I spent a bit of time reading through your posts. It is clear that you have been spending a lot of time researching, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, some of your efforts have been wasted reading the wrong things. I read recently that one of the problems of the internet is that deluge of opinions it allows. Opinions are like butt-holes in that everyone has one, the internet allows all those opinions to get out there. Sadly some opinions are less worthy than others and some are not worth the time taken to read them. So, here are some more opinions for you.
There is no point in putting heat paste on the beancan where it mounts to the timing case. I'm not going to spend time on this one, it is just plain wrong.... It is a hold over from the original ICU to heatsink mount - the heat sink paste would disappear causing the ICU to overheat, which would cause all sorts of odd symptoms until it died of cooking itself. You were supposed to renew the paste every year or so, but there should not be too many of those original ICU and heatsink combinations out there anymore. The second generation ICU is capable of switching much higher current than the original and is rivetted to the heatsink.
Be aware that the different versions of the ICU work best with different ignition coils, the take home is that the later version can run just about any coil, even the original 6volt in series "can" coils.
The Emerald Isle (Alpha) system is not, as far as I can find out, as tolerant as far as coils go as the Version 2 "std" ICU, best to stick with the current edition BMW/Bosch coil or its functional equivalents from people such as Dyna.
You have a 1982 edition which may be afflicted with the dreaded "crack-o-matic" grey coil. There is truth in the old BMW jungle saying "if coil is grey - throw it away".
If you have a crack-o-matic it will have already cracked which means that if you go for a ride on a rainy day you bike will stop, and then after a night in a warm dry garage, it will go again - till next time.
You cannot exchange the EI (Alpha) ICU with the "std" ICU - you will get a spark, but will have no advance/retard. If it worries you, buy a spare.
The Alpha Ignition system is manufactured by Emerald Isle, around the world it is sold under its own name, as the Alpha, also Red-Centre and other names. It is a brilliant bit of kit (I have one myself as a recent buy) as it does two things that addresses things that BMW want kicking for not doing with the original beancan electronic ignition, namely incorporating the ignition advance into the ICU instead of using steam age bob-weights and making the hall effect device a "cassette" installation that allows replacement in minutes rather than hours.
EME, market good quality alternate parts to support the OEM beancan ignition, they also market an optically triggered, crankshaft mounted (on the end of the alternator) which has a good in-service reputation. I harbour doubts in respect to optical triggered systems, being on of hundreds of people who had bad experiences with the (in)famous Piranha optically triggered ignition system in the 80/90s. There is a surprising amount of general crud and oil mist floating around under the front cover which ensured unexpected "failure to proceed" and the need to remove the cover and wipe the optics clean on a regular basis.
