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Thread: Complete Guide to M62b46tu Engine swap into E39 540I6 6 Speed

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
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    2003 Bmw 540i Mtech

    Complete Guide to M62b46tu Engine swap into E39 540I6 6 Speed

    [B]Hey Guys, i wanted to post a forum on my complete 4.6is swap into my e39 540i (hopefully you guys know the difference between 4.4-4.6 before reading, it is intact a worked over 4.4 aka almost direct swap) from start to finish to answer many many many unanswered questions that people may have for this swap, i had a lot of unanswered questions when i did this and i ended up sending it with my strong knowledge of engines and prior experience with many other vehicles.
    So in January of 2019 i picked up my 2003 540i6 sport almost completely factory aside from a muffler delete and intake. i am 20 years old and have been working on anything with an engine since the age of 10, I've been a Subaru tech/tuner since i built my own WRX engine from scratch at age 16, owned many cars since then and my favorite after Subaru's was my e39 540i. always had hopes to do a 4.6 swap but my couldn't locate one at a decent cost, i set it up for a mild drift build and then sold it, since then I've been on the hunt for the car i bought in January.
    So the car i bought was well looked after and even came with the e39 M Parallel wheels. it had 205K when i bought it and a lot of maintenance was done to it while the previous owner was looking after it. I had done a basic tune up which included every suspension component being replaced (all original with 205K) and installed a set of coil overs and rims. With the dreams of doing a 4.6is engine swap we had picked up a 4.6is x5 for parts and the motor from there was my donor. Tore it down and this is what was done
    Cleaned and stripped block
    Heads: (yes i used 4.6is heads even though most people do not) sent out and redone along with port and polish, new valves, guides, and seals along with adjustments
    Oem Timing chain kit (same parts for 540i as they are for x5, AKA Same part numbers)
    540i oil pan swap along with oil pump, Pick up, Chain, And a little tiny pipe that also goes between oil pump and block that i had to buy at the dealer
    x5 4.6is intake manifold (same part as the M60B40 pre Vanos manifold, also a common upgrade for the e39 540i)
    x5 4.6is throttle body (bigger then 4.4 throttle body not 100% sure if its the same size as Dinan throttle body or not but was told it was never measured it)
    Injectors are the same flow rate, i used my 540i ones because i was sure that they were fine, along with coil packs and complete wiring loom, PLUG AND PLAY
    Cam sensors: 4.6is and 4.4i use different cam sensors but they both work without trouble codes, currently using the 4.6is ones but I've tested 540i cam sensors for the same end result
    Cam Gears: i used the 4.6 cam gears because i wanted to keep my 4.4 engine complete, again 0 Issues.
    Vanos solenoids: identical
    Valley pan service (540i is the same)
    Water pump was replaced with a new 540i unit not sure if x5 is the same didn't bother to check
    harmonic balancer is slightly different, if you use the 4.6is balancer you'll need the 4.6is belt, i used the 4.4 balancer which uses 4.4 belt
    ac compressor, power steering: not sure if they are the same but again i used my 540i components
    alternator is the same between both engines
    Coolant crossover pipe is identical, i used the 4.6 crossover to keep my original engine together
    [B]
    For the valve covers
    4.4 and 4.6is valve covers are the same on the passenger side so either or can be used, drivers side is different due to two things, the jump start connector on the front opposite of oil fill. and also the 540i has a port on the back of the cover for a hose but it is blocked off, due to the jump start access on the 540i valve cover but wanting the back port for a catch can i drilled the valve cover in the back so my hose can clamp to it and be functional
    I plan on boosting this at some point so i have purchased the CCV Block off plate utilizing 1 port for Evap vacuum line, another for a boost gauge which is currently capped, Brake booster vacuum source, and the last one capped for boost controller in the future, thus connecting the port on the valve cover to a barb fitting i inserted between the Maf sensor and throttle body which will soon have a catch can in-between.
