[JonEQuest]

Some of you may have seen my other posts of a piece of shit car I bought at the salvage auction. It only had 75,000 miles but ended up having a bent rod. I have since replaced the rod and rebuilt the entire engine. I also ported and Polished the head as well as modified the PCV system so that no more oil goes in the intake ports. I also added downpipes and in the process replaced all O-rings gaskets adjusting the wastegate new inlets, Outlets, etc. etc.

The rear frame damage I found is too difficult to fix so I have bought another 2008 clean title E93. it has a great body and the top and AC etc. work perfectly. I want to swap my low mileage drivetrain with DME into this car. What's the easiest way to do this having a garage they can only sit one car at a time? I assume I need to pull the front cap off of the car down to the frame rails. it would also be a bonus for me to swap the front suspension at the same time since mine has lower miles and wear. is there an easy way to pull out the engine transmission subframe and front strut towers as one unit but still have a way to get a car out of a garage with a steep incline driveway? looking for opinions on how this has been done. PS I also plan to swap my gauge cluster, should I take anything else with it?

[feuer]

If you put the Kombi (gauge cluster) from your lower mileage into the higher mileage it will adopt the higher mileage. If you want to have the lower mileage you will need the DME, CAS, Kombi and keys but it will show the VIN from the donor. So realistically is easier to roll back the mileage then swap all of those components and having to rewrite the VIN. Although I haven't seen the rear end damage, don't you think is easier to fix that than doing this swap, considering you need to swap all the drive train, suspension, differential and etc. Also, if you fix the salvage vehicle you will have two instead of just one. Is the subframe OK, vehicle drives?

[JonEQuest]

Originally Posted by feuer

If you put the Kombi (gauge cluster) from your lower mileage into the higher mileage it will adopt the higher mileage. If you want to have the lower mileage you will need the DME, CAS, Kombi and keys but it will show the VIN from the donor. So realistically is easier to roll back the mileage then swap all of those components and having to rewrite the VIN. Although I haven't seen the rear end damage, don't you think is easier to fix that than doing this swap, considering you need to swap all the drive train, suspension, differential and etc. Also, if you fix the salvage vehicle you will have two instead of just one. Is the subframe OK, vehicle drives?

Salvage vehicle drives fine and I have had it up to 85mph but the top does not open. It gets real complicated for the roof operation. The wreck likely bent one of the rear arms for the roof mechanism too. It doesn't look that bad but this is actually easier for me in many ways since this car is complete and unmodified. After dropping subframe and completely rebuilding the engine while it was in the car I am not scared of swapping DME, ECU, etc. This saves me from the possibility I would not get the roof working correctly. The other car is available for less than I have in it if anyone wants it.

[JonEQuest]

I was not going to swap the rear end. Too much trouble for something that usually lasts a long time. I was planning to leave the engine and transmission together and try to pull it as a complete assembly with turbo inlets, outlets, downpipes, etc. intact. To keep the 2 cars able to be rolled around, I am thinking that I may have to leave the subframe in and just lift the motor mounts off of the subframe, then slide it out front after pulling the front end off.

[JuniorB]

These cars are pretty simple to break down, and like others, are assembled in one place, and installed in another. Doing projects like this may not seem feasible to a lot of people, and require dedication and knowledge of automotive. I'm currently building a n54 that's going in my n52 car, so understanding what this involves and patience is key. The last thing you want is a perfectly running bmw sitting in your driveway in pieces. The engine and trans will always trump using the lower milage/ damaged suspension of a vehicle, and is the most difficult. On the other hand,the front and rear suspension can be dropped out in 6 hrs. I've found there is very little difference between a na car, and a tt car. If I was to put all the hrs together, I fully disassembled my 535xi in 40 hrs, the only piece left, was the shell. The electronics and harness are the worst, being there are a shit load of connectors,and fasteners.

[JonEQuest]

Yeah, due to some minor frame damage that makes getting the convertible roof working almost impossible this is my better option. I already found an engine hoist on Craigslist cheap and plan to start draining and disconnecting stuff today and tomorrow. I just hope it is easy enough to pull by myself or with little help. I plan to also drop the sub frame for clearance so that should make it easy enough.

[JuniorB]

Take your time and mark all hoses, and connectors. Home Depo has a numbers pad in the electrical section that will b very helpful when disconnecting all these plugs. I'm doing a lot of engine work, turbos, pipes, all the Achilles, cleaned and painted before I drop this in. I'm in the process of doing this,,I don't know how to upload pics, or I'd start a thread about it. I used to read how it was a waste of time doing a swap like this, for what I want for power, the n52 can't deliver.

