Part Numbers: The Ford part
number is #FOTE - D5B, Bosch number 0 280 150 556revised 9-30-2001
With due credit to those on the e28 & e34 bimmer.org boards who ferreted out this info & posted their experience.
A fair amount of Ford Mustang fuel injectors, take-offs from Saleen with fewer than 100 miles on them, recently came up on Ebay ranging from $6 to $11 ea. in quantities of 6 or 8. They sell new for Fords at $118 ea. They are made by Bosch for Ford for 3.8 liter V-6 & 4.6 liter V-8 Mustangs, with a 19 lb/hr flow rate, yielding approx. a 2.5% increase in flow rate when installed in our m30 motors. More info on flow rates can be found at M535i.org scroll down a page for injector information.
Part Numbers: The Ford part
number is #FOTE - D5B, Bosch number 0 280 150 556
Various Bosch part numbers & BMW applications:
e28: 0 280 150 716 (13 64 1 726 989) -- March 1987 & later 528e -- Yellow -- 14.5 to 17.5 ohms
e28: 0 280 150 201 (13 64 1 276 149) -- 535i up to January 1986 -- Yellow -- low impedance, 1-5 ohms
e28: 0 280 150 714 (13 64 1 706 176) -- 535i Jan 1986 & later e28 -- Yellow -- 14.5 to 17.5 ohms
e34: 0 280 150 714 for Bosch injector in 535i 1989 to 1993 (m50 engine uses 0 280 150 415, I have no flowrate compatibility info for it.)
More Ford injector part numbers:
Flow, Part no., Color, Application
14 lb/hr, F1ZE-B4C, Gray, 1.9 - 3.8L
19 lb/hr, FOTE-D1A, Yellow/Orange, 4.6L SOHC
19 lb/hr, FOTE-D5B, Yellow/Black, 5.0L, 4.6L SOHC
24 lb/hr, F2LE-B2A, Lt. Blue 4.6L DOHC
25.3 lb/hr, F3DE-A2B, Blue/Green 3.0L Flex Fuel
30 lb/hr, F1SE-E1A, Red, 3.8L SC
Link to great site for more injector & MAF info: http://www.davelength.net/car/bigsix.html
Still looking for e32 & e34 m30 b35, Lucas injector part numbers, e-mail me if you find them.
Note that early m20 engines (e28 528e built prior to March 1987) had 2 to 3 ohm impedance injectors. These Mustang injectors will not work in them without a mod to the ECU.
More injector info at "Five-0-Motorsports"
More Mustang injector info can be found by searching the archives on "Bimmer.org" on the e28 & e34 boards, around the period of 2001, week 25 to week 28. Accel also offers injectors which may work with BMW's but I haven't verified the specifics. Much more information on fuel injectors can be found by doing a search on "Google" for "fuel injectors".
I do not have the Lucas part number for the old OEM injectors removed from my engine. The Lucas injectors measured 16.2 to 16.5 ohms, the Fords, 14.9 to 15.0 ohms. I don't know if the increased current draw will have a negative impact on the DME & related components. Bentley's gives the injector coil resistance as 16 ohms at 20C, Ref. page 130-20. If V = I * R then I just raised the current draw by about 6.6% & wattage about 13.6%. (someone check my math, I'm not a EE).
