Why Won't My M52 Swapped E30 Run?? [M52B28 BMW E30 Build First Start Problem Solving] 054

[@Yamafizzy]

I think all of us on this side of the camera probably cheered and punched the air when it started and kept running. The beauty of conquering an ongoing problem like this, is that the success feels even more rewarding. Great video chaps - really enjoyed it. Thank you 👍😀👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thank you Mike, its so awesome that people are rooting for us on this E30 build. 😃 Just like you say, it's always extremely satisfying to come out victorious on a big problem like this. Really glad you enjoyed it mate

[@SalahZayat-hq5md]

😊

[@canarybluestudio]

This video brought a smile to my face when the engine finally ran.

[@SPANNERRASH]

We were absolutely jumping for joy, such a relief. Glad you enjoyed it. :)

[@kriszg5836]

I did the same thing with the fuel lines on my swap. I had a dead giveaway though that you didn't. My fuel pump primed and I could hear it struggle trying to push fuel through. That gave me the idea that the fuel lines were reversed. Good job figuring it out! It's always a struggle when you have multiple problems at the same time.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thank you, its something I should have noticed earlier. I guess I didn't understand how the regulator worked so I hooked it up backwards.. I was glad to work that out after a while scratching my head. I thought it was going to fire right up after we switched them. 😅

[@philw4053]

What a brilliant episode! Had all the suspense of a Hollywood blockbuster 😂. You two will be telling that story for years to come. Well done for keeping on going until you solved the problem.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha thank you Phil! It was a real conundrum at points, such a relief to hear the thing run after all this time. 🎉

[@gtj1]

I did the exact same thing re the fuel lines, easy mistake to make!! I was shouting at the screen🤣 Your old man is a methodical guy

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha!! Seems a few people have made that one. 😆 Yep, he's got the patience of a saint at times.

[@vegard390]

The noise from the inlet manifold when the ignition is on, is the ICV. That's a great way to check if the ecu has power, if that makes sound the ecu has power.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Nice thank you for clarifying! I suspected it was the ICV, although its noisier than I expected. It seems to be doing it's job though so maybe it's normal?

[@vegard390]

@@SPANNERRASH yeah it's makes a bit of noise, you can try to clean it maybe it will be a bit better. It's a stepper motor inside it, so it will always make some sound when it got power.

[@mustafakulucan3660]

Yep I have an early e36 320 and the icv making a bit of noise is normal.

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@mustafakulucan3660 Cheers! 😀

[@martinblack5021]

Well done chaps. I was shouting at the screen “the fuel pump should be running on first click of ignition, not during cranking”. But your journey was valuable because you sorted a couple of other glitches. Impressive it started and ran so well. Quality work!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers Martin. Yeah it turns out you were spot on, it should have been priming the whole time. Although when the car was M40 powered the fuel pump never primed once, only pumped when it got crank signal. I thought this was going to be the same, so I was very surprised when I suddenly heard it prime.

[@ytbb123]

Actually got goosebumps when it started and stayed running !! well done after this big process of rebuilding the car.

[@SPANNERRASH]

It was such am emotional rollercoaster this video. I was so happy when it ran, then ecstatic when it stayed running and sounded well. A huge relief after all the work up to this point because I'd never seen this motor run before. 😄

[@ytbb123]

@@SPANNERRASH always the 1st starts are crazy haha. my m52b28 started with a loud ticking noise, turned out to be lifters which had te fill with oil. After 5 minutes the sound went away

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@ytbb123 Yeah absolutely, I was expecting mine to be very loud and ticky with hydraulic lifters having not been run for years, but surprisingly not too bad!

[@tireshredder4208]

I think that the small red wire that you took off the starter and moved to the battery should actually be on the alternator so that it only has power when the engine is running, I made the same mistake on my e36 when I put the engine back in a few months ago and when I moved that wire to the alternator it ran perfectly. I'm so stoked to see that you got it running tho, sounds great

[@SPANNERRASH]

Interesting, I will look into that! It's all working well currently and charging just fine currently though. Cheers! 😃

[@crossiecars]

well done for sticking with it! Thank god for you dad being good with wiring!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thank you mate! Yeah it was a real godsend having him chip in, I was all out of ideas more than once. 😂

[@deanirwin3645]

Nicely Done! I kept forgetting that you have a different engine in the car. On the E30 (325is/M20) you won't hear the fuel pump start when the key is turned. It won’t turn on until the DME gets signal from the CPS during cranking.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks Dean! Yep, an engine I've had sat on a stand for what feels like forever. But now it's getting it's time to shine again. 😃 When the E30 was M40 powered the fuel pump never primed either, so I was surprised when it suddenly did.

