'89 325i M50 swap *Huge Update 22/12/11*

[kingston]

Aaron, it's looking great! Man, I wish my swap was going this quickly! Keep up the good work!

[325ix]

arent those the ix arches on what your goal pic is?

do work man!
looks like you got a lot of FUN ahead!

No, the red car has either ie or eurostop 2002 style flares.

I want the car phone! How much for it?

[SkiFree]

No, the red car has either ie or eurostop 2002 style flares.

I want the car phone! How much for it?

They are IE turbo flares (of which Ary sells as well) "turbo" because they are modeled after the flares found on the 2002 turbo.

Pretty cool to have a dad willing to help out, I bet he's probably enjoying it almost as much as you.

[A_Whelan]

Thanks for the comments! Really helps me along when I hit a dead end. And thanks again to everyone on the BBM group and the forums. I was posting pictures like mad for the past few days and got a lot of quick responses.

As for the car phone I took a quick look and it looks like it's routed under the carpet and I didn't really want to mess with that. I don't have the car now but maybe PM and offer and I'll decide if it's worth it. I also need to check to see how much of the system is in tact.

For now this will be a qucik update without pictures, sorry :(

I had to go back to my apartment which is 8 hours away because I only had so much time off of work. I thought I had all of the parts but we were missing 7 nuts for the intake manifold and I didn't get gaskets. So I almost had it. I also ordered a reverse light switch for the transmission because that cracked off when removing the M20. Everything was pretty much back together except for some sensors and hoses (manifold has 3 or 4 sensors and a few hoses) and we are still figuring out where some senors go. I'll probably post up a wtf is this soon ahah.

My laptop is toast and I have one on order, once that is in I'll upload the pictures and do a proper update. By then I might have the car and i'll post pictures and a short vid of the first startup, hopefully with straight headers.

Thanks agian, cheers
-Aaron

[A_Whelan]

The last update was August 9th and I've had a few threads about questions in between, mostly about electronic stuff. To get everything up to date I'll let you know what's been happening.

The last time I was home I had a few missing parts and ran out of time. I put them on order and left to go back to university for another term and to work. When I left my father received the parts and then cranked it over to find out there was no fuel or spark. We checked relays, the pump, grounding different things, etc. to no avail.

I got home 36 hours ago and moved the car back into the shed to start work again. We went through things that he already troubleshot (does that word even have a past tense?) and we started by acknowledging the fact that the fuel pump would not received 12 volts when the car cranked. From there I started checking sensor wire colors and we decided one of those were mixed up.

Digging through the EMT didn't work before and I wasn't going to go back to it, I just spin my wheels because I find them hard to read. I am 22 and this is my first car so this is all a learning process, I am going to start to research some electric diagrams and how to read them. With that in mind I started to record the sensor colors to ask someone here on the forums if they were hooked up right. While doing this I saw that the crank sensor and throttle body sensor had the same color wires, black and yellow. I was told before to switch two sensors, the knock sensor and I think the crack sensor? I ended up switching the throttle body sensor and the crank sensor (I think) and got in the car, cracked it over and fuel started spitting out the line. SUCCESS :D

I then connected the fuel lines up to the fuel rail and pulled a spark plug out to see if it had a spark (because that was the other problem). To my surprise and delight we also had spark, perfect! The next step was to put the plug back in to see if it would fire, but alas it did not. The reason is probably related to a vacuum leak because we have a few things unconnected and a few parts that I'm not sure are necessary or not. With that side I'll move onto my questions for this post.

I guess the first problem is with the KAMotors cold air intake. I need to relocated the power steering fluid reservoir but I'm not sure where, and since this is a daily driver, I do not want to run without power steering. Ideas?


Also I think the elbow coming off of the throttle body, I think is from the m20. It connects to the throttle body but the MAF can't connect to it, the end is too small to fit over it. Is this the M20 throttle body and if so should it be able to connect to the MAF or do I need an E36 elbow?

The next questions is about three parts. From left to right I'm not sure what they are or where they go, can anyone help out. I didn't peel back the cover to see the wire colors but I can if needed.


This is a hose that comes off the top of the valve cover, is this just an overflow? I have my doubts but I'm not sure where it goes and I couldn't find it on RealOem


Next is a part with one line coming from the bottom of the throttle body and I forget where the other one went. Does this just get placed in some spot or does that brass looking point go somewhere and what is the part called?


Then there is a rounder part with a hose coming out and two wires going in. The wire colors were red/white and brown. I did a charcoal canister delete and I think this may be from it, but again, this is a learning process and it doesn't look familiar to me.


I also ordered two SPAL fans a while back and I'm not sure if I am going to use them. One is 16 inch and one is 14 inch, both are curved blades and one is a push and the other is a puller. I may end up selling one and putting the pusher on the front of my rad to get rid of the fan and clutch on the engine.


I also need to take the o2 sensor and put it back in the new exhaust, I need to find out where this wires into


Lastly, I have some left over parts from the swap and I'm not really sure what they are worth. Because of my location (an island in eastern Canada) I may let most go for free, if buyer pays shipping and maybe $5 for my time. So I'll post pictures of parts and I was looking for some opinions on what the stuff is worth

Oil cooler, almost perfect condition minus the dirt and literally 3 or 4 bent fins. Lines aren't in 100% condition but still pretty good.

