1989 325i M54B25/320z swap

[Wanganstyle]

1989 325i M54B25/320z swap

Hey guys, I know it's been a long time since we've updated the thread, but there have been many weekends we weren't able to work on the car and/or had setbacks that didn't really help. We had issues mostly with the shifter arm, selector rod, shifter, as well as needing to find parts to complete the heater hoses properly. That said, I can finally tell you that tonight at 8:30pm, we got it running :).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ap3d4q8nfY

We pressure tested the cooling system and ran a DIY fog machine through the oil system last weekend and made sure there were no leaks in those systems and sure enough, none now. We bled the clutch last weekend and the brakes this weekend.



One of the biggest issues we ran into when we were finally ready to start it was that we turned the key and got no click. Not even trying to turn over. We though maybe the EWS delete didn't take or something and/or a wire wasn't making good contact or was misconfigured. I went through the entire wiring from the starter back to the ignition switch and checked the e30 wiring diagrams to see if I missed something, then I realized that we were also converting this car from an auto to manual and that the auto has a starter relay that the manual doesn't. I pulled the relay and ran a jumper wire across the two terminals and finally it turned over. It still didn't start though and seemed like it wasn't getting fuel. It turned out that we had the feed and return hoses for the fuel pressure regulator swapped. Switched them and it started up as you can see in the video.



We didn't let it run for too long since we haven't yet tested the gauges against the DME sensors on the computer to verify they are accurate, so we didn't want to damage anything. We also haven't tried moving the car yet as it was still up on jack stands in case anything needed to be addressed. The car only has open headers at the moment as we need to have it towed to our buddy's shop to make a custom exhaust and re-profile the headers to miss the subframe.



One thing I can tell you from all of this is that there is no perfect shifter arm, selector rod, shifter combo that works with this configuration. We've tried all different ones and none worked quite right. The one that is closest to working and is in there new is the e30 325i shifter arm, selector rod, and Z3 1.8 short shifter. Even that will need modification as the cup that the shifter sits in is about 1/4" or so too far forward and the shifter is tilted a bit too far forward and to the right, making 5th gear difficult to get into without hitting the center console.



We also did ultimately relocate the throttle pedal brackets again and this time welded them in and the throttle pedal is much better. Clutch pedal seems to be working properly, but we'll know for sure tomorrow when we drive it around the yard and neighborhood a bit. We want to piss off the guy who's been revving up his crappy Honda Civic at all hours of the night really loud, so we'll probably drive by his house first, LOL.



Needless to say, we've had a pretty decent evening so far. We'll hopefully have more good news tomorrow evening as well. Stay tuned!

Wrong shifter setup; you need the parts from the e36 that the Trans came from.

If you don’t have the correct parts the bmw dealership can sell you them inexpensively. Iirc the selector rod and shift carrier parts were about $40-50 each brand new.

Zfsg320 is in 328i/m3 and the selector rod and shift carrier are needed.


This is common 24v swap data; been using this for years in the enduro car happily and used all sorts of shift levers; currently using x5



If you get bored of the m54 intake manifold you can also install a m50 manifold, and convert it to single vanos/obd1 if simplicity is desired

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=17284&share_tid=370535&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Er3vlimited%2Ecom%2Fboard%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D370535&share_type=thttps://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=17284&share_tid=370535&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Er3vlimited%2Ecom%2Fboard%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D370535&share_type=t

[blackknight530i]

Wrong shifter setup; you need the parts from the e36 that the Trans came from.

If you don’t have the correct parts the bmw dealership can sell you them inexpensively. Iirc the selector rod and shift carrier parts were about $40-50 each brand new.

Zfsg320 is in 328i/m3 and the selector rod and shift carrier are needed.


