N52 Swap Discussion

[hoveringuy]

I don't quite know where I'm going with this, except that I have a huge wiring mess living in my battery tray, and the original grommet and firewall pass-through are impossibly small. We're a long way removed from a motor with a distributor and only a handful of wires for the injectors and a few sensors. Yeah, I could disassemble each connector down individual plugs and maybe squeeze them through.

I'm envisioning some kind of a flange with a lip that I can wrap a rubber seal around the wire bundle. The EKP will go in the right, rear side panel cavity.

Also, the battery terminal is moved one hole to the left.

[hoveringuy]

The issue is that I keep getting code P1023 which means that the limits of the Valvetronic stops hasn't been learned. This results in the motor locking the cams at full lift and using the Throttle body as the throttle. In normal operation, the valve lift is the throttle and the throttle body stays wide open to be there as backup. I'm actually very impressed how well the motor runs in this alternate mode!

Using INPA, I saw that there is a weird discontinuity at the very end of the travel at minimum lift (0 degrees on the eccentric shaft), I'm thinking that's the cause of the issue and I'll know soon when I get the new eccentric shaft sensor in.

These sensors are famous for failing after a few years, particularly if the oil seal in the valve cover gets old, in which case oil will enter through the plug. Even so, oil will enter through the plastic welds. They just fail...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzpOTTT_IJ8 "VVT Excenter Istvert" means eccentric shaft actual value.

Even in this "limp" mode, Gareth will attest that the car is plenty quick.

*UPDATE*

The eccentric shaft rotating past the 0 degree wasn't a symptom of the problem IT WAS THE PROBLEM... It wasn't a bad sensor, or coding in the ECU or an issue with the wiring, the eccentric shaft was just literally rotating to far on the idle stop.

The idle hard-stop isn't meant to be adjustable and in fact is never even used in normal operation. It's just a physical limit to keep the eccentric shaft in-bounds. In actuality, the car idles with the eccentric shaft at about 16 to 17 degrees. The only time the shaft touches that stop is the first and only time the ECU performs a learn of the limits. In my case, with the stop screwed out 1.5mm the learn procedure worked perfectly because it never went below 0 degrees. Coincidentally, that 1.5mm was exactly the thickness of an M6 washer.

Is a washer supposed to be there from the factory? Dunno... It's possible the motor drove it's entire life that way in the original car and it wouldn't have ever been an issue until the first time it needed to learn the stops.

I can say, that after driving the car for several weeks on the throttle body, that the variable valve lift adds tons of torque. Wow!

[nando]

It sold in a week for asking price! The dealer we got our X5 at offered me $3k trade value.. hahahaha, no.

Working through a couple software bugs on Steve's swap - not resolved yet, but at least we got flashes working now (turns out he had a bad cable, doh!)

[wazzu70]

Still kicking myself for not buying your E91 when it was for sale. Timing was just wrong. Ended up getting a mk7 GTI which is pretty good overall but the E91 would have been even better than the hatch.

Really wish we got the F11 5series wagons here. That would be perfect :)

[nando]

Its quite a ride! I will let you know when the e91 gets too small for us, kid, stroller, and 2 dogs. Who knows, it could be tomorrow! Sure beats a damn mk5 jetta though, Byeeee
You owned an e9x, but it was weighed down by 50 airbags, 500lb seats, and 11 speakers. You didnt see the potential then.

don't ever sell it! We had a 2006 E91 6mt (along with my 2006 330i 6mt). Perfect family car - we also have 2 kids and 2 dogs. We took it on a trip once with 3 adults, 2 kids, bikes and camping gear for 5 days. Drove it across the steepest pass in Canada, which it did no problem at 80mph.

Our old Subaru with half the weight did the same road before.. at maximum speed of 50mph, in 4th gear, foot literally to the floor. It also got 19mpg on that same trip vs the E91s 30. God I hated the Subaru.

Later I did a 3 stage swap and my custom tune. It was way faster than any family wagon should be, lol. We also sold it for what we paid for it after 3 years and 40,000 miles of use.

We only sold it because my wife wanted something with a 3rd row, so we got an X5. Worst mistake ever. X5s are total crap, it broke often, and no repair was cheap or simple (not even DIY). It often spent months undrivable due to the many catastrophic failures they suffer from. In hindsight, we could have just kept the E91, rented a car when we needed the extra space, and been way better off for it.

Dumped the X5 at a huge loss for an F25 X3 (with an N52!). It's not an E91 - we both would have wanted another, but they're super expensive and hard to find, especially with a manual. The X3 isn't as good as the E91, but it shouldn't be broken as much as the X5, lol.

[hoveringuy]

Also, I love my ABBA clamps!

[hoveringuy]

I had previously used the Gates 21887 (M20 lower radiator hose) on the lower hose and it worked Ok.

After I upgraded to my aluminum radiator it just didn't fit the same; it was 1cm or so too short. Turns out that the M20 upper radiator hose (Gates 21886) works even better and literally fits like a glove. it has the tightest 90 known to man.

