my m52 into 318is swap not for sale now decided to finish:)

[garymillscab]

Right been away from e30s for a while whilst owning a few bikes and an s3 but got board of the s3 and was missing my e30 far too much.
Anyways been searching everywhere for a good shell for my conversion been travelling up and down the country looking for the right car when in the end a 318is turned up 5 miles from home lol it needs a bit of tidying but there is virtually no rust that i have found as yet. and the car has the rear disc and box that il be using.

Anyways im sure ive forgotten loads of bits, the bits ive got so far are.
complete e36 328i on an Nplate with air con and just over 10000 miles
e34 sump oil pickup pipe and dipstick
clio brake servo

the bits i need are
e28 m535 engine mounts
i have the rad that came with the car but do use the normal rad or the or the aircon rad??
e36 318ti temp switch 88 deg electric fan switch
loom from danthe (hopefully)
fan loom from danthe (hopefully)
steering linage from danthe (hopefully)
i want to fit a z3 short shift but finding it hard to source one so might go to the stealers
m20 starter
m20 flywheel lightened
325 clutch
3.91 lsd

quick question to as which prop and linkages to use with the m42 gearbox as ive read a few different combinations

ami missing anything or any pointers ?

thanks gary

[garymillscab]

few pics as to how far ive got so far
m52 engine

witha rather helpfull friend lol

engine out after freezing my arse in the pissing rain


318is in need of some wheels.... and 6 cylinders lol

[e30-EVN]

I just fitted my z3 short throw kit and 320i linkage bar today and all went on okay.
With the m42 box you can use a 320 or 325i prop, I'm using my old 320i prop, connecting tomoro. By all acounts a 3.91 will be a little short! Something like 3000rpm@70mph! Although it would be rapid off the line!
Seems that a 3.64lsd is the diff needed to give the best of both worlds.
By the way.... I ordered my z3 kit from the stealers, I payed £47 with trade but they are on back order now so if I were you I would order it now while you source your other parts- Ant

[Jozi]

Are you sure you can use the 325 prob? They are listed with different part no's on real oem!

[E30BeemerLad]

325 prop does the job nicely with the M42 gearbox.

Use the rad from the 328i, ditch the condenser rad unless you plan on keeping the air con
Use the air con fan from the front of the E36 as the cooling fan on the E30 (lose the viscous fan off your 328 donk).

Would recommend a water pump change whilst the engine is out and make sure you use a new sump gasket when swapping in the E34 sump.

[Jozi]

Thats good to know as I can get one of them easier

[e30-EVN]

M20 spiggot bearing for the input shaft on m42 box aswel mate, 12mm diameter hole. Ask for a spiggot for an m20 engine from bmw, about £12 if I recall right

[garymillscab]

right ive got the prop and starter now just waitng on delivery but i keep reading through more post and finding more and more i need
going to strip the loom out of the e36 tommorrow evening hopefully if i finish work at a resonable time any pointers on doing this ? other than labeling wires and taking a few pics for help later on?

sorry to sound dim i think im just confusing myself reading through everythink? keep lying in bed wondering what to do next lol

[garymillscab]

right been taking the ews out and quick question do i just litterally just cut the unit out or do i need to go through all the wires and seperate?

[Jozi]

There's 3 or 4 wires on the ews unit, cut them so that you have as much wire left on the unit as possible. Thats what i did anyway, the wires go all over the place behind the dash.

[E30BeemerLad]

This is what you need to rape from the donor car dude

[garymillscab]

excellent cheers guys thats what i ended up with in the end after abit of head scratching

[garymillscab]

right made a bit of progress this evening fitted new water pump and thermostat .i wanted to get a new housing too but there are none in thecountry apparently . also id already been rinsed by bmw for the parts ive bought so far. Also ive stripped off the aircon,manifolds


right next step im going to be changing the sump for an e34 item quick question is this the part i need to remove ?if so how to remove?


got the m20 temp sender .... does it look correct as its a different shape and pin config to the e36 plug on loom.




ive also got the 323 release bearing does this look right.(left hand 323 right is 318is)




engine mounts are the hockey puck type do these look ok?


thanks for your help im just checking through my parts as i want to do it over xmas and not sure if bmw will be open if i need any dealer parts im pretty sure all i need now is a 325 flywheel which im struggling to find
thanks gary

[garymillscab]

right got my flywheel, 5 series ujs coming cand received my loom today cheers dan just got to pick up my nice shiney manifolds over christmas and its all go ... i cant wait!!

anyways could someone have a quick look over the bits above and let me know if it looks good ?? this would be a big help thanks

[E30BeemerLad]

right next step im going to be changing the sump for an e34 item quick question is this the part i need to remove ?if so how to remove?

No, you need to remove the windage tray that is at the other end of the sump (the shallow end). Usually held in by rivets that need to be drilled out.

This isn't needed on the M50 lumps, but the M52 has some additional triangular braces that bolt to the main caps and these conflict with the windage tray.