[IMG]http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/5525/img8358h.jpg[/IMG

E36 pickup.. I think


M20 spark plug wires


E36 oil pickup


M20 Rad, a few months old when I bought it and in good condition


ECU


E36 Starter


M20 motor mounts, one is a bit squished, the other is fine


E36 and M20 mount arms (forget which is which)




Transmission brace, Getrag 260


M20 Throttle Body


M20 Flywheel


Random Hoses


Two pulleys, 8/10 condition


I also have a lot of extra nuts and bolts, wires, parts of the harness, etc. I think the only thing that's worth anything is the oil cooler but anything that is worth money will help towards the build is good.


In conclusion I had a great day working on the car. There is a bit of work left to get this going. Regardless if it starts or not I won't be driving it during the winter. I'm planning on saving money and doing new wheels, coil overs, fender flares, skid plate, two new seats (diver and passenger) and some regular maintenance.

A big thanks goes out to the r3v community for the responses in the other threads as well as the BBM r3v group for being there. Getting this far has lifted a huge weight from my mind knowing that my car isn't going to die by fire from frustration. Maybe I'll get to take it out for a quick spin before I head back for my last term in university.

Thank you all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
Aaron

[blazinxpk]

looking good aaron my boy!

check these wheels out. you might like them.

http://www.nlmotoring.com/XXR-531-Wheels-s/1674.htm

btw this is Z from the bbm.

[Zic]

The next questions is about three parts. From left to right I'm not sure what they are or where they go, can anyone help out. I didn't peel back the cover to see the wire colors but I can if needed.


Left; looks like the o2 sensor plug
Middle; don't know sorry
Right; its the "don't know the english word" but re-using the oil fumes system.

This is a hose that comes off the top of the valve cover, is this just an overflow? I have my doubts but I'm not sure where it goes and I couldn't find it on RealOem


Used for the re-using oil fumes system. it all connects under the intake manifold, take the manifold off and do it again.

Next is a part with one line coming from the bottom of the throttle body and I forget where the other one went. Does this just get placed in some spot or does that brass looking point go somewhere and what is the part called?


Again, don't know the english word, but it bolts up to the stock air filter box.


Then there is a rounder part with a hose coming out and two wires going in. The wire colors were red/white and brown. I did a charcoal canister delete and I think this may be from it, but again, this is a learning process and it doesn't look familiar to me.


its used in conjunction with the charcoal canister.

I also need to take the o2 sensor and put it back in the new exhaust, I need to find out where this wires into


hooks up to the wire you are holding in the top picture.

Random Hoses


you might need some of those hoses for the oil fumes system

A common fault people do is hooking the fuel lines up incorrectly, check if you got it right.

[A_Whelan]

Thanks for the reply. A few questions with regarding your answers.

The charcoal canister piece has a sensor running to it, I assume I can delete it? This would mean the only wires running to that area would be the oxygen sensor which I could tuck away easier if I didn't need the other sensor. And I know that hose is a vent for fumes from the fuel tank, I will tuck that away in a safe spot.

The piece that hooks up to the stock air box, does that fit anywhere on the M50 or do I need to modify something?

Going to remove my cruise control unit now and move the power steering to make room for the intake. Then going to remove the manifold and find a place for those hoses.

Thanks again, Zic!

[Zic]

I dont know about the wire delete because i never done that before.

The brass thing has engine coolant running through it, and going back to the throttle body. i would just mount it as close to the air filter cone as you can.

The car had cruse control? the the wires you are holding in the first picture might have something to do with it, also that thing with the arrow on it.

*edit


Think the part you are holding, is that thing above nr15. witch is a part of cruise control.

oh and happy to help.

*edit, edit.
similar to this.


sorry cant help you more, never worked on a cruise control m50

[A_Whelan]

Merry Christmas to everyone, Happy Hanukkah, etc. to everyone.

I think the part with the brass tip is part #11 on here, but thank you for the post because it got me looking on the right track.



Didn't get as much done as I had hoped. I think I have the wrong elbow to connect to the throttle body, it may be the one from the m20 and the MAF won't fit in, so I'll order another stock one or look at upgrades. What needs to go in there and are there any advantages with something like the bimmerworld intake boots?



The last comment is about trying to start it. There is still a vacuum leak and I'm triyng to figure out what to block and what to leave open. There is a inch wide hold in the back of the throttle body and I can't see anything on realoem that would go there. Going to scan a bit more but would anyone know what it is? The hose with the ridges on the top right of the image below fits in there, it's from the m20. Anyone know what it attaches to?



Thanks again for the post Zic. Have a safe and happy holiday everyone! More updates tomorrow.
Aaron

[TimKninja]

Make sure you have the fuel lines on right. I had the same problem, my lines ended up being on backwords. After i switched them around (the line from the filter goes directly to the front of the rail, return line hooks up to the pressure regulator) it fired up after cranking for about 5 seconds.

[Exodus_2pt0]

What are the wheels in the third pic of the OP called? They look like steelies? me likey

[A_Whelan]

Supply to the front and return in the back, made sure that was right before I cranked it. I will double check to make sure the return is going to the pressure regulator. Thanks for the post, TimKninja

[A_Whelan]

@Exodus_2pt0
They are called Diamond Racing Wheels and you are correct, they are steelies.

[efficient]

The next questions is about three parts. From left to right I'm not sure what they are or where they go, can anyone help out. I didn't peel back the cover to see the wire colors but I can if needed.



I also need to take the o2 sensor and put it back in the new exhaust, I need to find out where this wires into


i think the 4 prong connector at the top maybe be the 02 sensor connector just saying cus i changed a 02 sensor on a m20 and it looks the same.