E34 engine replacement

[halimtan]

Hi, I am planning to swap the engine of my E34 (520i 1989 model manual shift) with a 525i 24-valve 1993-4 auto shift, sourced from Japan. I have been getting conflicting advice as to whether I should go for a Vanos version or not. The Vanos engine costs almost 70% more than the non-Vanos. Can anyone help me out? Thanks in advance.

[acidfire52]

Well, if you ever want to go with any forced induction, go with the non-Vanos.

If not, yeah the Vanos gives you a little bit more. I have a 93 Vanos myself.
But, id does induce more things to break. As I recall, the difference in power is not very big.

The increase you are going to get just by dropping in this engine, I would just go with the non unit.

Also, why in the hell would you go from a manual to an auto??? :(

My $.02

[halimtan]

Well, thanks for the quick reply and advice. Dont really know what is "forced induction" though. If you could elaborate, that would be most helpful. As to the choice of an auto-shift, I guess its more a matter of convenience. Practically all the half-cuts brought in from Japan to Malaysia are autos. A manual version would be impossible to get, unless I custom order. As it is, I am told the full conversion plus a spray job will take more than a month. Its tough not having a set of wheels to move around, dont you think?

[Ross]

What's a half-cut? Ther are a bunch of folks on this board that would like the leftover manual stuff after your conversion. In my opinion the vanos doesn't justify a 70% upcharge, or really any upcharge.
Since you are going to all the trouble why not an M30?

[halimtan]

A half-cut is the either the front or back half of the car. See, this way, when they bring in the car to Malaysia, they dont have to pay the exorbitant taxes that a completely built-up (CBU) car would attract. If I buy a front half-cut, I get the engine and whatever else (dashboard, meters, hood, bumper etc) I can salvage. Windscreens are all destroyed of course.

[M20Turbo]

Well, thanks for the quick reply and advice. Dont really know what is "forced induction" though. If you could elaborate, that would be most helpful. As to the choice of an auto-shift, I guess its more a matter of convenience. Practically all the half-cuts brought in from Japan to Malaysia are autos. A manual version would be impossible to get, unless I custom order. As it is, I am told the full conversion plus a spray job will take more than a month. Its tough not having a set of wheels to move around, dont you think?

forced induction = Turbo charged or supercharged

[halimtan]

Obviously I am not very conversant on engines but that one in the picture looks impressive. Wonder if I can do something like that on a stock engine.

[grave77]

well ... I'm in dubai and we get all the junk from japan, I would advice you to go for vanos if you live in a hot area (in Dubai it makes difference in the summer time)but the charges are not real .. the difference is 10%more not anything grater at all ... note that it's better you get the front half cut and use what ever you need and sell the rest on ebay or on bimmer. I'm not sure but maybe the manual tranny fits the M50 engine but I'm not sure if that's correct. try realoem.com for more information.

[halimtan]

Hey grave77, appreciate your input. The Alpines look good on the car. I am going to make a decision tomorrow, so until then, all your inputs are very much appreciated.

[acidfire52]

If you can get a good priced front clip without the Vanos and an auto, I would say go for it. You will love the extra power.

[halimtan]

I am bringing my mechanic tomorrow to check out the nonVanos before forking out the cash (approx USD1100, excl labor). As for the transmission, its auto but like I said, its ok by me. Appreciate your attention to this thread.

[tnt525i]

bear in mind that the transmission in japanese spec cars are different to the ones in the us and also in europe.
my experience when my tranny broke was that the jap spec tranny in the 1993 (M50 engines) or later cars were made by isuzu and it requires a different ecu, cross-member, drive shaft etc,
the ones in the euro spec cars (like mine) uses a zf 5hp18 tranny which is alot shorter in dimensions to the isuzu, and the zf 5hp18 tranny in my 525i is the same tranny you would find in the us spec 530i.
im not 100% sure which tranny the us spec 525i (M50) uses but i think its a 4hp22(i stand to be corrected), either way depending on where in the world you are, and you buy a front cut, chances are you wont get the correct drive shaft for it, another thing is, if you opt to use the isuzu tranny, if ever something goes wrong, you wont get parts as easily in the us as you would for the other models(zf and gm)
i dont want to dampen your spirits but i dont want you to make the same mistakes i made

[Jon K]

The power difference between a vanos and non vanos car is the same - its simply where the power comes on. I don't much like Vanos, but I have my reasons not to :)

[halimtan]

The half-cut comes with transmission, rear axle and exhaust. Will that overcome this issue?

[halimtan]

Ok, thanks for the info. Will discuss all this with my tech. He seems to think the Vanos is better, but then he's not doing the paying, if you know what I mean.

[tnt525i]

The half-cut comes with transmission, rear axle and exhaust. Will that overcome this issue?
it will

[halimtan]

Hi again everyone. Just thought you would like to know that I have decided against the nonVanos, not because of the engine per se but because there's no warranty on the engine and transmission. The norm here is a 30-day guarantee after installation. That accounts for the big difference in price to a Vanos unit which I found at another place. I am going with this unit which should be in the workshop early next week.

I also found a set of standard 16-in rims from a 7-series (E39?) which I was told has the same offset as my E34. The 3 main areas of refurbishment: engine replacement, body respray and re-upholstery will cost approx USD4000. I hope to upload the pics when the car is ready.

Thanks again for all the comments. Halim.