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    Are you interested in doing a 24v swap? Read this!

    These two sites aren't mentioned THAT much in this 24v forum. They should be, considering how useful they are.









    Basic FAQ:



    How difficult is the swap?

    On a scale of 1-10, 1 being an oil change and 10 being rebuilding a transmission, I’d give this somewhere around a 5 or 6, depending on how you go about it.


    How much will it cost?

    This can and will vary greatly from person to person. It’s possible to do this swap for $500 or less, or you can spend upwards of $10,000. I’d say count on $2k for a basic m50 swap and $5k for a well done s52 swap. These are very rough estimates. It can be done much cheaper or at a much higher cost. It depends if you buy new or used parts, do the labor yourself, etc…


    What are the major basic required parts?

    Engine: m50, m52, s50, s52, complete with wire harness, ECU, accessories.
    E34 525i oil pan, oil pump, dipstick
    E36 engine mount arms
    E28 motor mounts
    E34 throttle cable
    E21 brake booster

    These are only the basics, and some may be substituted for other parts. People find cheaper/better parts to use all the time, but the above listed are the common parts that the majority of people use.


    What needs fabricated/custom made/modified?

    If you use an e30 325 transmission (Getrag 260), you’ll need to modify the transmission cross member and the shift linkage. Some welding experience is required for this, or you can purchase these parts from members of the r3vlimited.com forum who currently (as of 8/2009) produce them.

    The e21 brake booster needs to have the shaft modified. It basically needs shortened, thinned down, and threaded. There are other ways to get the job done though.

    Radiator hoses aren’t always a direct fit.

    The wiring harness on the engine will need spliced into the body harness at the connector near the firewall.


    How involved is the wiring?

    It's important to understand what wiring is involved. There is the chassis and all of it's wiring, then your engine and all of it's wiring. There are many sensors and power/ground connections on the engine, and all of those wires are contained with an engine harness, which connects to the ECU and a connector at the firewall, which is where it interfaces with the chassis wiring. That connector (called C101 on e30's, called x20 on e36/e34 cars) is what needs modified, as the wiring is different.

    There are about 15 wires that need connected. The best way to do this is look at the schematics and create a pin out chart. This process takes time and research, but isn’t physically hard to do. You don’t want to mess it up though, as you can heavily damage the wiring and components, or even start a fire. There are several companies that sell harness adaptors if you don’t want to mess with the wiring.

    Most people get a spare body side plug from an e36/e34, as well as a spare engine side plug from an e30, and then splice these two parts together. This way, you aren’t hacking your cars harness or your engine harness.


    __________________________________________________


    How to read the wire diagrams:


    Go here:



    Find the manual for your car or engine, whatever side you are doing pinouts for.

    Open the manual, and skip to the section that starts talking about power distribution and various under hood parts.

    This is what it will look like:





    You want to look for any instance of either c101 or x20, such as what is circled. C101 is the e30 engine connector, x20 is the e36/e34 connector. So if you are looking at an e30 manual, just look for c101. When you look at the e36/e34 manual, look for x20.

    The c101 connector is the big round connector on your firewall. It has 20 or so pins on it (it’s a square connector with less pins if you have an 84-85 model). Each pin will be drawn out in this manual. Here, in the example, we are looking at pin 10 (see the 10 next to where it says c101).

    The curved lines show which way the signal is coming through the connector. In this example, you see it’s coming FROM the oil level sensor, TO the engine oil fault indicator (the oil level light in your car).

    The VI/GN and BU/WT are the colors of the wires. The wire between the sensor and the connector is blue with a white stripe, the wire between the connector and the warning light is Violet with a green stripe.

    The .5 next to the color is the wire size. Apparently this is in millimeters squared. .5 will be a little wire, .75 medium, 1 is big. (I think).

    You now know what color the wire is on the engine side, what color it is on the body side, what pin it is in the connector, and what its function is.

    The schematics are generally laid out as power (+12 volts) from the top of the pages, to ground at the bottom of the pages. Further details of what various symbols mean can be found in the beginning pages of the manuals.
    Last edited by JGood; 05-19-2014, 05:14 AM.
    85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
    e30 restoration and V8 swap
    24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

    #2
    Originally posted by JGood View Post
    http://www.e30dohc.com/wiki/index.ph...HC_Swap_Basics




    These two sites aren't mentioned THAT much in this 24v forum. They should be, considering how useful they are. They really should be in a sticky, at the very top of this subforum, just above the nearly 100 page clusterfuck thread...
    Thanks for the info. I am loving the first link! :)
    Toyota Pickup

    Comment


      #3
      I agree.

      Read the damn wiring manuals people! You might even learn something along the way.

      Comment


        #4
        Maybe we could turn this thread in a concise no-BS version of the stickied thread in this section by adding all the relevant info with pictures and such?
        Need parts now? Need them cheap? steve@blunttech.com
        Chief Sales Officer, Midwest Division—Blunt Tech Industries

        www.gutenparts.com
        One stop shopping for NEW, USED and EURO PARTS!

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by z31maniac View Post
          Maybe we could turn this thread in a concise no-BS version of the stickied thread in this section by adding all the relevant info with pictures and such?

          I think it's too much info for a message board thread. The DOHC wiki is perfect for fiorst timers to read through, although it could use expanded upon.

