I'm about to start ripping into my project car which is a BMW E46 coupe with VQ37VHR from a Skyline 370GT (auto). I've got the complete engine with harness and ECU ... will shortly locate VVEL module and sub-harness plus the starter motor I am missing.
I see some people who provide wiring services saying its really difficult to get the VQ37 running in a swap config and that you need to be some sort of wizard with Nissan super powers to get it done, or pay them lots 'o cash. I'm based in New Zealand so its a little less practical to send everything to the US and back to change some wires etc.

Does anybody have first hand experience with getting a motor running out of the car to validate everything is functional before installing it ? I can go straight for a Haltech ECU but its quite expensive so would like to try running OEM first if possible.

In my mind the rough steps would be:
- Ensure we have fused / switched power ready
- Locate and pull required wires which will interface with the car from dash connector and potentially ECU (power, ignition, CAN etc)
- Wire in an OBD2 port to the appropriate wires located above
- Apply power and validate we can see the ECU and VVEL talking via CAN on OBD2 port
- Get NATS removed from ECU (maybe load a manual ROM instead of auto if there are differences ?)
- Replicate conditions required to start ... assume brakes on and in park / neutral ? Would be keen to know this as I don't have a car :P Hopefully its old school and not comms over CAN
- Apply fuel via temporary supply, ensure pump is running via ECU signal
- Try and start it up

Keen to hear others thoughts / experiences on this. At the moment I fail to believe its impossible for the DIY'er to accomplish.

 

These guys have done what you are trying to do: You might want to contact them, they can provide everything you need.

From video description:
If you want to do a VQ37 swap then ALL you have to do is send us the VQ37VHR wiring harness, the ECU, the VVL module, The harness to the VVL module, The accelerator pedal, the connector to the accelerator pedal, the 3rd connector to the ECU that's under the dash of the stock 370Z, and the OBD2 connector... We will integrate everything together and send you back a plug-n-play harness that you wire into your car.... it's that easy!

 

Thanks @SonicVQ I've seen this previously, its pretty expensive, especially to get everything to them from NZ. I don't believe anybody is performing magic so keen to find out what exactly needs to be done, understandably those who provide commercial services are unlikely to fess up so looking to the community to fill in the blanks.

 

In that case this is what I would do: (may not be the full list, but should be a good start)
• Use the engine harness and the harness under the the dash. Don't strip out anything until the engine is running.
• Connect the accelerator pedal, and VVEL module to the ecu
• Connect the ECU's brown and black connectors to the engine harness
• Connect the ECU's grey connector to the dash harness.
• Connect all sensors to the engine harness
• Re-flash the ECU to a manual trans version. (the hardware is the same) This should prevent any auto trans codes.
• Disable NATS.
• For testing use a manual switch for the fuel pump.
• Make sure to connect all the engine grounds with a thick copper wire as thick as the thickest ground wire.
• Connect 12 volts to the ECUs "ignition on" input
• Use a switch to control the starter control relay (starter relay is not needed - The BCM controls the starter relay, that controls the starter control relay, that powers the crank signal on the starter
• You may need to wire 12v to the PNP input on the ECU (Park / neutral position) so the ECU thinks the car is in neutral or park.
• Connect to a fully charged battery.
• Engage the starter control relay and see what happens.

• Since the IPDM/ER is removed, you might need to add CAN bus termination resistor (120 ohms) at the opposite end of the CAN bus. The ECU has them built in.

You will need to study the factory shop manual and verify all connections.

On a different note, I was in NZ last year and WOW you have the BEST roads in the world!
Maybe I should pop in and we work on this together?

 

Sorry just realised I never replied to thank you for your input @SonicVQ !! I did end up getting it running to validate before moving on with the swap ... link to first start on the garage floor here:

 

That is AWESOME!!!!
Great work!

Also, thanks for getting back to me

 

A couple of images that may be useful for others to see what I did to run up the engine.

