Hey there guys, the deeper I've been diving into the LS swap (on my wife's 1987 325i) the more I've been pushing off this interior wiring lol. I've gotten the engine side done but inside is a DISASTER. Previous owner (I was told) replaced the fuse/relay box by cutting it out and crimping all the wires together on the new one. I've been working to trace all the wires and so far I think I've gotten most of the dash lighting and tach stuff done, as well as HVAC controls and window controls. I feel like I am seeing double with some of the harnesses that are just cut and not linked to anything. Was wondering if anyone has any picture reference or anything for these wires. I looked through the wiring diagram on e30 zone and it seems like there are a lot of the same wires given the color coding on the diagram. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
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You've downloaded the wiring book for your car?
Factory splice locations are at 8000-2 onwards.
If you run an OCR program on that PDF you can search by splice location and it'll show you what is all in each part of the harness.
And remember wire colour codes are in german! -
Thanks for the reply. I'll throw that into adobe and see what I can scrounge up. I did not know about the colors. That probably explains a lot lol. I didn't have another e30 harness for reference so I was just making sure that this was not a half-a***d attempt at merging two different harnesses which would result in some duplicate stuff that's not needed (been there done that). I'm patching the e30 harness into the stock LS ECM so trying to make sure everything lines up and is functional interior wise. Standalone might have been an easier move here..... but hindsight is 20/20. Subaru guy by trade, so it's a little bit of a learning curve on these older BMW's for meYou've downloaded the wiring book for your car?
Factory splice locations are at 8000-2 onwards.
If you run an OCR program on that PDF you can search by splice location and it'll show you what is all in each part of the harness.
And remember wire colour codes are in german!
I'm going to try to finish out this project engine side this weekend and then try to dive into this next weekend. Thanks for the info, anything helps!Comment
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You're welcome!
Have you thought about making a build thread? Would love to see the swap updates and history.Comment
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Yeah I've been documenting the basic LS e30 swap necessities on YouTube. Just haven't been posting more videos or else where because I've been battling some other non-e30 issues.
Turns out when in doubt trust yourself and you won't have to pull the motor 3 times for zero oil pressure. Melling had a measurement diagram for pickup tube diameter and I followed it resulting in the o-ring not doing Jack s***. Swapped it out for a green o ring. Third time's a charm, we have oil pressure while cranking, dash lights, head lights, electronics etc.
Currently wrapping my head around fueling issues right now. Previous owner took all the relays out and chopped up the harness, but I am hearing the relay click on my Wiring Specialties relay box, zero pump noise though. Traced GN/VI to the pump under driver's side back seat and all is good. There has to be a disconnect somewhere between the fuse box and that wire unless I am missing something.... Thought maybe the c101 was pinned wrong but I see it goes into the fuse box as a different color and comes out the GN/VI I am trackingComment
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UPDATE: I guess double check other companies work. I narrowed the issue down to the c101 engine side that wiring specialties made. A couple pins are one pin off. I'm assuming this is due to variances in the early '87 325e wiring?
The engine starts and runs now with the major wiring taken care of (ignition, spark, etc) Interior dash lightning and all exterior lights work, as well as coolant temp.
IF YOU WANT AN EASY COOLANT TEMP SENSOR WITHOUT TAPPING THE HEAD, ORDER THIS. SAME PITCH AND THREAD AND WILL WORK WITH WIRING HARNESS.
With that said, current checklist is:
-Get tachometer working (the engine side harness claims plug and play for the tach but I have not gotten it yet. Even tapping into black wire on back of cluster blue plug)
-Bleed willwoods 4-piston calipers (Can't for the life of me get any pedal pressure despite fluid flowing through all new calipers)
-Tackle the windows/unloader relay. (Windows worked with the c101 plug but noticed that it was smoking and started melting the wire. Tried grounding it seperated from the c101 on the actual k5 relay and it smoked that ground as well. Windows work when grounded, but cannot get it to not melt the wires when connected so have left it off for now.
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It's Alive!!
Nothing like a first start after an engine build.
I've had enough trying experiences bleeding brakes and clutches over the years that I now own both a Motive pressure bleeder and a Vacuum bleeder. May be worth looking at.
From what I can see in your video, you don't have an OEM ABS system in there. No personal experience but I've heard those can cause problems bleeding the system.
Sounds like you have a dead short between power and ground for your windows / unloader. I would suggest making a fused test/jumper wire for further testing before you have a fire.Comment
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