I've got spare E36 M50 coilpacks, need another guinea pig William?
I was just about to order new wires too! Good timing? If E36 coils work, I'll take the test-fit one...just let me know how much shipped to 94403.
The E36 m50 ones are the same as the m42 stockers, and I tried those first. They CAN be fit in there, but I was not satisfied with the connector fitment. The connectors must be put on the coils BEFORE they are installed in there as there is not enough room to slip the connectors on, for one. Second, the wires coming out of the connectors are jammed at a very tight exit-angle/small radius against the next coil pack.
I do not know it is because of my engineering schooling, or just because I have had my car break down at very inopportune times due to me half-assing things back when I was a teenager (saying that makes me feel old...I guess it WAS quite a while ago!), but reliability is my #1 concern, performance second. My other complaint with using stockers is that all four of the original mounting holes in the ferrous core have to be lopped off, and unless you have access to a welder (lucky for me I do), the iron slats can get 'frayed.' That may have an impact on the energy transfer to the secondary windings inside the coil if it gets bad enough. Cutting all of the mounting holes off is a pain anyway.
I am not saying they cannot work. I only experimented with them for a little while, and when I was turned on to the smaller Bremi units I decided to go the easier route. With proper reinforcement/support for the coil harness wires, the stockers are probably OK to use. I know that a lot more folks would be interested in this if the stockers could be used. Perhaps in the coming weeks I will come up with a bracket for those, but the buyer better be comfortable enough with a hack-saw to chop up the OE coils!
Initially, I had not planned to sell any brackets for this...just do the conversion, hack-saw brackets and make the plans public. Well, it turns out that doing a GOOD job required me to use the Bridgeport mill in my garage...something most folks do not have. So, after seeing that a lot of folks wanted this stuff I decided to make some kits & sell them for the cost of material + a little $ for the ~2 hours it takes me to make a nice bracket. I have PDF files of the brackets' dimensions, and all are welcome to have a look. I have a feeling that I will probably be making almost all of them for people though...unless you have a Bridgeport, or know how to write some simple G-code & have access to a CNC machine. "Real" machinists' time usually goes for a good $80+ per hour if you want to have one made by a shop.
Anyway, if and when I have a kit made up for the stockers I will be sure to let everyone know. The hardware is going to cost more than the round-coil one FYI (not TOO much more, but it will be more). It is going to be more pieces and more of my time (which I have little enough of!). I still hold that the smaller round-coil setup is a better one.
Bracket Dwawing:
http://www.e30tuner.com/coilonplug/M42_COP_BRACKET_A1.PDFEDITED:
New and improved drawing.
