BMW: Fuel pump relay, fuel pump relay, 320i bmw

Question
Dear Josh,

I have a very early e30 320i BMW(late '83 build). I need a replacement fuel pump relay.

My current one is a Bosch:

    BOSCH
 Steuerrelais
 0 280 230 001
     12V
Made in Germany
31 |   | 30    |50
15 |    87b    | 1
       87

*****There's a horizontal line under the 87b and the 87, and the lines beside the 31 and the 50 are shorter to depict the pin sizes.

It seems that this model was only fitted on the very early e30s, so it's hard to find.

I was wondering whether it would be possible to retrofit a later relay, as they have the same number of pins and the same numbers as above printed on the body of the relay - only the pin layout seems to be different.

So, do you think it would work if I was to wire the pins of the later relay to connectors that then plugged in to the original relay plug?   

Or, is there a relay from an earlier model that would fit and work?

Thanks mate,  

Answer
Marcus,
 That's a good question.  Pre-1984 E30's are pretty rare, I own an '83 323i, but it came from Germany.  I know the early E30's were similar to the E21's (First 3-series).  You could try an 79-83 E21.  Becareful, because the US models were labeled "320" and they had a 2.0L 4-cylinder, while the Euro cars were labeled "320" but had a 2.0L 6-cylinder like your E30.  You would probably have better luck finding one of these than looking for a 320i E30.  

 But I believe it would pose no problems to use a later model relay and connector.  All a relay is, is an electronically controlled switch.  They should all use 12v, and it "shouldn't" pose any problems.  However, I have not done this, so I cannot garuantee that it will work.  If you do this you are at your OWN RISK.  But once again, I'm 99.9% sure that you will not have any problems.

 Hope this helps,
 Josh