E30 Zone

Hi thinkin of puttin a 530i engine in an e30 will it fit does anyone know and if so would a 540i engine fit? it is out of a 1995ish model one. If so how much work would be involved in doin, i.e. would it cost a fortune to have it done as i am no mechanic and would have to pay someone to do it, thanks jack

there have been quite a few s50/m50/m52 conversions done & if you do a search you should be able to find all the answers you're after.

i honestly can't see why it shouldn't fit.

good look with it.

like i said have a search & a look round in the tech section & you should hit pay dirt in there.

let us know how you get on if you decide to go a head with the swap.

if you want have a look on www.e3024v.co.uk as there should be plenty of info on there for you regarding the swap.

Yeah, search engine conversion threads, few lads doing the 4.0 conversion at the moment.

325msport The engine he has is a m60 v8 not a m50/m52 and to get the v8 into a e30 properly you need deep pockets ,its not a simple transplant by all means but has and can be done

dips346 wrote:325msport The engine he has is a m60 v8 not a m50/m52 and to get the v8 into a e30 properly you need deep pockets ,its not a simple transplant by all means but has and can be done

sorry dips my bad.

i thought the 530i engine was a staight six,

you live & learn.

sorry bout that i'll do my home work next time lol.

hi appreciate your response, what is the engine code for a 1995ish 530i and is it a v8 and not a straight 6? also what engine is the m60 from if that is easier to fit, cheers jack

no worrys mate ,some early 530i were m30 6 pots,but i guess this one is a v8 as he talks about the 540i as well

so there is both straight 6 and v8's in the 3 litre 5 series, what's an m42 m50 and s50? regards jack

M42,twin cam 4 pot 1800cc,first fitted to E30,then E36.M50,straight six,hemi head 24 valve twin cam 2500cc,fitted to E36 and E34.Very popular,well documented swap,done one myself. S50 is development of M50,lurks under E36 'M' cars as standard,similar swap in principle to M50. I have seen only one V8 conversion in the flesh,it is a very tight fit,especialy around the alternator and the exhausts.Not one for the fainthearted,or those with deep pockets and short arms.Requires exellent enginnering skills and a high level of fabrication skills.Makes a VERY quick E30,though!

The M52 looks like it should have always lived in the e30 engine bay IMO.

I would love to hear a 540i's engine in a e30. my old man use to have a e34 540i on a L plate, Oxford Green with tan leather, it was a brilliant car ( Families first BMW ) and caused me to never want any car than a BMW.

The fact that a 540i engine takes up a lot of space in an e39 engine bay, let alone an e30 one is a pretty big stumbling block.

I bet if you added everything up and PAID someone the labour to fit one into an e30 you'd be the wrong side of 10 grand, for an engine, that for its size is underpowered. Very cool, but ultimately pointless unless you are like Jonsku and can do the work yourself. Just buy a quick car and save your monies.

Fitting a 530i V8 would be as potentially stupid as fitting a 320i engine into a 325i.

it definitly fits, have a search there are several people further on then i am, not cheap to do mind

Yes, you can fit an M60 into an E30 with some few modifications, like move the brake servo from the firewall to the wings like they have done in the E34 to an example.
Go for a M60B40 is my idea, the 286 bhp engine...

What about an e39 530 M54?

Straight six so it will fit, 231 brake with 221 ft/ib of torque??????

How much easier is the s50 to fit in over the m50/52 ect?

There is a trader on here that has the totalled Hartger M3 which had the s50 in.

Personally if your going to put wedge into a big engine surley going for the 3.6/3.8 S50 would be a better option.

Jon_Bmw wrote: Fitting a 530i V8 would be as potentially stupid as fitting a 320i engine into a 325i.

ahh....and to think one day, 50 years time when there are only 20 examples of the e30 left some helpless plonker is going to say "well, *sniff* it's a 2 litre innit, that'l go some"

Can be done but as Dips says, Very expensive/costly.


Tight fit.

Not much room by the OSF strut.

Not much clearance to the bonnet shut line.

Not much clearance to the NSF strut either!

The main problem to fit in a "modern" engine into an old E30 is due to electonics. To fit the engine in unto the engine bay is one thing. But today when an engine is runned like an IBM server with a lot of electronics and software its a pain in the arse tbh.

I have an E34 Touring my self with an M60 under the hood and I had a dream to one day fit an M5 engine from an E39 and its one guy in UK who have done that, but he had a lot of pain to make the engine run as it should, and got a lot of issues where the engine turned into an emergency program due to faults of the software.

I think the M60/early M62 engines were probably the easiest in terms of wiring as there was no EWS etc.Things like the S50/60 etc need ews and double vanos to work.. Big headache in my opinion.