Engine swap.

[Rob]

Howzit all,

I'm wanting to take out my M20 engine out of my car and put in a M50 BMW engine in there.

Could anyone tell me if this would be very hard to do and would the m50 engine go stright in? my car is automatic so would i need to change that to manual with new engine in there or not?

Thanks all. :D

[ArtemLepilov]

This should give some basic info http://www.e30m50.com/, except an E34 chassis is well made for the motor, so there should be no need to change engine mounts or anything of that sort.

-Im not sure about the transmission, if you can use an Auto tranny for M20 on an M50... Anyone know this?

-Artem

[Rob]

Thanks, ArtemLepilov. Will look now. :)

[Rob]

Anyone else got info on this?

Thanks.

[Incantation]

curious.. why so much work for such a marginal difference in performance? you'd be better off firing a 540 V6, six speed in there (if you can source one). or go with blown toyota supra engine

[Interceptor]

curious.. why so much work for such a marginal difference in performance? you'd be better off firing a 540 V6, six speed in there (if you can source one). or go with blown toyota supra engine
Dude, there never was a V6 BMW engine! Now quick, go wash your mouth with soap! 540i has a M60B40 V8!

[pundit]

Howzit all,

I'm wanting to take out my M20 engine out of my car and put in a M50 BMW engine in there.

Could anyone tell me if this would be very hard to do and would the m50 engine go stright in? my car is automatic so would i need to change that to manual with new engine in there or not?

Thanks all. :D
Hi Rob,
I don't want to burst your bubble but it would be far less work (and cheaper) to sell your M20 E34 and simply buy an M50 E34.... or a 540 if that tickles your fancy! ;)

[Rob]

Yeah, I see your point. I might just leave it then. :)

[Incantation]

lol doh.. i know that, typo

woulda been better if i had written v6, eight speed

[Kalevera]

Actually -- at least in the states -- M50s are cheap and readily available. Manual trannys that are compatible with both the M20/M50 blocks are also cheap and easy to come by. So the availability of the parts isn't a problem, at least around here.

As others have said, there's limited performance gain. Find an S50 -- now there's an upgrade that'll drop in with a little work.

If the body/interior/suspension/brakes/lights/whatever are in good shape, I wouldn't hesitate to do an S50/5 conversion.


best, whit

[pundit]

Actually -- at least in the states -- M50s are cheap and readily available. Manual trannys that are compatible with both the M20/M50 blocks are also cheap and easy to come by. So the availability of the parts isn't a problem, at least around here.

As others have said, there's limited performance gain. Find an S50 -- now there's an upgrade that'll drop in with a little work.

If the body/interior/suspension/brakes/lights/whatever are in good shape, I wouldn't hesitate to do an S50/5 conversion.


best, whit
That's the difference between us Whit... you take on what I avoid like the plague.... read Fritz! ;)
My philosophy is why make work for yourself when there are easier alternatives? If we agree that the true cost of owning an E34 is around $10k U.S. (whichever way you slice then cake) then I'd spend the $10K up front on what I wanted than buy something that wasn't close and then spend $$$$ and time turning the car into something else. Granted E34's are getting longer in the tooth day by day and there are a probably lot more 'shitfighters' than there are pristine examples but I'd still plan to buy something that approximated what I wanted rather than reinvent the wheel. You see I was cured of all this years ago. Me, I'd rather go fishing! :D

Maybe over there used M50 's are cheap and readily available but here I guarantee it would be far cheaper to buy something ready to go than do a conversion, and that doesn't even take the time/labor factor into consideration.