Dinan Chip 413 brain

Today I installed a Dinan Chipped silver 413 brain. After I got the exhaust put in and the O2 sensor connected, the car started to stumble and not idle very well. It probably needed to learn the car, but we had the chipped brain at work, so I used it. Now it runs great.



A comment on the red vs. silver 413 brains - the silver brain is found in all the EWS equipped cars. However, you can get silver 413 from a Non-EWS car if the brain has been replaced by the dealer. New 413 brains have a silver sticker EWS or Non-EWS. Red is the safe bet, but if you know the production date of the car, a pre 1/95 silver brain will work.

You could use a 506 brain from a 95 M3. I read that this is a learning brain. It makes adjustments on air to fuel mixture based on O2 sensor readings, where the 413 can only make small adjustments. I think the 506 only came in the pre 1/95 M3's.




No tach yet. I can't figure out which wire to hook up. I guess I'll hunt it down this weekend. I made a split harness to try and use the 528i dual temp sensor. I made a pigtail for the oil level sensor since I used the E36 injection harness instead of the E34. I got the bracket from the E30 318i to make the injection brain bolt up.

I see quite a few people searching for Dinan chips for other model cars. It is my understanding that any car 1996 and newer cannot be chipped. You will need a programmer to download the info or a lap top. Here in Sacramento, Shatz and Krum is a Dinan Distributor.

New Exhaust

I took the car over to the Exhaust Shop today for a custom exhaust. Drove it yesterday for the first time. What a difference in power!

I had the exhaust guys use a stock muffler assy and put a custom head pipe with a Magna Flow high flow cat. Sounds a little tinny, but not bad.



I had to take the car back to the muffler guys again. I couldn't get the O2 sensor out, with a pipe wrench and a 4 foot cheater bar. And the sensor was hitting the fire wall. The muffler guy cut it out, turned it and installed another O2 sensor for me.

Sunday Night

It's Sunday Night and I'm spent. The motor's in and running, started up today for the first time. It would have started Saturday, but I left the unloader positive cable off the starter. I took it out for a hot lap tonight without the exhaust. Man is it L-O-U-D!!! After work tomorrow I hope to hang the exhaust, bleed the brakes again and bleed the clutch.



I still have a lot to do, but it's driveable.




















Tune in for more as it happens

Brett

Tomorrows the Big Day

Tomorrow's the Big Day! The engine is as ready as it's going to be. I have the E36 harness converted and should be ready to plug into the car. I'm going to put the harness on the engine tomorrow before installing it. I haven't quite figured out the power steering config yet. I might use the E30 p/s canister instead of the E36. I'll see once it's in the car. The Z3 rack is adding a few extra problems I hadn't anticipated. Here's what I've got:

Used Modified 320i brake booster
Used E34 M5 25mm brake master cylinder - didn't fit / used my E30 master
Used Z3 1.9 steering rack - I'll use my E30 tie rods and modified my steering knuckle
528i Long block
E34 525i M50 oil pan and dipstick
E36 325i Metal Motor Mount Brackets
Used E28 88 535i Green Rubber Motor Mounts
New E21 320i Transmission Rubber Mounts
Used OBDI Intake with throttle body
Used Dinan 506 V8 mass air flow sensor
Used 95 325i Std trans wiring harness (NON ASC)
Used 413 injection brain (Non EWS)
Used 328i accessories - Alternator, Starter, P/S pump. A/C compressor
Used 328i belt tensioners with new pulleys and new idler pulley/belts
Used E30 front crossmember
Used 328i flywheel with new Sachs clutch kit
New Crank Sensor - 95 325i installed on front timing cover
New knock sensors
Used All Aluminum 95 M3 Radiator3 Fan Shroud and Reservoir
New E36 water hoses
Used 97 M3 manual transmission with shift tower
Used Z3 shift lever - didn't use measured same as M3
96 328i manual driveline with new E30 center carrier bearing
Used 95 326i m50 OBDI complete exhaust w/O2 sensors and manifolds - didn't work see below
Custom headpipe with Magnaflow high flow cat $600.00
Used Dinan muffler assembly

The plan is to drop out my engine and trans tomorrow night after work. I'll drop everything out the bottom the same way we dismantle the car. I have my M50 engine all ready setting on another E30 subframe with the steering rack installed. Once the old motor is out, I'll remove the E30 brake booster and master and the E30 radiator. I'll install the 320 brake booster/master and then pull my tie rods, control arms and 5 lug struts from the E30 set-up and put all of these on the new assembly. With everything mounted, I'll put the M50 assembly into the car from the bottom. With the car on the lift I'll lower it down and bolt the subframe in and hang the struts and control arms. With that done, I can raise the car up and put in the drive line and exhaust.