    this could have been avoided if i had know to punch out the cap in the block of the 4.6is prior to installing the timing covers and inserting a fitting to run the 540i CCV Factory set up. (food for thought)
    540i VS X5 Exhaust manifolds: not interchangeable unless you want to extend the header back flanges, or extend your catback. so i drilled out my factory cats, i have no testing if this is same as pre Vanos m62 headers but I'm sure its not that far off.
    Secondary air injector bolts right up
    I also installed a lightweight flywheel which was also directly bolt in INCASE you decide to run a lightweight wheel on your car, remember you will need to shim your crank sensor. This is my second e39 lightweight flywheel install and no one ever mentioned shims, both of my cars needed this shim so id assume yours will also i drilled a hole through a penny and put it in-between the crank sensor and transmission as a spacer, working fine and bring still seals from debris.
    For timing i had just bought a cheap set of m62 timing chain tools, all work fine i think i paid 200$ or less for it brand new. one little hiccup i had was on my old 4.6is x5 (last year) when i did my timing chains shortly after i through a p0011 realizing my timing ended up .63 thousandths off, while doing my new engine out of the car and inserted the locking blocks on the passenger side (same side my code was on) was not sitting flush, what do you know it ends up being a gap of .63 thousandths which couldn't of been seen my first time because i did the chains in the truck my first time. little drilling to the upper block had it sitting flush and that issue is gone.
    Now Engine is installed currently and is running fine with no issues what so ever which brings me to my next statement.
    most 4.6 swaps into e39 (same rules i posted follow to the bmw 740i E38 Single vanos cars) people say a lot of things
    "can't use the 4.6is heads due to vanos control being different between maps and allowing valves to hit the piston"
    "can't use the 4.6is heads due to intake cam gears being different"
    "can't use the 4.6is heads because the cams have a longer duration which can't be adjusted in the map"
    "dont do it because its not worth it in power and costs a lot of money rather then putting a 4.4 in your car"
    "can't be done on a 540i6 because the only eco compatable with that motor behind a 6spd is an alpina B10 Ecu" (haven't tried alpine ecu because its unneccary but curious if that eco will still allow the car to pass NYS Inspection which i doubt.
    tuning solutions:
    i had my last 540i tuned by Mikey botti and he was able to pick me up about 30WHP and 50Wtq off a lightweight flywheel and cat delete with ported heads
    i had called him about my new car and is happy to try to squeeze all the power possible out of it but sadly has to wait a few weeks to be on break at school so i can drive it to the dyno.
    DUDMD Will not tune this set up.
    Dinan will not Tune the car.
    There is no Off the shelf flash for my stock 540i ecu to place 4.6 engine software and also still work with my manual transmission
    This leads me to as of now to my knowledge is to get a custom tune for the 4.6 engine in the 540i on a dyno. This will allow the tuner to make proper ignition timing adjustments to ensure no detonation along with adding timing to gain power, adjusting fuel to gain power, Lastly adjusting vanos settings to ensure your engine is seeing the max potential out of these aggressive cam shafts
    So i am here to state the if your doing a 4.6is engine swap into your e39 540i this should answer any question anyone can ask. i wish i had someone to refer me to this information, but was tired of researching wrong information, never had a solid answer so i wanted to figure it out for myself and succeeded, currently the engine was a direct swap with no codes, and the car runs perfectly fine, slightest shake at idle due to needing a tune for these camshafts, Hardly noticeable unless your really paying attention.
    I'm currently sitting at 190 miles on the swap with no tune seeing atlas 20-40whp gain and around 60wtqish gain. my hope is to gain 80whp and 100wtq gain after a tune prior to forced induction which won't be till down the road. but my goal was almost forced induction power, at factory reliability and i have succeeded, again i am 20 years old and built this car with the help of only one of my friends all built in our own garage. we build other toys also, but this is in fact only a bmw forum.
    https://imgur.com/a/azgrpWN
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by 546isc; 09-04-2019 at 11:26 AM.

