1989 325i M54B25/320z swap

[JDuckets]

Thanks Paul, for a thorough record of our work....we're all taking pics and you've done a good job compiling this into a cogent post.

I also want to take a moment to deliver special thanks to Dwight from Zionsville Autosport. He has been very diligent in trying to get us some specific parts for a setup that they normally don't do. As Paul stated, we have the tools, the wrench ability, and electrical expertise (woohoo Paul!)...but we aren't much in the way of fabricators. To that end, Dwight filled some of that space, namely with AC and power steering lines.

Additionally, he's done many, many different mods on e30s over the years, so if you need something specific I'd encourage you to give him a call. It's quite possible that he can do something for you. He is busy during the day, however he always returns calls as long as a clear message is left.

I encourage everyone to use them as a resource if needed. He has certainly helped us out.

Thanks Dwight!

[parkerbink]

Very nice work!

[JDuckets]

Hey Paul....

Let's say someone we know obtains an e30 Wagon and wants to do an S54 swap....

In that case, this would not be your sole e30 project :)

You know...because Wagon. :)

[blackknight530i]

Hey Paul....

Let's say someone we know obtains an e30 Wagon and wants to do an S54 swap....

In that case, this would not be your sole e30 project :)

You know...because Wagon. :)

Depends on the "someone", LOL.

[Andrew325is]

Are you going to weld up the SAP tube holes in the M52 headers? I have a set of Euro M52 headers without the SAP tube holes I could sell you for the same price.

[blackknight530i]

Are you going to weld up the SAP tube holes in the M52 headers? I have a set of Euro M52 headers without the SAP tube holes I could sell you for the same price.

Are you talking about the holes in between the tubes on the headers? They don't go to anything on the head and are covered by the exhaust gaskets anyways, why would they need to be welded up? I'm using SAP blockoff on the M54 head as well. We're not using SAP at all. I couldn't figure out a reason to do anything with them.

[Andrew325is]

I don't believe the gasket blocks them off. You can get block off plates for them though.

I found a few online stores selling them. http://www.hardmotorsport.com/hard-m...d-m52-headers/

There are actually early Euro M54 headers that are similar to the M52 headers. They are part numbers 11621706538 (front) and 11621706539 (rear). Often listed by just the last 7 digits on eBay.

[blackknight530i]

I don't believe the gasket blocks them off. You can get block off plates for them though.

I found a few online stores selling them. http://www.hardmotorsport.com/hard-m...d-m52-headers/

There are actually early Euro M54 headers that are similar to the M52 headers. They are part numbers 11621706538 (front) and 11621706539 (rear). Often listed by just the last 7 digits on eBay.

I think you misunderstood, the heads don't have any holes between the header tubes to block, only the headers themselves, so not sure why they would need to be welded. If I were using a S52 and needed to block off the SAP, then I would need what you linked to, but this is a M54 and it has the SAP outlet near the VANOS. Look back at the earlier picture of the ebay header install and you'll see that there's nothing between the exhaust outlets on the head.

[blackknight530i]

Here's what I'm referring to:

[Andrew325is]

Well yeah the face of the engine head doesn't have connections between the ports. The M52 doesn't either. There's a passageway between two of the ports on each header that goes to the small hole where the SAP tube attaches that the gasket does not seal, so you'll have exhaust gas coming out of there unless you block it off.

[dude8383]

^listen to what he's saying.



you will need a set of SAP delete plates on those headers otherwise you'll have an exhaust leak.

i do sell these one ebay (p.s. not trying to get a sale just trying to help).

[blackknight530i]

^listen to what he's saying.



you will need a set of SAP delete plates on those headers otherwise you'll have an exhaust leak.

i do sell these one ebay (p.s. not trying to get a sale just trying to help).

Thanks for the picture, I was really wondering and it makes sense now. I guess we will need some of those then. Thanks guys and sorry for the confusion.

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[blackknight530i]

Hey guys, new update from the last couple weekends.

On the 13th, we only had one day working on the e30, but it was fairly productive in the new shop location (my house :) ).

Steve is happy I have A/C in my garage as well:



We got the new grommets for the brake fluid reservoir and got those installed




Started working on the accelerator pedal bracket relocation for the brand new e46 DBW pedal. We ground off the welds and cleaned it up and used JB Weld Steel Stick to move it back a bit.





