E30 M54 Swap Guide

[redneckvtek]

That fitting is $20, and you need two.

This is the OEM BMW fuel line, which avoids POS dorman stuff.
BMW Fuel Line - Genuine BMW 16122229410



Just push the 5/16 fuel hose over the bulged part of the fitting and put the clamp there. Then use Fuel Injection hose (which you should be using anyway.) Get good stuff. Gates 27340 Barricade MPI Fuel Line Hose is SAEJ30R14 rated.




The other side is the bigger issue. The threaded fitting (gold colored above) doesnt come with a NEW OEM bmw part 13537830368. Neither does the circlip needed to hold the M54 FPR into the housing. That PN is BMW 13531736234

The threads are M12x1.5. You need a M12x1.5 Metric to 5/16" Barb adapter. The threads arent "sealing" so it should come with a crush washer of some sort.

I have seen someone machine the stock BMW piece into a barb adapter also.



There are two alternatives to this:

1. Non US Fuel Rail 13531427335 comes with the FPR on the rail. This is a 2-way rail which IMO is preferred. Would be a bolt on option for any M54. Downside is its $400+ new, and I have not found any Used ones in the US or on EBAY with us shipping. If you have connections in europe they can be had used for <$100 on ebay. They came on M52TUB20 (323i, 523i etc)

2. M50 intake manifold swap. This has its own challenges, but lets you just use a US M50 fuel rail which has the regulator integrated, and already has the correct 3.5 bar FPR and the circlip installed.









On another subject - Cruise Control

Has anyone gotten cruise control working with this swap? the MS43 DME handles cruise control internally, but I presume it gets a CANBUS signal from the stock e46 steering wheel controls? I have not had time to dive into this deeply yet, but want to make this happen as I routinely take my e30 on long trips and will hate losing the cruise.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Fuel Supply:

The M54 family of engines expect to run with a fuel pressure of 3.5bar. The factory E30 fuel pump can easily handle this task. You'll need to fit a regulator however. On a native M54 car the fuel pressure regulator is part of the long fuel filter assembly. There really is no good place to put this unit on an E30. It will not fit in the rear where the factory E30 fuel filter goes, and it looks awful strapped to the frame rail in the engine bay.

My solution was the use the factory E30 fuel filter, and insert the S54 fuel pressure regulator apparatus inline at the frame rail. This mounts to but unscrews from the S54 fuel filter. You'll need to remove and discard the S54 5bar regulator, and install the MS43 3.5bar regulator pulled from the fuel filter.

Then you need only connect a vacuum line to the FPR from the F connector on the intake boot, and use a factory quick disconnect fuel hose from the FPR to the non return fuel rail. Fuel input and return are handled neatly at the frame rail.

Clamping a hose on the smooth portion of the quick connect fitting as shown is *MAYBE* ok on the return line, but outright *DANGEROUS* on the pressure line.
It looks like OP has a correctly made fuel hose on the pressure side, but don't skimp there.

Use the correct quick connect fittings... it's easy.

Dorman 800-782 for 5/16 or 8mm pressure connections:
https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-101643-800-782.aspx



Note the dual barbs for dual hose clamps on the pressure line.

I think there's also a single barbed fitting for the return line, but I don't have the part number right off. Also, obviously the pressure fitting can also be used on the return side.

[redneckvtek]

I have this thread saved as my reference for the last 6 months. Im planning on doing this on my E28. Have the engine already and just sorting out other parts. I just want to confirm I understand the FPR installation, its not mentioned here but the M54 is referred to as a returnless fuel system.. but its not actually returnless is it? I think (from reading online) it doesnt have a return line in the fuel rail.. so does the bottom line in that image (with blue arrow pointing left) get connected to the factory fuel return line to the tank? The other two are input (to FPR) and then output to the fuel rail?
Is this correct?

Yes that is correct. The threaded fitting is the "in" from the fuel pump. The upper fitting going the same way as the threads is the return to the tank. The opposite one is to the engine.

