E30 M54B30 + GS6-37BZ Swap (UK)

[Whiskey98]

Hi everyone,

I made a post last month weighing up if I should rather go for a M52B28 or a M54B30 for my E30, a lot has happened since then and I have been gathering all kinds of parts in order to swap in an M54 engine!
Here's a quick rundown of what I have gotten so far:
- M54B30 engine from a 2005 Z4
- Full engine loom including MS45 DME, car came with SMG which has wiring included in loom
- ZF GS6-37BZ TJEE from a Z4M
- E36 328i automatic propshaft
- 3.15 Medium case LSD from a Z3
- Lightweight single mass flywheel for 6 speed box
- E38 Oil pan, pickup, dipstick tube, power steering pump
- Scorpion exhaust with M52 manifolds and custom downpipes
- E90 brake booster
- E46 clubsport rack

It will be months before I even think about removing the M20 from my E30, as I want to do as much as I can with the parts off the car, and my car on the road!
I'll try to update this thread fairly regularly once the project is fully underway. I'll probably have lots of questions!



So far I have been looking at the wiring diagrams for this M54 loom, determining what to chop out and how to connect it up to my E30. Jordan's guide is very helpful although he is using an MS43 and I have already noticed some differences between his wiring table and mine. For example: X60004 pin 1 for him is the alternator charging light, for me it's the sport button. Most things do match between the two though.

Has anybody else done an M54 swap using the MS45 DME? I'm not sure how you would get the oil pressure light and alternator warning light to work because according to the wiring schematics, they feed into the DME which then communicates via CAN to the instrument cluster computer, which the E30s analogue gauge cluster doesn't have. How would I overcome this? I'll obviously be getting the DME flashed to remove the EWS and have a decat tune programmed in.

[TobyB]

Oil pressure isn't hard- just pull the signal from the switch where it enters the DME.

The alternator is a stinker, because it communicates BSD to the DME,
and that's how they do all their chatter. I haven't run across a Bit Serial Data decoder...
If I was using a BSD alternator, I think I'd just run a voltmeter.

edit- you might see if the DME can be coded to ignore the BSD, and just
run an earlier internally- regulated and controlled MS43 alternator.

t
hasn't gotten this far yet.

[Whiskey98]

The engine wiring loom is out, and I have removed the exhaust manifold, inlet manifold, flywheel, and Z4 engine arms. One non-standard bolt on the engine arms was seized and snapped off but luckily I could remove the rest of it with some heat and vice grips. Visually, the inlet valves look spotlessly clean!


I believe I've figured out the wiring, the oil pressure switch can bypass the DME straight to the cluster, the oil level sensor can also bypass the DME, but I'll need to locate an E34 oil level sensor which has the rheostat type. My front sump oil pan came off an E38 and has the newer PWM type of sensor which is incompatible with the E30 check panel.

The charge warning light is trickier, there isn't really a way of doing it without swapping alternators and attempting to get the DME to ignore it like Toby said, all a lot of work for the sake of a warning light. Instead I've quickly designed a circuit that I should be able to make and fit among the instrument cluster circuitry that will sense the battery voltage and turn the light on if voltage drops below 13.5v. I will also do the mod on the check panel to fit in a digital volt meter, just so I'm doubly sure the battery is charging!

Next steps will be cleaning down the engine block, then I've got the oil filter housing seal to replace, valve cover gasket to replace, and I'll be making a start on modifying the wiring loom to reroute the oil level and pressure sensors away from the DME and extend the engine to DME cables to reach the original E30 ECU location.

[Whiskey98]

Photo dump incoming, lots happening!


Inlet manifold has been fully cleaned and rebuilt, throttle body cleaned, ICV cleaned, CCV replaced, purge valve blanked off, injector rail replaced with M52TU rail, DISA rebuilt with aluminium flap and threaded pivot bolt.


Oil pump wirelock mod, M52TU 728i oil pickup, oil pan and dipstick fitted with new gasket


Created a dipstick bracket out of threaded bar


New aluminium impeller water pump, thermostat, power steering pump fitted, aluminium pulleys for PS pump and water pump, new gaskets for oil filter housing and valve cover


Made brackets to fit a 16" Spal pusher fan to a E36 aircon radiator


Simple bracket to fit electronic pedal to E30. No need to pull back the carpet and chop and weld the existing bracket!


Now for what I have spent the most time on, I decided to do all the wiring now off the car so all that has to be done is fit the modified harness once the engine goes in. Here is the car-side harness including DME supply, relays, fuses, pedal harness, and OBD2 socket which I will be putting above the glove box (left hand side on UK cars). Those screw in connector blocks are only temporary and I'll be fitting proper ferrules like BMW does soon.



Main engine harness has had substantial modification. In hindsight it would have been easier to start with an X5 harness but they are hard to come by sometimes. I bought a second Z4 harness and gutted it for the wires and used them to extend the main cable of my harness by an extra 3 foot or so in order to reach the standard E30 DME location. I also used a spare outlet from the junction box to wire in a C101 plug, also there is now an extra connector coming out of the front end of the injector wiring box that will connect to the E30 brown temp sender. Other small mods on the harness include changing the newer type of oil level sensor connector for the older style E34 sensor.


Everything connected to the DME to give me an idea of how it will go together

Not much left to do before I start the actual swap, but gotta get my other car out of the garage which currently is getting its differential rebuilt!