The swap takes about 3 or 4 hours if you take your time. I started by removing the air cleaner, MAF, & ICV, exposing the top cover of the fuel injector wire chase. It is attached to brackets underneath with two socket head screws, 5 mm allen wrench, Ref. Photo-1 I separated the wire chase cover, not for removal, but for installing the plugs back on the new injectors to make sure all 6 snapped back in snugly, Ref Photo-2. Here's a close-up of the top side of a socket Photo-3. A stout wire harness passes between the intake runners of cyl 4 & 5, Ref.Photo-4. If you unplug the O2 sensor socket & the plug next to it on the opposite side of the engine below the intake plenum in front of the starter solenoid, it will give enough slack to swing the entire injector wiring business out of the way, Ref. Photo-5. I then pryed the sockets off of each injector one at a time with a crude non-BMW approved tool, Ref. Photo-6. The injector sockets have a wire clip on them & are identical to the one on the temperature gauge sender (the one furthest from the head on the thermostat housing). With the wiring chase out of the way, remove the clips from the top of each injector along the underside of the fuel rail, Ref. Photo-7. They slide off easily with a screwdriver. Next, I sprayed some alchohol on the top & bottom of each injector socket & blew them out well with an air nozzle, & put 2 or 3 drops of 3-in-1 oil on the bottom injector sockets to loosen the crud on the o-rings. Remove the 3 hex-bolts which fasten the fuel rail to the intake manifold, Ref. Photo-8a & Photo-8b. Note the brackets for the wire chase cover, the one in the middle is cocked at an angle, the one in the rear is straight.
I removed the clamp which holds the metal fuel lines to the bottom of the intake plenum on the other side of the motor, Ref. Photo-9. This gives the fuel rail & metal lines some slack to raise up. I bled the fuel pressure off the system by wrapping a rag around the line next to the clamp & undid the hose clamp. The fuel rail prys up with a screwdriver if leveraged against an intake runner in a few places. Some injectors stay in the intake manifold & others raise with the fuel rail, they twist out fairly easily.
The new injectors have a different tip, Ref. Photo-10a & Photo-10b. I cleaned all the sockets with a Q-tip & alcohol & lubed the new *o-rings with Hypoid 90 as per Bentley. They slide in easily. Remember to put the clips back on the fuel rail before re-installing the wire chase. The clip on #6 goes back on easier if you reach from behind the engine from the driver's side (left). Make sure the wire clips on the plugs are on correctly & push them in one at a time, you'll hear & feel a distinct click when they're seated all the way. Just in case one gets broken, new plugs are BMW part no. 12 52 1 706 121. Here's another source for replacement plugs: racetep.com.
As usual, re-assembly is the reverse of above, check for leaks & any vacuum lines that might have been disturbed. I'll check again for fuel leaks for the next few days. The Mustang o-rings aren't as fat as the originals, & the new injectors slid in a little too easily. I used the o-rings that came with the new injectors, I think I'll take it apart & change them out soon.
* The o-rings are a Parker size 2-203, or just -203, Viton (fluorocarbon) 75 duro (90 duro would probably work too), brown, black, green, should make no difference, available at the dealer for $3.50 ea. or about $ .92 ea. at your local o-ring supply source, check the Yellow Pages under o-rings, gaskets, or seals. Also available on-line. The Mustang injectors come with o-rings. The typical auto parts place Buna-N or Nitrile will work in a pinch but won't stand up to the heat for long-term service.
Results: It started easily once the fuel pumped up again & idled smoothly, slightly nicer than before after it warmed up but not by a tremendous amount. The surge was still present. It did drop one at idle every 3 to 5 seconds or so with the old injectors & that has gone away & there's absolutely no odor of raw gas whatsoever at the tailpipe when warm, so I think it's idling a little leaner. That could be just because the injectors are new as opposed to being "better" than the old Lucas injectors. At first it had subtle flat spots on hard accelerations, kind of a notchy or stepped increase in power opposed to before. That could have been from pockets of air still in the fuel rail for a short while, as the flat spots have since gone away. I don't think the DME in the m30 b35 motor is adaptive & shouldn't have to "learn" new settings. I've driven it for several hundred miles since the swap, mostly in-town, & have just added a DME performance chip & the Mustang injectors & chip combined make a nice complement for each other & I'm very pleased with the new performance & would recommend it to anyone. The injectors by themselves didn't seem to make any impact on fuel economy, but now with the chip, it's down about 1/2 mpg in town mostly because I've been pushing it harder lately. It's about the same as before on the highway once it gets up to cruising speed.
gale, 92 735i