[@Deep-sinai]

I have the same engine in the same car and I eventually overcame the heat problem somehow. I liked all the wiring details. It's great to watch this video. I have the red wire on the battery

[@SPANNERRASH]

Nice, sounds like a near identical project to mine! Glad you didn't fall foul of the same wiring issue I did. 😆

[@ThirstE30]

The sound in the intake is the icv. I have an e30 325i radiator for car with a/c and I used the e30 a/c fan . I also have a/c in my m52 e30 and in the hot Greek sun it never overheated even the fan rarely turns on and I’ve got it to turn to high fan speed only when racing .

[@SPANNERRASH]

Awesome thank you. I am planning to run a similar arrangement with an electric fan, but I am going for a Spal Pusher fan setup.

[@billtimmer2462]

Nice job. For my cooling system, I went with an e36 4 cyl radiator. It mounts right into the stock space with only some adjusting of the rubber mounts. The 4 cyl rad has the expansion tank built into the side which I love because it allowed me to ditch the stock one and clean up the bay. I also went with 2 Spal 9 inch low profile puller fans, they are only about 2 inches thick and they do clear the pulleys with just enough room. I recommend a puller over a pusher if you can fit it and Spal is the best. I used temp switch FAC-75146 which plugs into the radiator. I modified the e30 high speed fan circuit and used this to power the fan system. Normally that circuit would just turn the AC fan to max speed in the event of an overheating situation, which I feel should not be necessary if these Spal fans work like they should.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Brilliant advice thank you! I am in the midst of collecting parts and I've gone with a 16" Spal pusher fan, one large one. An E36 radiator with the end expansion tank is a must in my opinion too. It's far better.

[@billtimmer2462]

@@SPANNERRASH The reason I could not do a pusher is becuase my goal is to retain A/C, but I do have the condenser fan that can be turned on in case of an overheating emergency.

[@veemash643]

The commentary takes it to a whole new level 🔥🔥🔥 Well done💯👌🏽

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it!

[@johncollins2966]

Well done for sorting out the electrical problem. 😊😊

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks John! 😊 Super happy to have solved it

[@09woody]

Well done chaps. Love watching your video's. This one was the best one so far. What a great feeling it is when an engine bursts into life 😊 cheers

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks mate, really glad you enjoyed it! We were absolutely elated when she roared into life. It's been a long road. 😁

[@e30_318is_project]

🎉 yeaahhhh it runss, great work guys investigating the wiring issue. I really thought it was an ews issue in the middle of the video. Great find !

[@SPANNERRASH]

So happy! We were wondering about EWS for a little while but luckily my new ECU seems to check out perfect.

[@Moocow444]

Great work man you and your pops are really smart, thank you for the great series! Great info and quality camera work

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thank you man, it was a real battle getting the starting issues solved. It took a lot of thinking about... 😂

[@yaqubn]

I jumped up and shouted out YES ! as soon as it started and idled so smoothly ..... well done and hats of to you and your old man for perseverance and getting it going....cant wait for the next episode 😊

[@SPANNERRASH]

It was an absolute mission, can't believe she finally runs! :D Also amazing to know people are rooting for us on this build, it's certainly good for morale - thank you!

[@chrisstubbs3444]

Love the videos! This one saved us hours of work yesterday with the same issue with the red wire going to the starter! Thanks for the detail and the explanations I now have a running M52!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Congratulations on getting your M52 running, hope it's purring nicely! 😃 Funny how you had the same issue with the starter wiring. I hope it wasn't me that mislead you in the first place about that. 😂

[@sheldonarkinstall2784]

Congratulations and well done! What a journey. I’m also having an anxiety attack, worrying about when the first start up comes on my M20B25 swapped e21 comes.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks Sheldon! It was a real mission figuring this out, took a lot of persistence! Good luck with your M20 first start, stick at it and I'm sure you will iron out all the bugs.

[@miltjk]

Hello, as you say very correctly, the red cable will go to the battery and the thin one, as I see, the black/green cable to the starter screw, to the connector on the green/black no. 15, what have you connected? I have e30 M10 and I have put e36 m42b18 but the cables are the same most of them. And I have exactly the same problem as you. the fuel relay does not open. thank you in advance!

