Pre and post facelift 325 m20 engine swap

[corky1]

This might be teaching experienced E30 people to suck eggs but I feel I would like to offer the inexperienced E30 people my advice on putting a 2.5 lump in a 2.0, or even just changing 2.5 engines on pre and post face lift cars. My car is a 1988 post face lift 2.0 car. The engine i put in it is a 2.5 lump from a pre facelift 1987 car. Being new to the E30 scene, the engine went in with the 2.5 box, engine loom and ecu. I then spent hours trying to get a spark at the coil, and trying to get the fuel pump running. I probably spent almost as much time trying to get the car running as i did doing the engine swap. Having aquired a few invaluable contacts through this web site, i was convinced that pre and post engine looms have to be correct to the car and not so much to the engine, unless the engine and car are both either pre or post and not mixed up. So after changing the loom on my 2.5 engine to the more advanced post facelift loom that was on the 2.0, and fitting a 2.5 ecu the car fired up pretty quickly really. It was a straight forward fit, however little things like changing the water pump and starter motor have to be done. Had i have done my home work prior to dumping the engine in the car, it might have saved me the cost of the c.p.s and speed sensors in the gearbox, which are new and now surplus to requirements, which i might advertise for sale. (Pre facelift sensors) Thanks for all the help from Brian and Ant whom know E30s inside and out, and arent shy to share there stored knowledge.