E34 535i Automatic Harness

[Jean]

I just pulled a complete harness from an automatic 535i with a build date of 10/88 and it's got a regular 20 pin C101 vs. a 25 pin that I have on my harness..... to compare the wires/pins with my harness. Now I know for a fact that the the black/yellow and green/black go to the starter.

The automatic harness does have some extra connectors near the ecu area, a 4 pin single row white plug, a black single row 4 pin, a 3 row 11 pin plug and a dual pin plug connected to what looks like a temp sensor INSIDE the area where ECU and relays are... I have no idea what that is....any ideas on this?

Has anyone been able to use an Automatic harness or is it pain in the ass to do???

[HandalE30]

I used the auto harness and no its not a pain in the ass too do it, the only thing is that the tps plug is a 6 pin round one so if you use the manual tps ull have to throw wires from the auto tps plug to power a manual tps plug. (or just cut them or use the autotps)

ill go check in my car about the other plugs (post later) its been a while since I installed the harness. :)

[Jean]

Please, that would be great. My concern is a bunch of other plugs as mentioned about at the end of he harness near the ecu....

[Doughnut]

I used the auto harness and no its not a pain in the ass too do it, the only thing is that the tps plug is a 6 pin round one so if you use the manual tps ull have to throw wires from the auto tps plug to power a manual tps plug. (or just cut them or use the autotps)

ill go check in my car about the other plugs (post later) its been a while since I installed the harness. :)

You can use the 6 pin "auto" tps with no worries whatsoever.

[HandalE30]

You can use the 6 pin "auto" tps with no worries whatsoever.

yup I used it on mine and it was usefull in the end because it was needed to get a continuous throttle position for my piggybag. I said it in my post before at the end between parentesis (or use the auto tps)

The thing is that he got the wiring from n auto car but not the engine, so maby he has a 3 pin tps on his. only saying he can wire the 6pin plug to work on the 3 pin tps with no problem. ;)

[gregslow318i]

so would that first adapter I sent you would work with this harness them?

[HandalE30]

Read below... cant delete this post, dont know how. :P

[HandalE30]

oh and I couldnt check for the other plugs today but will tommorow but as far as I remember I didnt use any of those. i think one was for the auto gearbox ( the black one about 8 pin one gets some signls from the auto tps) and the other is in fact a temp sensor and it reads the temperature of the body (or air in the body correct me if Im wrong not sure 100/) BMW calls it Temperature Switch and some E30s had that exact same sensor inside the compartment underneath the passengers side black grill by the wipers (where the air goes in for the ac when not in recirculate). Ill check it out tommorow Im vewy sleepy.... :(

[Jean]

so would that first adapter I sent you would work with this harness them?

I learned that early e34s had 20 pin and later ones switched to 25 pin (around year 91)...

I pulled the automatic tranny to confirm the wires etc...since it had 3 or 4 extra connectors on the passenger side I wasn't sure if it would work for me so I didn't purchase it. Plus I had to "free" the harness from that fuel injector plastic piece.... I wonder what the trick is to removing/reinstalling it w/o braking that? Anyone?

Someone on ebay is selling a 5 speed harness from a 91 535i that is 100% uncut, I sent an email to verify if it's a 20 pin or 25 pin plug as it's not clear in the picture.

[HandalE30]

which fuel injector plastic piece? you mean the plastic cover that is used ontop of the fuel rail? if you mean that one, the way I remove/reinstall is to remove-> just pull it from the front of the engine to the back, the injector plug clips wont break. TO Install-> remove the upper part of the cover with care not to break the clips and press, when mounting, on each injector plug directly ontop.

Oh and what did you mean by "Plus I had "free" the harness from that fuel injector plastic piece" did the m30 harness com a removable injector piece like the m20´s late one? Hope it helps.

[Jean]

which fuel injector plastic piece? you mean the plastic cover that is used ontop of the fuel rail? if you mean that one, the way I remove/reinstall is to remove-> just pull it from the front of the engine to the back, the injector plug clips wont break. TO Install-> remove the upper part of the cover with care not to break the clips and press, when mounting, on each injector plug directly ontop.

Oh and what did you mean by "Plus I had "free" the harness from that fuel injector plastic piece" did the m30 harness com a removable injector piece like the m20´s late one? Hope it helps.

Yeah, the plastic cover. I removed the top piece of the cover, then removed the bolts holding the cover to the fuel rail. Then removed each fuel injector clip, it was a pita. So I ended up with a naked harness w/o the plastic covers. I didn't know it would pull like you described w/o braking!

[HandalE30]

jaja yup yup yup you can. actually I think they are supposed to come of like that cause it would be so dumb to make clips that have to be taken off in such a pita place. ive taken the cover off atleast 7 times now and have never broken anything.

but anyways, in the end i had to take out all of the cables inside the cover just like you so I could unroll some of them so my harness could be pulled further into the glove box compartment (remember the e34 ecu was not inside the cabin so the harness is shorter) and fliped the ecu so the socket would face the firewall and placed the ecu in the alternate mounting holes so it fit ok. (just in case you hadnt noiced the harness wouldnt reach the ecu normally)

[HandalE30]

ok, im back now, went to check in my car but the extra plugs were isolated and mummyfied with electric tape so went to a friend house to se another m30 harness.

(harness from an auto m30 which I adapted to work on the m20)
FORGET ABOUT THEM YOU DONT NEED THEM. 100% SURE.
I have wired 2 m30´s now and an m20 m1.3 with thw same auto m30 harness and believe Me you dont need them. (you could still use the temp switch and mount it in the original e30 place mentioned before)
Hope the info helped.
Regards
Oliver :)




some more pics I took today :D havent work in a long time in my car now :(

[LowR3V'in]

Funny how bmw put those plastic pieces on the throttle
to hide it (for some reason).

"but it makes it look so modern" NOT.

[Jean]

HandalE30 - you are the man! Thank you so much for doing that!

LowR3V'in - maybe to keep the dust/dirt from getting to the throttle body mechanism/cables?