[@SPANNERRASH]

The black and green cable is to the starter solenoid, you can see it positioned here on the top smallest terminal on the starter solenoid 27:37. This is where it sits and the car is happy. 😃 take your time to confirm your relay is functioning properly, they can be inconsistent when they are worn out.

[@miltjk]

@@SPANNERRASH Thank you for your kind reply, the video is amazing with your father, please tell me it is a matter of the 3 relays, blue - orange - white (fuel)

[@lengthist]

Great video, had a similar issue with my swap, can’t wait to see you driving it 👌

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thank you mate, seems a few people have the same issues I did. Especially with the fuel lines being the wrong way. 😆

[@vagkos3060]

Well done mate !! I am so happy you got it started !!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks mate, it's cause for celebration, so pleased it runs! :D

[@shanechiddy4303]

Yaaaaaay, well done guys. Your Dad’s awesome.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers Shane! Yep he really came through for me again with this. I was totally pulling my hair out after a while. 😆

[@TonyBMWE12]

Well done, a great result , and it sounds really good to A credit to you and yours dads perseverance

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers Tony, really happy to have it running!

[@mcjjordan]

Only thing ive noticed is that the fuel injection system isnt fused. Also the terminals in the relay holders barely make contact. I like to remove them and fit new holders & configure them to use those fused relays for added protection .

[@SPANNERRASH]

Interesting thought, definitely better to be safe than sorry. The relays are basically barbed spade connectors pushed into the holders from what I can see. I expect I will be learning a bit more about that soon as plans are to utilise a relay for my cooling system fan. Stay tuned for that!

[@polloloci21]

Awesome! Engine sounds nice and steady

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks mate, I was expecting it to be much more clattery with the hydraulic lifters, as the engine has been sat for years. Nice surprise that it sounds smooth. :D

[@joshuadavids7404]

I have exactly the same m52 setup in my e30. When i turn the key the full pump primes and you can hear the buzzing noise. It's the icv and it's completely normal. I know this because with the m50 intake there's a breather pipe at the back that goes to the icv and it sometimes slips out😂 (broken clip). I can feel the buzz when I go back to slip the pipe back

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks Joshua, that's very reassuring to know. The ICV is surprisingly loud, but I haven't much to compare it with. Regarding the fuel pump, I was quite surprised when it primed, because as an M40 powered 316i E30 the pump did not prime until the crank was turning. Can't wait to drive mine :D

[@joshuadavids7404]

You guys are on the right track. I've had the m52 conversion since 2018 and it's been nothing but faithful so you can be assured that it's normal. The icv buzzing is quite intense I know but with the bonnet back on it won't be as loud. Mine was originally a 320i m20 and I'm still running the original fuel pump and never primed once with the m20 engine😂 I would add though that there are times when it doesn't prime but only when I disconnect and reconnect the battery because I only enjoy car on weekends mostly. When I reconnect the battery and turn the ignition on I can only hear the icv buzz but no prime however it still starts up 100% fine. Other than that the fuel pump primes everytime I turn the ignition on. So you guys are on the right path to success. Great video well done. Can't wait to see it drive 👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@joshuadavids7404 Perfect thank you, I will stop stressing about the noise then. It really was a surprise when the fuel pump primed. I plan to leave my battery unhooked regular too. It will also be a fair weather fun car once done. 😃

[@leoliu041892]

It's gonna help so many people to swap m52

[@SPANNERRASH]

I really hope it does! :D

[@clayp.e30_v86]

You want a 16 inch electric fan on there and a thermo switch in thr rad to control it. Amazing the difference one wire can make isnt it 🙈 She sounds happy though 😁 Dont worry about thr icv buzzing, thats completely normal when it's getting power

[@SPANNERRASH]

Awesome, I am going for the 16" fan just as you suggest. Looking forward to getting that all rigged up. Thanks for the reassuring words about the ICV. Surprisingly loud it is but people's comments seem to suggest it's normal! 😄

[@andymacpherson6727]

I'm really enjoying these videos - can I ask how your garage heater is performing as Im looking to buy one for our garage?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Great to hear you're enjoying the E30 series Andy! The heater is great, still using it everytime I'm out there and it makes a big difference. Times in the past when I would probably give it a miss, I can now go out and crack on in relative comfort.

