24V AWD Swap Knowledge Base

[nando]

Yeah, E46 system sucks IMO. The tc is open, only ABS controls slip.

[Nisse Järnet]

Fitting the E46 (or E34) front subframe isn't that big of I deal actually. Sure its alot of work but its totally doable.
The E36ti ix guy is a friend of mine BTW :)
But it sure is heavier as Nando states.

My ix is lighter now than with the stock setup BTW :)

And as I said, the E46 tc is totally open.

[Bimmer_man]

nomansland92 if you dont wind up using the e34 stuff let me know i will be happy to use them haha.

As far as the e46 stuff. i know the diffs where open but from what i was reading on e46fenatics the tc itself is not an open system. the Diffs are open but the tc is another story i think. Im not saying youre wrong just hearing conflicting info i suppose.

[nando]

The easiest way to use the E34 stuff is to do what nisse did, and push the engine back into the firewall an inch or so. I did consider this but realistically, I don't have the time or equipment to do that correctly. Other ways would be to use a different subframe or make a custom one.

as far as the E46 rack goes, the tie rods are fairly simple. You'll need the strut housings machined to fit the larger E45 ball joints, and I think you'll have to shorten the tie rods a little bit, but basically they are the right length already for the E30. I know John at WOTtech said he could do them for me no problem. I'm still considering the E46 rack, but I'd probably end up modifying my subframe to make it bolt up. The linkage will require an extra U joint, but not that big of a deal really. It also gives more room for a front diff.

Ultimately the reason I decided to change my mind, again, and go a different route - yes, the E30 parts aren't the strongest. But as far as AWD goes, it's a pretty light package. All of the other BMW systems are heavier. I decided in the end, I'd prefer a tight, balanced set up with minimal weight over big power.

swapping the entire subframe from an E46 is a worthy idea of consideration. That would give plenty of room to use the E34 pan/diff without pushing everything back, and you get the better steering rack. But again, it will weigh more - not a big deal if you're going turbo or S54 though.

IIRC you want the 2003+ E46 racks. earlier ones weren't great. I measured the # of turns lock to lock, and the E46 xi rack is significantly quicker than the E30 ix. it would be a fun setup if somebody got it to work.

[nomansland92]

I have all Nando e34 parts now. Going to use them under my boosted m20, well at least in going to try

[stonea]

Theres a few problems with the e46 xi stuff. First off the front subframe is very big and very heavy. Also its very far from bolt on. I've seen someone do a AWD e36 ti where they used a e46 subframe and it took a lot of work. Will is trying to design a custom front subframe that would either fix all of the clearance/bump steer problems, or at least make them much better. He's also designing it around the E53 x5 oil pan which would be perfect for you since you mentioned the M54. The e46 oil pan won't work with the current front subframe. I forget why but I know it was mentioned in here at some point in all 800 something posts. The e46 AWD system also uses an open transfer case. Not necessarily the end of the world, but in my opinion if your putting all of this time and money into this swap it should be as close as perfect as it can be. I talked to Tyler over at Arc Asylum about producing some subframes, but at the time (maybe a year ago?) he said he was to busy to take on that project.

Nando still has some of his e34 ix stuff thats he's trying to get rid of if you really wanna go that route. Technically so far thats the only proven way to do it except for a fraken or custom oil pan. But again thats far from bolt on.

[nomansland92]

I looked into using that rack with my e34 setup but I was worried about adding bump steer. My car already seems to have a fair amount at my ride hight, Just another project on the to do list.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T817A using Tapatalk

[Bimmer_man]

yeah the hubs have to be machined to make them work but would be a little bit of a nicer feel thats for sure.

[nomansland92]

So far I e46 rack hasn't been used to my knowledge, the tie rods will not fit into the hubs. With some machine work I would imagine it's easily possible though.

[Bimmer_man]

So i have a few question on the 24v swap. Ive been trying to figure out the 24v swap for a while read through this a bit im sure I missed a few things. If anyone can answer these questions for me please do.

As far as the drivline is concerned i was looking into the e34 set up and the car itself was never imported to the usa thus making those parts stupid expensive in shipping. So as an alternative i got in contact with Nisse to see if the e46 xi drivline will work and it looks like it will. I still however have a few questions regarding the M54/S54 in the ix.

I was thinking on using the E46 xi oil pan with the engine utilizing the e30 steering rack and subframe. Dose anyone know or tried this to see if it works if not Nisse did say i could use the E46 xi front subframe with some modification. If i went that rout i could use the e46 steering rack as well and that would be cool. Im just wanting to gather some more information on what im looking into.

Im sure that the oil pump tube may need modification. Im still reading into this some please forgive if some of the info is wrong.

I swear these ix cars is a larger love hate relationship than any other e30 haha.

[Nisse Järnet]

525ix E34 with a frankenpan S85 engine :D

[The Dark Side of Will]

The E32 and E34 extensively share structural metal. They use identical structures from the firewall forward

[stonea]

Also, the 12's bolt right into E34's.

Oh you definitely shouldn't have told me this. I can see a e34 v12 touring in my future.

[The Dark Side of Will]

A surprisingly amount of cars on there look kind of sketchy. Thats one thing I love about r3v, I haven't seen many hack jobs on here.

I would love a V12, but only if it was in a 6 speed 8 series!!!

I'll have to dig around a bit for the link, but there's one in a Z3 with centrifugal supercharger.

Also, the 12's bolt right into E34's. I know where there's a gutted E32 750I in someone's yard, just begging for me to snatch it up and move everything in the engine compartment over to an E34 M50 525i

[stonea]

Funny thing is all the swaps ive seen there look like disasters - that S38 looks like a nightmare. There's been a few clean swaps, but obviously its difficult to do at all.

A surprisingly amount of cars on there look kind of sketchy. Thats one thing I love about r3v, I haven't seen many hack jobs on here.

Any volunteers to be the first to build an M70B54 frankenmotor powered 350iX?

I would love a V12, but only if it was in a 6 speed 8 series!!!