Ecu help

[flybynite]

Would have done the swap on a 325 but not a sport personally.

Personally i would agree too, if it is a genuine sport, put it back how it should be. IMHO these 2.7 concoctions are not worth the effort unless you do it properly (long rods, custom pistons etc) The eta was not made for power it was made for economy and a head swap will not make enough difference to make it better than a good running 325. Fixing the 325 probably cheaper and less effort

Unless really careful the likelihood is it will not be as good as the 325 and spoil a sport in the process.

End of the day, your money, your choice ..........

[onthames]

Would have done the swap on a 325 but not a sport personally.

Personally i would agree too, if it is a genuine sport, put it back how it should be. IMHO these 2.7 concoctions are not worth the effort unless you do it properly (long rods, custom pistons etc) The eta was not made for power it was made for economy and a head swap will not make enough difference to make it better than a good running 325. Fixing the 325 probably cheaper and less effort

Unless really careful the likelihood is it will not be as good as the 325 and spoil a sport in the process.

End of the day, your money, your choice ..........

I often visit Angus Buchanan workshops in levenheath for pasts. They have 10+ e30s sitting there, some sports, 325i's, which they did swaps to for fun in the 90s and early 2000s, they thoroughly regret it now that the cars with swaps never sold and are rusting away in their yard.

[twenty]

Would have done the swap on a 325 but not a sport personally.

Personally i would agree too, if it is a genuine sport, put it back how it should be. IMHO these 2.7 concoctions are not worth the effort unless you do it properly (long rods, custom pistons etc) The eta was not made for power it was made for economy and a head swap will not make enough difference to make it better than a good running 325. Fixing the 325 probably cheaper and less effort

Unless really careful the likelihood is it will not be as good as the 325 and spoil a sport in the process.

End of the day, your money, your choice ..........

I often visit Angus Buchanan workshops in levenheath for pasts. They have 10+ e30s sitting there, some sports, 325i's, which they did swaps to for fun in the 90s and early 2000s, they thoroughly regret it now that the cars with swaps never sold and are rusting away in their yard.

Is this the place that has lots of E30's but won't part for any reasonable offer? Obviously I don't know what reasonable is I've just heard about the place online.
I wouldn't mind picking up a sport for 15k if it comes to it.

[Watthefucklike]

I am wondering if im doing the right thing. The thing is somebody has already swapped my sport engine for a later 2.5. if it hadn't been done i would have kept it and repaired. Ughh i dont know.

[onthames]

Personally i would agree too, if it is a genuine sport, put it back how it should be. IMHO these 2.7 concoctions are not worth the effort unless you do it properly (long rods, custom pistons etc) The eta was not made for power it was made for economy and a head swap will not make enough difference to make it better than a good running 325. Fixing the 325 probably cheaper and less effort

Unless really careful the likelihood is it will not be as good as the 325 and spoil a sport in the process.

End of the day, your money, your choice ..........

I often visit Angus Buchanan workshops in levenheath for pasts. They have 10+ e30s sitting there, some sports, 325i's, which they did swaps to for fun in the 90s and early 2000s, they thoroughly regret it now that the cars with swaps never sold and are rusting away in their yard.

Is this the place that has lots of E30's but won't part for any reasonable offer? Obviously I don't know what reasonable is I've just heard about the place online.
I wouldn't mind picking up a sport for 15k if it comes to it.

They won't part them out. You have to buy the whole car.. it's annoying because they are just rusting away. Next time I go I'll check if they have any legitimate sports as they have have actually shifted those. The place is useful for parts however. They only kept the cars they modified, the rest of the e30s that came through them were parted out and I assume scrapped, so they have parts but unfortunately just common ones. Sports seats etc are in their experimental e30s which they refuse to part put...

[flybynite]

somebody has already swapped my sport engine for a later 2.5.

No such thing as a 'Sport Engine' it was the same as every other 325i at the time. Apart from the black headliner they were just add-on bits that could be spec'd on any 325i

[Cloggy Saint]

somebody has already swapped my sport engine for a later 2.5.

