Home Engine Swaps - How long did it take?

[skipunda]

As you know a thread's just been locked that moved towards how quickly a business could swap an engine. Fair comment, but it's too much work to police that one today and I know you'll respect that. In time I will certainly push for that thread to be reopened and 'completed'.

But lets give you something to natter about instead.


How long has it taken you, taken your friend, enemy or whoever to successfully swap an engine to a standard you were happy to show a professional?

Is the E30 an easy car to work on?

What's the most painful experience? The most annoying. Photo's of you working in the snow, desert, council estate, rainforest etc.

Any stories with other marques? A friend of mine is looking to V8 a midget one day for example...

[pac1982]

you know my answer already for but the benefit of this post,

it took me and my mate from around 10am to just before 6pm to swap out a worn 318is engine and replace like for like.

With much drinking and joking around also taking place as it was a nice summers day.

Could have done it in half the time if we had knuckled down.

I would say the E30 is a very easy car to work on never really got stuck for long on anything all older BMW’s seem to be designed with the home mechanic in mind, the same cant be said for newer ones unfortunately

[skipunda]

Links to original build threads too!

If you're talking about welding trans tunnel & bulkhead let's see a photo...

[kam-325i]

Project : 318i Design Cab > M50B25

Many moons ago, i helped out with a fellow zoner.....some you may remmeber, to change the engine in his Cab to a M50 engine.

the biggest ballache was all the little things that got overlooked, like brackets and fitting, hose's and leads.

I think it took just over 3 weeks to complete, but this was not going at it 8 hours a day, biggest problem we had at the time was the electrics, back then there was conflicting information,

I think that if you have everything you need before you start, a M50 swap could be done, with help, in around 3-4 days.

[Tom_Maverick]

I'd be interested to read the replies.. I'm really tempted to change the engine in mine but it'd have to be over a weekend or a long weekend as it's my daily.. I've done this in other cars and with the right prep and parts it's easy!

[skipunda]

Someone kick us off with a photo. Imye30 will need to know where the engine is so you're helping both of us

(joking, Imy)

[kam-325i]

[capri_rob]

E30's are easy to work on when everything comes undone without bolts shearing, unexpected corrosion appearing causing parts to be required, clips breaking etc.
In my experience though a job you think will take a day usually takes 2.

IF everything comes apart OK with nothing shearing, breaking or requiring unexpected replacement I reckon you could have an engine in and out in a day.

On the road in front of the house ( note the tray of Stella on the back shelf ) :







Maybe 2 hours start to finish to get it out - no reason why it wouldnt be roughly the same to get an identical engine back in and connected up.

You've got to factor in the time to get the new engine up to spec first before it goes in though - no point fitting an engine with an unknown clutch, cambelt etc when you can get at it all dead easy with the engine on a pallet. And things like the gear linkage refurb and clutch slave cylinder I would definately do before the donk goes in the car.

[snakebrain]

I've a lurking desire to build an e28 2.8 with an m52 so will be watching with interest!

[clarko74]

I did my first (and so far only) engine swap over a bank holiday weekend. It was an easy one, I went from an M20B20 to an M20B25. It was almost two swaps as I had to take the engine out of the doner swap it into my e30 then put the old engine back into the doner. I couldn't leave loads of frag lying about as I did on my other halfs mum's driveway.

I was working outside and it hammered it down with rain for the whole weekend, which hindered progress a bit. And apart from a little help from a neighbour when I was actually lowering the new engine in I did the whole thing on my own.

It wasn't half as hard as I thought it would be. I would recommend having a whole doner car as at least you know then that you should have all the parts available. Also it would have been much easier if I had had someone helping, it's knackering the number of times you have to get under the car then back up to the engien bay, then under the car again then back up to the engine bay, etc, etc...

[cecotto479]

I've a lurking desire to build an e28 2.8 with an m52 so will be watching with interest!

Good choice. I've often thought that that'd make a super car.

I quoted a day to put the E36 M42 into the E30.

[daimlerman]

It's often not 'just an engine' though,is it?

This;



Was towed home in August,the engine-less shell was converted from LHD to RHD...


M50 stuffed in

Tank swapped...


Bought my way out of exhaust manifold problems


Finally MoT'ed and in use the following Febuary...



Just sticking the engine in took a couple of hours,it's all the other 'whilst I have it in bits' bits that takes the time!