[@darioc.4414]

Awesome progress! Keep it up! The instrument cluster is still programmed for 4cyl engines? The revs at 36:09 seems to be wrong on the cluster, the engine was reving way lower than shown in the cluster, in my opinion.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers! Yes you are definitely correct, the RPM is reading 50% higher than reality due to the cluster. I have got a 6-cyl coding plug to fit which will correct it. I will fit that soon. 😃

[@OnyxReXtN]

Im @5:08, and already know that you probably have the fuel-lines mixed up :P Did the same thing on my E46 328 when swapping manifold.. haha

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha! Seems like loads of people made the same mistake as we did! 🤣 Those fuel lines are a serious trap.

[@chrisrawle2967]

Great work. Well done

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers Chris!

[@JJSBuilds192]

Great video 👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thank you mate 😃

[@JJSBuilds192]

@@SPANNERRASH currently doing an m52 build it’s a bit different to yours but seeing how calm and patient you are is really inspiring 👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@JJSBuilds192 Haha luckily had the old man there to keep me grounded, I had a few moments if we're being honest. 😆 Glad we stuck at it, a bit of patience goes a long way. Hope your build is going well.

[@a1962Cobra]

What a great episode! I’m having an anxiety attack, worrying about when first start up comes on mine. Do you think you and your Dad would be up for a trip to Australia to lend a hand? 😂

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha! It's stressful but its always worth it in the end. Just take plenty of patience into the battle. Send us the tickets, we'll be there mate. 😂

[@TheNorthernmunky]

Well done mate

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers mate! :)

[@ataylor5539]

Congrats!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thank you 🍾

[@Danw007]

My phone battery died just as you was about the get the winning crank which added to the suspense 😂 Great video guys well done 👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha thanks Dan. I'm over the moon to hear the M52 run after so long looking at the thing. Huge relief to hear it sound so smooth too. What a result!

[@lutherzuma2634]

The starting of the car was so satisfying. I actually threw a few fist pumps in the air

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks mate, we were so happy that it finally worked! 😁

[@mariosnikolaou5212]

What a moment. Having this beast of an engine run inside an E30. I am picking my M50B25TU this weekend and the car that was in it was an E34 525iA, auto and it has a silver tag ECU. Can i use the wiring harness? Can i use this ECU ? Thanks in advance. Greetings from Greece.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks Marios, we were ecstatic to hear it run after such a mission with the electrics. :D Good question, I am sure you can use that wiring harness if its the original one with the engine. As for the ECU, look out for where it says "index 9" 10 or 11 etc. If it does, it means it is editable. I think its the ones with the red labels that have no EWS from factory, all others have it installed.

[@mariosnikolaou5212]

What do you mean index?

[@mariosnikolaou5212]

My ECU doesn't write anywhere index...

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@mariosnikolaou5212 On the label, on the side of the ECU. If its an MS41 DME, it will have written among it "index" I show it in my M50 manifold video briefly. If you find it says "index" on the side, it will be editable, and you can delete EWS and tune it. Or get someone else to.

[@mariosnikolaou5212]

My ECU is from an M50, it's motronic i guess or Bosch. The Siemens ECU, the MS41 indeed has the index stuff and etc and also is a very good ECU to tune your car.

[@Revive_and_drive_auto]

Hello bro, awesome video man, I just have a quick question about the swap. So im 15 year old kid with 316 I bought myself 500$😂. So it had the same engine as yours, and I was wondering could this tutorial work on M52TUB28 engine, bc I cant find myself m52b28 engine that has single vanos and isnt blown, so Im worried about the dual vanos sistem bc of its complexity, so would it be better to get m52b25 or m52tub28 and struggle with the duble vanos?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi mate, awesome that you're attempting a swap on your E30. $500 sounds like an absolute bargain by today's values! Good question about the M52TU. With this engine some of my information will apply, but some won't. From my understanding these later M52 engines are more like doing an M54 3.0 swap. In practical terms, actually getting the engine to fit into an E30 will be almost identical, but actually getting it to work and the electric side of things, I'm not certain about. I am confident there are lots of resources online for you to research and find out about that though. 😁

[@Revive_and_drive_auto]

@@SPANNERRASH Thank you very much for responding. Ill certainly try to search as much as possible, but first ill need to get rid of rust. Anyways thank you for the advice and I wish you all the best with your e30 build. I cant wait to see it running 👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@Revive_and_drive_auto Cheers! Good luck rust busting. Hope you don't find too much. 😁

[@mcjjordan]

E30zone is your friend for diagrams. Ive wired a few of these now …they are not straightforward

[@SPANNERRASH]

Absolutely, a godsend of a resource. I do struggle with wiring, the old man came through as always though. 😂

[@bobfrankish8883]

Good work.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers Bob, super happy to have got her running finally.

