N52 AWD Swap Poll (maybe N54 too?)

[AWD_E30]

Inspired by reading Nando's comments about the N52 many years ago I started down a rabbit hole of what it would take to do a full N52 drivetrain swap. I've been collecting a lot of parts and 3d scanning them to figure out what can be used. There are quite a few things that need to be custom made in order to make this possible and compromises along the way. The current list is below and I have no idea on costs yet but figured I'd check in with others to get feedback on the list already.

Question: How do you feel about the list of changes below? It is likely a road too far for most people.

• N52 Drivetrain (Engine, Transmission, T-case, ECU, wiring, pedal, etc.)
• Custom Subframe (for faster rack to clear E83 diff)
• Custom Motor Mounts (stock plausible but not identified yet)
• Custom Oil Pan (relocate diff for E30iX chassis)
• Custom Axle Adapters (shaft to adapt E83 inner to E30iX outer)
• Custom front driveshaft (likely shortened stock E83 X3)
• Custom AWD Controller (TBD but CANTCU can allegedly do it)
• E30 --> N52 Adapter Harness (available from places like Condor)
• Electric Cooling Fan (likely in front of radiator)
• Custom Exhaust (DIY)
• E90 Steering Rack (Cut, drill, & tap to maintain bump steer)
• E83 front diff, half shafts, & CV shaft support
• Body Modifications
  • TBD - Cut/Shape Driver's Floor (driveshaft clearance)
• Ground Clearance
  • 30mm lost in front & rear
  • Can improve by cutting Rear floor & driver's floor more
• Loss of A/C & other compromises likely

Other things to note:

1. E83 (X3) front diff has 3.91 ratio available and there are limited slip differential options.
   1. E53 (X5) is also an option but harder to package
   2. E60/E90 aluminum housings appear to not be as strong so I am avoiding
2. N52 manual transmission ratios are not great with iX stock gear ratios (~3750 RPM at 70 MPH)
3. E90 steering rack not cut down would be similar to current fast rack option offered by Bav All Rad

I'm also looking at a custom subframe that would work with stock engine setups but allow faster racks to bolt-on.

[Northern]

Having not looked at this at all, I think it's too much custom stuff and the body modification will be a hard sell.

If there was a way to pull much more from an E9x/E83 (Adapt the e9x subframe to retain all the donor mounts/rack/pan/driveshaft, or frankenpan as an engine swap only. )

Not a huge customer base for iX stuff, so unless there's a magic combo that makes this very easy I don't think it's feasible as anything other than a passion project.

[nando]

I reset my password to respond to this thread - uh, it's definitely possible, but not easy.

My path was to use the one-year M50 bellhousing from a European E34 which came with an M50 but had the Getrag 260. Then mate that to the ix transmission. I had that built like, 10 years ago now.. :(

The rest of the drivetrain would be totally stock IX. I had all the E34 stuff at one point, but it really wasn't going to work without redoing the entire cross member and front suspension (I ended up selling that stuff to Andrew I think who had an E34 525ix). E46, E90, etc - all totally useless. the newer cars have gotten so big, the front wheels are just pushed too far forward to work in the E30.

That leaves the oil pan, which is doable, but it has to align correctly and fit the ix front diff. And also motor mounts - there are no stock motor mount arms I'm aware of that will bolt on, maybe one exists, I couldn't afford to buy everything on ebay so I assumed they need to be custom.

The rest is basically the same as any other E30.

So IMO, second biggest issue is the expense of fabricating the oil pan. You can probably hack up an IX pan for the diff mount, not easy - but this is just an engineering and fabrication cost (that was my plan). The biggest issue is probably the transmission, as I doubt it's easier to find the rare M50 Getrag 260 now than it was 10 years ago, plus the shop that built mine has been out of business for years already. Maybe you could do something custom instead. You could have one machined out of billet I suppose..

Body mods shouldn't be necessary, unless you try to use more modern stuff, which again, is due to the wheelbase issue / modern car bloat.

I still have that transmission sitting in a crate.. it's brand new internally. :|