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Thread: e36 s54 engine harness question

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Edmonton,CANADA
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    1997 BMW M3 Coupe

    e36 s54 engine harness question

    Ok,

    So ive been stashing away parts for the past while to swap a s54 into my 1997 M3 2 door. So far i have almost everything minus Andrews harness, flash dme, and a z3m wiring harness (my engine is wired with e46 m3 harness)

    So my question is, ive read in a few different threads throughout the different BMW forum sites. Some people say they have flipped the stock e46 m3 harness by taking it out of the black plastic cover and simply flipping it the other way so the DME goes to the glovebox side. Does this work and can it still reach original e36 DME mounting location? Also people said they have had to just extend the MAF wire to reach.....

    Does this all sounds plausible? or is my best bet to drop $530 on a z3m harness.
    ()()===[][]===()()


  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Seattle
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    99 M3
    Seems like a second hand harness should be more reasonable, but perhaps the production numbers are so low they are not available?


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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Edmonton,CANADA
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    1997 BMW M3 Coupe
    i cant find a used z3m harness, To rare.
    ()()===[][]===()()


  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Northern CA
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    1,988
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    1998 M3/4/5
    I did the flip, it is really tight, lots of work involved.
    S54 swap DME flashing - $100
    S54 swap CAN interface board (for proper A/C & check engine light) - $275
    e36 SAP sim/secondary air pump simulator:
    $75 - standard or $170 - plug & play
    e36 post-cat O2 sims: $115 shipped, plug & play

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    Durham, NC
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    2x 97 M3/4, 05 530i
    I've done it both ways. You can get the harness for about 450 bucks from bimmerworld, I think. They were the cheapest the last time I looked. I spent I have no idea how many hours flipping my harness. At least 15 or 20, including extending wires and making everything look nice. If I had to do it again, I'd 100% just buy the z3m s54 harness.

    I did the harness on my friends car. You still need to shove it into the factory box to make it all pretty, but since all the wires are more or less the right length, it's much easier to deal with.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    UT
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    98 M3/4/5
    the main issue to make it look pretty is the swap harness... its really long, from Andrew. You can shorten most of the wires but thats just a lot of work. PITT M3 did a fantastic job on his, i dont have the the time or knowledge like he does, about wiring so chances are im going to shove my wiring into the box.

    You can hold out for the unicorn Z3M S54 harness.. but understand they were only made 2 years.. 01-02.. and very very hard to come by. I got my harness from BMW of Atlanta since they are currently THE cheapest in the states to buy it from, $530 total now.

    the trans harness, you still need. Because it has the O2 sensor harness in it, as well as a few other necessary components. Try to get an 6MT harness, modify the SMG harness by cutting out what you dont need, or buy an 6MT harness like i did. I got mine from Turnermotorsports for $263 with free shipping. Now i have just learned that even with the 6MT harness, you will still need to modify it slightly. It needs to also be flipped and if you are doing the Euro cats, need to pull out the rear O2 sensors so they go down the back of the intake (driver side) to the rear O2 sensors.
    98 Estoril ///M3 4/6
    S54 swap CSL

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
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    2x 97 M3/4, 05 530i
    Quote Originally Posted by TH3 Shifty View Post
    the main issue to make it look pretty is the swap harness... its really long, from Andrew. You can shorten most of the wires but thats just a lot of work. PITT M3 did a fantastic job on his, i dont have the the time or knowledge like he does, about wiring so chances are im going to shove my wiring into the box.

    You can hold out for the unicorn Z3M S54 harness.. but understand they were only made 2 years.. 01-02.. and very very hard to come by. I got my harness from BMW of Atlanta since they are currently THE cheapest in the states to buy it from, $530 total now.

    the trans harness, you still need. Because it has the O2 sensor harness in it, as well as a few other necessary components. Try to get an 6MT harness, modify the SMG harness by cutting out what you dont need, or buy an 6MT harness like i did. I got mine from Turnermotorsports for $263 with free shipping. Now i have just learned that even with the 6MT harness, you will still need to modify it slightly. It needs to also be flipped and if you are doing the Euro cats, need to pull out the rear O2 sensors so they go down the back of the intake (driver side) to the rear O2 sensors.
    Yeah, for the price Andrew charges I was pretty disappointed at his attention to detail on the length. I had SO MUCH extra wire to deal with. And then a few of his wires for the starter were too short. He originally made the harness for the E30, so I guess that's why, but seriously- it could use a little bit of refinement and it would be SO much better.

    The trans/o2 sensor and fuel injector harness you can use from either vehicle. They are just WAY too long on the e46 m3 harness. But since there aren't that many wires it's not a big deal. About half of the wires shoved into my DME box are those and the other half is the rest of andrew's harness, lol.

    The e46 m3 main engine harness is JUST long enough to reach the DME.

    Here's a pic of it as I was finishing things up. It looks a bit cleaner now and I'm still sorting out a few small issues. But it looks pretty clean.
    Attached Images Attached Images

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