M Powered: A Motor Swap Story

[PiercedE30]

very very nice....saw the thread over on BFc.

[BeirBrennerE30]

I wnat to see it documented.... every little detail. is there another thred somewhere im missing? hows it going? engine mounted yet? hows the wiring coming? we need info

[jweb]

Awesome, good luck.

[Hick]

Do any of you really need a step by step on how to pull a motor?

for gods sake, there isnt much to it anymore

[Mtriple]

Nobody replies to your E36 engine swap thread on an E30 board for a couple hours and you have to bump the thread?

Seriously... Dont get your panties in a bunch.

Feel free to document everything once you get the motor in, especially the wiring and the engine management. But to pull a twincam out of an E36 and document it here?

[SpasticDwarf]

Chapter 5- Preparation-

So what does it take to bolt in an S54? If you read up, youll find that many people suggest different things.. Some say its a direct bolt up, others say Z3M mounts.. Some say mounts from a 528i and another car, and the list goes on...
It made the most sense to me to order Z3M mounts, since the Z3's are on an e36 chassis. Some Z3M's came with S54's, so I figured it would work. I ordered the mounts, got them, and took some compairson shots for you guys..
Here are the drivers side mounts.. The one on the left is for an E46 M3. On the right, an e36. As you can see, these mounts are quite similar. There are some subtle differences, and the angles are a little different, but overall, theyre very close.


Here are the passenger side mounts. On the left this time is the e36 mount, and on the right, an e46 M3. These mounts are VERY different.. One is much, much larger than the other.. they are in no way similar.




I bolted the mounts up to the motor..
For this side, the image does not show the mount properly bolted up. There are 2 configurations possible, so I guessed, but I guessed wrong. Simply move the whole mount back 2 holes (look just to the left of the mount.. move it to those holes) and it works just fine.



Lastly, I gave the engine bay a good cleaning.
This is part-way through-

[SpasticDwarf]

Chapter 6- Test..1..2.. Test..1..2..
Self explanatory-




Simply a test fit. Dropped in pretty smoothly. The engine is ginormous compared to the M50, and it took some maneuvering to get it into place.. but it mounts right up.

[Jonathan M3]

Simply a test fit. Dropped in pretty smoothly. The engine is ginormous compared to the M50, and it took some maneuvering to get it into place.. but it mounts right up.

Sooo what engine mounts did you end up going with?

[SpasticDwarf]

It made the most sense to me to order Z3M mounts, since the Z3's are on an e36 chassis. Some Z3M's came with S54's, so I figured it would work. I ordered the mounts, got them, and took some compairson shots for you guys..

[BeirBrennerE30]

the z3m mounting arms worked even with the big differences. It looks like in your pics that you used e36 arms bolted up to the s54.

what are you using for a transmission? s54 6-speed?

thanks for all the info.... keep us updated it looks really good

[CleanAzzE30z]

those pictures make me happy.


Mariano

[Huff]

Great thread.. Keep it up!

[Jean]

Awesome swap!!!

[SpasticDwarf]

the z3m mounting arms worked even with the big differences. It looks like in your pics that you used e36 arms bolted up to the s54.

what are you using for a transmission? s54 6-speed?

thanks for all the info.... keep us updated it looks really good

Yes, I am using the S54 6-speed.
Thanks guys

[moatilliatta]

Its an S54 and 6speed out of a 2003 E46 M3 with 19k miles.

how much did you pick it up for?