E30 Zone

I'm at the start of swapping an m52 into my 318is, I'm wondering whats the best way of going about sorting the wiring side of things.

I'd rather not buy a pre-made adapter as I want to keep costs down so what do most people do regarding wiring the m52 engine loom to the C101?

From what I can see my options are:

Aquire the c101 (engine side plug) from someone with a dead engine.

Chop the c101 off my m42 loom (don't fancy that as the engine is still useable)

Buy a new c101 and pins from bmw (do these require special crimping tools?)

Chop the c101 off the car loom and replace with e36 plug.

Any recommendations?

Any pre-made adaptor you see for sale will not work with every E30, and more worryingly could result in your engine/body loom melting/setting fire

On my last conversion I used an old engine side C101 and new pins from BMW. (I have used new C101s in the past, they used to be around a tenner from the dealer)
That way the engine loom can be shortened so you don't end up with a bulky loom to try and fit in the loom casing.

I would try to avoid cutting your M42 loom up or the C101 from your car loom as it makes them less useable if you ever want to change back.

That's exactly what I was thinking, I don't mind spending a bit of money on a new c101 and pins to do it correctly.

Just wanted to check that you don't need a special crimp tool or something like that to terminate the wire into the pin?

I believe there is a specific crimp tool for the pins. I didn't use the proper tool, just one that folded the tabs in to hold the wire. To be sure of a secure connection I then soldered the wire to the pin and then used heat shrink.

That sounds good to me! I think I've got the part numbers for the pins and c101 somewhere I'll dig them out.

Before you order the pins, double check the part number with the dealer that its just the empty pins as they also sell the pins with a length of wire pre-attached.

Ah right would the ones with a length of wire on not be better? So you could use a proper in line crimp instead of how you said to do the empty pins.

You could, although by the time you've crimped (or soldered) wires together, the loom starts to get bulky again. With empty pins, all the work is inside the plug so looks neat and tidy and is easier to pack into the loom casing.
There is also the chance of a broken/dodgy connection if you crimp wires together. I try to use as few joins as possible to avoid any future issues.

Yeh you've got a point, I'll go with the empty pins then. Thanks