ironcross11
11-26-2006, 06:21 PM
I recently swapped a 1988 E28 (528e) Super Eta engine into an 87 325e. There was a lot of uncertainty about the compatibility of the control and harnesses as we were gathering the parts.
I'm pleased to announce that the 1988 Super-Eta harness with the Motronic 1.1 control box snaps right into the 1987 harness and it runs fine. There are still some issues to be resolved. The 87s have 3-wire O2 Sensors and the 88 harnesses are set up for a 4 wire sensor. I'm trying to craft a snap-in adapter.
You have to have the complete super-eta engine, harness, Motronic 1.1, and air intake stuff all the way out to the air flow meter. The air/throttle controls for the eta engine have a different layout and different sensor connections so I couldn't see a way to make them work.
If you are getting your engine from a wrecking yard, try to get the engine harness and fuel injection stuff included or see if you can get it discounted. It was the hardest part to find and the collection can cost as much as a used engine.
The engine motion sensor and position sensor are not in the bell housing on the super-eta, so I pulled those sensors and made some removable plugs for those ports.
There's an issue with how the motronic bolts in above the glovebox too, but I haven't gotten to that yet.
Warning! this doesn't mean that all engine swaps will be this easy. I think a central point is to assure that the engine control harness has the same connector that plugs in over near the fuse box, and to make sure that the everything hooked to the engine control harness is the stuff that came with the replacement engine, not the parts that were on the original engine.
Maybe everyone else already knew this but I had to figger it out the hard way.
I'm pleased to announce that the 1988 Super-Eta harness with the Motronic 1.1 control box snaps right into the 1987 harness and it runs fine. There are still some issues to be resolved. The 87s have 3-wire O2 Sensors and the 88 harnesses are set up for a 4 wire sensor. I'm trying to craft a snap-in adapter.
You have to have the complete super-eta engine, harness, Motronic 1.1, and air intake stuff all the way out to the air flow meter. The air/throttle controls for the eta engine have a different layout and different sensor connections so I couldn't see a way to make them work.
If you are getting your engine from a wrecking yard, try to get the engine harness and fuel injection stuff included or see if you can get it discounted. It was the hardest part to find and the collection can cost as much as a used engine.
The engine motion sensor and position sensor are not in the bell housing on the super-eta, so I pulled those sensors and made some removable plugs for those ports.
There's an issue with how the motronic bolts in above the glovebox too, but I haven't gotten to that yet.
Warning! this doesn't mean that all engine swaps will be this easy. I think a central point is to assure that the engine control harness has the same connector that plugs in over near the fuse box, and to make sure that the everything hooked to the engine control harness is the stuff that came with the replacement engine, not the parts that were on the original engine.
Maybe everyone else already knew this but I had to figger it out the hard way.