Plenty of clearance everywhere!

[hoveringuy]

Rotated the outlet so it points down and back, clears the radiator outlet like a champ now.

Remember, the original rubber hose did clear and the hardline is NOT necessary for an N52 swap. It does make more room for a 50mm radiator and it looks better.

[Trevbot]

[B]I’m crazy jealous of that e91... Trevbot kindly forgot to remind everyone that I sold this engine already in a BMW once already.

That didn’t count as a BMW, it was an automatic.

[Habla]

When progress slows the ongoing joke has been sending him 330i coupes on Craigslist. “You know you can get this drivetrain already in a BMW.”

The newest BMW I ever had before this was my 92 525it/5. These e9x's are sweet cars! But we all want to find out what they can do with half a ton shaved off...So why not both? haha

*IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH AN ADMIN OR MODERATOR WHO CAN ADD A SUB-FORUM FOR THIS ENGINE... I'D LIKE TO PRESENT MY CASE*

The second post in this thread bought this up, but it seemed like a big ask at the time. We're approaching the number of posts in the S38 sub-forum *just in this post* and I'd LOVE to start getting this stuff sorted out into stickies for each system (Cooling, wiring, mounting, intakes, etc).

We could also start to break out build threads for the (at least) four cars that are going, because I bet this is getting confusing if you don't know everyone.

I'm crazy jealous of that e91... Trevbot kindly forgot to remind everyone that I sold this engine already in a BMW once already.

I can ask the R3V HMIC to look over our case. I'm sure the Kswap nerds have made a similar request by now.

Its quite a ride! I will let you know when the e91 gets too small for us, kid, stroller, and 2 dogs. Who knows, it could be tomorrow! Sure beats a damn mk5 jetta though, Byeeee
You owned an e9x, but it was weighed down by 50 airbags, 500lb seats, and 11 speakers. You didnt see the potential then.

My goal with Habla for the time being is to delay him as long as possible to probe him for detailed pictures of factory installations... he's already done me one favor by posting that underhood shot and reminding me that the wiring tray goes RIGHT over the middle of the engine. I was scratching my head last night trying to figure out how the factory routing worked behind the engine... and this morning I realized that it DIDN'T, which leaves me with that unsightly braid-covered PCV hose hanging over the top of the intake (it connects to the boot just in front of the butterfly valve. It's hidden under the cowl of the e90, but I'm going to have to find a replacement and snake it somewhere else.

LOL I have no problem being delayed by you, remodel projects, or constantly keeping my 9 month old son from crawling to the fireplace while screaming eagle calls. Not to worry. And I have 2 specimens I can photograph. One early, one late. But I wont be taking the wagon apart unless I have to...install a 3 stage manifold :)

[hoveringuy]

I thought I was going to be Mr. Awesome by mounting my hardline and putting the radiator back in with MILES of clearance, except the radiator outlet hose elbow wants to be right where my short, direct connection between the thermostat and the hardline is...

No amount of fiddling with different hoses worked, so I need to go back to the original thermostat with the different outlet, the original hose for the 330, and then cut the pipe outlet and rotate it 120 degrees, then it will clear fine.

I suppose that's still progress because now I know how NOT to do it...

[hubcapboy]

Yes the small 90 degree elbow with a heater plug held on with 2 torx screws on the back of the intake. How long have you had your engine for, the recall came out a few years ago so it may have been replaced before you got it.

It’s a 2006. I’ve only had it for... I don’t want to talk about it but I think it’s two years now lololololol.

I’m fairly confident someone has had the intake manifold off before I did. Usually on the recalls they’ll change the part number so I’ll check it the next time I have the intake manifold off (probably to lift the engine in). Thanks for the heads up.

[Caperix]

Yes the small 90 degree elbow with a heater plug held on with 2 torx screws on the back of the intake. How long have you had your engine for, the recall came out a few years ago so it may have been replaced before you got it.

[hubcapboy]

Make sure to replace the pcv elbow on the intake, they are under a recall for melting. I have seen some bad enough to damage the intake manifold.
With the swap parts being developed is everything based around the early n52? I know the differences are minimal but things like the different pcv setup on the latter n52k could make oil pan development easier as it no longer needs the drain. Is the ews delete tune only for msv70 or will it work on msv80 as well?

Help me nail down which part you mean by the PCV elbow. The small heating element that’s opposite the butterfly? I cleaned and inspected mine before reassembling and it looked new, but I’ll take a closer look if that’s the one you’re talking about.

Hoveringuy has a late/plastic, I have an early/magnesium. The drain was definitely another step for my oil pan, but I just drilled a hole and plumbed it into roughly the same location. The late works much better for anyone switching to the n54 intake because they won’t have anywhere to *put* the early PCV system.

[Nowayman]

I’ll be joining this thread/starting my own shortly. We definitely need a sub forum for this engine! It’s going in my vert👍