[garymillscab]

right well my sump doesnt have a windage tray ive been told it came from a h plate 525 with 24v engine? does this sound right ?

also just had a look at the sump gasket ive bought and it isnt the same shape grrr

[garymillscab]

heres a few pics ive just taken












should the bowl on the 5 series sump be the opposite side? also ive been on real oem and part numbers arent coming up .

realy need this sorted as am planning on doing swap over xmas

[garymillscab]

seems like an m20 sump.im gutted theres no chance of getting one before xmas now and wanted to do the swap over xmas.the guy assured me it was from a 24v e34 im devasted what a k**bber

[DanThe]

Where did you get that sump from mate? Not a zoner was it?

That release bearing is just a standard one, they work fine.
Temp switch you have is to go in the side of the rad, you also need an E30 Brown sensor to go in the head which operates the temp gauge on your clocks.

What temp stat have you fitted? This decides what temp rad switch you should be using

[garymillscab]

ive got an 88 degree thermostat.no sump wasnt from the zone was from ebay he assured me it was 24v ive had it a while but just tryed gasket on and its not the same grrr.


can i use a 728 sump?if so which age etc? and can i use pickup/dipstick from 7?

any other sumps (520??) i can use been searching theres none anywhere

[Brianmoooore]

Oil level sensor goes into the top of an M20 sump, but underneath on an M50 one. Definitely a M20 one there!

[DanThe]

Definitely from an E34 also looking at the dipstick hole

[garymillscab]

Right guys and girls little update ... finnaly got over the probs that ive been having eg wrong sump and electrical probs (with ALOT of help from danthe) the engine is now in. fitted all the bits and bobs i had ready but still waiting for my z3 shift leaver mid feb ive been told thats 2 n half months from when i ordered it lol.

When i fitted the loom i some how managed to screw it up and blow the ecu up all my fault but danthe helped all the way top bloke really helpfull. Ive still got to sort the rad hosing and electric fan which is on the agenda for tomorrow if time alows

All sorted now tho the car now starts but doesnt idle due to a few things.

This is the main question the car only has the manifold connected at present going to try get the exhaust fitted tomorrow not sure if this would prevent from idle i presume not. i was wondering which of the hoses go where on the air flow meter? which will probaly be the reason its not idleing correct?

Im using the 318is throttle cabble is this ok?(can it be made to fit if not?) does it connect to the upper or lower connection?

Also lamaba sensor i presume it would nt matter which way round they connect to the loom?

im justn chuffed its in and starts at the mo after the ecu probs lol

Any helps with these questions would be much appreciated or any pointers to help with getting the car to idle correct cheers gary

[Brianmoooore]

Lambda sensor signal wire polarity matters very much! Heater wires are interchangeable.
You've lost me on the air flow meter. It's essentially a large tube, and doesn't have hoses, except for the large one out.

[garymillscab]

Sorry not the airflow I mean throttle body my bad

[DanThe]

The plug nearest the front of the engine is for the lambda sensor in the rear manifold and vise versa

Which manifold/throttle body are you using? Coolant pipes dont need to be reconnected to the throttle, just blanked off

[garymillscab]

I'm just using the standard m52 one at the moment with plans to maybe change once I've got the car running

[rancido64]

Glad to hear you've made some progress mate, next time i'm in B'mouth visiting the family i'll be looking to meet up and take a peek

[garymillscab]

Thanks dan had that round the right way more by luck than judgement. Yeah making some progress now just seems that everything i try to get on with theres little niggles slowing me down.

Heres a little update from today only had half a day at so went to put the steering linkage in and it it didnt fit , it slightly clashed with the manifold i bought which was pre fabbed to fit doh.

Anyways got over that with abit of heat and bending but all seems well now might have to get the uj helicoiled so the bolt doest clash.

Also test fitted the rest of the exhaust and i seem to have got that fitting sweet but dont realy want to fit it permanent as im waiting for the the z3 shifter.

Anyways the main thing thats bugging me is the car will not idle?? theres alot of popping and banging which seems to be coming from the inlet which i presume is not good? seems like its overfueling/missing on idle quite badly?


I could try get a video up tomorrow if that would help but any pointers would be much appreciated

[garymillscab]

Any help would be great guys just some pointers of what to check maybe?
Thanks gary

[DanThe]

Check the underside of the manifold for air leaks, there are a few connectors under there and your probably not using them all

[garymillscab]

any ideas where the hose that should come from this goes?




its been so long since i took it apart im struggling to remember

thanks gary

[DanThe]

Thats the oil drain back to sump

Good info here - http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 0+manifold

[garymillscab]

Good info there cheers . Ive read it through a few times and the way ive interpreted it is that its oil seperater valve? And says i can just get rid?

Theres no hole or hose in the e34 sump but there seems to be in the e36 sump would that of been where it would of connected?

[E30BeemerLad]

The E36 dipstick tube has an outlet on it,like a Y shape where the tube connects to and allows any oil from the separator valve to drain back into it I believe (may be wrong as I junked that lot straight away)

In normal configuration,the crank case breather hose from the top of your engine runs to the oil separator valve.

yes you can get rid of the oil separator valve if you are going M50 inlet. If you are keeping the stock inlet for now, i'd just leave it and connect it all up.