[kodachrome]

Then you need only connect a vacuum line to the FPR from the F connector on the intake boot, and use a factory quick disconnect fuel hose from the FPR to the non return fuel rail. Fuel input and return are handled neatly at the frame rail.

I have this thread saved as my reference for the last 6 months. Im planning on doing this on my E28. Have the engine already and just sorting out other parts. I just want to confirm I understand the FPR installation, its not mentioned here but the M54 is referred to as a returnless fuel system.. but its not actually returnless is it? I think (from reading online) it doesnt have a return line in the fuel rail.. so does the bottom line in that image (with blue arrow pointing left) get connected to the factory fuel return line to the tank? The other two are input (to FPR) and then output to the fuel rail?
Is this correct?

[ba114]

FYI

I haven't cut or moved any mounts for the accelerator pedal. I just notched the metal plate on the mounting bracket that the bolt goes through to the stock pedal stopper and used a hex head bolt.
bolted straight in after that.

[Ashtonb635csi]

M54 sawp in a 635sci

Hello folks, I am a newbie and know this is an E30 forum but I am hoping it will work on my planned M54 with a manual into my 1986 635csi, any suggestions?


Thank you in advance Sirs!

[e30.matt]

m54 swap e30 transmission questions

So the past few months ive been stock piling parts to do the m54 swap and I recently bought a ZF 5 speed transmission form a 2002 Z3M it also included the driveshaft. I still need to buy the clutch and flywheel but I have been looking into a light wheel flywheel for the m54 and a stage 1 clutch for the z3m tranny. My two questions are; Would a m54 lightweight flywheel work with a aftermarket z3m stage 1 clutch? If they're not compatible then can I use a z3m lightweight flywheel on the m54 with an aftermarket z3m stage 1 clutch. The other question is, Is the z3m driveshaft the correct length to go between the stock e30 lsd and the z3m tranny? Or would I have to do half z3m and half e36 driveshafts?

m54 lightweight flywheel: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-part...saAvhzEALw_wcB

or
http://racehead.com.au/products-page...54-heavy-duty/


z3m stage 1 clutch: https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-5...tch-kit-fx100/

[thetinpusher]

M54 swap

Nice work Jordan as always! Great write up as well. This is the first time I have read this. I am in the middle of swapping my rebuilt M54 engine with the ESS blower attached into my M3. Its an interesting project.

Blake

[mjsarraf]

Swap MS45 TO MS43 ECU

[QUOTE=Jordan;4616592]

[B]M54 E30 Swap


Wiring:

You should start with a E39 or E53 engine harness. If your engine came from a Z3 or a E46 you really don't want to use this harness as the ebox is on the drivers side behind the strut tower on those cars. On the E39/E53 it is on the passenger side, leaving you ample room to mount the ECU in the factory location for the E30, above the glovebox.



X6011 is a translucent white 12 pin connector block found in the e-box of the donor vehicle, and is part of the main engine harness.

X6011 needs to have a wire run from pin 5 (which comes from starter connection 30h) to C101 pin 15. This will provide ground for the K5/K7 unloader relays and enable your power windows/sunroof to work. The starter backfeeds 30h with B+ during starter motor engagement to allow maximum amperage to the starter motor.

Since the MS43 harness will not have a 20pin diagnostic port you'll want to leave yourself some manner in which to reset the SI lights as they do their thing. Grounding C101 pin 11 then turning the key to accessory will reset the oil service LEDs, leaving it grounded a bit longer will reset the inspection. You can either leave yourself a pigtail under the M42/S14 firewall wiring covers to manually ground out, or you can wire up a diagnostic port exclusively for the use of resetting the SI lamps.

MS43 ECU controls the fuel pump relay by grounding terminal 85. Either construct your own fuel pump relay setup from the original E30 unit, or use a relay with pigtail removed from a native MS43 car. Wiring is as standard for a 5 pin BOSCH relay. The OE BMW relay is probably a lime green TYCO.

