The BMW E30 318is Resource

The BMW E30 318iS Resource
Custom Coil-On-Plug Ignition Conversion, Page 1

The Story:
This project began with me being tired of spending exorbitant amounts of money on new ignition wires every couple years. I began to investigate the idea of converting to coil-on-plug (COP) ignition to clean up the engine bay and avoid buying overpriced wires. Aside from that, the COP design seemed inherently more reliable. So, here we go on the wild ride! My first idea was to use the original M42 coil packs. I disassembled some spares just to get the hang of what I could and couldn't do. Beyond that, I needed to get some basic dimensions worked out to choose ignition boots.
Once I had the ignition boots in-hand, I could make some more progress. From the measurements, I determined that the boots were not long enough to make enough contact with the spark plugs (at least not enough to leave me feeling confident about it). Using a multimeter, I could see that contact was being made, but it was very light and I feared that normal engine vibrations could cause interruptions in the contact. I addressed this issue a little bit later. The spark plug bosses were measured to be ~9mm tall, so I would mill them down roughly 7mm.
http://bmw.e30tuner.com/my318is_pic_copcon.php[1/8/2013 2:14:49 PM]
So, with that worked out, I began making the necessary modifications to the coil packs. They would not fit in the valve cover with the four mounting tabs still on them, so I lopped them off and re-welded the exposed cuts. I did this both to keep them from falling apart, and to ensure that as much conductivity was preserved as possible, since these ferrous slats were an integral part of the primary field generation apparatus. Among the pictures taken that evening were some of myself (hiding in the welding mask) and my father playing with his mill.
Next up was test-fitting the coils in the valve cover and modifying the plug-hole bosses. The operation took a few light passes, just to ensure that nothing got mangled. Having access to a mill is a big help with things like this...a hand-file would not have been much fun. A Dremel
tool would have resulted in all sorts of things getting scratched up as well...holding one still is a real chore!
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Another item needing to be addressed was the connector fastening brackets. In their original form, they would be stuck moving down toward the valve cover's bottom when opened. I needed to reverse this so the connectors would be connectable from the top. Using some needle-nosed pliers and dykes, I removed and modified the brackets to accomplish this. By carefully looking at the brackets and the grooves they slide in within the coil body, you can see what needed to be done.
Next on the agenda was devising a way to secure the coil packs on the valve cover. Using some angle iron from a local hardware store I developed a simple bracket. It was ugly, but served its purpose. Some notches were cut into the bracket here and there to make sure the coil packs would fit inside. It was a VERY tight fit when it was all put together. It was so tight that the connectors could not even be put on with the coil packs in place. Due to that, I decided to scrap this idea and start over. Smaller coil packs were necessary, as well as a simpler way of fastening them in place.
http://bmw.e30tuner.com/my318is_pic_copcon2.php[1/8/2013 2:15:32 PM]
Coil packs from the M54 motor were selected as the units for the COP version 2 conversion. They allowed plenty of room for the connector, and even fit in the valve cover without any chopping. The coil for cylinder #1 had to be trimmed a little bit though, as the "passage" in the middle of the cover did not extend all the way through to both ends.
The first generation of the second generation bracket was far simpler than the one developed to work with the stock coil packs. Everything fit perfectly the first time through. You can also see the difference in size between the stock and M54 coil packs.
Fitment was a breeze once the bracket was finished. It was secured using some 60mm long M6x1 threaded rod in the holes where the two center valve cover bolts were located previously. A couple sets of washers & nuts were used to secure both the valve cover and the ignition coil bracket.
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The next item needing attention was the harness length. It needed to be trimmed...badly. The connectors were disassembled, and all the wires trimmed. A fastening bracket was added near cylinder four to tie the harness down onto. If left floating, engine vibrations would soon cause a fatigue failure in the wires at the connectors.
Once I was sure that everything was OK, I set to work removing the original coil pack brackets. It was pretty easy to do using pliers, a hack saw and some patience. After the cutting was done, everything was filed, sanded and Bondo'ed. Therafter, it was all masked and painted. The paint was not quite a perfect match, but some future wet-sanding and blending should fix that.
Next, I built a nicer looking bracket. The purchase of a hole-saw proved to be a worthwhile investment. The use of some boring bars also helped to make a nice clean hole. A digital position readout was also added to the mill before this, making things FAR easier this time around!
Here is the finished product. It has the cable-securing arm built in by design, and has some minor corrections to ensure the best possible fitment of the coils. A black powdercoating would be a nice addition to this piece someday, along with the valve cover itself!
Finally, here it is, installed and ready to go. This made a lot of space in the passenger side of the engine bay...maybe someday a turbocharger will inhabit the space. The car did seem to run noticeably smoother after the conversion, leading me to believe that my plug wires were worn out. The project did not really provide any gains in performance, but it DID add to my peace of mind and the aesthetics under the hood.
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The BMW E30 318iS Resource

Custom Coil-On-Plug Ignition Conversion, Page 1

http://bmw.e30tuner.com/my318is_pic_copcon.php[1/8/2013 2:14:49 PM]