Brake booster choice

GripGreg · Post by **GripGreg** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:23 pm

Thanx for the info, guys. I think I might keep the L-Jet stuff, maybe. How can I tell if I have the lambda set-up? I thought the '80 & '81 have it.
There I go, thinkin' again. Isn't there a seperate box somewhere?

DEMIURGE · Post by **DEMIURGE** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 9:15 am

GripGreg wrote:I think I might keep the L-Jet stuff, maybe. How can I tell if I have the lambda set-up? I thought the '80 & '81 have it.

The year of manufacture isn't an exact criterion for Lambda sensor presence.
But if your e12 is US cat. version (I think it is obligatory for California?) - the chances are more than good. The Lambda (oxygen sensor) gives the ECU an information about the air/fuel mixture which is vital for the longer life of the catalytic converter. If the mixture is lean or rich, then the ECU corrects the amount of the injected fuel - in mostly cases - the mixture is aiming to 14.7. BMW advises to check the cat. and the oxygen sensor after the first 100 000 km. In the real life - if the fuel is good enough - the life of these items is much longer (for example more than 200 000 km). If you pass the emissions test - probably you have proper working cat. and Lambda sensor.
But even you haven't Lambda sensor in your car - you can buy it, mount it on the exhaust and plug into the L-Jet ECU. (It has individual pins for this purpose).

Mike W. · Post by **Mike W.** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 9:57 am

GripGreg wrote:Thanx for the info, guys. I think I might keep the L-Jet stuff, maybe. How can I tell if I have the lambda set-up? I thought the '80 & '81 have it.
There I go, thinkin' again. Isn't there a seperate box somewhere?

79-81, or the 528i's here in the US. Some 530s have been converted as it's a better system, but none came with it. As DEMIURGE said, they do have a Oxygen sensor and a cat. Otherwise it just has an ECU like 530s, but a different one.

GripGreg · Post by **GripGreg** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:50 pm

Guys;;; my bad! The 3.5 motor has the motronic injection system on it. Including the water pump, wires & distributer & the intake manifold.
How can I tell if the AFM is the proper one??
I'll change the injectors if needed.
I'll change everything over to Motronic if needed.
There has to be a reason the E12 was at Ecology! It looked too clean to be totally discarded for no reason.
More to come & thanx,,,,Greg

Mike W. · Post by **Mike W.** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:51 pm

GripGreg wrote:Guys;;; my bad! The 3.5 motor has the motronic injection system on it. Including the water pump, wires & distributer & the intake manifold.
How can I tell if the AFM is the proper one??
I'll change the injectors if needed.
I'll change everything over to Motronic if needed.
There has to be a reason the E12 was at Ecology! It looked too clean to be totally discarded for no reason.
More to come & thanx,,,,Greg

If the car was motronic, the AFM likely is too. Depending on if it was M1.0 or M1.1/1.3 you would need the correct wiring harness and ECU. If it's 1.0 you would also need a motronic bellhousing as it gets needed inputs from flywheel sensors. And the appropriate motronic flywheel. You would then need to splice the wiring in, which isn't really that involved but some people make it out to be.

But first, you need to figure out what exactly you have.

GripGreg · Post by **GripGreg** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:47 pm

You guys sorta left me hangin'. Thanx very much for your help, but these things I need to know:
How can I tell if the AFM is Motronic? Are there #'s to cross reference?
How can I tell if I have the M1.0 or M1./M1.3 version?
How can I tell the harness from any other? I have the harness from the yard I got the motor from. Somethin' was mentioned about a seven pin plug and an eleven pin plug? Or is it a 5 pin? Which end is that? Both I presume.
What #'s for the Motronic ECU? The bell housing? The flywheel?
The motor was hooked to a 3hp22 automatic. Can I use that flywheel or bell housing? See how dumb I am?