[@bobfrankish8883]

@@SPANNERRASH Yes, I bet. I was hoping to have my 840 running for Xmas but it hasn't happened. I am stuck with a fuel rail issue at the moment which is proving almost impossible to sort.

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@bobfrankish8883 Interesting, are you sure you don't have your feed and return lines hooked the wrong way around like I did? 😆 You can't rush art, take your time and I'm sure you'll resolve it.

[@bobfrankish8883]

@@SPANNERRASH Ah, I wish it was that simple! To cut a very long story short, the fuel rail on the M62B44 engine is made from mild steel and is coated with a type of, I presume black epoxy paint inside and out. Mine was very rusty outside and looked terrible, so I stripped it back to bare metal and had it nickel plated. Unfortunately, it has begun to shred its' inner coating which is coming away as black particles. These will obviously knacker the injectors quick time. I've set up a test rig with a bath of white spirit and a pump, and each time I tried it more particles came out. It is now back with the platers who are attempting to strip all the coating off the inside of the pipe. Once I am convinced no more crap is coming out of it, I am having it electroless nickel plated, which will plate both the outside and the inside of the rail. By the way, new ones are unavailable from BMW and there are none to be had anywhere in the world at the moment, apparently. Time will tell.

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@bobfrankish8883 Wow that sounds like a huge design flaw! What a pain that you cant just replace it with new. Hopefully they will be able to strip the inside of it with something in the end.

[@bashredies8127]

legend

[@SPANNERRASH]

We're well chuffed to hear the thing run, at last! 🍾

[@petermosdell580]

And remember - Diagnose dad fixed it again 🤣 (Apologies to our Dutch friend)

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha he always does. I'm very lucky he helped me with this because I was really struggling. 😂

[@knaster015]

Oh yeah! 🤘

[@SPANNERRASH]

Woop woop! 🥳

[@aleksej79novosibirsk]

There is a joke, when somebody says: there is 90% chance that this will work, and 100% that it won't. :D

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha! Yeah it's all a matter of timescales. 😆

[@blakeaust]

Everyone gets the fuel hoses around the wrong way atleast once, or twice 😂

[@blakeaust]

My m3 euro's ecu cuts the fuel pump if the o2's arnt connected, took me awhile to realise as I ha no exhaust

[@SPANNERRASH]

Indeed haha, I felt quite daft about it at the time! Ahh I bet you were very confused by that at first, hopefully you found out before stripping everything back off. 😂

[@Niftym50]

Ews? Seems sorta obvious if that was the issue.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Ultimately that wasn't the issue, but it was one we ruled out early on. It was wiring related, you'd have to watch more of the video to see, no spoilers!

[@ilyastouring3132]

Can I have a video call with you? I face the problem where my car just died and I couldn't figure out what's wrong

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi Ilyas, I think I'd need to send my dad over to look. Turns out he's the expert! 😂 To be honest I think it would be near impossible for me to diagnose your car on a video call. However, there are some genuine experts who frequent the comments section here, so I'd recommend you detail the symptoms you are facing here and I bet you will get some helpful suggestions in response. 👍

[@ilyastouring3132]

@@SPANNERRASH hey buddy.. I wish the old man could come to Morocco. He could save hundreds of e30s. well it was a normal night drive.. until my friend decided to drive and drift. When he did so the car overspinned and went backwards while he was accelerating then it shut off. When I started the car it was stuttering. the next day it didn't want to start at all

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@ilyastouring3132 Oh no, that sounds bad. He should have pressed the clutch in quickly. Sounds like you might have stalled your engine then span it backwards hard. I don't imagine an engine would like to be rotated backwards with such force, maybe the timing chain skipped? Or when you say accelerating do you mean the wheels where still spinning in the correct direction?

[@Mrtweet81]

I relay don’t know

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha we had a relay bad time with those relays... :D

[@Mrtweet81]

@@SPANNERRASH That’s one thing I can relay believe;)

[@davehalst]

Is it because you didn’t call Dan @ BM Conversions? 😅😂

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hahaha! We'd have saved time by calling Dan I bet. 🤣 Satisfying to have figured it out without experts on standby for once though.

[@tomsrensen3906]

Remeber your taco is Reading false. Because you need one for a 6 cylinder model. Thats why your RPM is wrong

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thank you Tom, you're 100% correct, it appears to be reading 50% higher than reality thanks to the 6 extra cylinder pulses. I have got a 6-cyl coding plug which I plan to swap in soon to correct that. 😄