I hope to drive my car home Saturday night. Keep your fingers crossed.

M52 OBDI Change-over Update

So, I'm shooting for this weekend to put in my change-over. I have my 328 engine. I'm putting it in used. I don't want to get into the long block. It has a good comp and doesn't look to have any leaks. Changed to oil pan to an E34 525 M50 one. Had to wait for the stupid little gasket for the oil pump pick-up tube. Changed my crank seals. Put on the alternator, power steering pump and a/c compressor. New belts and tensioner pulleys. Tonight I'll throw the new thermostat and metal housing on it. Still need to put in the pilot bearing so I can bolt the tranny up.

I'm going to set the engine and trans on a subframe and drop my old engine out the bottom and then slide the M52 in from under neath. Hopefully I can get every thing done in one weekend.

I'm going to put a Z3 steering rack in now while I have everything out. My struts seem like they are blown, so I want to change those out too.

Hopefully the next post you read will be me talking about how easy everything went!

Cheers!

OBDI M52 Change Over

Coming Soon - The OBDI M52 change over.

I am going to take the big leap. I have purchased a 1997 328i change-over with an OBDI in take and wiring harness. I am going to use a 97 M3 5 speed to go with it and make the install a little easier.

Small Changes - Mods

Window Trim - I'm not big on chrome. The front and rear window mylar on my car were chrome. The sun kindly turned them brown. When I took a rock to my windshield, I changed the mylar to the black kind used on the 88 to 91 E30's. I also changed my rear window mylar when I put in a tinted rear window.

The E30 M3 has black trim around the door glass and the rear quarter windows. At work we got in a totaled S14 M3 with tinted windows. I swapped out my quarter windows with the tinted M3 ones and as a bonus got the black trim on the outside. I then carefully popped off the front door trim around the glass and installed it on mine. Voila, black window trim.


Window Switches -

I was roaming around the web one day and came across a site where the guy had installed E36 window switches in his E30. Looked cool. Why not. There is no real advantage. Your not going to get a one-touch down option from the switch (That's in the window motor). I liked the look, so let's do it.



-that's my custom cup holder in the picture with my Ipod hook-up. I'm not much on form, but I love some function-

What you need - A pair of 92-93 325/318 rear window switches and the trim bezels that they mount into. Not the ones in the front center console, but the ones from the rear doors themselves. They need to be blue. You'll also need the pigtails from each door switch.

How - The switch hole in the center console needs to be enlarged so your going to need a dremel. The center console has metal reinforcing inside that is a real bear to grind. Once the hole is sized to fit the switch bezel, you need to cut the factory sockets out and install the new ones from the E36 doors. Now this is where it gets tricky. The wire colors are not the same from E30 to E36. The web site I originally saw the swap on had a wiring diagram for the swap, but I found it to be inaccurate at the time I did it. I was able to muddle through and in the end I got the look I wanted. Always make sure you have a wiring diagram around when you need one!



Deck Lid Spoiler


My car has the rear deck lid spoiler from a E28 535is. One of the guys at work did it and again I liked the look. The factory E30 spoiler is pretty common and small. The e28 is alot bigger without being gaudy. It's pretty straight forward. Mark and drill the holes in your deck lid and install.

Lighted Rear View Mirror


The E30 dome light's are great for lighting the entry way to your car when the door is open. However once inside the car, your head blocks any light from getting to the middle of the vehicle. Enter the M3/IS lighted rear view mirror. It mounts in the same spot as the non lighted factory mirror. The only real challenge is getting power to it. For power sunroof cars, you can steal power from the sunroof motor. I read there is a way to get power off the check display, but I saw that after i had all ready installed mine. I ran a wire over to the Dome light and grabbed power there. The hot side of the dome light always has power. The dome light switch is on the ground connection. My mirror lights work if the cars is off or on.


