540i transformed into a M5?????????

[Julz69]

If I where to put an M5 motor in my 540i does the stock 540i tranny work or am I dreaming here? Any input of anyone ever doing this would be great..
Thanks

[xatlas0]

It's the same trannie, just different clutch, pressure plate, etc. Doing a swap like that would be incredibly expensive, as all the electronics would have to be switched too.

[MGregski]

Not worth it

[Lscman]

Crazy idea. It would literally be cheaper to trade up and this does not even consider the fact that the replicar would have no collectibility.

The only circumstance where this would make sense would be if you found a totalled M5 for salvage price (customarily 15% of avg book value) and you wanted to graft the parts to a cheap '97 540i with a bad motor or tranny. The 15% price would put a salvage M5 somewhere under $10K...and that's assuming the differential, tranny and motor were undamaged. You'd also need serious skill & knowledge to perform such a swap.

Good luck finding such a vehicle. There are E39 M5's sitting in storage today, awaiting donor motors and trannys....a new motor costs $23K and the Tranny is around $6K. This means salvage M5 stuff goes quick & for top dollar.

[sirtiger]

Not worth it


^what he said

[liquidtiger720]

I say go for it. There was a m5 engine for sale somewhere for 10k. Have fun!

[DMZ]

you'll need more than just the M5 motor to make it work on a 540 body. After you get all the parts and labor you will be better off selling your 540 and buy a used M5.

[hpspec]

We can always dream... *tear

[killcrap]

picture explains it all.
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/6146/trans2bx.jpg

[Julz69]

Well ok i guess i will supercharge! haha thanks though i was just wondering.....

[rsagona1]

Well ok i guess i will supercharge! haha thanks though i was just wondering.....

Supercharge it and smoke an M5 :D I'm curious to see if you'd have to build up the engine though. Or is the 4.4liter tough enough.

[Julz69]

Nope you don't have to build the engine, their is a guy on here that has a vf engineered supercharger and he runs pretty good numbers and hes running about 6psi..

[blazerboy30]

NOW you're talkin!!

[MP525i]

swap is a great idea if the 540 was an e34 and engine was from an e39 m5. :D

supercharged 540's are hot though.

-mike

[supark]

I wonder what kind of internals the new Alpina supercharged 5 is running - as it's supercharged mill puts out comparable performance figures to the new M5.

[Captain Morgan]

why not turbocharge it and make even more useable horsepower? superchargers use almost 50% of the horsepower they make just to run.

[Julz69]

Are their any turbo kits out? if not i dunno how to get MANIFOLDS for the twin turbo set up i would want to do! twin turbo 540 would be ridiculous probally very expensive.

[supark]

yeah - I don't know of any "bolt-on" turbo kits for the 540i due to the twin manifolds - it'd most likely have to be a custom job.

The ESS tuning supercharger will put out about equivelant hp to the M5, as will the Dinan one I believe.

[Alpha5]

Would swapping out a 5-Speed I6 engine in my E39 for a rebuilt 6-speed 540 V8 be pointless? Or should I just sell my 528 and buy a used 540?

[Captain Morgan]

yeah I dont think there are any kits out, I was planning on going with custom stainless headers and a single single ball bearing turbo.

[xatlas0]

Would swapping out a 5-Speed I6 engine in my E39 for a rebuilt 6-speed 540 V8 be pointless? Or should I just sell my 528 and buy a used 540?

The parts alone would cost about 6k. And that is just for used, not rebuilt. Rebuilt would cost more than your car is worth. Heck, the rebuilt trannie costs 6k, forget about an engine! Swaps in an e39 are not reasonable at current market values.

[DMZ]

Your engine bay won't fit a V8 unless you swap the steering rack. The best motor swap for a 528i is to put in a S52 motor from an E36 M3 and then you will have a lot of FI option either S/C or Turbo.


Would swapping out a 5-Speed I6 engine in my E39 for a rebuilt 6-speed 540 V8 be pointless? Or should I just sell my 528 and buy a used 540?

[jusdrake1]

Engine swaps seem real expensive and a pita. I would just sell the thing and upgrade. Probably alot cheaper and the car is more likely to hold its value.

[m5james]

Would swapping out a 5-Speed I6 engine in my E39 for a rebuilt 6-speed 540 V8 be pointless? Or should I just sell my 528 and buy a used 540?

Do a search...there was a magazine article that raced an S/C'ed 540 vs a 528i w/M3 swap......M3 was faster!

[Lscman]

Do a search...there was a magazine article that raced an S/C'ed 540 vs a 528i w/M3 swap......M3 was faster!

E39 540i/6spd and E36 M3/5spd both produce acceleration near 14 seconds flat and 102 MPH. Perhaps this was a $40K motor from a race-prepped E46 M3? Can I have one?

