Anyone thinking of a 4.6is swap?

[Plattus1000]

If anyone is looking for a good 4.6is engine at an outstanding price, let me know.
Under 100k miles with a rebuilt tranny but had an interior fire.
according to the seller.

Wagons Ho and I tried making something happen but I think the owner might be off his meds a smidge.
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/pts/6069469152.html

[ColtonBH]

You have my interest, probably out of the budget, but could you pm me the price?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Plattus1000]

Less than half the cost of just the typical used 4.6is engine on CL or eBay.

If someone buys it, can you send me the exhaust tips as a referral fee?

[Plattus1000]

He's asking $2k

[Mpowered02]

$2K?! That's definitely CHEAP for a 4.6! When I was looking for a motor I looked at 4.6's but they were all around the $5K mark. Someone should jump on this. If I hadn't bought Brandon's low mileage M62TU I totally would...

[Plattus1000]

It is literally killing wagons ho and I, not to have the extra cash to snag this thing. I want it as a centerpiece of my work shed. I'd spend years perfecting the engine for the chance to drop it into a car one day.

[Plattus1000]

He re-listed, I'm out.
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/pts/6069469152.html

- - - Updated - - -

He re-listed, I'm out.
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/pts/6069469152.html

He was willing to take $2k this last weekend.

[whiteghost1]

What I'd be concerned about is that it seems premature for a cat to clog and overheat at that mileage, hot enough to set fire to the vehicle. I would question what would make the cat clog ie. engine burning oil, running excessively rich, etc.....

Regardless, thanks for the heads up on the for sale Lee!

[Plattus1000]

What I'd be concerned about is that it seems premature for a cat to clog and overheat at that mileage, hot enough to set fire to the vehicle. I would question what would make the cat clog ie. engine burning oil, running excessively rich, etc.....

Regardless, thanks for the heads up on the for sale Lee!

It's what I do. :/ Anytime.

[Plattus1000]

You'll never guess who bought it. (w-h)
Can't wait for him to post pics. He drove it to me on a trailer the day he bought it. Man. That seller hid some shyte in his ad. Still for that 4.6, nice job brother. Drop it in a z4!

[whiteghost1]

On an aside, I have a 4.6is M62tu core/parts motor which I'm going to end up recycling (scored cyls unfortunately). Other than the cams and the intake manifold, is there anything I should grab that is 4.6 specific?

[1999 540i m]

On an aside, I have a 4.6is M62tu core/parts motor which I'm going to end up recycling (scored cyls unfortunately). Other than the cams and the intake manifold, is there anything I should grab that is 4.6 specific?

Are all the pistons and rings bad?

[whiteghost1]

Are all the pistons and rings bad?

Being that there is a lot of scoring in multiple cyls, I can only assume that they are not reusable. I've only ripped down the motor to the short block, but if the crank is worth something then I'll be able to inspect things further when fully dismantled.

[whiteghost1]

Well the crank is important. If the pistons aren't scored badly they could be used in a bored 4.4 block.
But the most interesting usage for the crank would be to put decompression rods with it in a good 4.4 piston/ring/ block combo and supercharge it.
A slightly stroked 4.5.

Very interesting! I know the 4.6 is really rare and they are getting harder to find. The engine I have will need a top to bottom rebuild for sure, because of the rarity/used market it might be worth rebuilding rather than scrapping it. If anyone is interested I would be willing to sell it whole. Failing that I would part it out for the few unique 4.6 parts.

[wagons ho]

1800 is the production number I heard. Don't know if that's world wide or N. America.
Assuming N.A., that's 36 for each state with Canada taking up the excess from states like Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and other low bmw sales area's.
Now, California has their fair share, and now that they are having timing guide issues prices are falling. Wrecking yards are still parting them out a fast pace, but eventually downward pricing and the number of non enthusiasts owning them will mark the bottom.
So keep your money handy as the price could spike at any time as the number of multiple 4.6 variant owners is increasing. Look how many 4.6 owners are here on B.F., not that you would know it from the low response to the opportunity plattus brought to your attention.

[Plattus1000]

About 2,382 worldwide from the end of '02 to the beginning of '04. Alpina received 69 engines to use on their cars.

[Mpowered02]

About 2,382 worldwide from the end of '02 to the beginning of '04. Alpina received 69 engines to use on their cars.

