Engine swaps? ...confussed

[noj]

sorry I know you have a thread on ngine swaps, but with all the different numbers I am getting a little confussed....my situation is that I am planning to purchase a E30 touring , I cant seem to find a decent manual 325 so I have seen a 316lux on ebay but I would want to change the engine, in favour of a 6pot , now from what I understand the e36 2.5 or 2.8 engine is suitable , however I would want something easy to install , with not too much fabrication, could you advise, and again thanks for any advise..i am I right that the e36 uses a M50 engine?

[Brianmoooore]

Easiest conversion, by far, will be an engine that BMW fitted into the touring from new, which will be the M20, either in 2 litre or 2.5 litre form. There's also the 16 valve M42 1.8 litre engine, which BMW only fitted to a saloon body, but still slots straight in, and is arguablly better than the 2 litre M20.
You need the whole package of engine, engine loom, gearbox, gear lever linkage, radiator, clutch, AFM, ECU, prop. shaft and diff., plus various mounts and brackets.
The touring has the big advantage, though, of already having suitable brakes and suspension, unlike the equivalent saloons.
The M50 - 52 or even 54 conversions are well documented, but will involve some fabrication and collecting of bits from other BMW models.
E36 can come with M50, or 52 in various guises.

[HRH-squidlips_III]

having read all m52 swap guides i thought it would be reasonably easy 9 months later i,m almost finished
could have done sooner but there,s lots of small things that hold you up and the money i anticipaited is nigh on double
wouldn,t do a m50 as i think (don,t know) the extra weight takes away from what a e30 should be eg m3 4 cylinder well balanced etc
i think a m52 all alloy engine with fibreglass bonnet bumper etc and good suspension setup
is probably superior being a more modern engine
i,ve yet to drive the car but this weekend came very close only exhaust and find out why the fuel pump isn,t working left to do
had time back again i would still go with m52 but get someone else to do it to each his own trade etc
omly other option i considerd was a m43b18 but i,m used to 6 cylinder torque and would miss that to much

[ChrisHC]

I just had a quick look and found 5x 325i tourings and 2x 320i, so there are some out there without getting into buying a 316 and swapping the engine.

[Jona1971]

I've just swapped an M20, and did it on my driveway. So, it is doable.

I would recommend having a donor car if possible. There were lots of bits (brackets etc) I needed that I didn't know I needed. With a donor car to rob it made things much easier.

The Wiki was excellent, and so was the help from the Zone, but don't believe that "it can all be done in a weekend" nonsense, took me 3 months of weekends.

Good luck

[noj]

wow thanks for all the replies...ok so from what I have read I think I just need to find a half decent 325 or 320... I had discounted the 320 as really after a 6 pot but if it can offer good power gains I am interested , what can I do to a 320? is this a similar unit to the s14 m3 engine?

[noj]

does any one , or any links to any for sale 320 or 325 touring must be manual

[Cloggy Saint]

A 320 is a 6 pot and is absolutely nothing like the 4 pot s14. You can't do anything to a 320 to make any discernible improvement in power and the 325 isn't exactly fast either. If performance is your thing then the 2.8 M52 is the best option.

[noj]

cool thanks for that, can you change the cams in these, and increase displacement

[Cloggy Saint]

You mean the M52? I know at least one zoner (Magpie) has done a 3.0 M52 but have no idea how that is achieved.

[noj]

do you still have a tourer and what engine did you have.

[Cloggy Saint]

I still have the touring in my sig' pic', 18 years and still going strong. It started life as a 320 and is now a 325.

[ChrisHC]

cool thanks for that, can you change the cams in these, and increase displacement

I do not think you would find the 325i to be slow unless your usual ride is a supercar. 0 -60 is 7.4 secs, two generations further on the equivalent figure for the E46 330i with half a litre more capacity is 6.5 secs. I have both and certainly do not find the 325i at all sluggish!