E30 M54 Swap Guide

[DesertBMW]

Its been removed temporarily until I can revise typos, errors and incorporate valid opinions of others.

I posted it to help people out ...and its only caused me more stress.

I posted M54 swap guide few years ago here. It just covers the basics. I wanted it that way because when you start going into details then you get opinions. Someone will have a better idea of doing things. I am open to new ideas.

[Andrew325is]

I liked your guide! But you wrote it as a guide that sounded very definitive and not so much as you're own personal swap experience, which would have had a title more like "Jordan's M54 Swap" or something of that nature. So I was trying to be helpful in making it complete. I think that was everyone else's intention too.

In response to my ideas it sounds like you're being defensive. I wasn't accusing you of doing things wrong. I was only suggesting alternatives I think should be included in a definitive guide.

I think most often people don't have problems with M54 coolant tanks unless they're old or aftermarket (Not BMW / Modine). There are also a few variations, like the Z3 or E39 tanks that are separate from the radiator like the E30 tank. But I think you're totally right about the E30 tank. I've never heard of one failing.

That's perfectly okay if you don't want a fan shroud, but I still have the opinion they're important for proper engine cooling.

My gas pedal bracket wasn't tweaked. It uses just an 8mm bolt to screw in to the old bump stop at top as far as I recall. I used epoxy at the base. I've seen people use bolts or screws at the base as well. There are different ways to do it. Nothing wrong with including other ways. A person could also install the two metal brackets from an i3 under the carpet and use the i3 pedal (it's for manual since the electric car has no auto gearbox).

People these days are used to sourcing parts online or new from BMW so I think it's okay to suggest parts that aren't available locally. Also, don't forget we have members on this forum who live in Europe and other parts of the world.

The DME box is on the passenger (left) side on a Z3 like on an E30, but if people use an E46 harness they can mount the ECU on the driver's side. An E46 harness would be especially great for a RHD car.

[hoveringuy]

I'll be swapping my second, 100% megasquirt, motor in the next month. Interested in seeing how you did it.

[Jordan]

Its been removed temporarily until I can revise typos, errors and incorporate valid opinions of others.

I posted it to help people out that were blowing up my PM box and getting me on Facebook if/when I didn't respond right away..... and its only caused me more stress.

When I repost it I'll ask it to be in a locked thread and people are completely welcome to take from it what they will. This isn't intended to be a miss mosh of public opinion. Its how I did it, and as concise as I could make it in short order. I was wrong to have released it prematurely.

Thank you for understanding, or not giving a shit. Whichever or.

[Balleristic31]

So you remove an entire well thought out and informative swap guide because a few people have some other opinions or ideas on the procedure? :up:

[Jordan]

Heard ya loud and clear, thank you for your opinion!

[diesekte]

While I'm sure your method works I'm not interested in epoxying plastic to metal etc, especially not on something that gets sees a significant amount of body weight thrown at it on a regular basis

You use high strength epoxy to bond plastic to plastic, which is exactly what that type of epoxy's intended use is.
I also guarantee you that you are nowhere near capable of generating close to or above 3300 psi, which is the bonding strength of the high strength epoxy available at the big parts houses.

My goal with this project was emulating the OE method in as many ways as possible because people paid a lot more than me engineered it as such for a reason.

Exactly, which is what my method does (I think Andrews is the same?). It uses the e30 pedal plastic clip to clip on to the e30 floor board metal, and an e46 m3 bolt to secure the forward part of the pedal in the e30 floor pan hole

Like I said, I think your way is a nice way of doing it, but it does over complicate the problem

[Jordan]

The electronic throttle pedal can be mounted much easier than detailed above, without any modification to the car itself. If you cut the plastic bracket that clips to the floor on the e30 pedal off, then cut off the corresponding part flat on the electronic pedal. High strength epoxy the e30 piece onto the electronic pedal, use the e46 m3 mounting bolt, and it all fits securely with high strength. The pedal fits this way just fine although it may not be "perfect" if you put your head down there, it's pretty dang close - your foot won't notice a difference
Your way looks great, but if you're like me and blessed with perfect e30 carpet...I wouldn't want to mess with it at all

While I'm sure your method works I'm not interested in epoxying plastic to metal etc, especially not on something that gets sees a significant amount of body weight thrown at it on a regular basis. My goal with this project was emulating the OE method in as many ways as possible because people paid a lot more than me engineered it as such for a reason.

The hole in the carpet is sized as such that it really didn't need to be altered and the plastic pedal bracket covers it in its entirety.

I do have a question about the cooling part of the swap. I wonder if you could use a Z3 radiator and z3 coolant hoses?

The radiator may work (MZ3 does for sure) but the hoses will not. The E30 is much narrower and trying to contort the hoses lead to them kinking in my attempts. Not acceptable.

Great write up and very clean swap! I’m impressed. I hope you don’t mind if I critique a bit and offer suggestions for corrections though.

I'd prefer suggesstions/corrections be PM'd so they don't clutter the thread honestly. Happy to weigh options and edit as needed.

