MegaSquirt time.. Need help

[ProjectEs]

Alright, so i have a '86 325es I just finished swapping a 885 head on.
Now I'm trying to figure out how to go about Megasquirt-ing it. I don't know if i want to go plug and play diy, or just MS2 diy, and i had a couple of questions i hope you guys can help with.

Is spending the extra $200ish really worth getting the ability to just plug into the existing harness?

What sensors are needed/ recommend?

[nomansland92]

The plug and play is very convenient, but the diy kit is nice because your free to add any sensor or output or want and you not limited to the stock wiring harness head connector.

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[Kershaw]

Blueapplesoda's megasquirt kit was incredibly simple to install. There is definitely something to be said for basically walking up to your car, swapping the DME, and starting it the first time.

It was worth the extra money to me.

That said, I am a little sad that I didn't build it and I'm fully confident I could have. But I was chasing some running issues and didn't want to introduce more unknowns.

[mbhill92]

I purchased the MSPNP2 and I have loved it so far. It was very simple to install and it does have 21+ outputs, which some are programmable for you to install auxiliary equipment.

[achtung-e30]

so op if you have an 1986 "E" you MAY have a 35 pin ecm connector and there is no pnp for this
if so not sure what it would take to keep your harness and add ms or even how viable this would be
the other option would be to install an "I" harness ?

[achtung-e30]

i can tell you that i have a 1987 325e with a build date of 6-87 and im 100% eta complete with eta head 35 pin harness and motronic basic 1.0 so as far as i know no plug and play for me with that harness -
i am however in a similar situation though where i would like to go MS but keeping my stock harness in tact so that i can switch back and forth as needed particularly given my programing skills ...plus i have some mods on the radar and my thoughts are to MS the engine in its stock state, assure a proper tune, work out any bugs that may arise then incramentaly mod and adapt the MS acordingly so as not to get myself into (much) trouble

[nando]

it can definitely be done, as far as wiring goes. One issue though is the crank sensor - I don't know if any version of megasquirt supports the stock eta crank wheel yet (too many teeth, I think).

but, you could swap the crank damper and bolt on a 60-2 wheel from a later car (might require different pulleys). You could leave the eta sensor for running the stock computer, and hook up the 60-2 sensor for your Megasquirt.

[achtung-e30]

If u like ur harness u can keep ur harness

Ok thanks for reply - so if I understand this correctly I would rig up a 35 pin ms adapter as well as wire in the crank position sensor directly to the ms box - ok I have all the engine parts in stock to accomplish this - from that point are there other sensors that I need to wire in a similar fashion as well ?

[nando]

you need a TPS (variable), but that's about it. It should be able to use all of the other sensors (there's not that many, lol - coolant, IAT.. uhm..).

well, you want a wideband to tune fuel with.

[achtung-e30]

ok got it ty just got to research the pin outs ect - now going forward if i utilize my old motronic 1.0 (vs the 1.3) harness would i, in your opinion, be left at a disadvantage with respect to engine managment under current condtions ? or future mods ? (885 head, itb, wasted spark, ect) thanks again