  2. #2
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    Pictures of finished engine bay?


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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
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    Auckland
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    e46
    My research shows the 4.4 and 4.6 use the same size throttlebody;
    https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...&q=13541435959

  4. #4
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    540it, 540sedan, 540-6 s
    Quote Originally Posted by underpants View Post
    My research shows the 4.4 and 4.6 use the same size throttlebody;
    https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...&q=13541435959
    Not the first time for the swap. I think most differences have been well documented.
    The main point is that this is a plug and play engine swap, once the long block is stripped down to convert from SUV to car.
    Not enough room for past/present garage

  5. #5
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    E34 540i6, E46 323i, E36
    546isc

    Nice thread! I like how you combined the various informational bots that seems somewhat scattered around into one long post.

    Have you had any luck getting the car tuned since the swap? How's it been running?

  6. #6
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    2003 546it m-sport
    Nice job. I needed lots of help when I did this swap. It's well worth the grin at the end.
    DUDMD has a tune for you if you contact him. You can also just use a Dinan-rip from a 4.6is e53 if you can find one. The Alpina 4.6 tune might be interesting to try but as you have a car with a computer that thinks it does not have loppy cams you can split the 4.4 and the 4.6 tunes that DUDMD has already thanks to terraphantom.

  7. #7
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    01 530iT & 05 X5 30d
    With regard to the tune, could you not just use the DME from the X5? I know its from an SUV but i would have thought that it could still be used.

    im pretty interested as i am closer now to getting my i6 wagon conversion of the ground, i just tis week bought a wrecked 540 to slavage the balance of parts tocomplement the b46 engine i have. I was hoping tp use the X5 DME on mine.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by grey535i
    With regard to the tune, could you not just use the DME from the X5? I know its from an SUV but i would have thought that it could still be used.


    im pretty interested as i am closer now to getting my i6 wagon conversion of the ground, i just tis week bought a wrecked 540 to slavage the balance of parts tocomplement the b46 engine i have. I was hoping tp use the X5 DME on mine.
    All M62 powered cars use the same ME7.2 DME, the only difference is the tune. It makes no difference at all whether you use the X5 or 540i DME as long as it ends up with the 4.6 tune on it

    Converting an I6 E39 to M62 is a lot of work, not likely to be worth it IMO. Are you aware of how many different parts they used? Completely different subframes, steering systems, etc... even the rear-ends are different. You are better off sourcing an M62 E39 to start with.

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  9. #9
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    Thanks for the response BimmerBreaker.

    Yeah starting ith M62 touring would be ideal but we didnt get those on this side of the globe. In addition to the engine, DME & cluster from the X5 I have a complete E39 M62TU donor car for the balance of the parts. yes ill be a big job but i do want an M62 tournig.

    Wondering if you can hepl with another query i have, I wish to use the 4.6 DME & the dash cluster from the X5 but would like to keep EWs functionality if i can. now i didnt get the EWS key or barrel from the X5 so hoping to be able get the EWS , key & barrel from my I6 car to work with aforementioned 4.6 DME & cluster. I guess i ould also like the I6 VIN to be present on the 4.6 MDE & cluster so i dont get issues when scanning for codes with inpa or ista.
    I am not sure on the process for this. is this something you would have experience with?
    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerBreaker View Post
    All M62 powered cars use the same ME7.2 DME, the only difference is the tune. It makes no difference at all whether you use the X5 or 540i DME as long as it ends up with the 4.6 tune on it

    Converting an I6 E39 to M62 is a lot of work, not likely to be worth it IMO. Are you aware of how many different parts they used? Completely different subframes, steering systems, etc... even the rear-ends are different. You are better off sourcing an M62 E39 to start with.

  10. #10
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    Yes the EWS is compatible, will just need to be coded. It's pretty simple overall but I have minimal experience on that specific DME. I know it can be done though

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  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2022
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    BMW X5 4.6is/Tesla S P85

    Any Block Machining work done ?

    This is super helpful information. Thank you for taking the time to post the details. I have been trying to rebuild my M62Tu B46 since 2019 and ended up buying another E53 X5 just to end up with the same issue of scratched piston wall on both blocks (one with 140k miles and one with 78k). Very lucky for you to have a donor B46 with a clean block. Long story short, I have 2 M62TU-B46 blocks that I will work on reslseeving and fabricating pistons for. One of them, I will do like what you said up on the thread where you will switch the oil pan with a RWD version and maybe place it in a 6-speed 540 with a blown motor, anyway not to highjack the thread, I will place the link right here https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...0#post30787320. The other one, I will place it back in one of the E53s since it is such clean bodied. But I was trying to find anyone that went through the resleeving route. Thanks !

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