If I buy a stick 93 525i,

[91Saleen#15]

how many parts will it have that are good for an M50 swap?

[e30_kid89]

it would have everything minus the driveshaft and motor mounts, rad and things like that.

[hugh jass]

everything basically, except for a few things like motor mounts, etc

[91Saleen#15]

everything basically, except for a few things like motor mounts, etc

Would I use the 525 transmission or the 325i transmission?

[SchnellerVert]

Your choice.

[Mike B.]

I'd use the E34 transmission, that way you can use your transmission bracket from the E30 and not have to worry about fabricating any custom brackets or bending the shifter.

[SchnellerVert]

Getrag 260 is known to be stonger and you don't need to swap the rear diff thou.

[mitch500]

I'd use the E34 transmission, that way you can use your transmission bracket from the E30 and not have to worry about fabricating any custom brackets or bending the shifter.

is this not the same with the e36 tranny?

[Mike B.]

E36 and E34's have the same tranny (M50's, S50's have a ZF), so you can use your existing transmission bracket and 5-spd driveshaft.

Schneller is right though, if you have a 3.73 diff you will want to change it out (3.46 or 3.25 are nice) since 5th gear in the e36 tranny is 1:1.

[91Saleen#15]

Damn... lost it.... what about a stick shift 528 (E39)? Will the parts from it work?

[CarsSuck]

those are all OBD II and you would need OBDI m50 parts. This assumes that it is an iron block M52 from the earlier e39 528i and not the aluminum dual vanos M52tu which cannot be converted to OBDI.

It is possible to install the engine with its OBDII components. A couple people here have done it, but there is a good deal of hp to be gained from the OBDI conversion.

[Mike325]

since 5th gear in the e36 tranny is 1:1.

Really? Wow. No overdrive.