1989 325i M54B25/320z swap

[oekundar]

Now you just need to move closer to me so my wife will allow me to come hang out! [emoji102]


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[blackknight530i]

Now you just need to move closer to me so my wife will allow me to come hang out! [emoji102]


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Haha

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[DesertBMW]

You won't like that gas pedal sticking out like that, it will be at same level as brake pedal

[ykarabala]

Excellent thread, love the pics, and easy to follow!

Curious to see what you'll do for exhaust.. I have the same issue of the headers getting too close to the subframe with my S50/Zf e30. I'm running the Revshift engine mounts but gonna swap them out for the e28 m5 ones and check clearance. I have obd1 downpipes modified to fit the swap but clearance issues are preventing me from installing them.

[dude8383]

You will need to have that section massaged to fit OR have it re-welded. There's no way you'll be to just bolt up the stock midsection.

Or you can go the ebay special route and install some supersprint reps. That will require welding as well...

[Corsair89]

Hey man. I’m doing a m52tub28 swap and need that style oil pickup that you used. Do you still have the part number? Or a connection that I can use to acquire said pickup? Thanks boss.


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[blackknight530i]

Hey man. I’m doing a m52tub28 swap and need that style oil pickup that you used. Do you still have the part number? Or a connection that I can use to acquire said pickup? Thanks boss.


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It's in Jordan's thread here: https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/sho...83897&t=383897

[Corsair89]

Thanks bossman. Though I’ve a question for ya. Did the raised part of the oil pan in the rear hit the windage tray on yours? Cuz mine is hitting the windage tray and I don’t know what to do. Should I mill the windage tray to fit or.....give up?


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[blackknight530i]

Thanks bossman. Though I’ve a question for ya. Did the raised part of the oil pan in the rear hit the windage tray on yours? Cuz mine is hitting the windage tray and I don’t know what to do. Should I mill the windage tray to fit or.....give up?


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He talks about the windage tray as well in his thread. We didn't have that problem as the m54 engine had the tray and the pan didn't.

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[Corsair89]

Right. I know and saw that. Mine, engine, looks like this and my oil pan had the baffle in it but I drilled that off. It still hits.


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[blackknight530i]

Right. I know and saw that. Mine, engine, looks like this and my oil pan had the baffle in it but I drilled that off. It still hits.


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Hitting the bolts for the old pickup tube? There was a bracket we had to remove from the tray as well.

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[Corsair89]

No it’s hitting on this. I marked it on your photo.


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[blackknight530i]

No it’s hitting on this. I marked it on your photo.


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We didn't have that issue and that's not my photo. Not sure why you're having an issue, unless there is a difference with m52tu vs m54.

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[Corsair89]

I don’t know. I know that my oil pump and windage tray is one cast part. There is no break in it like yours has. I’ve got more work and research left to do. I appreciate the help man. Thanks.


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[blackknight530i]

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!