This is common 24v swap data; been using this for years in the enduro car happily and used all sorts of shift levers; currently using x5



If you get bored of the m54 intake manifold you can also install a m50 manifold, and convert it to single vanos/obd1 if simplicity is desired



https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sha...5&share_type=t

We tried that shifter setup as well and it was worse. The shifter arm cup was too far to the left of the hole and the shifter was tilted too far forward. Not sure why all the combos people say should work don't on this swap, but we are stumped. Also, the parts are closer to $200 from BMW, excluding the shifter itself.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Wanganstyle]

1989 325i M54B25/320z swap

We tried that shifter setup as well and it was worse. The shifter arm cup was too far to the left of the hole and the shifter was tilted too far forward. Not sure why all the combos people say should work don't on this swap, but we are stumped. Also, the parts are closer to $200 from BMW, excluding the shifter itself.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Had zero problems; this e30 has had a m52, s52, m54. Same shifter setup

my m54 swap thread is above. It’s using akg engine mounts for 24v swap and Oem e30 rear trans mount + akg trans mounts

Local friends have zero problems .....



Something is wrong.....perhaps the parts you have are wrong or you have engine mount issues.

I bought parts new from bmw; if your local dealership is skyjacking you then try ecs tuning or the dealership down the street; my local bmw dealership in Berkeley also ships for very cheap and is reasonably priced. Parts counter guys love e30’s

Selector rod is a cheap part; iirc $45
Shift carrier also was about $45
X5 lever was about $60


The new parts I used with 100% success

[blackknight530i]

Had zero problems; this e30 has had a m52, s52, m54. Same shifter setup

my m54 swap thread is above. It’s using akg engine mounts for 24v swap and Oem e30 rear trans mount + akg trans mounts

Local friends have zero problems .....



Something is wrong.....perhaps the parts you have are wrong or you have engine mount issues.

I bought parts new from bmw; if your local dealership is skyjacking you then try ecs tuning or the dealership down the street; my local bmw dealership in Berkeley also ships for very cheap and is reasonably priced. Parts counter guys love e30’s

Selector rod is a cheap part; iirc $45
Shift carrier also was about $45
X5 lever was about $60


The new parts I used with 100% success

Can you show a pic of how your shifter looks in the interior? The one pic I saw in your thread shows it angled back pretty far, which seems wrong to me. I'm used to the shifter being straight up in neutral. If it is supposed to be angled backwards, maybe we just need to flip it around. Also, we had seen other diys say the e30 stock parts work fine on the 320z transmission. We are using a stock manual e30 trans crossmember and e34 engine mounts.

Also, the shifter parts probably got a price hike recently, along with many other BMW parts. We got them from FCP as they were close to being the cheapest and thanks to their return policy, we can try them all out to see what works and return what doesn't, no questions asked.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Wanganstyle]

1989 325i M54B25/320z swap

Can you show a pic of how your shifter looks in the interior? The one pic I saw in your thread shows it angled back pretty far, which seems wrong to me. I'm used to the shifter being straight up in neutral. If it is supposed to be angled backwards, maybe we just need to flip it around. Also, we had seen other diys say the e30 stock parts work fine on the 320z transmission. We are using a stock manual e30 trans crossmember and e34 engine mounts.

Also, the shifter parts probably got a price hike recently, along with many other BMW parts. We got them from FCP as they were close to being the cheapest and thanks to their return policy, we can try them all out to see what works and return what doesn't, no questions asked.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

The x5 shift lever is extremely weird and angled back; it’s extra long shift for endurance racing; locates the shifter closer to the steering wheel and the driver.

Don’t reference its weirdness. Nobody else I know uses a weird x5 shifter; if you use it expect weirdness

X5.....manual....extremely weird.

The carrier and selector rod combination has seen more than 50hrs of endurance racing with a z4 shifter or E46 shifter or z3. Been too long I forgot; the car has seen too many changes over the years


You quite possibly have installed it backwards or similar

Nobody I know is using e30 parts wth 24v swap; it might work or it might be something r3vtarded like bending Shit to save a few bucks.

I don’t trust fcp. Have bought things they claim to be genuine bmw Oem and what shows up is....very not.

Support your local bmw dealership and ask them for a better price ; if you ask nicely they will give you wholesale if they are cool

[blackknight530i]

The x5 shift lever is extremely weird and angled back; it’s extra long shift for endurance racing; locates the shifter closer to the steering wheel and the driver.

Don’t reference its weirdness. Nobody else I know uses a weird x5 shifter; if you use it expect weirdness

X5.....manual....extremely weird.

