E36 4 Cylinder (M44) to 6 Cylinder (M50) Engine Swap DIY Part 3
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
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breaker bar: amzn.to/2WvYCXJ She starts!!!
This is my DIY video of how to convert your 4 cylinder E36 to a 6 cylinder. Really can't explain how easy this is for a novice, it will take time but nearly every part is interchangeable.
Bound to have missed out some details so please feel free to ask any questions in the comments and I will get back to you.
Before I get into this a few points:
If possible buy a donor car, so much easier
I am not a mechanic just a hobbyist
This will work on E36 M4x to E36 M50/M52
Due to the modular design of the E36 this is a really straightforward swap.
Have patience and it can be done in a few weekends
Brief Summary of steps needed:
M44 Removal
• Jack the car up & disconnect the battery
• Drain all fluids: oil/coolant/power steering and AC
• Remove exhaust system & disconnect driveshaft from gearbox or diff
• Disconnect slave cylinder from gearbox (if manual)
• Remove front end of the car (optional)
• Remove bonnet (optional)
• Remove radiator and disconnect power steering lines from rack
• Remove AC lines if your car has it
Wiring
• Disconnect engine loom from chassis plug (big fat plug under battery tray)
• Disconnect fusebox live wire, relays from side of fusebox/Pull ECU out of bulkhead
• Disconnect grounds: 1 on each strut and 1 low down near engine mount
• Disconnect Coil pack from chassis
• Disconnect throttle cable
• Disconnect fuel lines
• Remove rear heater core hoses x3 (right at the back of engine by bulkhead)
• Connect hoist
• Disconnect gear linkage from chassis
• Undo x2 engine mounts from subframe
• Undo x2 gearbox mount from chassis cross member (4x if auto box)
• Pull engine
• Repeat above if needed for M50/M52 donor car
Putting M50 in
• Make sure you have a gearbox connected to engine
Fitment is the reversal of removal
Before starting M50/M52 up:
• Top up Oil
• Top up coolant and bleed
• Bypass EWS if applicable
• Turn the key
Tidy up jobs (optional)
• Swap 4 cylinder clocks for 6 cylinder. Only 2 screws. 4 cylinder clocks will turn on but will not read revs properly.
• Relocate the battery to the boot with the 6 cylinder relocation cable.
Thats it!
Just bought an immaculate e36 316 1.9 compact. Came across your video mate. This is fucking mental how simple the swap is!
Hey mate, realy you dont do nothing more whit the Electric part??? I dont have ews, so on my swap its only plug and pley?
Hello Mate, love the videos! Just a quick question regarding the Loom plugs, Why is there 2 on the 6 Cylinder and one on the 4? Is it because the 6 is an automatic? Isthe other plug for the auto ECU? I'm planning to swap the 2.8 into my 318i M43 touring. It is the slowest thing on the planet lol. Regarding EWS also, do you just have to send the ECU off to get it removed and possibly a remap?
Cheers!
Alex Atha I think all 6 cyl cars had 2 plugs but can’t remember why. But only one will plug into your 318 chassis plug so just find the correct one. Didn’t have to send My ECU anywhere as it was from a 92 car so no EWS. Depends what year your 328 ecu is, most will have EWS as it’s a newer engine. If it has EWS you can send it out for removal and mapping at the same time such as higher rev limit, M50 manifold conversion etc. Look on eBay!
Hey man . . . as far as the fuel lines go, did you need to use any fuel lines going to the manifold from the 325i? I bought a m52 by itself, no parts car, so im wondering if i need to obtain some additional fuel line related material in order to perform my swap
Hello mate. Just on with bypassing EWS now. I have bought a new ECU with EWS removed. I am looking at the EWS plug where the glovebox is and I’m stuck slightly. In your vid you say cut wire 3 which is a small green wire. And 1 and 4 to bridge together. They are the 2 thickest wires. However the 2 thickest wires on my plug are in space 1 & 3 and the small green wire is in space 4. I’m assuming when you are stating a number it is labelled on the connected itself? As that is what I am looking at. So you have an email so I can send over a pic to show you what I mean? Any help you can provide is much appreciated.
Cheers,
Alex
Hi Alex, I think the green wire cut only works on certain years. The numbers and spaces can vary over the years so all you need to do is cut the two thickest wires and splice them. If that doesn’t work give me a shout.
