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Thread: 2002 Z3 3.0 Auto > S54 Swap (w/Donor Car)

  1. #1
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    2002 Z3 3.0 Auto > S54 Swap (w/Donor Car)

    We have purchased 2002 Z3 3.0 Coupe Auto and have 2002 Z3 M Roadster manual donor car.

    I was hoping to get some suggestions on best approach to swap Z3M drivetrain (S54, transmission, subframes, brakes, etc) and other components (dash, cluster, center gauges, etc) into the coupe. Pretty new to this, so I suspect it will be a challenge


    • Do we swap entire wiring harness?
    • Just the engine harness and EWS components?
    • Maybe easier to swap engine harness and do EWS delete?
    • If we choose just the engine harness, what complexity is swapping clusters and other misc components such as gauges?


    Sorry if this has been covered, I searched but haven't found good info with complete donor car swap.

    I'm hoping to share results and suggestions as we go.

    Thanks!

  2. #2
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    I'd do engine harness only personally. Then either delete EWS (super easy) or sync your stock EWS with the new DME (a little more work, but not difficult as long as you have a programmer).

    Cluster should be pretty much plug and play. In fact, if I remember correctly, electrically the clusters are the same, so you could probably just swap on the S54 face and then recode the original cluster to S54 spec if you don't want to worry about changing the vin, mileage, etc.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by TerraPhantm View Post
    I'd do engine harness only personally. Then either delete EWS (super easy) or sync your stock EWS with the new DME (a little more work, but not difficult as long as you have a programmer).

    Cluster should be pretty much plug and play. In fact, if I remember correctly, electrically the clusters are the same, so you could probably just swap on the S54 face and then recode the original cluster to S54 spec if you don't want to worry about changing the vin, mileage, etc.
    Thanks for your feedback, that helps. I think that is the route we will take. I've been digging at the Electrical Troubleshooting Manual to get myself more familiar, meanwhile.

    I'll be sure to update the thread with some photos and build details.

  4. #4
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    the body harness to the DME is also different, so you would still need a swap harness to talk to the rest of the system.. unless you can find or order a Z3M 01-02 body harness, because the way the cluster and A/C work, they work like the S52 E36 and you cant simply just swap clusters either.
    98 Estoril ///M3 4/6
    S54 swap CSL

  5. #5
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    He's starting with an M54 so it's just a few pins that are different. Not worth swapping the whole body harness when you can move a couple pins around. Doing this swap will be closer to an E46 -> S54 swap than an E36 -> S54 swap.
    Last edited by TerraPhantm; 06-10-2018 at 10:04 AM.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by TH3 Shifty View Post
    the body harness to the DME is also different, so you would still need a swap harness to talk to the rest of the system.. unless you can find or order a Z3M 01-02 body harness, because the way the cluster and A/C work, they work like the S52 E36 and you cant simply just swap clusters either.
    Quote Originally Posted by TerraPhantm View Post
    He's starting with an M54 so it's just a few pins that are different. Not worth swapping the whole body harness when you can move a couple pins around. Doing this swap will be closer to an E46 -> S54 swap than an E36 -> S54 swap.
    Thanks guys, that's helpful as well! We do have entire harness available, but I think it'll be easier just swapping what we need.

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