The carrier and selector rod combination has seen more than 50hrs of endurance racing with a z4 shifter or E46 shifter or z3. Been too long I forgot; the car has seen too many changes over the years


You quite possibly have installed it backwards or similar

Nobody I know is using e30 parts wth 24v swap; it might work or it might be something r3vtarded like bending Shit to save a few bucks.

I don’t trust fcp. Have bought things they claim to be genuine bmw Oem and what shows up is....very not.

Support your local bmw dealership and ask them for a better price ; if you ask nicely they will give you wholesale if they are cool

I have a very good relationship with FCP and always get genuine BMW parts from them when I buy them. Only BMW makes the shifter parts anyways, so not expecting some knockoff parts. Also, my local dealership gouges the crap out of people on parts. I've even got their cost from the guys that run the counter who know me well back when I was doing my e38 S62 swap and they still couldn't come close to ECS and FCP on genuine parts. I usually use Morristown BMW when I knew the parts guy there, but he left recently and the new guy doesn't help my friends and I out as much, so I'm working with Gareth Foley at FCP and deal with him directly. The lifetime guarantee on everything they sell is totally worth what little extra the price is over Morristown.

Also, no matter what FCP says, OEM/OE doesn't mean genuine BMW parts necessarily.
If the part says it's made by Genuine BMW, then it is a genuine BMW part, but if it says OE or OEM, it probably won't come in a BMW box/bag. I hate the terms OE and OEM as it's always been used incorrectly. If you order a genuine BMW part and it doesn't have a BMW stamp and come in either a box or bag with BMW part numbers/labels, then it's not genuine and you need to tell them and they'll make it right. Everything I've ever ordered from them that says it was a BMW part has been legit.

Anyways, we figured out that turning the shifter itself 180* is in fact a natural position now that we can see it with the console reinstalled and shift boot in place. I guess in e30s, the shifter angles back a bit more than what I'm used to in my e39s. It shifts perfectly fine with the e30 parts and doesn't stretch the boot or anything.

As for how the car drives, well, I wish I had better news. It seems to idle smoothly, but when we start to give it some gas, it seems to struggle. We tried swapping the pre-cat O2 sensors (only ones hooked up as there is no exhaust yet) and we think we have them in the correct plugs, but the O2 sensor adaptations still seem to peg in PA Soft at -28.0 on both. We've smoke tested the engine and didn't see any smoke come out, so an air leak is unlikely. We are thinking it might be because there is no exhaust after the headers, but I can only guess as I've never actually driven a car with open headers before, without at least having some cats and a small section of pipe. I would guess that it's likely that the O2 sensors being so close to the flanges and open air are getting bad readings from ambient air, rather than just getting what is coming out of the engine. If anyone has any more insight on that, I'd greatly appreciate it.

We were able to drive the car down the street and back and it shifts great, so at least that is figured out. Also, as far as we can tell so far, no leaks from any of the systems, except for maybe a power steering leak at the rack, which might be from the custom lines or crush washers. It's not leaking on the ground, just looks wet, so not really a huge concern right now.

We also discovered that the ABS light was on when we first ran it, but has since gone out, which was odd. In doing a bit of research, we found that some 89+ cars didn't have an ABS relay and they needed to splice into the main power wire for the DME, but when the light went out after successive restarts, it is staying off now, so not sure what's up with that. I would have thought that would have been taken care of in Andrew's wiring harness, but if not, we can fix it later.

Ok, that's it for now. It's hopefully going to be on its way up to a buddy's shop soon for an exhaust and a few other unrelated things. We're hoping having an exhaust on it will fix the rough running under acceleration, but it could also be a bad MAF as the new one I had on the engine when it was in my 525it got damaged, so we're using the original one, which I think has about 175k miles on it and is probably not doing great. We'll have a brand new one coming in this week to try.

[oekundar]

Good update, how many miles were on the M54?

[blackknight530i]

Good update, how many miles were on the M54?

About 173k. It had a full gasket reseal done on it before I got my wagon about a year and a half ago and I've done the full CCV, air distribution, etc overhaul in the last year, new coolant pipes under the intake, new suction jet pump and hoses to brake booster, all vacuum hoses and caps replaced, and we just did a Beisan VANOS seal replacement as well as valve cover gaskets and spark plugs. It also has a G.A.S. DISA rebuild as well. This engine should run great for another couple hundred thousand easily.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[blackknight530i]

Hey y'all,

Been a while, but we've had a lot done over the last year.

