E60 550i N62 to N54 Swap?

[triksterut]

Hey all,

Well, I managed to find a rare E60 535i with a 6-speed. But it's in rather sad shape. Don't really want to spend all the money on paint and body work to make it pass muster. Also; don't want to try and retrofit the M-Sport body parts (more paint and body work). I already have all the goodies for a good Pure Stage 2 build with meth and all the fixings. So.

I'm considering finding buying a 550i 6-speed (of which there are a surprising number) and then just putting an N54 in it. I don't see this anywhere in my googling. Is the 550i 6-speed transmission the same as the 535i's? Rear diff's the same? Prob different ratio's but I already have a custom diff from Jim Blanton for the 535i. So I just need an N54, maybe a 335i manual tranny worst case, ECU, and some coding?

[Liquidity]

V8 and I6 trans are not interchangeable.

[pbonsalb]

Wouldn’t it be easier to find a 535i auto and swap in a manual trans? Unless you come across a blown motor 550i for cheap, I’d keep the project simple.

[triksterut]

OK so trans, drive shaft etc from a 535i/335i then. Check. Anyone know anything about the ECU in this regards?

[pbonsalb]

Trans from 335i is fine but you will need the driveshaft and trans brace and midpipe and rear exhaust from the 535i manual. Probably the motor mount arms, airbox and a lot of other parts. You will figure it out once you get into the conversion. As long as you like scrounging parts and can do all your own work, you should be able to kill a lot of free time and spend a bunch of money on this project.

Maybe you can find a $4k wrecked 535i and a $4k blown motor 550i. Add another $2k in miscellaneous stuff and a week of hard work and you should have a car that might be worth about $10k.

If you have done a bunch of engine swaps and conversions or chassis swaps before you know all this. Unless you are looking for a project or happen to have cheap access to donor cars, I’d be patient and find a 535i. They sell pretty cheap. A trans swap is not nearly as big of a deal and there is a guy who recently did one and posted some details — look for the $3k 535i thread.

[triksterut]

Trans from 335i is fine but you will need the driveshaft and trans brace and midpipe and rear exhaust from the 535i manual. Probably the motor mount arms, airbox and a lot of other parts. You will figure it out once you get into the conversion. As long as you like scrounging parts and can do all your own work, you should be able to kill a lot of free time and spend a bunch of money on this project.

Maybe you can find a $4k wrecked 535i and a $4k blown motor 550i. Add another $2k in miscellaneous stuff and a week of hard work and you should have a car that might be worth about $10k.

If you have done a bunch of engine swaps and conversions or chassis swaps before you know all this. Unless you are looking for a project or happen to have cheap access to donor cars, I’d be patient and find a 535i. They sell pretty cheap. A trans swap is not nearly as big of a deal and there is a guy who recently did one and posted some details — look for the $3k 535i thread.

You talk a lot of sense. I've done a few swaps - it's all the coding that I worry about more than the mechanics of it. It would probably be far easier to swap a manual into an auto 535i. I think I developed myopia and missed the obvious. Thanks!

[pbonsalb]

Scroll through this and you will see details for the 535i auto to manual swap.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...-Project/page2