TAC's Long-term (M60b40) E30 thread

[gnmzl]

How did I miss this... great work, always great to see an m60 swap.
BTW, the part number you are looking for is 11131731178, to plug that inspection hole.
Number 7 in that diagram

http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E34-Sedan/Europe/540i-M60/L-M/browse/engine/oil_pan_oil_level_indicator/

[TAC]

How did I miss this... great work, always great to see an m60 swap.
BTW, the part number you are looking for is 11131731178, to plug that inspection hole.
Number 7 in that diagram

http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E3...vel_indicator/

Thanks! I’ll order one right away.

[paynemw]

It looks like you've done PLENTY of research before executing this swap. You also seem to be pretty organized based on the research and the things you've done thus far. Looking forward to seeing this progress and run.

[TAC]

It looks like you've done PLENTY of research before executing this swap. You also seem to be pretty organized based on the research and the things you've done thus far. Looking forward to seeing this progress and run.

Thanks man! It’s gone pretty smoothly so far - plan is to try and get everything fitted and started this week, then have the exhaust finished up shortly after.

On a side note, I highly recommend the guys at TTV. I ordered their M60-to-e36m3 lightweight flywheel for $444 shipped this Tuesday and it was at my door the same Friday. Quality is superb and the price is more than reasonable compared to everything else out there.

[TAC]

Time for a long overdue update!


Mounted the TTV lightweight flywheel and torqued everything to spec with the clutch, pressure plate and trans.






Started mocking up the brake pivot assembly and adjusting things (forgot to take photos after it was completed)






This is the part where I did probably the stupidest thing I have ever done.

Installed everything into the car, but had quite a bit of trouble getting it to start. My friend with an M60 swap was able to help me with swapping around some of the relays with his and after a lot of cranking it finally fired up. It would only run for a few second before shutting off and had practically zero throttle response. I didn't think much of it at first, but the next day I started it up, hoping to address the issue with some troubleshooting. With the ICV and TPS unplugged, it seemed to run better at first, but after a few startups it got progressively worse until it started spewing black gunk out of the exhaust and refused to start anymore.

Needless to say, I was a bit worried and confused, so I pulled off the intake manifold to have a better look at things. Turns out I had somehow managed to be enough of an idiot to forget the paper towels I had put in my intake runners when I was doing the valley pan and intake gaskets...





At this point I had no idea whether or not I had totally ruined my engine, so I cleaned it all out as much as I could and reassembled the manifold and fuel rail assembly (which is quite a tight fit lol).

I then pulled the coils and plugs, stuck a vacuum over each port, and turned the engine over with the vacuum on for several rotations for each cylinder (with the fuel pump fuse removed, of course).

After that, I bought a cheap compression tester from Harbor Freight to see if any damage had been caused to the valves.

I was really worried at first, because the compression results seemed really bad (although pretty consistent)

Driver side (Front to back):

1: 129psi
2: 125psi
3: 126psi
4: 129 psi

Passenger Side (Front to back):

1: 122psi
2: 130psi
3: 127psi
4: 120psi

These numbers are WAY below what they should be (minimum 145), but I was suspicious of the gauge, because all of the readings were quite consistent.

So I tested the number on my brother's M20, which runs fantastically.

All the number's for his came in between 100-109psi.

So that gave me at least enough hope to try and get things running properly with mine. My guess is that my actual compression numbers are somewhere in the 150 range.

I then reassembled everything and fired it up again to see if there was any improvement. It started much more quickly, but the throttle response what definitely not what it should be and the idle was very inconsistent.

I checked the OHMs for the TPS and ICV, which both seemed to be fine. I looked as much as I could for vacuum leaks, but didn't see any obvious ones. I noticed that with the MAF unplugged it held idle much more smoothly and consistently responded to throttle (although sluggishly). So I bought some MAF cleaner, thoroughly cleaned it out, and put it back in. Problem solved! Since then it has run pretty close to perfectly with the little bit I have driven it, even without exhaust or o2 sensors!



With that solved, I finished up the brakes, bled everything, finished the shift linkage, wired up the reverse lights, and was able to drive it home. Well, after I installed some better wheel studs and re-tapped my hubs because the old studs stripped...








Just today I dropped it off at the exhaust shop. I'll be sure to update things shortly after that!

[gnmzl]

Woohoo congrats! Need video with exhaust sound after the shop is done with it.