Engine Swap from 3.0 to 4.0 (touring)

[fm.illuminatus]

Has anyone on this forum done a swap from the M60B30 to the M60B40 in the touring? Is this any different from the sedan... what would it cost?

Also, how difficult would a swap from the M50B25 or M20B25 to the M60B40 be? I'm floating the idea of buying a cheap E34 touring and doing a swap, but it's hard to find a 530iT, not just cheap, but anywhere at any price. On the other hand E34 525iT's are a dime a dozen and cheap. Thanks in advance for the input.

[kalevera]

B40 swap is nuts and bolts.

Going from an M50 to a V8 requires a needlessly large amount of work. Start with a 530 if you're sticking an M60B40 in there.

Cost is dependent on so many different factors that it's silly to ask it without providing information with respect to your mechanical aptitude, availability of tools and propensity to bargain hunt. If you have a shop do this kind of work with no transmission swap expect to pay around 5 grand for the work. If converting the car, expect it to end up around 10, more or less depeding on whether it gets a 5 or 6 speed.

[Eric Clark]

If you have a shop do this kind of work with no transmission swap expect to pay around 5 grand for the work. If converting the car, expect it to end up around 10, more or less depeding on whether it gets a 5 or 6 speed.

Those numbers are just for the labor?

[fm.illuminatus]

B40 swap is nuts and bolts.

Going from an M50 to a V8 requires a needlessly large amount of work. Start with a 530 if you're sticking an M60B40 in there.

Cost is dependent on so many different factors that it's silly to ask it without providing information with respect to your mechanical aptitude, availability of tools and propensity to bargain hunt. If you have a shop do this kind of work with no transmission swap expect to pay around 5 grand for the work. If converting the car, expect it to end up around 10, more or less depeding on whether it gets a 5 or 6 speed.

Really that much for labor huh? For that price I could just supercharge the M60B30. I was under the impression a 3 to 4 liter swap was cheaper than that.

[Eric Clark]

Really that much for labor huh? For that price I could just supercharge the M60B30. I was under the impression a 3 to 4 liter swap was cheaper than that.

If it was my money I'd look for something like this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-5-Series-Low-Mileage-1999-BMW-540i-Wagon-67K-LOADED-Ciena_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6008QQihZ016QQite mZ260116301020QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW).
http://i15.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/9d/e2/de0f_12.JPG

Or one with a blown transmission and have a 6 speed installed. I love my E34 but unless a Euro M5 wagon came a long I am afraid I'd move to the E39 if I wanted a high HP wagon since I do not have the time, skill or place to do engine conversions.

[fm.illuminatus]

If it was my money I'd look for something like this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-5-Series-Low-Mileage-1999-BMW-540i-Wagon-67K-LOADED-Ciena_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6008QQihZ016QQite mZ260116301020QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW).
http://i15.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/9d/e2/de0f_12.JPG

Or one with a blown transmission and have a 6 speed installed. I love my E34 but unless a Euro M5 wagon came a long I am afraid I'd move to the E39 if I wanted a high HP wagon since I do not have the time, skill or place to do engine conversions.

Very nice looking wagon, but there are plenty of E39 wagons, even 540's. I want something more unique. I already have a 540i. What I want is a project/show car. Plus, parts/upgrades/mods are way less expensive on an E34 than an E39.

[Eric Clark]

Very nice looking wagon, but there are plenty of E39 wagons, even 540's. I want something more unique. I already have a 540i. What I want is a project/show car. Plus, parts/upgrades/mods are way less expensive on an E34 than an E39.

A friend dropped an S50 and 5 speed in his 525it. He said it wasn't all that hard to do. Several here have that set up and it may be cheaper and easier then a V8. There are pleanty of performance parts for that engine as well.

[fm.illuminatus]

A friend dropped an S50 and 5 speed in his 525it. He said it wasn't all that hard to do. Several here have that set up and it may be cheaper and easier then a V8. There are plenty of performance parts for that engine as well.

Hmm, good point. Didn't consider that. :) However, the 4.0 V8 is stronger then the S50.

[kalevera]

Really that much for labor huh? For that price I could just supercharge the M60B30. I was under the impression a 3 to 4 liter swap was cheaper than that.