 

G'day mate,

Stumbled across your post while chasing down the same information you were. I'm also doing a VQ37 engine conversion but into a Nissan Gloria Y34. Well doing getting the engine up and running on the bench! Have you had any more progress with fitting it into the car? Did you have anymore information or schematics you'd be willing to share? I decided to use HP Tuners as my tuning platform and I'm interested to see how it performs being boosted.

 

Heya ... my build thread is over here if you want to see where I am at: https://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/6472...-vq37vhr-swap/
Progress has been steady but there is still much to do !! I've not chosen the easiest combination of engine and chassis essentially but the result should be pretty awesome I think. From what I can see on the internet this will be the only E46 VQ37 swap around !?
I don't really have too much else to share, there were no real major tricks from memory to get the engine running ... I spent a long long time going over all of the Nissan wiring diagrams and working out how it all hung together, then replicated that on the bench setup essentially. Having all of the correct wiring is of course mandatory and the thing that held me up as my engine supplier didn't give me the VVEL module or associated wiring to connect with the engine loom etc.
Happy to help with any questions you might have

 

Amazing fabrications skills mate! I want you to know I got my project started and idling as well. Working on obtaining a speed signal to be able to use the Zed speedometer.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but what are you cooking up, Bull?

 

Trying to provide services for G/Z folks. My part time Hobby is wiring/wiretucks. Being that most of my focus is now on Nissan I want to be able to provide some unique services however for most of these I needed a spare engine.
Talking to Zfever, Rsenpalthy, Cement and other folks helped turning ideas into reality. Here is a quick picture of what the project looked like, it's progressed a ton more.
I might need to pick your brain a bit on some things.

 

Hi Cement
I have been searching the web for someone who could help me with running a 370Z engine in another chassis as a standalone unit, and have seen the work you have been doing and am very impressed.
I found a USA company Fever Racing ( formaly Z Fever ) who offer this service and have sent my ecu and engine harness to them ( they were going to source the VVEL harness and the dashboard harness ) but unfortunately after making lots of promises of what they could do, they are now not responding to any emails.

It looks as though I will need to source more parts and need some help in getting my engine to run.

I have mated the engine to a ZF 8HP50 transmission which will eventually be controlled from the paddles only as a standalone unit using a TurboLamik tcu.
I am ok with all aspects of the mechanical work needed but struggle with car electonics, so some kind of PNP system would be great.
Any help you can offer or point me in the direction of someone who can help would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

 

Heya @steverush, unfortunate you're striking out with the company you've tried to get things sorted with :/ Thanks for the kudos on my project, it's been pretty challenging at times but super rewarding all the same.

I can't help with anything which will provide a plug and play solution unfortunately. Z Fever tended to be the main search result when looking for wiring services for swaps on the internet. In reality I don't think there is anything that a keen DIY'er or auto electrician can't sort out providing you have all of the factory wiring. I certainly don't consider myself an expert in the wiring department but just chipped away at it replicating the OEM configuration with help from the service manual.

Some things that should be useful:

• Images and large wiring diagram: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/oyzxew78o...Hw80AQ75a?dl=0 (please download anything useful as i will remove the contents shortly)
• Have you got the G37 or 370Z service manuals ? They are a goldmine of information, enclosed in the above link also.
• I'll create a PDF of my power wiring setup tomorrow which shows specifically how i've done my relays etc
• There is a bunch more commentary and info in my build thread linked above

 

Thank you David

That info could be hugely useful, I am going to speak a local race car harness building company with your info and see if they can help, the wiring diagram you created would also be great to have when available.

I built a hillclimb car based on a Morris Minor body on a MX5 chassis and ran it this year with a supercharged MX5 engine giving 250 bhp which has turned out to be nowhere near enough power so I have bought and fitted the 370Z engine which I would eventually like to get up to around 400 bhp

I should have done more research first as I did nor realise how complex the electrics are for this engine. Fever Racing seemed to be the answer but they have just gone completely quiet on me.

I have attached a couple of photos so you can see where we are heading, alongside the engine swap we have been uprating to bigger brakes and 17" wheels.

Best Regards

Steve