E36 S54 swap - any issues when donor engine is from SMG car

[timsen]

I'm planning E36 S54 swap and found a S54 engine, however from SMG car. I'm kepping my E36 5-speed manual.

Are there any issues with that?
Can I still use the ECU for the conversion flash or would I need to get a non-SMG ECU?

Thanks!

[Braymond141]

No issues if you use the correct (or converted) harness and reflash the DME to be manual based.

[TH3 Shifty]

you can use whatever MSS54 DME... its in the programing that needs to be changed.. my swap is also using the E36 5 speed.

[das borgen]

It's probably better since it's coming from a SMG car to get that motor instead of a manual car's engine since the computer will do this when you try to downshift into what would become a overrev situation

[golgo13]

SMG cars tend to be less abused (no clutch to dump and stress the internals) which is probably why they seem to always have their vanos exhaust hubs intact

[Braymond141]

SMG cars tend to be less abused (no clutch to dump and stress the internals) which is probably why they seem to always have their vanos exhaust hubs intact

Hmmm. I guess my 05 Competition missed the memo on that one.

[golgo13]

Hmmm. I guess my 05 Competition missed the memo on that one.

Doh! There's a good chance I haven't looked at as many of these as you, so my info is probably incorrect.

[AJLM34A]

SMG cars tend to be less abused (no clutch to dump and stress the internals) which is probably why they seem to always have their vanos exhaust hubs intact

[Braymond141]

It's like putty in my hands.

[golgo13]

Is that considered abuse? Looks like someone driving an M car to me?

[nick325xit 5spd]

SMG cars tend to be less abused (no clutch to dump and stress the internals) which is probably why they seem to always have their vanos exhaust hubs intact

Lol. Any SMG car will dump the clutch. Just hammer the gas really hard and it'll dump it at 3500. I broke an exhaust hub back in '05 or '06 on an SMG car.

- - - Updated - - -

Aside from what's been mentioned, the only other thing to note is that the airbox is a little bit different due to mounts for the SMG fluid reservoir. Not a big deal as this is only cosmetic and airboxes aren't that hard to find.

[golgo13]

Til

[TH3 Shifty]

power sliding

[cashmancab]

Refresh on this thread as I just purchased a S54 SMG going into my 95M3 and am in the very beginning stages of trying to understand it all.

No issues if you use the correct (or converted) harness and reflash the DME to be manual based.

Can you elaborate a little on what you mean "converted" harness? My assumption is you remove the automatic portion of the harness to clean things up. I plan on purchasing an E36 adapter from Redline motorsports. Is that the conversion you are referencing to or is there more to it?

I plan on using my 95M3 5 speed. Anyone know if the S54 SMG flywheel matches up? Found some misleading information doing a search. Sounds like they are similar but my understanding is the SMG flywheel may not be as thick? Will that cause issues?

[Braymond141]

Refresh on this thread as I just purchased a S54 SMG going into my 95M3 and am in the very beginning stages of trying to understand it all.




Can you elaborate a little on what you mean "converted" harness? My assumption is you remove the automatic portion of the harness to clean things up. I plan on purchasing an E36 adapter from Redline motorsports. Is that the conversion you are referencing to or is there more to it?

I plan on using my 95M3 5 speed. Anyone know if the S54 SMG flywheel matches up? Found some misleading information doing a search. Sounds like they are similar but my understanding is the SMG flywheel may not be as thick? Will that cause issues?

They are not automatics. They are manual transmissions with computer controlled shifting and clutch operation.

There is no such thing as an SMG flywheel. SMG and 6MT E46 M3 use the same flywheel, clutch and pressure plate. Your 320z transmission will not use the E46 M3 flywheel, it will use a stock DMF073 with the stock clutch and pressure plate. Even if you used the 6MT you'd still use the E36 M3 flywheel, pressure plate and then swap in the E46 M3 clutch into that. The E46 M3 flywheel and self adjusting pressure plate is junk on the E36 M3.

For Getrag 420G Use
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...t#gid=48584140

[cashmancab]

Thank you. Hoping you would chime in with your knowledge. I'll use the E36 (Flywheel, Clutch, Pressure plate, etc) on the S54.
Thank you.

I also posted in the conversion section regarding which cluster to use. I've been checking out your Can-Bus Service. Not sure if I need to go that route.

[Braymond141]

Thank you. Hoping you would chime in with your knowledge. I'll use the E36 (Flywheel, Clutch, Pressure plate, etc) on the S54.
Thank you.

I also posted in the conversion section regarding which cluster to use. I've been checking out your Can-Bus Service. Not sure if I need to go that route.

If you want A/C and your tachometer/temp to work, you need a Can Bus cluster.