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I was in the middle of planning my spring break when it dawned on me that instead of turbo charging my M20B27 (aka eta) I should just swap in the motor from a 92-99 E36 3-series. The M50 swap was beginning to gain popularity however not to the extent as it is today. |
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I started planning the swap 3 weeks before my spring break, March 10-18 2001. I had a hard time finding information at first. I finally decided to call Zionsville Autosport and purchase the Project Orca CD that promised to provide the much needed part list and instructions. Looking back, I realize the necessity of this resource as well as the help from Dwight. Dwight is one of Zionsville's experts who pioneered the swap. His help and patience was instrumental in the success of the swap.
Like most people who dream of doing this swap I thought I could figure it out and save $150 and not buy the Project Orca CD. Big mistake. You'll save a lot of time and money by purchasing the correct parts. Plus, they have found the best way to mount the motor and modify the wiring. |
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I contacted several BMW recycling yards who's adds I found in the Roundel. I was especially impressed with the service, product, and price from Bimmers South. I purchased a 1995 M50 2.5L VaNoS with 52k mi. With it came the entire motor, electronics, accessories, and exhaust. They did an excellent job packaging the motor and were very helpful when it came time to replace missing and damaged parts. |
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On Thursday the 8, 2001 I started tearing apart my old motor. Mind you, I did this whole swap in an unheated garage with outside temperatures in the 30-50s F. I picked the new motor and exhaust on Monday in a U-Haul. A few days later I borrowed a hoist from a friend and fellow E30 enthusiast...thanks Jeff. Surprisingly, it wasn't very difficult to pull the motor and tranny, just very messy. |
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Next I started prepping the M50 2.5L motor. At the last minute I decided to purchase the E36 5 speed Getrag and the proper drive shaft from Zionsville Autosport. By Saturday March 17, 2001 I had the chassis and motor ready to be swapped in. With the help of my friend, Mike, we installed the M50 motor and tranny. With a lot of angling, leveling, and banging we managed to squeeze them in together as one unit. Clearance at the firewall and the front of the car was at a minium. The car began to lift off the rear jackstands as we leveled out the motor. A load leveler is a must for this type of swap. |
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One of the most challenging aspekts of the swap is modifications to the wirning harness. Luckily the Project Orca CD steps you through the process. I only made one mistake...read below. |
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The green wire I forgot to connect was the ON signal to the ECU. It took me a week, working after school, to figure this out. I attached the thicker wire that sent the signal to the starter but not the one that goes to the ECU. I solved this problem by doing a continuity test on every wire coming out of the ECU. I used this method a month later to solve my cold start idle/performance problem. That was due to swapping the plugs for the temp sensor and VaNoS control. Oops, what can I say; all the plugs look the same and plug in a few inches from each other. |
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In early April the car showed signs of being drivable. I hooked up the final components and got it ready for the exhaust installation. I made it to the exhaust shop without any problems, a ticket for open exhaust was my biggest concern. The next day I helped in the formation of my current exhaust system. It required 1.5 days of labor and cost a lot. We used the stock e36 cat and exhaust. Heavy modifications were made to the down pipes and the stock E36 hangers were bolted to the trunk floor to hold the muffler. |
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Even after the installation of the exhaust, the swap was not done. I stilled had to properly secure the radiator, fix up the wiring, and sort out some derivability problems. I was very happy to see the car running again after being immobile for about a month. The first problem I tackled was my bouncing idle which continuously went between 600 and 2000 RPM. I checked for vacuum leaks and found some around the throttle body gasket. This however was not the problem, the ICV was stuck wide open. I tried cleaning and lubing it but that didn't work. I called Bimmers South and they sent me out a new one. With a little cleaning, the new one worked fine. |
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Another interesting problem I experienced was a cold startup idle/stalling problem. Every morning it would startup and sputter when giving gas. A couple of miles down the road it would drive fine but the engine only seemed to pull nicely above 2500RPM. I finally traced the problem to the coolant temp sensor. The plugs for the VaNoS control unit and coolant temperature sensor were switched. The car ran better then ever after fixing this silly mistake. |
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Other problems I ran into include a power steering pump that suddenly failed, replaced by Bimmers South; the oil level sensor had to be wired in; the diagnostic plug wasn't working, it does now; the valve cover gasket started to leak, common on M50 motors with 60kmi; and my exhaust manifold gaskets failed.
Here is a list of some choices, special parts, and unique things about my swap.
- I run the stock electric fan mounted on the frame of a condensor that had all the fins/tubes removed. I have an extra fog light switch mounted above the radio to turn the fan on high speed.
- I did not add AC due to cost and weight.
- I mounted a K&N filter directly to the MAF sensor, the thermo switch is mounted on the wheel well
- I used a customized brake booster purchased from Zionsville Autosport.
- I installed the tranny and motor together with an engine hoist.
- I didn't use the stock tranny, the E36 tranny uses all the stock mounting points.
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Mistakes I made...
- I should have considered purchasing the parts from Zionsville Autosport. This would have saved a lot of aggravation when I realized that a few things were missing or not correct. Bimmers South did an excellent job but it was very hard to get everything right since the order was complex and unique.
- I should have taken my time in the planning process. This would have also made the swap less stressful. Example, get all of the parts before you start working on the swap.
- Don't do it in 30deg weather!
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