Explain this to me. Why in the heck would a porky 5 series chassis with an M3 motor transplant be even faster than the factory 3 series M3 it was plucked from?? Maybe I should install a Ford Focus SVT motor in my Lincoln and run 10's! Typical supercharged 540i cars run about 1 second quicker than stock in 1/4 mi, near 13 flat. This is assuming proper tuning, upgraded exhaust with few other changes. This is qucker than E46 M3 and on-par with M5. That magazine article was a laugh. The supercharged 540i they tested was missing 2 spark plugs, at a minimum.

[Lscman]

Would swapping out a 5-Speed I6 engine in my E39 for a rebuilt 6-speed 540 V8 be pointless? Or should I just sell my 528 and buy a used 540?

A rebuilt 540i motor and 6spd transmission (as you describe) could cost more than a complete car. Figure spending $8K or more for a rebuilt 540i motor with no core deposit and figure $6K for the transmission update. This assumes labor and technical support is FREE. The same $14K is better spent on a fully-functional and complete 540i car.

Buy the car you want...don't try to build it.

[m5james]

E39 540i/6spd and E36 M3/5spd both produce acceleration near 14 seconds flat and 102 MPH. Perhaps this was a $40K motor from a race-prepped E46 M3? Can I have one?

Explain this to me. Why in the heck would a porky 5 series chassis with an M3 motor transplant be even faster than the factory 3 series M3 it was plucked from?? Maybe I should install a Ford Focus SVT motor in my Lincoln and run 10's! Typical supercharged 540i cars run about 1 second quicker than stock in 1/4 mi, near 13 flat. This is assuming proper tuning, upgraded exhaust with few other changes. This is qucker than E46 M3 and on-par with M5. That magazine article was a laugh. The supercharged 540i they tested was missing 2 spark plugs, at a minimum.

Since you found the article, feel free to post the link. You must not have read it very well, these was this one little word in there that kinda rang a bell.....god, what was that......oHH....TURBO!!!!!! ;) Better yet, since you wanna talk to me like I'm an idiot, here ya go :bj

http://www.europeancarweb.com/features/0308ec_bmwbattle/index.html

[Dan]

i would rather do the 4.8is X5 motor swap. better yet, just get the motor parts to swap out the internal differences.

[supark]

Since you found the article, feel free to post the link. You must not have read it very well, these was this one little word in there that kinda rang a bell.....god, what was that......oHH....TURBO!!!!!! ;) Better yet, since you wanna talk to me like I'm an idiot, here ya go :bj

http://www.europeancarweb.com/features/0308ec_bmwbattle/index.html

Awesome article - thanks for posting, yeah that M3 engine definitely wasn't stock...

[Chigga]

definetly worth it, you don't have to use stock management when swapping, you might as well go standalone and get the most juice out of that engine.

Megasquirt and Spark is only $400 assembled, run AEM Uego wideband O2's, $1000, tune it properly, $500-800, then voila, definetly you'll get more than 400hp.

although you'll probally need to make your own harness, but if you can take an engine out and put another one in, I'm sure you can build a harness.

I'm pretty sure the throttle bodies on the S62 are cable driven, so right there saved you a lot of trouble.

[supark]

I think koperformance or beastpower is selling the VF Engineering supercharger kit for about $5800 now - pretty good deal and all you need for tuning is to send in your ECU for programming (full reversible too). With that you get more hp and torque in some parts of the rev range than an M5, and even if you blow your engine - you're spending like $5000 for a rebuilt one from bavengine.com (I believe M5James' 740i has the built version that runs $7500). The stage two VF kit is supposed to put about 475 hp to the crank so what like 380-400 to the ground? Course you'll want to throw in an uprated clutch in there, and then you'd definitely want to put bigger brakes on, etc etc - it never ends.

[m5james]

I think koperformance or beastpower is selling the VF Engineering supercharger kit for about $5800 now - pretty good deal and all you need for tuning is to send in your ECU for programming (full reversible too). With that you get more hp and torque in some parts of the rev range than an M5, and even if you blow your engine - you're spending like $5000 for a rebuilt one from bavengine.com (I believe M5James' 740i has the built version that runs $7500). The stage two VF kit is supposed to put about 475 hp to the crank so what like 380-400 to the ground? Course you'll want to throw in an uprated clutch in there, and then you'd definitely want to put bigger brakes on, etc etc - it never ends.

As a matter of fact, it is :stickoutt Long story, but choosing that motor builder was kinda controversial because I guess for a while they had a builder that ended up quitting becuase he was an idiot :rolleyes Other than taking 3months to get it all done and shipped, then another rough week or so to get it in...I couldn't be happier. The dyno results don't show the best results due to a broken throttle cable support bracket, which I discovered after trying to pull of the dyno and had no throttle response. After racing and playing with some other 540's, M5's, and other random cars at either local meets or just driving around, she's walked some pretty fast cars for being a 4200lb cruiser. The best thing about having their built the V8's is that they sleeve the block...here comes S/C MUAHAHAHA