Glass Sunroof Panel


If you can find it, there is a rare factory glass sunroof panel. I was able to get one and put it in my car. The headliner panel that goes with it was pretty ratty so I didn't install it. The glass panel mounted right onto the same spots as the metal one. Took like an hour to do. I currently have a manual sunroof. I thought about putting power, but it's the running of the power down to the distribution box that looks like a pain in ass. So for now it's manual. maybe if I ever have to take the dash out I'll do it then.


Short Shifter - As you can tell, I am budget conscious. I do what's cheap for me. When I got my car the shifter was pretty sloppy. How sloppy I didn't know until I drove a friends 95 M3 with a short shifter. I definitely liked the feel, but short shifters are not cheap. My five speed has the early stamped steel shift arm. I don't even know if they make a short shifter for this car.



You gotta love the web. As I 'm looking around one day, I read that the factory Z3 shift lever has a shorter throw and will swap into my E30. All you need is the shift lever (the part that the shift knob slides over). The Z3 has an aluminum shift arm with a plastic ball holding the shift lever in. The aluminum arm is a lot longer than the E30 so you can't use it in the E30. And it bolts on to the transmission differently.

To free the shift lever, I set the Z3 arm on the ground and stomped on it to pop the lever out. I also got the shims and clips that attach the shift lever to the selector rod. They looked low mileage and were in great shape. The shims alone, I think, made a big difference. Try and get the counter weight that attaches to the shift lever, just under the shift boot.

To remove the old shift lever, take off the shift knob and the shift boot. You can change the shift lever without getting under the car. My car used a C-clip to hold the shift lever into the metal shift arm. You can access it from inside the car. Once the clip is off, pull up on the lever and remove the C-clip holding the selector rod on. Slide the lever of the selector rod. The shift lever should come out. There will be a plastic piece on the old shift lever you will need to cut off and re-use on the Z3 shift lever. Put the plastic on the Z3 shift lever. As you put the Z3 shift lever in the shift arm re-install the selector rod with the new shims and clips. Once the Z3 shift lever is seated in the shift arm, push the plastic down and re-install the top C-clip. Put the counter weight on the Z3 shift arm and install the shift boot and shift knob.

Be sure to replace the shim/washers (#11 and #15 in the diagram)these help remove any slop in the shifter.
#11 - 25-11-1-220-439
#15 - 25-11-1-220-199


13 button OBC

My car came with a 6 button clock. So I thought I would upgrade it to the 13 button OBC. This is pretty simple. What you need:
13 Button OBC - with the correct coding plug on the back. "E"'s and "I"'s are different
Wiring harness - the OBC harness is separate from the dash harness and can be unplugged from the car
OBC Brain - this little black box with the green plug is to enable the alarm portion of the OBC. When you push code and enter 4 numbers, the OBC grounds the injection brain and disables the spark signal so the car will not start until the correct 4 digits are entered.
OBC turn signal switch - This allows you to scroll through the obc menu without taking your hands off the wheel

Remove 6 button clock front the dash and install the 13 button in the same spot. Plug the harness for the 113 button into the dash. Install the OBC brain and plug into OBC harness. It helps if you can remove the harness yourself from the donor car, so you know where to plug everything back in. You should all ready have the ambient temp sensor and the obc gong located in the under dash panel.

The gong is for when the temp drops below 35 degrees (Freeze warning) and the gong also is used for the MPH setting. It dings if you go over the set MPH.
Here is the E30 OBC Wiring Schematic, click to enlarge




Front Strut Brace - I was able to get a front strut brace off a wrecked E30. I'm glad I drilled the holes for the E36 strut bearing caps to fit the E30 strut towers. This way the E30 strut brace fit easily. One of the guys I work with drilled the strut towers to mach the E36 strut bearing caps. When he tried to install a strut brace later on, there wasn't room on the strut brace to drill new holes to match the E36 studs.