), i ground off the metal swage collars and slid the ends out of the old hoses.

doing a little googling on line, i found http://www.discounthydraulichose.com they sell the R1 hydraulic hose needed for about a buck a foot. this is a 2500 psi hose. the working pressure of the system according to my bently manual is about 1400 psi max, so this hose will work nicely.



they also sell a crimp collar shell for about a buck each.



unfortunately, they don't sell banjo fittings. i talked to a salesman about it, but he said suitable suppliers are unavailable. i did a little searching and found a couple of aeroquip fittings in their catalog, but for most connections, you need some sort of elbow after the attachment. this is why i am reusing my old fittings. when the hydraulic parts arrive in the mail. i will just cut my hoses to length, assemble them and take them to my local hydraulic shop to get them crimped.

i have read a few threads on the forums with people complaining that the hydroboost system is unnecessarily complicated. i don't think so. you definitely have more hoses to run and you have to figure out how to locate the accumulator, but really, it isn't bad.

[Dissembler]

Great build thread, I'm in the process of putting an OBD 2 M52 into my 85 318. I would really love to try and fit the E36 ignition cylinder into the factory e30 location, but I dont have an extra e30 column to fool around with. I was also thinking maybe just take the transponder part off of the e36 key and graft it onto the e30 key? have to look into it some more but i don't think it will work.

And a little heads up for you hydro boost swap. use as much of the e23 stuff as possible or it will NOT work! The problem with using a hydroboost system is there are all kinds of little restrictors in the hoses and if each and everyone is not properly duplicated the way it wass on the e23 you will have problems.

I know there is a write up on it somewhere, I searched e30tech, r3v and bimmerforums for it but couldnt find it (I came up on a thread you started about it a while ago lol) and like everyone else has told you, Ian. Maybe you can get access to some of the european e30 sites? probable way more information as hydro is common over there.