          There are just way too many variables and what-if's for an all-inclusive message board style write-up. Yeah, you can get the basics out there, but you'll have straggling questions leading a 77 page clusterfuck thread of discussions.
          85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
          e30 restoration and V8 swap
          24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

          Comment


            #6
            I think all the basics/combo's/etc procedures could be covered, tips/tricks/hints and such. The DOHC Wiki page is getting worse and worse with the spam bots. Stuff like this

            OIL PRESSURE SENSOR -- BRN/GRN OR BRN/GRY
            FRONT COOLANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR -- (ECU) BRN/RED BRN
            REAR COOLANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR -- (GAUGE SENSOR) BRN/YEL BRN/VIO
            CRANK POSITION SENSOR -- YEL
            CAM POSITION SENSOR -- YEL RED/WHT BRN/ORG
            VANOS SOLENOID -- RED/WHT GRN/BLU
            KNOCK SENSOR, -- 1-3 BLK NCA DME PIN 70
            KNOCK SENSOR, -- 4-6 BLK NCA DME PIN 69
            THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR -- (TPS) BRN BRN/BLK RED/YEL
            INTAKE AIR TEMPERATURE -- (IAT) SENSOR BRN GRY
            IDLE CONTROL VALVE -- (ICV) WHT/YEL RED/WHT WHT/GRN
            EVAPORATIVE EMISSIONS VALVE -- BRN RED/WHT
            Last edited by z31maniac; 09-22-2009, 01:09 PM.
            Need parts now? Need them cheap? steve@blunttech.com
            Chief Sales Officer, Midwest Division—Blunt Tech Industries

            www.gutenparts.com
            One stop shopping for NEW, USED and EURO PARTS!

            Comment


              #7
              Alright, I'll start coming up with some stuff.
              85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
              e30 restoration and V8 swap
              24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

              Comment


                #8
                reserved post
                85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
                e30 restoration and V8 swap
                24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

                Comment


                  #9
                  I'm still trying to find out who admin's the wiki page so i can help clean it up.

                  If you know who does let me know so we can get it all sorted out.

                  -Cam
                  Cam .W '91 325is

                  Spaz's 1991 Alpine White???? S52 Build Thread...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    To the DIYers:
                    If you are going to mod your own engine harness, it would be wise to map your x20 pins with the wire colours for each, and trace each wire to it's termination.
                    Put this info on a table, because depending on the harness you use, the wire colours may be different to the ETM.

                    Learn how to read the ETM. Not all wires at the C101 plug on the E30 are going to be the same colour for their entire length.

                    It is best that you know the function of each wire instead of blindly using other peoples posted x20/c101 tables.
                    Learn how the stuff works so that you can diagnose and fix potential problems/errors.

                    I would also recommend that you pull back the boot of each harness plug and record the wire colours and number of used terminals. It helps narrow the search once most but not all of the harness has been connected to the engine sensors, ancillaries, etc.


                    Regarding anti lock brakes:
                    The E34/36 harnesses have no power provision for the ABS. This requires you to splice in switched 12v to power the ABS pump. Tap into the thick wire coming off T87 of the E34/6 Main relay.

                    m

                    Comment


                      #11
                      just do add: You dont need to replace the 36 oil pump with the e34 oil pump if you're doing an m50 swap, the pumps are the same part, you just need the oil pickup tube. It makes life a whole lot easier and saves you money

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by 7pilot View Post
                        To the DIYers:
                        If you are going to mod your own engine harness, it would be wise to map your x20 pins with the wire colours for each, and trace each wire to it's termination.
                        Put this info on a table, because depending on the harness you use, the wire colours may be different to the ETM.

                        Learn how to read the ETM. Not all wires at the C101 plug on the E30 are going to be the same colour for their entire length.

                        It is best that you know the function of each wire instead of blindly using other peoples posted x20/c101 tables.
                        Learn how the stuff works so that you can diagnose and fix potential problems/errors.

                        I would also recommend that you pull back the boot of each harness plug and record the wire colours and number of used terminals. It helps narrow the search once most but not all of the harness has been connected to the engine sensors, ancillaries, etc.


                        Regarding anti lock brakes:
                        The E34/36 harnesses have no power provision for the ABS. This requires you to splice in switched 12v to power the ABS pump. Tap into the thick wire coming off T87 of the E34/6 Main relay.

                        m
                        this only pertains to 89+ production years where the abs power runs through the c101 rather than the body harness.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Dominic49 View Post
                          this only pertains to 89+ production years where the abs power runs through the c101 rather than the body harness.
                          Good point. This is why it's so important to trace out wires based on model year. I burnt up an 89 m20 harness when swapping it into an 87 chassis because of this exact wire. +12v and ground don't mix very well...
                          85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
                          e30 restoration and V8 swap
                          24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

                          Comment


                            #14
                            pump

                            Originally posted by tonytony View Post
                            just do add: You dont need to replace the 36 oil pump with the e34 oil pump if you're doing an m50 swap, the pumps are the same part, you just need the oil pickup tube. It makes life a whole lot easier and saves you money
                            are you EXCLUDING S50s? I had NEVER heard this....can we get confirmation on this?....
                            Last edited by JRKOUPE; 09-22-2009, 02:12 PM.
                            I love sitting down and just driving!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              oops
                              I love sitting down and just driving!

                              Comment

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