Benefits: Turn key.., engine go. Turn key other direction.., engine stop. Very, very, reliable. Lots of power and torque. Downside.., we replace rear tires more frequently. No adverse handling effects, other than the rear end breaking loose.

handled fine. I don't recall ever having a problem with the spring rates or with my crappy KYB shocks. I had a 19 mm front and 19mm rear bars. I wished that I had a larger bar up front to keep the power to the ground sometimes

tended to lift an inner rear wheel--as you might expect.

The swap kicked arse. If I can't find an inexpensive swap soon, I'm going to build another one.
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Make it different... or just do it differently

Bill in Petaluma, CA

1969 1600 The current distraction
1970 2002 RIP -- crashed then quartered
1971 2002 M20/02 RIP -- nothing but pieces now
1972 2002 gone, but not missed POS

Thanks for your imput. I would think there are more M20 2002's some where.

Ken

the sound the M20 makes is (as another faqer put it) intoxicating. but the sight and sound dont really go together. kinda like a cat with a lion's bass-ie roar. handling is definitely different but not entirely un-02. the power goes down right now off-throttle and can laugh at sub-205 wide tires in the back. if I build another 02 though, I'd just build up a nice EFI M10 screamer because it'd be just as fun.
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King of Avatar
M20-02 blog

what kinda of wiring does an m20 need? do you need to put in a new harness?

i'm pretty sure you could lengthen/shorten the original harness without too much headache. i'm running megasquirt so i couldnt say for certain.
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King of Avatar
M20-02 blog

but you dont need to run any new wires or anything? for example if you put in a s54 in an 36, you need a new harness. the m20 wiring is compatible with the current wiring in our 02s?

Ken -

You don't happen to own a mintgrun 2002, and just happened to be playing golf at River's Edge on Sunday (yesterday)? I spotted one at the turn...

Anyway, I am currently in the process of doing this conversion but haven't yet driven one. I had a blown engine... so I decided to go this route after a year of contemplation. So far, so good.

- Chris
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'71 2002 M20 Conversion Blog

Hi Chris,

No that was not me. My car is in my shop waiting for time to be worked on. I am in the prosess of collecting parts. I have a 2.5 m20 engine and 260 trans. from a 88 325is with the computer and complete harnes. I have read that it will fit in a 2002A shell. It Will be next year before I get it on the road.

Ken

bianchini wrote:

but you dont need to run any new wires or anything? for example if you put in a s54 in an 36, you need a new harness. the m20 wiring is compatible with the current wiring in our 02s?

that's probably an OBD issue among others. the 02 has almost no electronic engine controls in stock form so all of the stock M20 life support systems need to be copy/pasted to the 02. i.e.: relays, sensors, etc. its definitely not plug-n-play but, with a little twist n tape action, the M20 harness could live alongside the 02's chassis harness. you'll only need to integrate the gauges and starter as far as I know.

basically, put the heavy bits in and then keep adding in the stock M20 harness until it runs. give the ECU what it needs for success![/b]
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King of Avatar
M20-02 blog

ah i c. well maybe i will do this in the long run. but i do like the s14 option. maybe even something crazier than that! oh and sry to thread jack

Taken from the 6 goes into 2 write-up....which I'll mail to you if you want.

Quote:

WIRING AND ECU 325 Harness| Function| 2002 Harness #1 Blue | Alternator | Blue of Voltage Regulator #4 Brown/Violet | Coolant Temperature | Brown/White #5 Black/Brown | Oil Pressure | Brown/Green #6 Green | ECU Power | Green #7 Green | Coil Power | Same Green as above #9 Black | Tachometer | 2 Black Wires (18 Gauge) #13 Violet/Red | Fuel Pump | Direct to Fuel Pump #18 Black/Yellow | Starter | Black (10 Gauge) 1. It will be necessary to peel back all tape from the main wires running across the engine and along the left fender to identify them. Once they have been identified, the other wires can be put aside for now and taped up or cut away later. Identify the Voltage regulator and throw it away since you have a 325I alternator. The electrical part can be tricky, so take your time and identify each wire before cutting. Some special items will need to be procured for this part. Put a 25A fuse in Fuse slot #5 and place a 15A fuse in the line running to the fuel pump from the harness. Also, in the 1987 325I models, there is a plug near the control unit that contains three wires. The black one is for the tachometer. You will use this wire instead of #9 on the round plug. Don’t solder or permanently fix the wires until you have the engine running and in the car, that way you’ll be able to correct mistakes if you made any. Once the electrical part is finished, mount the harness plug to the firewall for easy removal of the engine later on. If you don’t have the factory plug, etc. then simply cut and solder all wires to look as clean as possible. Pull all wires up and out of the way of the engine, but leave them connected. Turn the key and see if she runs.

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74 2002tii - m20 powered - Under re-construction