Where to begin?

Okay, how do you put a V8 engine into a car that never had one? Or, as our mechanic would say, “you want me to put the wrong engine in the wrong car?”

In the great tradition of hot rodding, there is always someone who wants a bigger engine than the manufacturer gave them. In the case of the venerable BMW e30 model, there are lots of fans. There are also a few people trying to figure a way to upgrade the engine options.

Our criteria included several things beside whether the engine would physically fit into the space available. To the extent possible, we wanted to use BMW parts. We wanted the installation to look professional, as if BMW had installed it at the factory. We wanted a high level of performance, but also required a high level of drivability. That is, it had to be docile enough for stop and go driving and not overheat in the scorching summer heat. We preferred to keep all the factory accessories, including power steering and air conditioning. We also prefer a manual transmission – it is fun to operate and gives us control of the level of performance.

We did some online research to see who else had considered our idea. Turns out that there are some enthusiasts in Germany who, among other things, have done the engine swap. Not only that, but they had engineered and were producing engine mounts. These are brackets that fit between the engine and the car frame. The German website was written in German, of course. Google language tools to the rescue! Although some words don’t translate literally, the ideas come through.

Here is a (partial) list of parts we needed:

Engine: m62 540i
Transmission and flywheel: e34 530i m60 5 Speed
Motor mounts: Custom made in Germany
Radiator: e28 535i, or similar
Expansion Tank: e34 540i
Brake Booster: e34 540i
Differential: e34 524tds, which we never got here
Exhaust manifolds: e53

Note: The "m" prefix is used for engine naming and the "e" prefix is used for chassis naming. The three numbers followed by letters is the advertised car model.

There are several parts sets that will need to be shop fabricated. The brake booster will now be located alongside the radiator and behind the headlights. An actuation rod will need to be made to transmit the force from the brake pedal to the booster. Although the exhaust manifolds from the e53 X5 should fit, the rest of the exhaust system will be custom fabricated. The larger 4.4 liter m62 engine from the BMW 540i came with a computer control system that is known to be very difficult to re-program or tune. It would be better to remove this system and go with an earlier version that is more adaptable.

The driveshaft may need to be fabricated to length. This is not as difficult as it may seem. There are companies that specialize in re-welding and balancing driveshafts.

Of course, besides having the components and the willingness to design/adapt/construct the parts, the biggest factor in the success of this endevour is an experienced mechanic. We are lucky to have a long-term working relationship with just such a mechanic with his own shop.