[pacerpete]

I work on cars for a living and have done so for far too long

Yes you can drive a car in first thing in the morning and drive it out with the replacement donk that evening no problem BUT , when we are talking about 20+ year old turds , you will usually find plenty more issues aliong the way , I;E , fooked engine mounts,broken studs, dodgy hoses, suspect wiring, fooked drive belts, missing exhaust brackets, gear box oil leaks, work shift linkage,split guibos etc etc etc.

Obviously when the engine is out of the car it is an ideal time to address the oily engine and replace various gaskets. May as well replace the unknown water pump as well as the cambelt and tensioner if fitted.

While it is on the deck, lets swap the clutch onto the replacement engine, ooops, its nearly on the rivets, thats another £150 and so it goes on.

The above is the real life account of an engine change on a twenty year old sh1tbox, like the one poor Boyd is working on

Obviously then all you have to do is hope that the low mileage 'minter' that you have bought and fitted doesn't turn out to be worse than the one you removed !


So yes, it is possible to nail an engine in in a day and do the job properly and the car have no issues and there be no come backs BUT only if the replacement engine has been properly removed and is all good with zero issues and the car it is going into is a well maintained together car, though these sort of cars seldom need replacement engines.......

[E30BeemerLad]

M50 swap into the touring, oooh about 2 years, but that was with a mechanical resto of sorts and god knows how many other dramas eventually resulting in a M52 going in there instead.

2nd time around with the chromie took a couple of months of doing it on weekends and evenings, involving swapping over complete drivetrain and all running gear as well as interior and other stuff.

[hongkongfuey]

my first engine swap on an e30 , not in a garage, was my m20, swapping some bits from engine to engine, me and a mate 12 hrs in the rain.

taking out two engines and swapping bits converting an auto to manual in a weekend and finishing a couple of hrs on an evening (m20)

fitting an m20 and finishing job half a day

m40 swap with a couple of extra bits, very layed back weekend

m20 swap in present car, with clutch, flywheel, sorting exhaust which took half a day, swapping engine parts etc, all the gear links,waiting for spiggot bearing 3 days but wasnt rushing

[Jos]

I think the e30 is a stupidly easy car to work on, Brianmooore says often - 'built by engineers not accountants' and it really does show in the way 90% of the car is accessible without too much headache.

The one thing that always impresses me is how few nuts and bolts actually shear, compared to modern day cars that seem to shear bolts once they have been on for more than a day.

as pacer says getting the engine swapped physically is the easy bit, it's all the other bits and pieces that take the time. M40 > e36 M42 took me about 3-4 weeks with Christmas in the middle, 2 weekends and a few evenings but that included redoing the e36 loom to fit, modding the dipstick to clear the serpentine belt, and fabbing the exhaust manifold and downpipe to fit the M40.

For 1st timers I would also recommend a full running donor to swap from, then you know you have everything needed to make it work.

[maxfield]

I can do an M40 to a M20 in a day on my own. Probably do it in a morning if I had my mate helping me.

But that is with a good engine on the floor with everything done, clutch, belts etc which can be a mornings work.

[hongkongfuey]

thing is with any work , you can do it in a day until, a bolt snaps, the bearing is the wrong size etc, you only need one problem like when my jack broke when it was up on axle stands, to slow it down.

but if (like cooking) everything has been prepared like max said engine ready to go in , then its going to be done qiute quickly

[pac1982]

thing is with any work , you can do it in a day until, a bolt snaps, the bearing is the wrong size etc, you only need one problem like when my jack broke when it was up on axle stands, to slow it down.

but if (like cooking) everything has been prepared like max said engine ready to go in , then its going to be done qiute quickly

That is very true I was just lucky I guess and didn't encounter any problems at all while doing mine, my suspension and bushes was a longer job than my engine due to problems with bolts etc

[daimlerman]

I work on cars for a living and have done so for far too long

Yes you can drive a car in first thing in the morning and drive it out with the replacement donk that evening no problem BUT , when we are talking about 20+ year old turds , you will usually find plenty more issues aliong the way , I;E , fooked engine mounts,broken studs, dodgy hoses, suspect wiring, fooked drive belts, missing exhaust brackets, gear box oil leaks, work shift linkage,split guibos etc etc etc.

Obviously when the engine is out of the car it is an ideal time to address the oily engine and replace various gaskets. May as well replace the unknown water pump as well as the cambelt and tensioner if fitted.

While it is on the deck, lets swap the clutch onto the replacement engine, ooops, its nearly on the rivets, thats another £150 and so it goes on.

The above is the real life account of an engine change on a twenty year old sh1tbox, like the one poor Boyd is working on

Obviously then all you have to do is hope that the low mileage 'minter' that you have bought and fitted doesn't turn out to be worse than the one you removed !


