N52 Swap Discussion

[wazzu70]

Exciting news. We need more of the swaps!

[hoveringuy]

We were reviewing basic Dynamics 101 material, and although a 125 ft-lb rating doesn't sound like much, it's at a higher rotational speed at the driveshaft, and translates to 406 ft-lbs at the wheels through a 3.25 differential.

[nando]

oh yeah, I had forgotten about the difference in the transmission between the 325/328 and 330. Regardless, a 6mt sells for like $800 alone, so you did pretty good on that engine. Also, BPC broke theirs at like 500hp (turbo 325i), so I really doubt you will have a problem.

[hubcapboy]

We learned a ton today. Thanks for the ride. I was working on a cardboard to-do list round trip, and ordering two of everything.

[hoveringuy]

Spoiler alert!



I picked-up a 67k mile motor out of a 2010 328i with the help of this thread's host, Gareth.

We compared his motor with mine and he immediately noticed that my transmission is 2" shorter. Turns out that I have a Getrag G6-17 and he has the G6-37. The difference is in the torque rating and the 37 was used on the slightly more powerful 330's. It's rated for 273ft-lbs while the 17 is weaker at 125ft-lbs. RealOEM has the 37 weighing 95.9 while the 17 is 74.5, almost a 20lb difference.

Seeing as how the 17 is installed in the heavier 5 series, and that people have been upgrading their 328's to 330 specs for a long time now, I'm not worried about it, plus with an N54 intake I'll be making power by spinning the motor faster at about the same torque.

One of the other differences is that the newer motor has the oil separation built into the valve cover, so no external cyclone separator and the required drainback into the pan.

The entire package was only $2300. Cheap!