E30 M30 swap starter problems

[Psygo]

So basically, I've gotten all the stuff connected up, but my starter wont engage properly when in the car, it worked fine with the old m20 ~14 days ago.

I tried taking it out and connecting stuff directly and it engages like it should, but when it's in the car it just seems to be spinning on top of the flywheel.
I took a look at the flywheel and the teeth haven't been damaged in a way that'd block it from getting in there.

could it be a relay that is not that great somewhere?

Guess I should mention that's it's a 320i from 1988 that I'm doing this with.

[LJ851]

Are you using a m20 or m30 starter?

[Psygo]

I believe this is an m30 starter from an e34, but I'd have to admit that I'm not sure.
it's definitely bigger than my m20 starter though.

also I noticed another thing, all the dash lights seem to have died out after I tried the first time.

[cooperman]

DO you have the yellow/black wire hooked to the proper post? It sounds like the solenoid might not be engaging.

[Psygo]

yeah, everything works, I think the problem was that it wasn't getting close enough to the engine and now I ended up fucking the thread on the engine side of things, so I'm not sure what to do now.

[jim325]

I had a problem with a ground wire that inhibits windows and some other stuff while the car is being started. It was not connected and the starter would not spin(or throw out, was a while ago).

I took the starter out, took it all apart and cleand it up, put it back in and same thing. Eventually read about the wire, hooked it upto a ground and boom. Good to go.

With your windows up, start rolling them down and try to start the car. If they don't stop rolling down I bet that's your problem.

Or you could check the battery to make sure it's got good voltage/cca's.

[lukeADE335i]

What flywheel / starter are you running? The M20 stuff won't work on the M30 (trust me, I learned the hard way!) - check the part number on the starter to be sure its for an M30!

The wire Jim325 mentioned sounds like the green / black wire for the unloader relay - if you're not running the small e34 starter that has posts for both the black / yellow & green/black wires (the late M30 starter basically looks like the late M20 starter) then you need to splice the green/black wire into the Black/yellow wire - this energises the unloader relay when the engine turns over.

[Psygo]

so, I finally got the cluster lights working again by putting the starter on tighter?
I'm 100% sure that this is an m30 starter as it's bigger and the gear is bigger than my m20 starter. I also called the guy I bought this off of and he said it's what he used it with.
it sounds like it's closer to grabbing the flywheel now, but still not close enough.

new starter time?


also no power windows, would the sunroof work?

[Psygo]

figured out it's actually an e32 starter, how much work is putting an e34 starter on there?

I guess this is a good time to mention it's an m30b30.

[G-Man the Visionary]

Make sure the big wire from the battery is hooked up...

[Psygo]

turns out it's an m70 starter...

[Doughnut]

turns out it's an m70 starter...

Pffft, wtf!

I can only assume the flywheels and or pinions are different on the m70 - m30 engines.

Once you get the correct starter motor be sure to correctly hook up the wiring for the unloader relays and the solenoid wire.

[Psygo]

supposedly the m70 starter should work, but I don't think it has as long a throw as m30 starters.

either way, I found an m30 starter, one of the 1,7kw ones, put it on there, turn the key.
'click', and no spin.

turns out the starter jams the engine?
I guess somebody's put some retardedly big flywheel on there or it's put on sideways or something.

does anyone have ideas?

found this old thread:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=133493

gonna try to put on my m20 starter and see what it does...
that's what i get for making the mistake of buying a 'complete' swap.

[lukeADE335i]

Does the engine have an M30 flywheel? The M20 flywheel has a slightly larger diameter & doesn't work. Definitely won't work with the M30 starter either.

[Psygo]

seems like an m30 flywheel, gonna take an angle grinder to the 'new' m30 starter I bought and see what happens, hopefully it works.

but like I said I'm a dumbass, I bought a 'complete' m30 swap with mounts, driveshaft and everything.
so being impatient to get my e30 on the road I rip out the m20 as fast as I can, don't even look over the m30, and just throw it in expecting it to work.

silly me.