JDR Motors cheers mate. Worked an absolute treat. Started up perfectly. Celebrating similar to you 😂. Thanks for he help. Vids are top quality 🤘👍
Hola como lo hiciste con el ramal de la caja automática o queda muerto sin la centralita nomas
currently doing this swap, m44>m52, starter wont turn, same setup as you(auto m52 engine harness), did you have to do something about the park/neutral safety switch? think that's why mine wont crank,
Patrick Morrison is the shell you are putting the m52 into manual or auto? Mine shell was manual so all I did was disconnect the automatic ecu on the m50 auto engine loom.
And I mean on an auto engine there are 2 Ecu one for the engine and one for the gearbox (disconnect the gearbox one)
How do you check your ecu codes? I've already done the swap but can't seem to check the codes is there a wire you have to ground or do you just use the obd2 port?
Hey man dont know if you still check these comments. Does the loom plug into every chassis? Wondering if it will plug into my 1992 m40 e36 i got a 1996 m52b28 engine.
Cheers and props to your swap.
Loom plugs into every chassis!
Please help! 1996 e36 with m50b25tu engine. Red label dme I did exactly what the video said and I have no crank still please help
Hello i have a 318i 1997 engine ? Can i change it to m50 withoud bypassing the Ews , the engine can start ? Thanks and the ecu unit is without ews
Yours is the same as mine then. No EWS on ecu makes it easy. However you still have to cut the wires behind the glovebox like did.
Thank you soo much and my engine start✌ but i have probleme with autoblocking system still not working and i don't now why 😏
I did this swap, from put a 94 m50 (red label ecu) into a 95 318ci, jumped EWS module and I’m getting crank no start. There is no fuel getting into the engine, and the fuel pump is not priming on accessory. I’ve heard this can be an EWS sub issue, but it may be part of my fuel system. I’m unsure, but I don’t believe it is my fuel system. Anyone here have this issue and fixed it?
So got another question for you about my swap. Im gonna use the m50 cooler and how do i connect the heater sensor on it? Should it be a connection in the motorharness or do i need to get more cables?
Do you mean radiator? There is a sensor for the rad on the cars headlight loom I think.
JDR Motors okay so even the 318 loom got it for m50 radiator?
andreas edin yeh
Hi mate I have a 1996 318i with ews and I'm fitting an m52b25. Will a chipped ECU with EWS removed be fine? Or will I have to cut and splice, let me know!
Edward Karran you’ll need the ews removed ECU and you’ll have to bypass the ews module on the chassis as well as it’s a 96.
hey mate if have a 92 318is without ews has m42 motor in it and thinking of doing the same swap, does it matter if the motor i buy is from a car that has ews or no? cheers
Doesn’t matter, if the engine has EWS then you just need the ECU chipped to remove it. If the engine does not have EWS then nothing to do.
hey mate, just took my m44 out my z3 and they're a bit different to the old 36s for wiring... with the relays that you switched did all the wires go out to the loom with them?
i didnt disconect any from the 36 and im unsure of where mine are coming from haha
Sam Boddington if it helps all my relays were attached to the engine loom. So the m50 relays just clipped onto the outside of the fuse box. I think the m44 ones were different
@@JDRMotors ah no that makes sense, just wanted to check haha
Cheers mate, videos were a lot of help!
I just swapped my m50 into my 97 318 everything works there's spark, compression, and air, but the fuel pump isn't working it's not the relay and the lines aren't flipped around, the pump worked on the m44 is there some wiring I missed?
Have you bypassed the EWS in the chassis of your 97? Cars will still crank but the fuel pumps won't prime without EWS bypassed.
in part 4 of my video
Maybe it is the red wire near the batery. I tought it was an positive terminal but it was an mass cable near the left front strut tower.
Hello my question is.Did you use the m44 engine subframe for the m50 swap,you only need the mount arms from the m50? My m52 frame is damage and i was thinking if the m44 works with m52.Is for my bmw z3 i understand the front of this car is a e36 and e30 rear end
rafael villatoro correct I only left the arms on the m50 and bolted to the m44 subframe using the m50 engine mounts.
@@JDRMotors thank you So much Sir👍
What is that black round box at right of the engine mounted to the chassis and from which goes the blue line close to the fuel lines
Czarny it’s a charcoal canister for emissions, you can delete it.
