[E90_Berger]

Hello,

I have done a lot of research on this prior to me going fourth and asking all of you about this.

So i have a 2011 E90 328xi. I know most of you all and what i have read from previous post would be to just sell a 328 and just get a 335. Which to most just sounds easy to do but not always to everyone else.

So heres my thought, i was thinking of buying a 2011 E90 335xi from copart that was hit from the rear or whatever. Something that wasnt badly damaged and that the insurance company just sold it as a lost. My thought is that buying the entire car would be cheaper then actually being a motor, trans, ecu, etc.

My theory is that technically my car being a xdrive and the 335 being a xdrive it should just be plug and play. I spoke with active autowerkes as they live in my city and they stated it should be a simple swap at that point because everything will be right there but some tuning will need to be done.

Im trying to find a 335xi with navigation as well because my car didnt get that option, im also looking for a manuel car as well.

Basically the on thing im keeping from my car is the interior, body, and suspension. Everything else im grabbing from the donor 335xi.

So my question is what is everyone's thoughts on this?? Trust me the time im not worried about. I enjoy and love working on cars. My e90 is car #16 for me so i have no issues and im not worried about what most people think about doing swaps. I just wanted to know what everyone may think the simplicity of doing this swap may be.

Also, i read a post about the same thing and a lot of people told him to just sell or trade it and get over the love he has for that car. Im sorry but thats where im at too. I have put so much time and money into my car already that i dont see a point to just get rid of it. I see a way to make a project out of it and have fun.

Thats why we are all into cars, right??? Because its what we love doing and have fun doing it

[Dave92N54]

I think this could be a perfectly fun swap if you take your time and do it right. I agree finding a wrecked model to take the engine, wiring harness, ecu, and trans from will be the cheapest and easiest way. It'll likely have all the miscellaneous pieces you may forget about too, which will be nice. I'd imagine with all the parts swapped over, all you'll need is coding done.

[E90_Berger]

Thats what i was thinking that it should be a simple and easy swap. I know most people on here are just buying the motor and trans and thinking that would be ok and then getting responses like "you are in over your head" "too much money needed to do the swap" "not worth it"

but if i can find a whole car from copart that is running and driving then it would be cheaper that way

[TemjinX2]

your plan would only be cheaper if you did the work yourself. on the used market a 335xi is only about 2-3k more compared to 328xi.

its easier just to pay a extra $60 a month on a car note then pay a shop a bunch of cash for a shop to do the swap

did you already look into the super charger? i think the active autowerks one is 5k and it makes 365hp crank.

if you build the n52 short block theorically it'll make more power at the same boost level then a n54 since the n52 head flows better then the n54 head.

[E90_Berger]

I would be doing the work myself.

I wouldn't trade my car in for the same year 335, I just finished paying mine off. Lol I want to keep car payments away for while. 🤣

Also my 328 has little to no options. So that was another reason why I wanted to find a 335 was for the xenon headlights, bumpers and dash if it came with a navigation system.

Active Autowerkes has a supercharger for the n52?

[Rule1977]

Man.. these cars are so cheap now. You're gonna spend the same amount or possibly more by doing a swap. Why don't you just sell/or trade your car for a 335?

[E90_Berger]

You're probably right. I guess you would call it sentimental value would be my reason.

Also I just replaced the entire suspension on my e90 now and literally almost everything is new except for the engine.

My reason also behind all of this is that I'm catching up in mileage. 145k to be exact. So I felt to just replace the motor with the swap I want and I get to keep the car I worked on and built.

[humblek3y]

Is this your only car? Doing it by yourself will be a lot of downtime

[TemjinX2]

Originally Posted by E90_Berger

I would be doing the work myself.

I wouldn't trade my car in for the same year 335, I just finished paying mine off. Lol I want to keep car payments away for while.

Also my 328 has little to no options. So that was another reason why I wanted to find a 335 was for the xenon headlights, bumpers and dash if it came with a navigation system.

Active Autowerkes has a supercharger for the n52?

sorry I was mistaken its ess.

https://ind-distribution.com/product...r-system-gen-3

you look into ls and 2jz swapsas well

[E90lmao]

Honestly if it's within your means I would say go for it! Ideally if you have the space for it, this would be the perfect time to do all the maintenance on the N54. Basically build yourself the N54 exactly how you want it, replace all the known problematic quirks; Mickey Mouse hose, charge pipe, all the gaskets, get some turbos on there while it's on the stand so you don't beat yourself up trying to do engine work while it's in the bay. We're all car people here and we should encourage people to work on their own cars however they want to (within reason) and support each other instead of spewing "iT's ChEaPeR tO bUy AnOtHeR cAr."