No such thing as a 'Sport Engine' it was the same as every other 325i at the time. Apart from the black headliner they were just add-on bits that could be spec'd on any 325i

/\ This. If the car has mismatched numbers then it's already devalued in the eyes of the purists. Cobble a 2.7 together and keep the b25 for when it's time to sell.

[onthames]

somebody has already swapped my sport engine for a later 2.5.

No such thing as a 'Sport Engine' it was the same as every other 325i at the time. Apart from the black headliner they were just add-on bits that could be spec'd on any 325i

Yep, in reality a sport is not that different from a 325i. Other than suspension and LSD. However, they do command a significant premium due to rarity and that's why it would be a shame imo to stick a 2.7 in one.
But, I would first advise OP to check his car is actually a legitimate sport as some 325i were retrofitted or had sport options from the dealer.

[Watthefucklike]

'flybynite' I am know that, im saying the car is a sport, and the original engine has gone. So where as matching numbers make value for collectors, that is no longer the case in mine. You keep sending me links to wiki pages that ive already read and stating obvious things. I aint stupid mate.

[onthames]

somebody has already swapped my sport engine for a later 2.5.

No such thing as a 'Sport Engine' it was the same as every other 325i at the time. Apart from the black headliner they were just add-on bits that could be spec'd on any 325i

/\ This. If the car has mismatched numbers then it's already devalued in the eyes of the purists. Cobble a 2.7 together and keep the b25 for when it's time to sell.

I partly agree. But many people who are not purists are willing to drop 25k on a sport and as long as it was an engine meant to be in a sport I don't think they would care.

[Watthefucklike]

An update on whats happened thismorning thanks to all your advice.

He has kindly refunded me the £1000, and instead i have bought-

M20 b20 block for boring to 84mm.
6x ks std piston and ring kit.
Full engine gasket seal and bolt set.
173 ecu.
All crank and bottom end bearings.

This has to be the better decision right?

[onthames]

'flybynite' I am know that, im saying the car is a sport, and the original engine has gone. So where as matching numbers make value for collectors, that is no longer the case in mine. You keep sending me links to wiki pages that ive already read and stating obvious things. I aint stupid mate.

Nobody's calling you stupid. You're lucky that it seems that you got a decent deal on that 2.7 so aren't gonna lose money if you decide not to go ahead and resell the engine, because then people would be calling you stupid. I believe a sport will still have significantly more value even with mismatched engine numbers, as long as the engine is period and correct for the sport. and I also think a 2.7 would lessen the value but at the end of the day it's still a sports chassis and is worth a fair bit in itself. Some documentation would help as well to see when the original swap was done and by who and for what reasons but I'm guessing you don't have that. As cloggy pointed out, you could swap in the 2.7 and keep the M20 and swap back if you decide to sell. However is it really worth the effort? It's your car so do whatever you want and makes.you happy tho!

[flybynite]

'flybynite' I am know that, im saying the car is a sport, and the original engine has gone. So where as matching numbers make value for collectors, that is no longer the case in mine. You keep sending me links to wiki pages that ive already read and stating obvious things. I aint stupid mate.

I put 1 link in to a WIKI page, thats all.

Never called you stupid

Thats the last advice you will get from me here

Good luck with what ever you do.

[Speedtouch]

So, returning to the original topic, which ECU was fitted, and what went wrong with it, i.e., what were the symptoms?

A 173 ECU is certainly the preferred choice among the Motronic 1.3 units.

I can supply a Mild or Wild chip for it, if you fancy spicing it up a little...

[Watthefucklike]

Original fault was wrong output from ecu to idle valve at ignition. Turns out that the values stated by the hanes manual are wrong. I bought another ecu and it performs exactly the same. After doing some research on revlimited, my ecu is fine. I still have rich running issues, what im going to do is rebuild the engine fully, and take it for tuning.