My 333i Swap: The beginning

[JuanPabloBongto]

A blumpkin is when you get a blowjob while you are on the crapper.

I've always called that one a "hot Karl"

tomayto, tomahto...

[Doughnut]

I've always called that one a "hot Karl"

tomayto, tomahto...

Ugh, gross! hahaha

My m30 swap is done, just little fiddly stuff to do now and I should be back to daily driving the old thing!

[chadthestampede]

Alright guys, a little update.

I was able to work on the car for the first time in a while today, and I had the parts from joe, so I went about converting to 1.3. It went pretty well and took all day, I had to rewire and pull the radiator out too.

So I got everything back in and tried it out, and it starts! Better yet it stays started and revs!! YES! :)

It idles super rough though, it seems to skip quite a bit, so I figured I'd attach the O2 sensor, and when I did it wouldn't start at all. I then unplugged it and tried and it still wouldn't start, and then the battery died.

I had to come back to my apartment because I got a bunch of school shit to do, so i won't be able to work on it till this coming weekend, but I'm so close I can taste it!

I was wondering what you guys think might be wrong. My dad says he recently thought the alternator might be bad, so im not getitng a charge (which would explain the battery dieing) I also just hooked up the cps, didn't really measure the distance between the crank and it to make sure its right so I have to do that. Other than that I'm open to suggestions...

[Doughnut]

Have you made sure your blue excite wire from the alternator is connected properly at the c101??

Get the engine running again and check for charge at the battery with a multimeter.

Which colour wire did you use for the o2 sensor and where is the wire located? Also what o2 sensor are you using? 3 wire of single wire?? I'm also running 1.3 motronic and need your help!!

[chadthestampede]

So I changed the blue wires in the c101, and the alternator seems to be working now.

I started it up and it ran, but again the idle was odd. Instead of a steady rolling idle it seems to idle like the engine is belching exhaust out in spurts, though that may again be a result of not actually having a full exhaust on it.

After a few minutes of running I revved it, it started to skip a little, and then stalled. I proceeded to start it again and it was difficult to start, turning over several times before i had to press the accelerator and finally get it going, but it wasn't revving like before, it was skipping quite a bit and didn't run over 2 or 3 minutes before stalling again.

Could this be anything to do with the spacing on the cps? Or something with the icv? I'm going to do some searching on mye28 but I'm not really sure to do from this point (big surprise)

Besides, my sole goal in making this thread was to make it one of the, if not THE longest m30 swap thread

[Doughnut]

As long as the blue wire on the engine harness is connected to the small terminal on the alternator (battery light will go out on the dash) the battery should be charging.

What wire colour on the harness side is the one for the o2 ecu signal? green with white tracer ring a bell?? could you verifiy if you know?

[chadthestampede]

As long as the blue wire on the engine harness is connected to the small terminal on the alternator (battery light will go out on the dash) the battery should be charging.

What wire colour on the harness side is the one for the o2 ecu signal? green with white tracer ring a bell?? could you verifiy if you know?

yep it's green with a white stripe, I have it labeled as "o2 sensor heater relay" or some such.


I took the car for an ill fated test drive today, for some reason, and got it as far as the end of the driveway before it stalled and while trying to start it i drained the battery again! haha I had to push it back the entire length of the driveway to where I could reach it with a charger. May not seem like much but my driveway is about 500 feet or so long.

I ordered some temp sensors from autohaus, I figure the first step in getting this thing running right is actually getting the sensors for the right car. (I was using the m20 ones)

Realoem also says that the cps is different but I don't know if it's worth changing that since it seems to start.

My oil level sender isn't plugged in either since I have the one for the e23 wiring, but im gonna leave that for now.

[euroshark]

I think the correct sensors will help. I tried swapping sensors from an eta engine to my 533i once and it did not work well at all...

[chadthestampede]

Okay so the latest update. I got new temp sensors, but now the problem seems to be the car doesn't want to start. It turns over but it's definitely missing. I finally got it started by hammering on the throttle, but i could only keep it started by holding the throttle down.

When i opened the throttle all the way, it only revved to like 2000 rpm and stayed there. Now theres no air filter on it yet, so that may be part of the problem, because what helped it start was my dad partially covering the afm.

To clarify: It won't start, and on the seldom occasion that I get it started, it's misfiring lke a mother fucker

So heres the deal, some of these things might be a problem, im just listing everything because im tired of giving half explanations

it has:

-half an exhaust
-m20 cps
-no oil level sender (not plugged in because plug is different)
-m20 wiring harness and spark plug wires
-motronic 1.3 full conversion, including ecu w/ dinan chip, new crank pulley, new temp sensors
-m20 o2 sensor with extended wires
-afm from a 86 535i, i also have another of the same afm, plus a 533i one that i might try
-I have two different throttle bodies with the same electronics, might try one of the others or the one from my m20
-no air filter, but I put one on it didn't make a difference, technically I should be able to start it w/o one
-I cant think of anything else.

I'm starting to think I should have done an m50 swap :(

[Farbin Kaiber]

To be honest, I've only read your last post above in this whole thread, but is your firing order not correct? If it's been covered, don't mind me.

[chadthestampede]

According to the mye28 guys, my problem is likely the injectors.

Unbeknownst to me, the x33i's use low impedance injectors, and motronic 1.3 is built for high impedance. Apparently low impedance injectors can fry the injector driver in the ecu, thus causing a multitude of problems with symptoms similar to mine.

[e30_kid89]

I dont know if this helps but I took all the b35 stuff (well just the front crank wheel), e30 325i sensors+whole harness+computer (from a 88is) and threw em all a m30b34. Works and runs perfectly. I really didn't want to downgrade electronics/not have a CEL. I think you should of done this from the get-go since you have an "I" and most of the electronics availble to you and would be a plug and play. no need to mess with the c101.

I thought it would be a first but looks like its been done before.

[Jean]

Check and/or replace the fpr as well if you haven't already.

[chadthestampede]

I dont know if this helps but I took all the b35 stuff (well just the front crank wheel), e30 325i sensors+whole harness+computer (from a 88is) and threw em all a m30b34. Works and runs perfectly. I really didn't want to downgrade electronics/not have a CEL. I think you should of done this from the get-go since you have an "I" and most of the electronics availble to you and would be a plug and play. no need to mess with the c101.

I thought it would be a first but looks like its been done before.

haha well what I should have done and what I did do are two completely different things. In hindsight, yes, I should have done that and it would have saved me tons of time and money, but I didn't know then what I know now, so i didn't. oh well.

[chadthestampede]

I replaced the injectors, and the result was a MUCH smoother idle.

The problem was it took forever to start. It seems like it's not getting a spark, or getting an intermittent one, because it would turn over and then kick in, and only with the throttle wide open and the afm manually open would it even start. And it wasn't easy to do.

It was running for a few minutes, I pressed the throttle in and it stalled.

I'm going to replace the throttle body with a different one that I have, because I'm suspicious of this one.

Also what is the clearance for the crank position sensor on m30? I have it at 1mm now, since that is what it is for the m20.

Also I think my m30 ecu might be toast. It makes a high pitched whining with the key in the 'on' position, and only after switching it out for the m20 motronic 1.3 ecu was I able to start it.