CARB Legal E30 N51B30 Swap

[hoveringuy]

So after all this time one still has to use MSV70? Hasn't the MSV80 been figured out to be used without CAS?

Yeah, that's a good question. I know that the MSV-80 hardware is different enough that the MSV-70 solution can't just be ported over.

[DesertBMW]

Yeah, that's a good question. I know that the MSV-80 hardware is different enough that the MSV-70 solution can't just be ported over.

so you are saying that you are limited to only one year production model and that is 2006?

[Yo.goob]

The MSV-70 is the software that they have best figured out to reintegrate into the E30 chassis without making the ECU throw out a bunch of codes and making it friendly with the different wiring one can use to make it cleaner/easier (Z3 IVM, X3 wiring loom etc,). Pretty sure I saw someone on this thread post about a N52N plug-and-play wiring harness to add to the simplicity of the swap. They also have the added benefit of not needing most of the emissions software or restrictions on modding the intake, exhaust, cooling, air conditioning, etc.,
I believe Nando, Hubcapboy, and HoverinGuy have the wiring and fuse diagrams figured out to use the MSV-70 ECU into the E30 fuse panel and everything else basically either uses parts bin stuff from the E46/Z3/X3 or can be custom made to fit the chassis. Whatever your preference or budget allows.

As far as testing the MSV-80 or 80.1 for the N51, that hasn't been sorted which is what ProjectJTv4 and I are in the process of solving and learning to keep it all CARB legal which is a huge pain, but once that hurdle is crossed, the floodgates open for the rest of the CA enthusiasts to legally swap in a modern-lightweight straight six back into an equally light E30! Hell of a journey but I know we will get there eventually, even if it kills me haha.

From what I am gathering so far, it might be easiest to quite literally Frankenstein the entirety of the E90 wiring harness including the CAN systems into the E30 and snip out the non-essentials to keep it within the CA CALID/CVN compliance since we can't reprogram the ECU to be anything other than the MSV-80.1 from the donor 328i I salvaged. Daunting and tedious.

[DesertBMW]

From what I am gathering so far, it might be easiest to quite literally Frankenstein the entirety of the E90 wiring harness including the CAN systems into the E30 and snip out the non-essentials to keep it within the CA CALID/CVN compliance since we can't reprogram the ECU to be anything other than the MSV-80.1 from the donor 328i I salvaged. Daunting and tedious.

I did that with my N55 to E36 swap. I wanted to swap into E30 but gave up because of the oil pan issue. I did all of this back in 2013. then sold the car, then the guy sold the car to someone else, and it is still out these running fine 11 years later with the same swap. My thinking at the time was that N55 will get very cheap in the future because it is mass produced engine, but I was wrong, N55 is selling for a lot of money, because people keep blowing them up and demand is high. I made a swap video about it, in fact a whole movie

240530 YouTube GO 3S Creative 正常开 wzl 横 en

[Yo.goob]

Welp. Today confirms that the easiest and only legal way to accomplish this swap is to make the E30 into an E90 and bring along quite literally everything I can in order to make the DME and even non-essential parts compliant to the swap. This just bumped the difficulty of the swap to an 11 but by giving me only one option, it gives me some easier guidelines to engineer my way out of the problem. Luckily, I still have full access to my donor car and all the parts necessary to do just that, but it will be quite a while until both cars are stripped down to the chassis to make room for all the necessary space and electrical accommodations to this now 40-year-old chassis.

Dashboard on the E90 is coming apart nicely and taking note of all the wiring + other goodies to transfer over into the old Frankenstein's monster of an E30.

More to come soon

[Yo.goob]

After a summer's worth of researching wiring diagrams and networking with the other N52 swap folk on this forum, I am finally jumping into the next hurdle of finishing the oil pan that projectJTv4 had been so kind to let me see in person. It seems as if we are the only two people in the greater Los Angeles area that are taking this on so if anyone else is out here and willing to collaborate, let us know!




Also did me a massive favor of lending the welding jig for the welder to finish it all within a week's time and get on to the rest of the challenges of getting the motor turned over and running.





The only other major update is that the donor E90's dashboard is coming out to do a proper chassis wiring integration into the E30, which includes the CAS, EWS, FRM, and the other incredibly complicated BUS systems to make the CA emissions compliant ECU happy.



More updates to follow now that the semester has started.