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Lessons Learned: An e30 OBDII s52 / m20 Swap

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    Lessons Learned: An e30 OBDII s52 / m20 Swap

    Almost three years ago I did my first (and only) 24v s52 swap into my first e30. It took months of preparation, a number of mistakes, people sending parts that were not what they said or just plain didn't work and a ton of my fucking time. The experience was worth every moment spent when I turned the key and it started up.

    This weekend I am embarking on a quest to correct a number of mistakes a well as remove a lot of OBDII emissions hardware that I needed to be smog legal in CA, but alas time and patience ended that quest as well as a big move back home to MA where I don't need that stupid shit.

    For those of you familiar with me, I shipped two CA e30's home with me to MA (and drove my e38 5,000 miles in 12 days). One was my 24v bronzit, the car that got me back in the BMW game, the other an unadulterated (mostly) brilliantrot 325is. The bronzit was my guinea pig for learning about cars and making mistakes, I also thank all those junk yard e30s. It had a long life of modifications before my ownership like a 5 speed swap, paint job etc. Its hit curbs, potholes, and bridge transitions that have forever ruined its ability to be correctly aligned. I myself have cut, jabbed and scarred it. An old thread can be seen here: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=165540

    In CA I had a dream of swapping the power plants of these two cars to correct old mistakes and have a fun m20 beater, again time and space prevented this.

    On Friday the parents leave for Florida for a month and I'll have the garage to myself. My apologies to dad's truck, you'll have to endure one of the coldest months of the year outside, but I promise to take care of you. My project can now begin.

    A big part of my profession is planning and scheduling. Given my experience I decided to see if a month was enough time to do this in the middle of winter while still working 50-60 hours a week, weekend activities etc. And so I give you my schedule for swapping motors along with a number of maintenance and misc. housekeeping items, keep in mind it's still a WIP.



    Here is where they sit today after Tuesday's blizzard, more to come for my socale30lifestyle comrades. Wish I could have been there for Doc. I’ll be back at the end of May so I hope we can catch up!



    When I first finished 24v swap, changes have been made since this picture like m50 intake and other finishing touches.


    #2
    Where are you located in MA? Looks like a fun winter project. If you need help let me know, I've done this swap twice (one m52 and one s52) and may be local.
    M/S52 Wiring Diagrams
    Z3M S52 to late model 325i wiring diagram
    M52 to 318is wiring diagram

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      #3
      Very nice Brett! don't see where you can go wrong with that kinda planning!
      sigpic

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        #4
        What's up Brett? I thought everything was sorted? Why undo all that hard work? What's all that white shit on your cars?!
        "I'd probably take the E30 M3 in this case just because I love that little car, and how tanky that inline 6 is." - thecj

        85 323i M TECH 1 S52 - ALPINEWEISS/SCHWARZE
        88 M3 - LACHSSILBER/SCHWARZE
        89 M3 - ALPINEWEISS II/M TECH CLOTH-ALCANTARA
        91 M TECHNIC CABRIO TURBO - MACAOBLAU/M TECH CLOTH-LEATHER

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          #5
          Originally posted by luckysnafu View Post
          Where are you located in MA? Looks like a fun winter project. If you need help let me know, I've done this swap twice (one m52 and one s52) and may be local.
          Middleboro, I plan to be pulling the motors next weekend if you're interested.

          Originally posted by dvck View Post
          Very nice Brett! don't see where you can go wrong with that kinda planning!
          Best laid plans...

          Originally posted by reelizmpro View Post
          What's up Brett? I thought everything was sorted? Why undo all that hard work? What's all that white shit on your cars?!
          Well sure everything works, but my OCD won't let just "working" be.

          The white shit is precipitation in the form of flakes of crystalline water ice that falls from clouds otherwise referred to as snow. It's fun to drift in.

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            #6
            Miss you buddy, have fun.
            @IRON-E30 aka Edwin:D

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              #7
              hI~~

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                #8
                Wow! good timing! I am in the midst of doing a full s52 rebuild + OBDII swap into my e30, just posted a thread here in the project forums too.

                I'd love to see your wiring diagrams for OBDII. Mine are 99% finished (posted an initial version in the 24v swap forum) but it never hurts to compare

                Looking forward to updates - subscribed
                '89 325i OBD2 S52 BUILD THREAD
                Shadetree30

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                  #9
                  Poopertrooper, how's the boy doing?

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by IRON-E View Post
                    Miss you buddy, have fun.
                    +1 good luck on your projects!

                    -NICK

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by IRON-E View Post
                      Miss you buddy, have fun.
                      Originally posted by Balleristic31 View Post
                      +1 good luck on your projects!
                      Thanks boys

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                        #12
                        What's with those dates in the schedule? How does one schedule a car project? I thought any car project took 3x the time and 2x the money than planned everysingle time!

                        Kidding.

                        That's a lot of planning! Hope it goes smoothly!:up:
                        -Christian

                        '02 ///M3 CarbonSchwartz 6MT daily beast
                        08/91 Mtechnic II 325IC alpine/lotus
                        318iS, slow build/garage queen...
                        '37 Chevy pickup, the über project
                        Originally posted by roguetoaster
                        Be sure to remind them that the M42 is one of the best engines ever made, but be sure to not mention where it actually falls on that list.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by DER E30 View Post
                          What's with those dates in the schedule? How does one schedule a car project? I thought any car project took 3x the time and 2x the money than planned everysingle time!

                          Kidding.

                          That's a lot of planning! Hope it goes smoothly!:up:
                          I've done it a few times. And I only have a month so even if I only get the basic swaps done I'll be happy.

                          Got most of the rear end apart this weekend, need to get the camber and toe tabs welded on one of the subframes while I put the other car back together. Then start on the engines.

                          The blizzard blew snow into every nook and cranny. it's been a cold and wet weekend constantly mopping up water. Another snow storm is on the way too.







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                            #14
                            Off to a nice start! I'm new the e30 platform but not new to swaps/wrenching and also local here in Boston. Hope to see one or both of these out this spring!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by theDELO View Post
                              Off to a nice start! I'm new the e30 platform but not new to swaps/wrenching and also local here in Boston. Hope to see one or both of these out this spring!
                              Oh yeah they will be out and about as soon as I feel the salt from the winter has washed away.

                              So I'm a bit behind schedule but it was aggressive anyways so to be behind a day ain't bad. I decided to kill the plan to replace seals on the m20, that will have to wait for another big project down the road and it was always more wishful thinking than a reality due to time. This gives me an extra week at the end of the month in case of any other problems.



                              Big thanks to my friend Mike who helped me prep and weld the new camber and toe adjust tabs on from Garagistic. Shit ain't cheap but very good quality product. Thankfully Mike's new baby waited to be born, but I'm looking forward to baby Hāna this month.



                              Tonight I move forward with removing some of the OBDII stuff from the bronzit, begin it's rear suspension install and give the freshly welded subframe for the brilliant a coat of paint.

                              Cheers

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