Engine swap tips? - United Bimmer Community

**bmwbrian** · 03-26-2007, 05:40 PM

i am going an engine swap on my 92 525i pretty soon here, and was wondering if anyone could offer some advice. A friend of mine who has swaped out honda engines before is going to be helping but i'm sure this is going to be much more complicated, any tips or advice anyone could share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks alot!

**Dr1ve4fun** · 03-26-2007, 06:22 PM

There are alot of threads in forums about doing this. If you look around on a few of the forums you can find tutorials and stuff. Hope that helps a little bit since I don't know anything about swapping an engine..

**Numark318i** · 03-26-2007, 07:24 PM

couple people on here have swapped their engines/ or turboed

its not too complicated just make sure u have all your parts ahead of time.

what engine u want to swap in?

**bmwbrian** · 03-26-2007, 07:35 PM

just another stock one, i blew the head gasket and have been getting quotes around $3000 to get it up and running again. so after looking around it looks like just dropping a used engine would be loads cheaper. i'd be more than happy to hear any other suggestions too. just trying to get my baby up and running on a college students budget. thanks for the advice!

**Numark318i** · 03-26-2007, 08:19 PM

ah. shouldnt be too difficult then.

I would assume you would want to change out the motor mounts to new ones. Also check your clutch life..might be easier to change now that everythign is apart.

When you get the used engine change all of the vacuum lines. They get old, and might not show wear but its a good idea to change them.

also..just saw..you blew your head gasket. There is a DIY on replacing head gaskets on bimmerdiy.com. ( i believe) which has a step by step procedure.

Im sure you could do most of the work your self. if you have some garage tools and a place to do it? which you do because u want to swap out the motor. Repairing it will also give you the piece of mind knowing whats going on inside the engine you just fixed.

**dinan540** · 03-26-2007, 08:52 PM

Good luck with the engine swap. I would check all of the rubber lines and gaskets. Too bad you are on a budget, it would be a great time to upgrade headers, cams, increased displacement. devinwwu on this board swapped his engine. Look him up and pm him. He would be more than happy to help. Also, jrhaile has done significant engine work, he is a great source. Good luck with this and document it. It will be great to witness.

Paul

**xsperf** · 03-26-2007, 09:02 PM

not that difficult, i did it on an e36, basically since you have an I6, you can actually remove the subframe and the front bumper/radiator support and just slide the engine right out the front, and lift the new one in, and you dont have to worry about all the electrical stuf you have a huge connector that goes to the ECU, just mark all the hoses

**Dudesky** · 03-27-2007, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmwbrian

i blew the head gasket and have been getting quotes around $3000 to get it up and running again.

Why is it costing that much? Is there more damage than the gasket? Any reason why you don't want to attempt the gasket change yourself? Seems that would be far easier and cheaper than swapping out the whole engine, with one that you might not know the condition of? What if the replacement engine blows its gasket soon afterwards?

**bmwbrian** · 03-27-2007, 02:34 PM

Hey sorry, correction. i just got done talking to the mechanic, it's actually the Cylinder head that is no good. and they were quoting around $3000 to get it back and running. thanks alot! i really appreciate for everyones input and suggestions and would like to hear anymore you guys might have. Thanks!

**devinwwu** · 03-27-2007, 05:18 PM

careful when dealing with the headgasket going and trying to fix the main problem as there are undoubtedly other reasons leading up to the blowing gasket. sounds like the car overheated and either before, during or after the gasket blew the cylinder head was warped. Shouldn't be too hard to find a used head somewhere and buy a new gasket, but probably not too much more expensive to buy a used engine either. kinda depends on which you feel is easier for you

whatever you do...

LABEL ALL YOUR SHIT!!!!!

label everythign coming off the car and what it went to on the old engine setup and leave the labels on there. it makes things ten times easier just in case there are slight variations in location of things on the new engine. that way you can look back on the old motor and figure out exactly what was hooked up to which system, hose, etc.

Mine was much more complicated just cause i swapped in a completely different motor. it is definitely a do-able thing

good luck pm me if you got questions

**Dudesky** · 03-27-2007, 06:33 PM

Good call on the labeling . . I use Ziplock bags for fasteners and small parts, and I label the bags, along with torque specs or special instructions if applicable.

**bmwbrian** · 03-29-2007, 07:18 PM

hey thanks alot for all the help and i'll definitely do a good job of labeling. looks like i'm gonna be picking an engine up for about $1000 tomorrow...wish me luck! and thanks again!