Okay so we all know that E30 OEM oxygen sensors are quite spendy. From Blunt they are around $75 and Pelican Parts wants $100 for one!
Some of you guys may have heard of the mustang oxygen sensor mod, but that only works for early model cars with 3 wire oxygen sensors. Well us late model guys have a solution to!
What you need:
- 1997 Ford 5.4 liter V8 oxygen sensor - roughly $45. I bought an NGK one because I have heard they are of a better quality
- Old oxygen sensor
- Electrical Multitool
- Butt Splices (heatshrink is optional)
- Electrical Tape
- Lighter (for heatshrink)
So step 1 is obviously to remove your old oxygen sensor off the car. Unplug it from its connector (just unscrew it) and grab a 22mm wrench.
Step 2: Take the factory connector and cut the oxygen sensor off. Kiss it bye bye.. its trash now! Also slide off the insulation, its trash too
Step 3: Do the same to the new (Ford) sensor. However instead cut the wires closest to the electrical connector (its white). Slide the insulation off and throw it away too.
Step 4: Pick one wire to start with. I used the gray wire. Crimp on a butt splice to this wire. Dont forget to slide heatshrink on before you crimp the connector on! Pick your second wire and cut it to length so when another buttjoint is on it the side with nothing is very close to the other's side that has a wire going into it. This is hard to explain, but basically we are staggering the butt joints, so that there isnt a big clump in the new harness. Do this for all 4 wires.
Pic of what I am talking about:
Step 5: Be careful here! The OEM sensor I measured to be 15 inches total of wire, we are going to match that (its the perfect length). Measure the new oxygen sensors wires (should be 12 inches or so), and figure out what length you need to snip the wires of the old connector's harness to. Dont cut anything on the connector's harness yet!
Step 6: 1 wire at a time cut and splice the old connector's harness on. In a perfect world when holding the new o2 sensor in one hand, and the old connector in the other all the wires spliced together should be the same length. Splice each color together. For example, gray to gray and black to black. The white wires dont matter if they get mixed up.
Step 7: Double check all your connections.
Step 8: If you used heatshrink, take your lighter and shrink it all!
Step 9: Wrap the entire harness in electrical tape to make it look nice!
Step 10 (optional): Take some electrical contact cleaner and spray out the old connector, it is pretty old!
There we go. Total cost of this project is roughly $45, pretty much half of the OEM sensor.
All oxygen sensors read the same. The BMW E30 OEM part only costs so much because the connector on the end of it. Bosch makes OEM sensors as well as universal ones and says they are interchangeable. Good link about it here - Bosch Oxygen Sensor Brochure.
After installing this oxygen sensor I immediately noticed that my weird throttle hesitation issue had been fixed. I have not driven the car yet, but will edit this post after I do.
Old oxygen sensor:
New:
Some of you guys may have heard of the mustang oxygen sensor mod, but that only works for early model cars with 3 wire oxygen sensors. Well us late model guys have a solution to!
What you need:
- 1997 Ford 5.4 liter V8 oxygen sensor - roughly $45. I bought an NGK one because I have heard they are of a better quality
- Old oxygen sensor
- Electrical Multitool
- Butt Splices (heatshrink is optional)
- Electrical Tape
- Lighter (for heatshrink)
So step 1 is obviously to remove your old oxygen sensor off the car. Unplug it from its connector (just unscrew it) and grab a 22mm wrench.
Step 2: Take the factory connector and cut the oxygen sensor off. Kiss it bye bye.. its trash now! Also slide off the insulation, its trash too
Step 3: Do the same to the new (Ford) sensor. However instead cut the wires closest to the electrical connector (its white). Slide the insulation off and throw it away too.
Step 4: Pick one wire to start with. I used the gray wire. Crimp on a butt splice to this wire. Dont forget to slide heatshrink on before you crimp the connector on! Pick your second wire and cut it to length so when another buttjoint is on it the side with nothing is very close to the other's side that has a wire going into it. This is hard to explain, but basically we are staggering the butt joints, so that there isnt a big clump in the new harness. Do this for all 4 wires.
Pic of what I am talking about:
Step 5: Be careful here! The OEM sensor I measured to be 15 inches total of wire, we are going to match that (its the perfect length). Measure the new oxygen sensors wires (should be 12 inches or so), and figure out what length you need to snip the wires of the old connector's harness to. Dont cut anything on the connector's harness yet!
Step 6: 1 wire at a time cut and splice the old connector's harness on. In a perfect world when holding the new o2 sensor in one hand, and the old connector in the other all the wires spliced together should be the same length. Splice each color together. For example, gray to gray and black to black. The white wires dont matter if they get mixed up.
Step 7: Double check all your connections.
Step 8: If you used heatshrink, take your lighter and shrink it all!
Step 9: Wrap the entire harness in electrical tape to make it look nice!
Step 10 (optional): Take some electrical contact cleaner and spray out the old connector, it is pretty old!
There we go. Total cost of this project is roughly $45, pretty much half of the OEM sensor.
All oxygen sensors read the same. The BMW E30 OEM part only costs so much because the connector on the end of it. Bosch makes OEM sensors as well as universal ones and says they are interchangeable. Good link about it here - Bosch Oxygen Sensor Brochure.
After installing this oxygen sensor I immediately noticed that my weird throttle hesitation issue had been fixed. I have not driven the car yet, but will edit this post after I do.
Old oxygen sensor:
New:
good job cellz
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