The primary engine harness requires no real modification and will be used as is. The secondary harness which connects to the chassis, automatic transmission and the rear O2 sensors will be heavily pruned.

MS43 harness as removed from an automatic E39 530i:


Automatic wiring and other extra crap removed:


What you're left with:


Labeling the C101 while I was figuring out both sides of the wiring:


I also elected to use my engines original MS45 valve cover with the pencil coils. This requires you to repin the X60005 MS45 ECU connector into the correct wiring for the MS43 ECU. The engine will NOT start if you do not repin, and may even damage the ECU. The power connector on the MS45 coil harness will need to be changed as well so get that from your donor too.





There is also a pencil coil type harness for MS43 cars that will work without modification if it is from a late run MS43 vehicle. The ETK seems inconclusive about this on the production dates, so I would advise you double check the pinout to make sure of what you have.




MS43 ECU:



There is a EWS Delete test file freely available from a user "Daniel F." He has a seriously informative Wiki page on his MS43 musings. Please refer to his page you can find the file(s) there.
http://www.ms43wiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

Nothing really needs to be done to the ECU to start the engine and drive the car except having it flashed to remove the EWS protection. Without this the engine simply will not start. It will have a slew of faults stored in short order for communication errors with its buddies it expects to talk to on CAN, but these will not affect drivability. They would set a MIL/CEL but since the output for that is also on CAN the E30 cluster CEL bulb is not going to turn on....

These are the codes you can expect (perhaps more) with just the basic EWS delete Daniel F flash.:


This may present a problem to guys in California for example, but it's a non issue for some of us.

Additionally without modification of the ECU code the lack of a Vehicle Speed Signal will put the engine into a limited performance mode, dropping the fuel cut to 5500rpm or so.

Mark D'Sylva and Markert Motor Works both offer ready made tunes for the ECU intended for use on non-CAN chassis like an E30 to get you everything you need and none of what you don't.

Now, if you want to get your MIL/CEL working you're going to need some method of capturing the binary identifier for the MIL trigger. Garry Peterson "gpeterson" on here sells just such a device tailor made for this purpose. It is $250 and can be programmed to your specific desires, as it has additional features as well. It allows for ECU CAN control of a PWM aux fan like found on M54 cars via the factory temperature sensor in the lower radiator hose. It also tells the ECU when the A/C is on to raise the idle, and allows for ECU control of the A/C compressor so the ECU is allowed to make the final decision on when the engage the compressor clutch so that it can switch it off during wide open throttle, engine temperature too high, etc.

Finally it has one additional output that can be programmed to do any number of functions.

It looks like this:











Does that all what i need to change (x6005) i mean or there's another pins too ??
About the x6011 can you explain it more please ??

[Sirrrrred]

I used a 03 Cobra hydro booster for my brakes and steering. Worked out great.

[nando]

Good to know, I had a feeling you would respond to this thread, lol. I think the E9x MC is too big anyway - the E46 non-M looks like it would be a good fit though.

[terraphantm]

The E46 DSC system uses a secondary port on the MC for the pressure sensors. I think the E9x is similar, and even though I own one I never looked too closely at the brake system.

I don't think it is actually. From what I remember, with the MK60E / MK60E5 system, the pressure sensors are now directly built into the module (the "e" is supposed to mean integrated sensors, and the "5" is supposed to be a reference to 5 sensors... I guess 1 for each brake and 1 for the input pressure?).

[Staszek]

E70 4.8is

Love the E70 4.8i. I actually like the E70 styling, especially in MSport better then our F15.

[nando]

E70 4.8is

[Staszek]

no, we sold our E91 for an X5 - but I'm keeping the 330i until it dies, which will probably be never. The only things it seems to need are gas, oil changes and an occasional bath. :p

Hmm, so it's a little bigger diameter. I guess if you go with a BBK, you could get something sized to match.

Looks like most of them are all 25/22 - PN 34336785664 was used on everything from the 127d to the 335i. Maybe something from the E46 would be better, it looks like it's 22/20 - much closer to the stock E30 one.

Which X5 did you get?