The oil pickup tube is for a E38 728i (with M52TU) not 730i (which had a M60 engine).

Correction made.

Very clever cooling hose routing with the factory tee. Of course the alternative is to use an M54 expansion tank that has two ports, which may result in a more ideal flow.

The M54 coolant tank(s) suck. They are prone to exploding. The E30 tank is a much better part.

I don’t see any mention of a radiator fan shroud. I think it’s important for proper engine cooling.

Given that the radiator is ~1/4" away from the fan I doubt a fan shroud would make a notable improvement in cooling. E30's also have much more frontal area catching fresh air, and considerably less stacked cores in front of the radiator. I just don't see it as a worth while endeavor.

The the E46/E39 etc the fans leading edge is easily several inches away from the core. This is why in those applications it is important in my opinion to have a fan shroud.

If there isn’t one that fits properly an alternative is a BMW electric fan that’s controlled by the ECU or Garry’s CAN controller.

I've never been able to find a factory fan shroud that was in any way amicable to working on a 24v swapped E30. As said above the clutch fan, if you run one at all, is so close to the radiator core it would negate most of the gains a shroud gives to begin with.

Another header option that might be good are the Euro M52 headers which don’t have the holes for the SAP or Euro M54 (& M52TU) headers which are the same but have the correct number of bolt holes for the M54.

I have no first hand experience there and I'm hesitant to recommend something to people that isn't readily available as a decent salvage yard. I am interested in this however and will look into it when I have time and update the guide accordingly.

I also had no issue installing the E46 electronic pedal in the E30 without modifying anything. Perhaps your modification results in a more ideal placement though.

I did not find this to be the case. Perhaps your upward bracket was tweaked already? Mine was off the slotted bracket by at least 1/4"

I thought your wiring info was wrong until I scrolled down to see you’re using an E39 harness. You may want to clarify that the wiring is different if people are using an E46 or Z3 harness.

I would not advise using the E46 or Z3 harnesses as the e-box on those cars is on the driver side and will not properly reach to the glovebox on an E30. Again, people are going to use what they want why they want, this guide is how I did it and how I felt it was best carried out all things considered.

Also, newer M54s that still used MS43 use the newer style coils so if you use one of those coil harnesses the ECU connector will not need to be modified and only the small white 2-pin connector will need to be swapped to match the main engine harness.

Notes made on the coil harness, although ETK looks inconclusive on the production dates.

[DesertBMW]

Nothing really needs to be done to the ECU 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.

True in a way. I do this flashing service, what I do is remove the "limp mode" function. Properly decode all of other functions that are not needed. Match the speed map so that E30 speed signal works with MS43. Then it is all perfect.
Your gas pedal placement is not ideal because it is same height as brake pedal. I had to cut carpet and set mine deeper.

[Andrew325is]

Great write up and very clean swap! I’m impressed. I hope you don’t mind if I critique a bit and offer suggestions for corrections though.

The oil pickup tube is for a E38 728i (with M52TU) not 730i (which had a M60 engine).

Very clever cooling hose routing with the factory tee. Of course the alternative is to use an M54 expansion tank that has two ports, which may result in a more ideal flow.

I don’t see any mention of a radiator fan shroud. I think it’s important for proper engine cooling. If there isn’t one that fits properly an alternative is a BMW electric fan that’s controlled by the ECU or Garry’s CAN controller. I’m installing the one for a Z4M on my M54 build (Defender). It fits on the E46 radiator. If you install a BMW electric fan no auxiliary fan is required in front of the A/C condenser.



Another header option that might be good are the Euro M52 headers which don’t have the holes for the SAP or Euro M54 (& M52TU) headers which are the same but have the correct number of bolt holes for the M54.

I also had no issue installing the E46 electronic pedal in the E30 without modifying anything. Perhaps your modification results in a more ideal placement though.

I thought your wiring info was wrong until I scrolled down to see you’re using an E39 harness. You may want to clarify that the wiring is different if people are using an E46 or Z3 harness. Also, newer M54s that still used MS43 use the newer style coils so if you use one of those coil harnesses the ECU connector will not need to be modified and only the small white 2-pin connector will need to be swapped to match the main engine harness.

[stonea]

^ Jordan's carpet is perfect. In fact its brand new.

I do have a question about the cooling part of the swap. I wonder if you could use a Z3 radiator and z3 coolant hoses?

[diesekte]

The electronic throttle pedal can be mounted much easier than detailed above, without any modification to the car itself. If you cut the plastic bracket that clips to the floor on the e30 pedal off, then cut off the corresponding part flat on the electronic pedal. High strength epoxy the e30 piece onto the electronic pedal, use the e46 m3 mounting bolt, and it all fits securely with high strength. The pedal fits this way just fine although it may not be "perfect" if you put your head down there, it's pretty dang close - your foot won't notice a difference
Your way looks great, but if you're like me and blessed with perfect e30 carpet...I wouldn't want to mess with it at all

[rzerob]

Great write up. This should get a sticky.

[stonea]

Great write up! The M54 is a great engine and perfect for the e30 chassis.

[yanal]

Excellent work, thanks for the write up!


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