@@JDRMotors ooh, such thanks for response ^^
just got a question for you, im doing the same swap. What did you do with the heater hoses? the original 318 only got two and the m50 got three.
you'll need to get a three hose one or bypass it
i got it to work with the original 318 heater valve that sits on the engine bay wall :)
When you did the swap were all your cluster lights and your ac lights working?
Hector Saldarriaga yeah, I started with 4 cylinder cluster and all worked (tach was reading double). Swapped for a 6 cylinder cluster and all good. I removed AC but the buttons and screen still light up. Have you checked all your ground?
So do you keep the 6 cylinder loom with the 6 cyl engine and essentially plug into the connector?
Nick Pierpoint spot on. It’s plug and play.
JDR Motors thanks mate, thinking of doing this as a project, alternatively an abf mk2 golf but I've done vw my whole life, fancy seeing what the BMW scene is all about
Did you have to change the wiring harness?
Ajay Chan the 6 cylinder engine loom plugs straight into the 4 cylinder chassis
Is the original m44 propshaft actually the right length? I thought I may need a 6cyl manual propshaft to do my m50 conversion with original 4cyl manual gearbox.
Yeh 4cyl works, you have some adjustability with it and mounting points can slide.
hi mate I've been doing a 2.5 engine swap in my compact iswell but am really struggling to get it started now..it's got ews box, chip, but still won't start! did you have the ews deleted from the ecu before you cut and bridged the wires?
Hi mate, my ECU didnt have EWS so was easier. Does the car crank at all?
@@JDRMotors I am having the same problem. I have an apparently chipped ecu I bridge the ews and nothing no crank nada.
hi mate i watched all your videos im trying to do a engine swap my self but if i dont want to buy another full car what parts would i need would it be a full engine.ecu would i need the loom aswell?
driftguyy Hi, you'll need these 6 cylinder parts: Engine with all accessories, Loom, ECU, full exhaust, gear linkage, engine mount arms, battery relocation terminal and wire, clocks if you want the revs to read right.
You can re use from 4 cylinder: gearbox/prop shaft/ radiator / engine mounts / flywheel and clutch (I wouldn't recommend this as the clutch is smaller than the 6 cylinder one and struggles with the power)
thanks JDR keep on posting videos i enjoy them.....
i feel sorry for the 325 it was clean
Hi mate, what was the small green wire that you cut? and do you have to keep the ews plug disconnected from the module to start it?
Hi mate the green one isn't needed, just splice the two thick ones and keep the ews plug disconnected from the module.
is it ok to start it for a few secs without radiator and coolant like you did?
yeah its fine
What to do if i've seaped it, it turns but cant even crank...
Czarny hi, what do you mean seaped it? In answer to your other comments, If the engine loom was left on the engine you don’t need to mess with the starter cable.
@@JDRMotors swapped* and it gives too rich mix, it started but turns of without me stepping on the throttle. Now it cant even start and it only shoots flames from exhaust
Czarny I have not had issues with backfires before or mixture. Are your fuel lines and pump all working properly?
@@JDRMotors yes, they are. But I think it might be cuz of the "left air" while i removed the charcoal filter and I left open the line which goes into the intake manifold. I will fill the gap and see then.
Hey mate, I’m doing the same swap but I don’t know where my ews is located my e36 is a 1994 not sure if you could help me
Adrian Morales hi mate, you need to remove the glove box and then it’s a big square connector. It’s the lowest one (can be purple sometimes) and just look for the two thick cables that I show how to splice.
Thanks mate I really appreciate it 🙏🏼
CN you use the 4cylinder motors auto gear box with the new 6 cylinder motor ? Also are there any supercharger kits?
I have a CAR from 1995 And engine from 1991 IT crank’s over but wont start...
Bendik Medrud EWS bypassed on the 95 chassis? Is your fuel pump turning on?
JDR Motors i have tried bypasing IT no help, no the pump is not turning on. I just sett power streit to the pump
Bendik Medrud ok fair enough, I would check for spark next. If no spark could
be the crank sensor or ECU
Will ABS Still work if you swap everything over? I have an m52 320i and im swapping a 92 M50 non EWS from an e34 and im wondering if the wiring is same as your cars or since im changing the ECU from an EWS II to an Non EWS I might be loosing ABS, AC controls ETC ? Maybe you have a clue? Thanks
I still have the abs, swapped an m43 with an m50. My car has ews its from 96