97 M44 to 97 M52 swap questions
 

Hi, newbie here. Sorry this isn't a 318ti but an ic instead hope I don't get too many pitchforks.

I've got a 97 (10/96 build date) 318ic. Has had some trans issues and I'm about to take here in to see if its just a flush or needs rebuilt.

I also just picked up a 97 328ic with a build date of 5/97. No title but I drove the car 15 miles home. It has a check engine light which I am going to look at tomorrow morning. PO said something about the diff but I didn't feel anything too weird on the drive home.

I picked up the car for the rust free doors, hood and fenders which are the same same Alpine Weiss III. That alone was worth the purchase price. I was thinking to sell the engine but if the CEL turns out to be minor AND the M44 needs a whole new trans, it might be worth it to swap.

From my reading here it looks like I need from the donor:

Engine natch,
trans
harness
cluster
EWS
ECU
front suspension
engine and trans members
radiator and hose
exhaust

Am I missing anything? Note the diff potential issue, can I keep my existing 318i diff?

If I switch all the ews/ecu over with the engine, do I still need to have the dealer realign anything?

I am NOT going to race this car, I did that when I was young and had fun, now I just cruise with the girlfriend on the weekends. Car lives in the garage in the winter.

Finally, anyone in Chicago reading who has done this, feel free to say hi! I'm on a ramen and PBR budget for this car.

ok then. Guess I asked in the wrong board, sorry.

Almost all of these questions is answered in the swap forum. You will get help from the guys on here with any specific questions after you have done a bit of research and searching in the forums.

I searched many times and all I found were posts like yours telling me to search or to buy Tonys manual. Couldn't find a link for that either.

What in the heck is an IC!....baahg

I was born and raised Chicago so I'll point you in the right direction......sell both those cars and get you a TI.


BTW, it is Jims manual. Use the search feature "swap thread" seems like a good place to start.

Octarine, sorry you've gotten a bit of a lacking response to this. I haven't had any experience with swaps myself, but from reading various threads and builds from the past 10 years or so, it looks like you have pretty much all you need. I would consider going with the bigger diff and maybe the 328 brakes at least in the front. The M44 diff will probably hold the power, but I would want the piece of mind of the bigger diff designed for the torque/power output, especially in the situations where you may need it. For the EWS, you may need to get it realigned, or reflashed for the swap as well. I guess read through the thread below, there's some guys on there asking questions about your swap situation:

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7676