540i m62 swop into 525i m sport touring

[Ivan2terrible]

hello ppl. I have a 540i non vanos body that I can get hold of.. Its actaully my old car but went thru a slight rear end smash..
My car is a BMW 525i m sport touring and thought this motor would b gr8 in my car.. How hard is the swop... A friend told me to rather get the 750i Moto, m70 motor.. try something different..

[noodlesandsam]

At a high level, it will be hard.

1) the whole front subframe and steering gear will have to move. The 540 is recirculating ball, the 525 is rack and pinion.

2) the brakes are different ( larger caliper and rotors)

3) What years are you spanning? In the states, non vanos ends in 1998 production cars, and 525s showed up in 2001 cars. Connectors and details will bedevil you.

Can it be done? Yes. How fast do you want to go? How much do you want to spend? What is your DIY level?

Randall

[Ivan2terrible]

my DIY level is pretty high.. But his seems like a s..tload of work.. I searched the topic and most say its alot of work..
maybe I'll jus stroke my 525 using 330i bottom end..
Thx noodlesandsam

[oekundar]

Just put in an LS1 and be done. :)

[noodlesandsam]

He's in South Africa. LS1's are not so common.