First thing we did was have our buddy Will at Tuttle Motorsports take the car and work on putting in a 3.25 LSD diff off of an e28 535i, replaced all rear subframe bushings with poly bushings, installed the rear intermediate stainless brake lines, and adapted a Billy Boat cat-back exhaust to the M52/S52 headers. The headers of course needed to have the flanges modified to clear the subframe and an intermediate piece of pipe to connect them to the exhaust.

The rear bushings required burning them out.



The exhaust flanges from the headers needed to be modified to clear the subframe, which you can see here:



Unfortunately, we don't have any "after" pics, but we don't have a lift here. We'll try to add some up when we get a chance.

Here's a pic of the new stainless brake lines on the rear subframe. This wasn't something we wanted to do without removing the whole subframe, so they were done when the new diff and bushings were being installed.



After we got it back from Tuttle Motorsports in April 2018, the engine still idled fine, but would die when giving it much gas or letting it sit for a while. We were stumped and took it to our friend Tom's shop, Euro Envy Autowerks, where he determined in about 3 minutes that we had the tank vent valve and DISA valve connectors swapped. In our defense, we hooked them back up the way they were before and the PO of my wagon (that this engine came out of) had taken the whole wiring harness apart and put it back together and I don't think he was all that competent in what he was doing. We plugged them in where they looked like they were supposed to go and they each fit, but obviously didn't work.

This video is of its first crank after the connectors were swapped with the exhaust sorted and everything else done, ready to be driven to work in DD duty. A/C still needed to be sorted out, but at least the car was driveable.

https://youtu.be/ZygPPCCWPhM

In May, it was about to start getting hot outside, so we decided to tackle the A/C. We bought a new drier and some gauges and a vacuum pump, along with some refrigerant and oil to see if we could fill it.



It seemed to hold vacuum just fine:



We decided to watch the IMSA race and had a beer while waiting to see if it would hold vacuum :).



Unfortunately, even though it "seemed" to hold vacuum, we couldn't get it to actually pull in any refrigerant, even when bypassing the pressure switch to force the compressor on. Jeff would have to suffer through the summer with no A/C, which he did :).

While driving it daily, he decided to purchase some more upgrade parts for the car, even though he didn't plan on installing it yet. First on that list was a refurbished to new condition M-Tech II steering wheel he found from an Ebay member in Germany. The quality is near-factory. He also bought a brand new horn center from FCP Euro so it would all look brand new. This picture did not yet have the new horn center piece in it, but the rest of it looks new.



In September, our other friend who has a shop in Matthews, NC called Euro Mpire, was having a dyno day/customer appreciation day, so we took the car up there to see how much power it was actually putting to the wheels. A list of the mods is here:

M52/S52 headers
No Cats
3" Stainless Billy Boat Exhaust
3.25 LSD



Despite being at the bottom of the power numbers, we were easily the most excited with the numbers we got.



We weren't the only ones impressed with the output either. The guys running the dyno were also pretty happy with the numbers.

https://youtu.be/iOWoOftlk_4

Thanks to Matt at Euro Mpire and the guys at CES Motorsports for their hospitality. All proceeds went to the NC ASPCA charity.

The last thing done was to add some APEX ARC-8 wheels in 17x8 in Hyper Black. Rubber is 215/40/17 Yokohama S-Drive square. Tom at Euro Envy mounted and balanced the tires, fixed the transmission output shaft seal leaking, and modified our dipstick tube mount to fit better, along with a new o-ring that fit better. This eliminated the last fluid leak on the car.



As of right now, the car is running great and looks great, but still needs new coilovers and sway bars/bushings and new bigger brakes up front. After that gets done, it should be ready for track duty :). Also, Tom says he thinks he has a solution for the A/C as well, so maybe even that will be fixed soon as well. See you guys in the spring with another update, unless something happens in the meantime.

Not sure why videos aren't embedding, but you can click the links and view them on YouTube.

PS, this happened in March:

[325isman]

It is my dream to do a swap on my e30.I will checking back to view more post on your build,looks good so far.....good luck