So yes, it is possible to nail an engine in in a day and do the job properly and the car have no issues and there be no come backs BUT only if the replacement engine has been properly removed and is all good with zero issues and the car it is going into is a well maintained together car, though these sort of cars seldom need replacement engines.......

This is the real deal,guys like Pete and Boyd are trying to put food on the table for their families,guys like me have a proper job and play with cars for fun and relaxation!
In the same way,'er indoors goes shopping,not because she needs to,but for pleasure

[_Jay_]

Not an E30, but had a Peugeot 206 with a blown engine in it before. Took us about 4 hours to get it out and swap in a like for like unit. Pretty easy job to be fair. May be attempting a v8 out of a 7 series in to an E30 soon. Not looked in to it much yet, but can hazard a guess it will be quite a bit trickier lol.

[GemE30]

When we put the 2.5 in the touring, it took 4 hours iirc to take the engine out, pick up the new one, swap them over then around a week to sort all the wiring / problems out.

[capri_rob]

A straight like for like swap for guys with hydraulic lift, compressor & air tools and all the relevant tools to hand to do the job where its literally a question of disconnecting the existing donk, pulling it out and putting an identical donk back and connecting the loom/pipework up to all the relevant connectors in I would expect to be done easily in a day - probably less.

The same swap on your drive with axle stands still could be done in a day but you'd be better allowing 2 for any unforseen issues.

This does not include time for fettling the new donk with service parts, belts, clutch etc before it goes in.

A non-like for like swap reliant on a mixture of standard, later model and custom parts- M40 to M52 for example - could easily run to several days particularly if the person doing it hasnt done that particular swap before.

[ross_jsy]

Two years and still no where near finished. (m20 to m50). Had the old engine out and new one in over 2 days though. But getting it running has taken it's time due to 2 major injuries, moving into my own place with the missus (read being broke) and other complications mixed with building it for hill climbing have added up.

Some pics of ghettoing it in:



Spurious activity here:





This held me back a bit mind:

[Ajsingh]

I fully built my 2.7 M20 in my spare time over 3 months.. Installing it, me & my lil bro started at 9am and drove it out that evening, slowly worked throught it & whilst the B20 lump was out, i got cleaning the engine bay which took time up

[Rav335uk]

Mine too a few months, but that wasn't working on it everyday.
As most know on here, M30 about 3-4 days if all goes well and nothing major needs replacing, and that's having everything to hand.

[Kedge]

I did managed to do an M42 like for like in about 4hrs in my Mums garage, the new engine was already prep'd the previous weekend. That was with leaving the gearbox in as well.

Most epic fail was the thrid swap when i get it all bolted in the bay and up to the gearbox to realise i'd left the release bearing out for the clutch.

[Duke137]

I did managed to do an M42 like for like in about 4hrs in my Mums garage, the new engine was already prep'd the previous weekend. That was with leaving the gearbox in as well.

Most epic fail was the thrid swap when i get it all bolted in the bay and up to the gearbox to realise i'd left the release bearing out for the clutch.

Did you get medieval?

[Jhonno]

Mine too a few months, but that wasn't working on it everyday.
As most know on here, M30 about 3-4 days if all goes well and barnacles and crusteans are already removed

[Kedge]

I did managed to do an M42 like for like in about 4hrs in my Mums garage, the new engine was already prep'd the previous weekend. That was with leaving the gearbox in as well.

Most epic fail was the thrid swap when i get it all bolted in the bay and up to the gearbox to realise i'd left the release bearing out for the clutch.

Did you get medieval?

[eko]

Ive done my fair share for myself and others.........








Im currently in the middle of another M52 swap which is not far from complete.

[e30topless]

how long is a piece of string ?
if it's like for like and the new donk is ready and sorted with no issues then a day can see it out of the door and thats doing it on my own,

Pacerpete sums it up correctly

[Duke137]

pacerpete, nailed.

[Simon13]

I've lost count on how many i've done now. On my own at home its a weekend. With plenty of spares for the un forseen stuff. Nothing on cars goes 100% if it did we'd all be at it!

I've only ever really done M20 in and outs. The skill with the crane is getting the donk in and out without molesting the front slam panel at the top!

[Dezzy]

Well I built a none standard iron block M52B30, changed full drive train, had a diff rebuilt, made a full exhaust, changed every bush, fitted new suspension including having custom rear springs made, re trimmed interior, had my wheels reconditions and fitted WMS 280mm front brakes in about a year. Engine only lasted 10mins the first time though.

Then it went to our Dan and it had some more improvements. Worth it in the end I suppose.