Engine swap wiring question

[sleeper91]

So I have been looking at getting a 318ti an swapping a 6cyl into. I have looked at alot of threads but I have yet to find anything on wiring except for swapping out the whole car harness. I have been working on handas for quite a few years so this is a little new to me. I know its two more cylinders so just how much extra wiring is there. I have heard people talk about a swap simple but it would seem the other way around if there is a ton of wiring changes. Thanks for any input. Mike

[Dan I]

The easiest possible route is to buy a running engine with the harness still attached. Trying to figure out what goes where When you have a full harness in front of you is extremely difficult. Unless you have lots of patience, resources, and time just buy a running setup. Trust me. Both of my swaps were virtually plug-and-play.

[sleeper91]

So how are they plug an play when you are adding two extra cylinders. are the car harnesses mainly the same between the 318 an other e36's? Are the wires for the two cylinders already in the harness? I know plenty of salvage places to get the engine so I would get the harness still attatched.

[tiFreak]

you're removing the entire 318ti harness and replacing it with the harness from the donor car, I'm not sure if I'd describe it as "plug-n-play" but your just swapping wiring over

[Dan I]

Step 1. Remove 4cyl. engine and wiring harness.
Step 2. Install 6-cyl. engine and connect 6-cyl. wiring harness to the chassis 1/4-turn plugs. There are 3 of them, 4 counting the O2 sensor.
Step 3. Start engine.

The only wiring I had to do aside from the above was to run a road-speed sensor pickup to the harness from the tach. 1 wire, 15 minutes.

Anyone else that has done a swap can back me up.

[Philly]

Originally Posted by Dan I

Step 1. Remove 4cyl. engine and wiring harness.
Step 2. Install 6-cyl. engine and connect 6-cyl. wiring harness to the chassis 1/4-turn plugs. There are 3 of them, 4 counting the MAF sensor.
Step 3. Start engine.

The only wiring I had to do aside from the above was to run a road-speed sensor pickup to the harness from the tach. 1 wire, 15 minutes.

Anyone else that has done a swap can back me up.

Sleeper,

its beyond simple, and yes - its all plug & play including the swap of the DME(ecu).

If your serious about swapping, don't forget about the EWS depending on your model year.

Theres a little more to it than that but nothing you can't find out by reading some of the project threads in the engine swap section.

[M4YTY]

All plug and play my friend. All the extra wiring that is needed is to run a roadspeed wire from the instrument cluster to the main engine connector (X20) and if you are using a pre EWS engine like me, chop the EWS signal line that goes to the DME. Then turn the key! Took me 2 days to do my swap from pulling on to my driveway to driving back off it with two extra cylinders! Dead easy.

[RHRsharpie325ti]

Originally Posted by Dan I

Step 1. Remove 4cyl. engine and wiring harness.
Step 2. Install 6-cyl. engine and connect 6-cyl. wiring harness to the chassis 1/4-turn plugs. There are 3 of them, 4 counting the O2 sensor.
Step 3. Start engine.

The only wiring I had to do aside from the above was to run a road-speed sensor pickup to the harness from the tach. 1 wire, 15 minutes.

Anyone else that has done a swap can back me up.

i wish it were that simple for me, im having issies with a m50 in my ti. any ideas. or a scematic for a 325is would be nice too.

[Philly]

sharpie,

if your having that many issues... please update your other thread with alot more information on your problems, I replied but I still don't know 100% where your at in your swap or anything, so narrow it down, tell us whats been done so far, etc etc etc and you will find more help than you could hope for. The more info you give, the better the help.

[RHRsharpie325ti]

thanks philly, i just updated my swap thread.