My mechanic will do what I ask, but, I don't think he knows this stuff.
He's waiting to read what you post, after I print it out. So, please, no I guess, or I think. That throws him for a loop.
Thanx In Advance,,,,Greg

GripGreg · Post by **GripGreg** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:59 pm

NO, you didn't leave me hangin'! I forgot the info was on the previous page! Don't respond just yet. I'll let you know just what I have, then you can slap me around!
Thank you, thank you!! Greg

Mike W. · Post by **Mike W.** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:01 pm

GripGreg wrote:NO, you didn't leave me hangin'! I forgot the info was on the previous page! Don't respond just yet. I'll let you know just what I have, then you can slap me around!
Thank you, thank you!! Greg

You got it yet Greg? Or do I need to add detail?

wkohler · Post by **wkohler** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:09 pm

I think he's got a grip on it.

Blaise · Post by **Blaise** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 11:27 pm

Lenny D. wrote:One advantage to the cylinder mounted res. is the elimination of two more hoses to leak/break/go bad/have to replace eventually.

I just figured out that the manual transmission version has an extra nozzle, while mine does not. Anyone have a fender mounted tank for a manual car (extra nozzle for clutch hydraulic fluid) to sell?

Mike W. · Post by **Mike W.** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:07 pm

Blaise wrote:
Lenny D. wrote:One advantage to the cylinder mounted res. is the elimination of two more hoses to leak/break/go bad/have to replace eventually.
I just figured out that the manual transmission version has an extra nozzle, while mine does not. Anyone have a fender mounted tank for a manual car (extra nozzle for clutch hydraulic fluid) to sell?

I don't know the early cars that well, but most of them have the extra nipple already molded in, but with the end solid instead of open. So all you should have to do is clip the end off, making sure you leave the barb and use the special brake fluid hose so it doesn't swell and make a mess. Does it look like this?

Blaise · Post by **Blaise** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:24 am

Mike W. wrote:
Blaise wrote:
Lenny D. wrote:One advantage to the cylinder mounted res. is the elimination of two more hoses to leak/break/go bad/have to replace eventually.
I just figured out that the manual transmission version has an extra nozzle, while mine does not. Anyone have a fender mounted tank for a manual car (extra nozzle for clutch hydraulic fluid) to sell?
I don't know the early cars that well, but most of them have the extra nipple already molded in, but with the end solid instead of open. So all you should have to do is clip the end off, making sure you leave the barb and use the special brake fluid hose so it doesn't swell and make a mess. Does it look like this?

That would have been great (and easy), but there are no signs of that additional spout. It looks like this:

<table><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/x ... site"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8DYX ... _00048.jpg" height="299" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td>From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/1030509870 ... site">1977 E12 brake reservoir-automatic</a></td></tr></table>

Could I just "T" off of one of the brake rubber lines? By the way, I did get the correct line:)

Mike W. · Post by **Mike W.** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 10:54 am

Blaise wrote:
Mike W. wrote:
Blaise wrote: I just figured out that the manual transmission version has an extra nozzle, while mine does not. Anyone have a fender mounted tank for a manual car (extra nozzle for clutch hydraulic fluid) to sell?
I don't know the early cars that well, but most of them have the extra nipple already molded in, but with the end solid instead of open. So all you should have to do is clip the end off, making sure you leave the barb and use the special brake fluid hose so it doesn't swell and make a mess. Does it look like this?

That would have been great (and easy), but there are no signs of that additional spout. It looks like this:

Could I just "T" off of one of the brake rubber lines? By the way, I did get the correct line:)

You could, but the normal setup is to have the feed for the clutch at about the halfway point on the reservor with the feed for the brake going out the bottom. That means a clutch slave failure will manifest itself before brake problems. It's a safety thing. It is somewhat less critical given a divided reservor and a dual master cylinder, but still it would be less than an ideal setup.

Blaise · Post by **Blaise** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 12:13 pm

Mike W. wrote:You could, but the normal setup is to have the feed for the clutch at about the halfway point on the reservor with the feed for the brake going out the bottom. That means a clutch slave failure will manifest itself before brake problems. It's a safety thing. It is somewhat less critical given a divided reservor and a dual master cylinder, but still it would be less than an ideal setup.

Thanks for the explanation Mike. Your input is always quite helpful, thanks for making the effort. I will use the T as a last ditch effort, if I cannot find the right part.

Blaise · Post by **Blaise** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 6:27 pm

I found the right reservoir for $10.