Ok, so I bought a '97 M3 parts car recently, it's mostly complete- the engine bay is intact and undamaged- but the PO kept the ECU- he said he recently had it reprogrammed by Dinan and he was gonna sell it to offset some of the $$ he lost when he totalled the car.
I'd really like to run the car before I pull the engine, just to test everything out. The way I understand it, to put this engine in another car (i.e.- E30), I would need to convert it back to OBDI with an OBDI engine harness and ECU (like a -413 red label or -413 silver label with EWS bypassing chip from Turner or EAT).
My questions are:
1- would I be correct in telling the PO that the ECU he has is virtually worthless (to anyone but me) because it would have to be reprogrammed to work in another car- the Dinan software he paid for is only useful if used in the car that I now own?
2- what are my options as far as ECU's to plug up and test the engine, etc? I was thinking of asking the PO if I could rent/borrow the ECU that came from the car just to test- and give it back to him when done. The way I understand it (as mentioned above) It would not work to just plug up an OBDI ECU to the existing harness- is that correct?
3- if I get the original ECU with Dinan programming, how much of a PITA would it be to use in another car (E30)? Keep in mind I have the whole car with ignition and original key- can I stick this in the E30 somehow? Or should I just screw it and find an OBDI engine harness and ECU and be done with it?
I know these questions have probably been asked- I searched the engine swap forums and the rest of the subforums, but did not find the specific info I need. Thanks for any info- as you can probably tell, I'm a total noob when it comes to this swap.
Bret.
I'd really like to run the car before I pull the engine, just to test everything out. The way I understand it, to put this engine in another car (i.e.- E30), I would need to convert it back to OBDI with an OBDI engine harness and ECU (like a -413 red label or -413 silver label with EWS bypassing chip from Turner or EAT).
My questions are:
1- would I be correct in telling the PO that the ECU he has is virtually worthless (to anyone but me) because it would have to be reprogrammed to work in another car- the Dinan software he paid for is only useful if used in the car that I now own?
2- what are my options as far as ECU's to plug up and test the engine, etc? I was thinking of asking the PO if I could rent/borrow the ECU that came from the car just to test- and give it back to him when done. The way I understand it (as mentioned above) It would not work to just plug up an OBDI ECU to the existing harness- is that correct?
3- if I get the original ECU with Dinan programming, how much of a PITA would it be to use in another car (E30)? Keep in mind I have the whole car with ignition and original key- can I stick this in the E30 somehow? Or should I just screw it and find an OBDI engine harness and ECU and be done with it?
I know these questions have probably been asked- I searched the engine swap forums and the rest of the subforums, but did not find the specific info I need. Thanks for any info- as you can probably tell, I'm a total noob when it comes to this swap.
Bret.
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