M10 to S14 Conversion Blog

I have been thing about doing a S14 Conversion on a BMW 2002 for as long as I have collected these cars, probably 20 years.  If moving from the 1.6 liter to the 2 liter engine transformed the BMW 2002, adding another 100 horsepower should be even better.  A couple years ago, I saw an ad on Craigslist for several BMW E30 M3's being parted out.  I turned out that Autobahn Recyclers in El Cajon, CA had purchased a private collection of wrecked M3's and was in the process of parting them out.  I took the 20 minute drive out to El Cajon and found four M3's with minor to major damage.  The one that caught my eye was a very low milage car (69,313) with front end damage.  After hearing the motor run, I negotiated a fair price ($3K) for the complete motor and wiring harness.  The guys at Autobahn pulled the motor in 15 minutes and loaded into the back of my Ford Explorer.  With a little help from my brother Brian, it was safely in the garage on an engine stand where it would sit for the next 18 months.

Here's the Donor Vehicle

I heard it fire in the car, WOW

I have been looking for a candidate for doing an BMW M2 conversion (E-30 M3 S-14 Engine in a 2002) after deciding not to convert my 1971 BMW 1600 Voll Cabriolet. After finding the Pastel Blue 1975 BMW 2002, I started to get serious about actually getting this conversion started.  I had a pretty good idea about the items that need to be reworked in order to accomodate the S14 motor instead of the OEM M10 motor from reading other blogs on the 2002FAQ site and other M2 owner's sites, like Ian Dickerson's M2 conversion site. My blog will try to document this process and hopefully help others that have considered this conversion.  I am going to be treading new ground from the traditional method of converting these engines for use in the 2002, by using MegaSquirt for ignition and fuel injection control instead of the M3 Motronic ECU and stock wiring harness.  Because I am planning to drive the 2002 right up to the actual conversion, I am going to start with the engine conversion to MegaSquirt and all the items that are specific to getting the S14 motor mounted in the 2002.  This includes the trigger wheel and VR Sensor setup, throttle position switch conversion, oil pan conversion for Oil separator return, wiring harness build, 2002 oil pressure sensor, 2002 water temperature sensor, Intake Air Temperature (IAT) sensor, Wide Band O2 Sensor, Oil pump pickup conversion, motor mounts, etc. The rest of the conversion will cover the BMW 2002 systems that must be modified to accomodate the fuel injected, S14 motor.  This includes the fuel pump, high pressure fuel lines, emergency fuel cutoff switch, fuel return line, and battery relocation (under rear seat).

Other systems that need modification include the cooling system and the exhaust system. I will probably convert the stock radiator to a BMW 320i radiator.  I have been playing with the idea of using the Automatic version and using the transmission oil cooler to cool the S14 oil instead of the stock E30 oil cooler. There is an Anza Exhaust system on the 2002 now, I will probably purchase the S14 to 2002 exhaust system conversion adapter from Aardvark to connect the motor to the existing exhaust.

Safely in the Garage, In progress

This Blog is a work in progress, stay tuned for the following chapters. 1.  Engine Megasquirt Modifications 2.  Engine 2002 Modifications 3.  Wiring Harness 4.  Battery 5.  Fuel Delivery 6.  Cooling 7.  Exhaust 8.  Megasquirt Assembly