Sure, you personally could supercharge a B30 for that price, but no shop worth its salt that's in the business of modifying cars for profit would.

The engine swap could be done for free, even generate a small profit, with the tools, knowledge and time to dismantle and sell a parts car.

If you have a shop do it, they'll want to sell you the engine. Most of the people I deal with will charge $2.5 grand for a used Alusil 4.0 long block. Cost of labor to replace the engine makes up the difference. BMW rated alusil short block replacements at around 30 hours for warranty (never mind that it could be done in 6-8 hours). An engine swap of this nature is less intensive, but still -- the labor would be up there.

The manual conversion is what could be expensive if you don't do the work yourself. Did a conversion for a member here a few years back where he brought in most of his parts and gave him a fair price on the labor, and I think his total cost on the swap was somewhere in the 5 grand range. Maybe he'll see this thread and chime in with what it actually cost. And then there's also Drew Zacharda on this forum, who is really probably the person to talk to -- Brett did his conversion a few years ago and Drew transported in his existing 530iT and a wrecked 540i/6 for the job.

If you can do the work yourself, then you can get a lot done on a limited budget -- just look at me :) It gets expensive when you have to pay other people to do "custom" work that a lot of shops just don't want to do. I would still start off with a 530 if you plan on going with a V8, though. Read some of the posts I've made in the past month on differences between V8 and I6 engine bays.

[fm.illuminatus]

Sure, you personally could supercharge a B30 for that price, but no shop worth its salt that's in the business of modifying cars for profit would.

The engine swap could be done for free, even generate a small profit, with the tools, knowledge and time to dismantle and sell a parts car.

If you have a shop do it, they'll want to sell you the engine. Most of the people I deal with will charge $2.5 grand for a used Alusil 4.0 long block. Cost of labor to replace the engine makes up the difference. BMW rated alusil short block replacements at around 30 hours for warranty (never mind that it could be done in 6-8 hours). An engine swap of this nature is less intensive, but still -- the labor would be up there.

The manual conversion is what could be expensive if you don't do the work yourself. Did a conversion for a member here a few years back where he brought in most of his parts and gave him a fair price on the labor, and I think his total cost on the swap was somewhere in the 5 grand range. Maybe he'll see this thread and chime in with what it actually cost. And then there's also Drew Zacharda on this forum, who is really probably the person to talk to -- Brett did his conversion a few years ago and Drew transported in his existing 530iT and a wrecked 540i/6 for the job.

If you can do the work yourself, then you can get a lot done on a limited budget -- just look at me :) It gets expensive when you have to pay other people to do "custom" work that a lot of shops just don't want to do. I would still start off with a 530 if you plan on going with a V8, though. Read some of the posts I've made in the past month on differences between V8 and I6 engine bays.

I think I'll go about looking for the right 530iT then, I'll probably stick with the automatic for the sake of cost and simplicity. Also, is there computer work involved in a swap?

[Eric Clark]

The 540i and the 530i use different auto transmissions as well. Not sure what all of them are other then my 530i had its transmission oil cooler mounted on the front of the radiator and my friends 540i sent coolant back to the transmission.

[DrewZ]

. . .
The engine swap could be done for free, even generate a small profit, with the tools, knowledge and time to dismantle and sell a parts car.

. . .

And then there's also Drew Zacharda on this forum, who is really probably the person to talk to -- Brett did his conversion a few years ago and Drew transported in his existing 530iT and a wrecked 540i/6 for the job.



Yep, I'm here. About 5 years ago, I bought a wrecked 540i Sport donor car, and parted it out over the winter, leaving a yard-driveable shell with all of the swap parts still attached. Brett did the swap over a couple-week period, and also installed a 3.15 LSD from an E32 750iL that I supplied. My total bill from Brett was around $4k. After subtracting the money I got back from parting the donor car from Brett's labor cost and the cost of the donor car, the swap cost me a net of around $5k.

If you're looking for a worthy shell in which to swap a 4.0/6-speed, I'd go with the euro 530iT owned by Geoff on the dotinfo board. He's importing an Elekta, and selling his unbelievably-nice 3.0/auto Touring.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/ggil-tx/bmw/DSCN4688.jpg