What is needed for a 92-94 m42 swap in my e30

[16vcoffin]

I know the basics but can someone who has done it fill me in on the little stuff like exhaust, cooling and whats involved in the wiring? Im very intrested in doing this swap but I cant find any solid information, YES I did search.

[16vcoffin]

that ruthlessly difficult huh? bummer.

[m42 fan]

http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=442&highlight=swap

here you go

Brian

[Vladi]

I can't say anything about the wiring, but asuming you already have an M42 and you want to put an E36 one in (i had a 316i M40 and installed an E36 '94 M42) you will have to change the following:
1. oil pan, you'll have to stick with your E30 one.
2. engine supporting mounts, you'll use your E30 ones.
3. the radiator is the same from E36 to E30, so keep your E30 one.
4. you can also keep your E30 exhaust.
5. your air filter box will move to front of the car a bit because the E30 has the throttle body on the middle of the upper intake manifold and the E36 has it on the left side. I'll take some pics with my setup tomorrow, maybe it'll help ya.
If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[16vcoffin]

SWEET thanks that is just what I was looking for. two more questions

-Will I be using my e30 transmission with the e36 motor?
-will my lightend flywheel for my e30 still work with the starter on the e36?

waiting for pics!

[doigal]

-Will I be using my e30 transmission with the e36 motor?
-will my lightend flywheel for my e30 still work with the starter on the e36?

I had looked into this swap for months, and my info was that the transmission should line up. If you have an m42 lightened fly then i think that it will work too.

Just bare in mind that I never actually have tested this, but its what i was going to run with!

[16vcoffin]

thanks man

[Vladi]

SWEET thanks that is just what I was looking for. two more questions

-Will I be using my e30 transmission with the e36 motor?
-will my lightend flywheel for my e30 still work with the starter on the e36?

waiting for pics!

Yes, the E30 gearbox will work with your E36 engine (i've got this setup).
I dunno what to say about the starter. It depends on the engine for wich the flywheel is designed for.
I've got M20 flywheel conversion so i got a M20B20 singlemass flywheel + new M20B20 starter pinion for the small case type starter.
Is it an aftermarket lightned flywheel? What engine did you get it for? E30 or E36?

[m3someday]

Hi all,

i'm new to this club and thread. i've had my E36 with M40 motor for 3 years (it about as thrilling as driving a lawnmower!)

LAst month, i finally found a good 1995 M42 engine and got it swapped. I dynoed the car after the swap but to my dissapointment, only managed to get just over 100+ hp at the wheels!!!!

Took out the ECU with plans to change the chip and realised that my mechanic has installed a M43 ECU! (he couldn't find an m42 ECU) He said the it should work the same....i'm not convince!

So i'm running the following...

E36 body
M42 motor
m40 flywheel/clutch and 5 speed gearbox
M40 AFM
M43 DME

Anybody got any experience to say about this!

An internet search reveals that Bosch 0 261 293 277 is the M43 DME. M42 DME runs on the same Motronic 1.72 but the last 3 numbers is different. I'm not after big power gains but i want close to 140 hp that the M42 supposed to have. Once i got decent baseline hp figures, i would swap the chip and throw out the AFM for an MAF conversion.

for the moment......HELP!!!!!

[Vladi]

Dude, get an M42 ECU right away! There is no resemblance between M43 and M42! What M40 motor did you have, 1.6 or 1.8? The AFM from M40 1.8 is the same as the M42 one.

[m3someday]

Thanxs mate!,

Suspected that the ECU would be the problem. I'm using the 1.8 M40 AFM at the moment so its great to know that at least that is the same.

(sigh!).....now i have to look for an M42 ECU. All i know is that my M42 engine came of the production line in 1995 (based on the imprinted numbers on the engine).

i think there are a few ECUs with different numbers for the M42 engine of this era.

Anybody have any suggestions which ECU would work?...or any one of them will work?

[Vladi]

Since 02/94 this has been the only ECU used on E36 M42's: 1.743.257, this is the PN. There should be a red label on the box with the code 0 261 203 590.

[m3someday]

Hi Vladi,

Thanxs a great deal for your input!....1 more question, i manage to source an early 1993 M42 ECU with code 0 261 200 950. Do you know if that would work on my 1995 M42 motor?

BTW - as a matter of interest, anybody knows how ECUs work and are configured? I mean - are they like desktop PCs in which all other parts like RAM, Harddisks, power supply etc are generally the same and are all there to support the CPU. Change the CPU and you could almost get a new PC!

When we change the EPROM chip on our ECU, it just follows the new ignition and fueling data *****ded in the new chip.

QUESTION - Are all ECUs generally the same then (like our desktop PCs)?....just the EPROM chips are different to match diferent engines and vehicles? So would it work if i just keep the M43 ECU and change the chip?


cheers

[Vladi]

Hi Vladi,

Thanxs a great deal for your input!....1 more question, i manage to source an early 1993 M42 ECU with code 0 261 200 950. Do you know if that would work on my 1995 M42 motor?

BTW - as a matter of interest, anybody knows how ECUs work and are configured? I mean - are they like desktop PCs in which all other parts like RAM, Harddisks, power supply etc are generally the same and are all there to support the CPU. Change the CPU and you could almost get a new PC!

When we change the EPROM chip on our ECU, it just follows the new ignition and fueling data *****ded in the new chip.

QUESTION - Are all ECUs generally the same then (like our desktop PCs)?....just the EPROM chips are different to match diferent engines and vehicles? So would it work if i just keep the M43 ECU and change the chip?


cheers

The '93 ECU should work fine with your M42. I'm not 100% sure, more like 80%. You should test it on your car before you buy it, if you've got how.
And no, the difference between ECU's isn't only the EEPROM.