One thing I think worth mentioning here is that the 4.6L M62TU used in the X5 is not completely identical to the Alpina 4.6's used in the Alpina B10. I say this only because I was involved an a rebuild of a 4.6L Alpina B10 Touring a few years ago.
I moved my family to Manila for 3 years to manage an enthusiast-owned BMW specialty shop there. We saw quite a few Alpina cars including this BEAUTIFUL B10 4.6 Touring. We ended up doing a reseal on the B10 and in the process noticed some heavy scoring on one of the cylinders due to some damage to the piston of that cylinder. Recommended a replacement piston for that cylinder along with new rings for the other 7 cylinders, assuming that the pistons and rings from the 4.6 X5 would work, which the owner OK'd initially. But once we actually pulled everything and compared the Alpina pistons to the 4.6 X5 pistons they were definitely different. Ended up having to get one replacement piston from Alpina in Japan (Nicole Racing) for the tune of about $900US for one piston with rings. Alpina also doesn't sell just the ring sets, so we tried fitting the 4.6 X5 rings and the main ring thickness of the X5 rings was notably thinner. If we used them, there would have been notable play in the wider Alpina ring groove which we determined not ideal. If we wanted to replace the 7 other ring sets, we would have had to order 7 other piston sets from Alpina. Ouch.
In the end, the owner decided to have us just replace the one damaged piston from Alpina and re-use the other 7 rings...

[wagons ho]

Yes, alpina uses a better quality piston as one of their upgrades. Didn't know about the ring thickness. And what cylinder prep did they do before reassembly?
Cost is why I have been searching for a non bmw piston to swap in the rebuilding/ boring process.
Mpowered, your long break since engine failure had me worried about you. Now that you're back, are you going to be a regular on the rebuilding thread? And when is that core going to be stripped down to check the crank (that's probably fine). Curious as you drove through failure so we know particulars.

[Mpowered02]

Yes, alpina uses a better quality piston as one of their upgrades. Didn't know about the ring thickness. And what cylinder prep did they do before reassembly?
Cost is why I have been searching for a non bmw piston to swap in the rebuilding/ boring process.

We had the block sent out to a local engine machine shop for them to repair and hone the cylinders prior to re-assembly. And yeah...the ring thickness was notable. I definitely wasn't comfortable using the 4.6 X5 rings in the Alpina pistons. Took a pic of the difference with my phone at the time, but that was probably around 3 years ago now...not sure if I kept it. We also had to rent the Alpina cam timing tool from Nicole racing, which was interesting. Apparently, Alpina uses a slightly different cam timing on the intake cam. Basically, you use the factory BMW cam blocks to set-up base timing then after that was all set, you install the Alpina block onto the intake cam to modify the timing a bit to their spec. Took some pics of the Alpina cam tool as well...will have to see if I can find them too...

Mpowered, your long break since engine failure had me worried about you. Now that you're back, are you going to be a regular on the rebuilding thread? And when is that core going to be stripped down to check the crank (that's probably fine). Curious as you drove through failure so we know particulars.

Heh. Would like to be. I have popped in on that thread from time to time just to read, but haven't had anything of value to post so i've stayed silent. Once I find the time to do a teardown of my old engine i'll post my findings. Once the guides went, I pretty much drove the car till it would barely move under it's own power so I am also very interested to see how much damage was done. I'll post pics in the engine rebuilding thread once I pull it apart...

[whiteghost1]

Well I'm loosing my storage for my 4.6is core motor ASAP so if there is someone in the PNW that would be interested, now is the time. I have to get rid of it in a little more than a week so if I don't get any interest then I'll rip out the desirable parts and scrap the rest. Crying shame but I have no where to put it.

It also has all new timing guides, new chain, rebuilt vanos units, new vanos distribution pieces, etc....you get the idea = in other words it was a 100% complete while you're in there timing guide/vanos job, replacing parts that need not necessarily be replaced, installed by yours truly. Long story (and a long new parts list) but I'll happily discuss the details with serious interested parties, PM me for more info. Motor was never installed in a car so all of the replacement parts are practically brand new.

[Plattus1000]

Iz der an emojocon fer a dude poin'n @ Wagons Ho, dats allso laffeeng so hard it hurtd? (That)

Damn, actually, that sounds enticing. I don't even need another one nor afford it. Diq move Whiteghost... Diq move. lol Now I can't unread your post.

[RVAE34]

Will have a 4.6 engine for sale soon. Chain guides done. PM for details.

[jclausen]

Put a ls engine in it