BMW E36 Trunk Wiring Harness replacement options? Which to pick?

[Xaxina]

Ive been tinkering around my sound system when i realized my e36 sedan's trunk wiring harness was completely trashed, since i dabble in electric's myself i realized sooner or later one or more of these wires are gonna die.
It's also strange, i don't know what the previous owner did to the car, but the wires seem longer than they should be from the bottom seal up the one on the trunk (but maybe I'm just imagining stuff).
This is a common problem on these car's from what I've been reading, and if left unchecked can cause some serious electric problems.
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Anyway, i could make the new wiring myself but i don't think it would ever be as good as the original.

So i did a bit of browsing and apparently BMW, has original replacement wiring harnesses just for situations like this.
However they cost a pretty penny.
The one i found costs 85$ - https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/61128391788/

However i also found this company "METZGER" that sells wiring harnesses for a lot of vehicles including the e36.
Now this harness is just a repair kit for the gap between the bottom seal and the one up in the trunk (which is basically what i need), and not an entire electric line with the connectors. (like the genuine BMW one)
It can be found on E-Bay and it costs 35$ - https://www.ebay.com/itm/323573005055

And there is also i third option i could do, which is going to one of the local BMW scrap yard's and getting it off some other poor E36, which would definitely be the cheapest option, however, the condition of one of these part's is
usually questionable since all of the cars there have been trough hell and back before they wound up in the dumps.

So my question for experienced electrician's or experienced owners is:
Which one would you choose, since paying 85$ dollars for a bit of wiring seems kinda silly, but then again I'm sure its top quality (however its not like I'm wiring a space ship).
And the e-bay one seems like it would finish the job..
Or should i just make one myself?

[MarcoZandrini]

What are your plans for the car? Do you plan on keeping long term or passing it on to a family member/friend? I’m suspicious of stuff sold on eBay (or as a friend calls it “fleabay”). That said, $85 is no small chunk of change.

Are any wires broken?

[Xaxina]

What are your plans for the car? Do you plan on keeping long term or passing it on to a family member/friend? I’m suspicious of stuff sold on eBay (or as a friend calls it “fleabay”). That said, $85 is no small chunk of change.

Are any wires broken?

Well, not at the moment, the wires that are not connected to anything on the pictures belong to the ZENDER spoiler i got on the trunk (for the third break light). Factory ones work.
I definitely plan on keeping the car, since its my project car. But since I'm not an experienced mechanic i take my sweet time doing what i can , since i live in a flat and not a house, I don't have a garage or work space for this thing, so everything i do, i do on my local parking lot during the day.

In about 10 days I'm taking the car to a mechanic shop, and converting the meh m50b20 into a m50b28 stroker with m52b28 internals and a bit of remapping.
After that ill probably do a 0.6 bar turbo build on stock internals, but that's in the distant future.

In the mean time, I'm ripping the interior out and fixing and upgrading anything i find a long the way.

The plan is to make the e36 "great again" and then some.

HOWEVER, that said, if i pay 85$ for every little part i want to replace, the project wont last long.
I already gotta pay 250$ for some old e36 sport interior and then another 700$ for a new leather overhaul of that interior.

So yeah, the car is a keeper.

[Mless5]

Looks nice, but TESA tape is $12 and you can get nice flexible wire for short $. Second option is more reasonable, but I don't link using butt connectors.

[shogun]

moved to E36 forum

[xxxxxxx]

I just soldered in new wiring with heat shrink tubing and it's good as new. Costed $15

[johnf]

... I definitely plan on keeping the car, since its my project car....

When a fellow and I redid our trunk wiring, we replaced the section between the trunk and the trunk lid with similarly-sized, Tefzel-insulated aircraft wire. Tefzel is tougher than the original PVC, thinner which allows a greater bending radius, flexible at low temperatures and long lived. (Airliners have a 40-year design life.)

... since i live in a flat and not a house, I don't have a garage or work space for this thing, so everything i do, i do on my local parking lot during the day....

I work at the side of the street, just outside my flat, and receive comments and words of support from my neighbors. For example, I was on my back one day, wiring above the driver's foot well, with a mat of modules and wiring hanging down above me, when a mother with her young children stopped at the side of the car. I think the littlest had only recently started to talk. The mother points to the mess and says to him, "Alles ab" [Alles abgebaut / Everything taken apart]. I sat up and demurred that it was just a little apart. The little one was having none of this, however, and was pointing to the car, excitedly jumping up and down, and saying, "AB! AB!"

[M3AN]

I've done this on mine and whilst I used the BMW harness I see no problem with the eBay one you linked to.

As it turns out the BMW connectors are a PITA to use anyway... I did away with them and added a plug on the vehicle side so if I ever need to remove my trunk I could just unplug the entire harness. To do this with the BMW harness you need to discard their connectors.

[shogun]

here we have the thread with updates: Attention-ALL-E36-owners-beware-WIRING-PROBLEM https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...WIRING-PROBLEM