Ran the new clutch reservoir hose through it's new grommet in the firewall up to the reservoir. We need to figure out how to mount the clutch master cylinder to the pedal bracket. It looks like there are two holes, but they are square, leading me to believe there is some sort of nut or something that is supposed to go in the pedal bracket that the bolts screw into, but we don't have them and I can't find a part number on RealOEM. If anyone has some helpful info on these, let me know.



Went ahead and installed the new stainless brake hoses... well, 4 of the 6. The two over the rear axle are apparently quite difficult to replace and require dropping the subframe to replace them, so we'll hold off on those for now and maybe when we do a diff swap later, we'll take care of them then.



New ABS sensors in the front as well.



Replaced the power steering line from the reservoir to the pump with a brand new one for the M54. You might also see in the picture that I have the T-junction on the coolant hoses, but this is the one that I don't think will work since one end goes straight down. If anyone has some good ideas on how to route the two coolant hoses from the block and heater core to the expansion tank, I'm open to them. I know someone mentioned providing pics of their method before, but I haven't seen them yet. Jordan mentioned the parts needed for the heater hoses, but never showed them completed, so I'm a bit lost here.



That was it for the 13th. The rest are from this past weekend where we had about 1.5 days to work on the car and more parts arrived :).

I started out by installing the new A/C lines from Zionsville



Jeff and Steve were working on putting the carpet back and getting the accelerator pedal installed now that the steel stick had a whole week to cure.






Sparks flying as I had to grind the metal lip on the frame rail to allow the A/C line to fit



We once again rotated the brake booster and I think this time the vacuum hose connection is in a better spot to work with the e39 hose we had. Before it was in the 10 o'clock position, but I think in the 5 o'clock position it will work better as I can route the hose under the brake master cylinder instead of over it to reach without kinks. We could have cut the hose and extended it down and gone over the reservoir, but it would have had a couple clamps and looked a bit less "finished".



Easiest method for tightening the A/C line connection to the condenser, remove the passenger side grill :).



Now that we had all of the front suspension parts from FCP, we got started on swapping those out. Turns out one side control arm still had a BMW stamp on it, but the other one was replaced in 2010. We decided to go ahead and install the brand new Lemforders, new lollipop bushings and sway bar endlinks. To facilitate this, we actually purchased a 12 ton press at Northern Tool, which was a bit complicated at first to figure out the best way to do it, but ended up being a lifesaver in the end.







When installing them in the car, Steve suggested we put some copper anti-seize on the tapered part of the ball joints to facilitate removal in the future if needed. I didn't put any on the threads, but figured that was a pretty good idea.




Trying to figure out how to handle the oil dipstick tube. I wish we could have just bought something that would work out of the box, but I'm thinking we need to modify the M50 one to add the drainback hose connection. I noticed there is a S52 dipstick tube that looks like it would have worked, but the part that goes into the oil pan seems the same size as the M54 tube and I'm guessing it won't fit in the hole. If anyone has any good ideas for this, I'm all ears. Jordan's thread seemed to have overlooked this. I guess we could do an oil catch can mod if we had to, but I would like to keep it working like stock if possible.

Also got the new power steering lines from Zionsville that seemed to work perfectly, yay! No pictures though, unfortunatley.

We test fit the new ECS aluminum M20 radiator and M20 fan and they just fit with a few millimeters to spare. We didn't have the rubber mounting blocks for the radiator to know for sure, but ordered new ones. I'm guessing we accidentally threw out the old ones.



Ok, so things we're still working on figuring out:

Coolant hoses to expansion tank, clutch master cylinder mounting, oil CCV drain hose to dipstick tube, and any remaining wiring that needs to be done. We may just try to get it running, then deal with the A/C control, cruise control (if it's even possible), check engine light, etc.

Thanks for keeping up with our progress! Sorry for the delays in posting, but my day job has been working me really late into the nights lately.

[oekundar]

Nice work fellas..I've followed your other swaps on BFC.

[blackknight530i]

Nice work fellas..I've followed your other swaps on BFC.

Hey! Glad to see you! Thanks!

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