[JonEQuest]

Originally Posted by JuniorB

Take your time and mark all hoses, and connectors. Home Depo has a numbers pad in the electrical section that will b very helpful when disconnecting all these plugs. I'm doing a lot of engine work, turbos, pipes, all the Achilles, cleaned and painted before I drop this in. I'm in the process of doing this,,I don't know how to upload pics, or I'd start a thread about it. I used to read how it was a waste of time doing a swap like this, for what I want for power, the n52 can't deliver.

Yeah, I don't think it will be too bad. I already rebuilt the engine in the wrecked one just last month. Even though I left the block in the car I basically disconnected more than what it will take for me to swap the engine/trans as a unit. I have a few hurdles such as limited garage space and a serious incline of my driveway leaving the garage. I will need to push the cars back half way out of the garage to have enough room to pull the drivetrain out. This means the back half of the car will be on 2 homemade ramps with cribing under them to keep the car level.

[JuniorB]

Ya, that works. I picked up a pair of rhino ramps for cheap, and some nice jacks. I'll be doing a lot of wiring going from a n52 to n54.

[JonEQuest]

Originally Posted by JuniorB

Ya, that works. I picked up a pair of rhino ramps for cheap, and some nice jacks. I'll be doing a lot of wiring going from a n52 to n54.

You definitely have it worse than me. I have done a custom wiring engine ECU swap before putting a JDM turbo engine in my non turbo ADM RX-7 once. The harness was on the wrong side and I had to rewire it to work with my car that had a non turbo ECU.

Not sure why you're going to all this trouble to mess with a car that already runs and drives; high mileage or not.

I'd just strip the old car, keep any/all pieces that are worth more than scrap, and save it all for a rainy day.

[weehe126]

I'm going go with which would be more work for you, refreshing the 155k engine or doing a full swap? If the damaged car is that bad then strip it, sell everything off and keep the extra drivetrain.

[JonEQuest]

Originally Posted by weehe126

I'm going go with which would be more work for you, refreshing the 155k engine or doing a full swap? If the damaged car is that bad then strip it, sell everything off and keep the extra drivetrain.

it's already in process. My other engine was rebuilt last month before I gave up on that car, and my transmission works great versus the transmission in the high-mileage car that is bad. when I rebuilt the 75,000 mile engine I also ported and polished the head, blocked off the PCV ports, upgraded inlets outlets, charge pipe, BOV, etc.

[Bimmer_Engineer]

I gotta hand it to you dude...no reservations on your part to just dive right in. Looks like you’re mostly flying solo on these missions too...no hadji to bail you out...

[JonEQuest]

Originally Posted by Bimmer_Engineer

I gotta have it to you dude...no reservations on your part to just dive right in. Looks like you're mostly flying solo on these missions too...no hadji to bail you out...

Thanks, I am working TOTALLY solo unfortunately. I figure it's not rocket science, all I have to do is take it one step at a time. I am calling these cars Beauty and the Beast. "Beauty" looks great, but has high miles and the transmission is shot. The "Beast" is the one with the engine I just rebuilt, ported and polished the head, then upgraded everything but the turbos on. Inlets, outlets, downpipes, charge pipe, PCV bypass, etc.
After part of Saturday and all day Sunday working on "Beauty" I removed the front end, radiators, subframe & steering rack. Then removed the engine and transmission and put it off to the side. But since I need to rotate cars and can only fit one at a time in my garage to work on, I had to reinstall the subframe, steering rack, wheels etc. to roll it out in front the house. I even put the bumper on with a few bolts so I don't look ghetto and piss off the neighbors. I already pulled the "Beast" into the garage and will work on it disassembling it over the next couple of days when I have time after work. Then of course I have to make the "Beast" able to roll and steer so I can swap places with "Beauty" again. Then the 75k drivetrain with my rebuilt engine will be put into "Beauty" and I will be on the road....... until I start to modify the cars body, then probably upgrade turbos, etc. etc.

[JonEQuest]

Here is how the E93 looks with an empty engine bay. Lots of room.

[Chris@VargasTurboTech]

At 75k a lot of the suspension bushings/etc are most of the way through their useful life. I'd strip one, sell it, and then do up the other one with fresh new parts, like the level 3 suspension kit from ECS (which I have to install on my own car.... eventually).

Interesting project though, keep the pics coming!

[JonEQuest]

Originally Posted by Chris@VargasTurboTech

At 75k a lot of the suspension bushings/etc are most of the way through their useful life. I'd strip one, sell it, and then do up the other one with fresh new parts, like the level 3 suspension kit from ECS (which I have to install on my own car.... eventually).

Interesting project though, keep the pics coming!

Yeah, I am just swapping engine and transmission. I thought about other stuff but the 155k car still rides and handles OK. As soon as I get it sorted out I am probably going to redplace the struts and other other bits that are need freshening up. I am also planning on doing some body upgrades and maybe a color change with new paint.