Looking at a 320D conversion, need all the Information about the 320D.

[GummyBearMafia]

Hello to every one, since this is my first post here is a little about me. I am a BMW builder and lover living in the States (dont hold that against me). I have searched the forum and gained some good information but can always use more knowledge.

So in the States we can only get the petrol powered BMW until they eventually release the diesel soon. I have a few E46's and am thinking about converting a 2004 330 to diesel. The donor car i have is a 2003 320D i found in England with 65k miles very well priced. So the plan and goal would be to swap the Engine, Transmission, Driveshaft, Computers, and and associated parts. I would still keep the 330's interior, suspension, brakes, and body.

So the issues i have or wonder about it:
Has anyone completed the conversion?
Since the car uses monitors for all engine activity, all information feeds to OBD2?
What are the known issues with the motor?
Are the turbos reliable or need to be swapped out?
What are the known mods for reliability?
I saw that there is a intake flap that is know to blow motors, is there a removal or way to avoid this?

Well the motor is out i plan to swap some part i feel are crucial, such and intercooler, piping, fluids, injectors, plugs, and possibly exhaust. Are there sites that you would recommend for performance parts? Sites here only cater to petrol.

Please be 100% honest about the motor i know there is some love for it and hate i want to know all sides of it.

 

[Pfw28]

Welcome to the forum, and greetings from sunny S.A. As to the diesels, the 4 cyl has issues, all covered here on the forum. Swirl flaps falling into the engine are a risk, and they should be removed or locked in, a common mod not SO hard to diy. Here, the second "necessary" mod is a decat and EGR delete, but I doubt you'll get away with that on your side. IMHO, you'd be better off using the 3.0l 6, a beautiful thing, which is much more robust and fun to play with.

 

[GummyBearMafia]

Welcome to the forum, and greetings from sunny S.A. As to the diesels, the 4 cyl has issues, all covered here on the forum. Swirl flaps falling into the engine are a risk, and they should be removed or locked in, a common mod not SO hard to diy. Here, the second "necessary" mod is a decat and EGR delete, but I doubt you'll get away with that on your side. IMHO, you'd be better off using the 3.0l 6, a beautiful thing, which is much more robust and fun to play with.

Thank you happy to be here. The motor is the I6 M47TU2D20 im not sure what it would cost to find the E46 330D which had the 3L I6.

What does the egr delete take or cost.

 

[Dippies]

Welcome to the Forum. :thumbs:

 

[DieselFan]

E92 335d. That is what you want. And you can make all of us jealous because we dont get them here. Might even be cheaper than doing a whole conversion on the car.

 

[Dippies]

+1 :bravo:raise:


Unfortunately that car will not be Seen in SA yet or Never

That will be the Envy of any Diesel craze out there if it is anything like there Petrol Counterpart

 

[DieselFan]

+1 :bravo:raise:


Unfortunately that car will not be Seen in SA yet or Never

That will be the Envy of any Diesel craze out there if it is anything like there Petrol Counterpart

Neither will the M550d X-Drive. 3litre tri turbo diesel. 0-100 quicker than an m3. :fencelook:

 

[Smartiesman]

Welcome bud.
:thumbs:

I am sure you will find all your answers here

 

[Pfw28]

Sorry, thought you meant the 4 cyl N47, not my personal favourite, as you may have guessed. EGR job is simple, just remove the pipe from exhaust manifold to EGR valve and block the open ends, a blanking plate on the manifold and a cap on the valve inlet. Works just so on the N47 here, not sure about issues with your emissions control centre, that problem doesn't exist here.

 

[moranor@axis]

dont think anyone has done this conversion in SA because we can just buy one :rollsmile:

weak points im sure you can get all the info here as well as tuning options maybe Rolf want to make a trip state side...

 

[GummyBearMafia]

E92 335d. That is what you want. And you can make all of us jealous because we dont get them here. Might even be cheaper than doing a whole conversion on the car.

To get this car i would be looking at about $28,000 USD for a 2009 with 60k miles. Altogether shipping and donor cost im looking at around $10-12k USD so it would be another $20,000 and i would have same miles.

Sorry, thought you meant the 4 cyl N47, not my personal favourite, as you may have guessed. EGR job is simple, just remove the pipe from exhaust manifold to EGR valve and block the open ends, a blanking plate on the manifold and a cap on the valve inlet. Works just so on the N47 here, not sure about issues with your emissions control centre, that problem doesn't exist here.

That is fine, yea not a big fan of 4cyl either. I am considering the search for the 3.0 I6 form the 2004 330D its about $1500 more to get that car.

dont think anyone has done this conversion in SA because we can just buy one :rollsmile:

weak points im sure you can get all the info here as well as tuning options maybe Rolf want to make a trip state side...

Yea we dont have that option haha, i even search canada and cant find them. Here we are stuck with BS politics and regulations that dont allow for many diesel. The weaks im sure have been identified, im interested in parts but dont want to go to far just cause of how difficult it would be to get another diesel motor here.

 

[ernest maurice]

hi
would like to ask on how to go about doing a "decat" and an EGR delete procedure. I already did the swirl flap removal mod on my 320d E46. any useful tips or links will be greatly appreciated.

 

[zaleonardz]

OK

Yes its all obdii

You do not convert to a 320d M47 your wasting your money.

What you need to do is go for the M57N out of a 330d.

You will not just be able to swap a few things.

You would need to swap over wiring harnesses, install a DDE, change the EWS, at the very basic.

Boost controllers, MAF's radiators, all of those good things.

What you actually want to do, is buy an accident managed vehicle, and have them ship you the complete car from B-pillars, so bascially, cut the car at the dash with the wiring harnesses and stuff for the engine bay complete.

If your going to do this in spares, that is not easily available from a junk yard or special order from the agents, its going to cost you a small fortune, and make you old very quickly.

I dont know if I would attempt this move with not having resources close by to sort out a problem.