24V AWD Swap Knowledge Base

[The Dark Side of Will]

the S54 waterpump also costs ~$400 btw. it has plenty of mechanical issues of its own..

I was under the impression that the basic engine was pretty much an anvil once you replace the rod bearings. What other problems does it have?

[nando]

The vanos exhaust hub likes to shear and grenade the engine. There is a fix but its not cheap.

[nando]

The DI eliminates most of the lag.

Considering how much BMW overbuilds their drivelines, I doubt the aluminum housing diffs would have any problems at all.

The E9x dash to axle distance is similar to the E46... which means that the E9x oil pan won't work in an E30 for the same reasons that an E46 oil pan won't.

However, the E70 X5 front drive assembly looks likely for the same reasons that the E53 X5 assembly looks likely.

Thanks I'll look into that. I also saw some complete X3 motors, it has a unique oil pan from the other cars. I agree E90 won't likely work, when i get a chance I'll pop under ours and take a peek.

[Nisse Järnet]

FYI, the 4 bolt pinion flange is on an E46 diff. The E46 diff doesn't fit the E53 pan. The E53 diff comes with a 3 bolt guibo flange. To use the E53 diff with this setup, you'll either need to make a 4 bolt to 3 bolt adapter plate or swap on the E46 pinion flange (and get pinion bearing preload/endplay right...)

Yeah, wonder if the flange fits the X5 diff? BTW the E34ix rear drive shaft connects the two pieces with a spline and bolt that holds them together, kinda like you did now :)
Don't know the length of the splines though, probably longer.

[The Dark Side of Will]

The vanos exhaust hub likes to shear and grenade the engine. There is a fix but its not cheap.

Yeah, there are a few things on the S62, like cracked spring plates, that have to be dealt with in order to bullet-proof it.

[nando]

the N52 is a big ass engine though. I just measured - from the firewall to the front of the engine is about 30". I'd have 1" clear between the radiator and the coolant hoses. The width is less of an issue since I'd planned on using a manual brake setup anyway.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Yeah, wonder if the flange fits the X5 diff? BTW the E34ix rear drive shaft connects the two pieces with a spline and bolt that holds them together, kinda like you did now :)
Don't know the length of the splines though, probably longer.

Cool. I'd *really* like to find a 525iX sedan state-side...

I was under the impression that by the time they produced the E46 and E53 concurrently, BMW had mostly ironed out the variations in the front diff architecture. I *think* that the gears are interchangeable.

[nando]

E34 are different from E53/E46 but I'd imagine E46/E53 are similar.

[stonea]

The E34 pan is 6 or 7 quarts, i was never doing a frankenpan.

I knew you were doing the e34 pan, but I'm leaning toward the fraken pan and was just wondering what everyone's opinion was about the lack of oil capacity. Anyways it the power/weight is that close I'd lean towards the N52.

[nando]

yeah and that's in stock form. I made about 270 crank on a cold day with nothing but a home made tune. there's apparently a set of cams available from Schrick (nobody has tried them), and headers seem to make a big difference. I think you could knock on 300bhp with stock internals. the S54 can do like 350-360 stock, but it weighs like 150lbs more. Just doing some searching, I don't think anyone has done an N52 at all.

I don't think the smaller sump will be a big deal, as long as the pickup is working correctly. you'd want to do an oil cooler and I recommend using the ix power steering cooler setup as the S54 likes to cook PS pumps (due to the high revs).

I'm really thinking of listing all my S54 parts.. I've got probably $3-5k in parts sitting around. I have the custom transmission done, it wouldn't really cost me much to change directions given the motor is like 1/3 the cost.

[nando]

Looking at oil pans to see if it's any more feasible than the E34 pan. as it is, I was planning on modifying the E34 pan and/or ix subframe for it to work.

Here's the X5 3.0 (N52)





Here's the X5 M54:


Here's the E90 328xi (N52):




Needless to say, the E90 pan definitely won't work. the X5 N52 pan looks similar in dimensions to the X5 M54 pan though. I can't find any pictures of the X3 N52 pan, but it has it's own unique part #, perhaps since the X3 is even shorter, the axle centerline is further back.

if I can find an N52 pan that works it would also work for an N54 or N55.. keep that in mind. :)

Will, given that the X5 M54 and N52 pans look like they have similar dimensions - what do you think? will it work? it's not like the E34 pan is a slam dunk (although it is close).

[The Dark Side of Will]

Any pan that fits the E53 chassis is going to be pretty similar in terms of the basic dimensions we need... crossmember clearance, axle location, etc.

We posted that block of sump measurements earlier in this thread.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?p=4054081&highlight=e53+e34#post4054081

Per those numbers, the sump lengths of the E53 and E34 is almost identical, so either one should fit where the other does.

[nando]

the N52 came in the E70 X5, not the E53. it does look similar to the E53 pan though. if it is, I think it would work.

I'm really interested in finding an E83 X3 pan. it's smaller than the X5, so maybe the diff CL is further back like the E30.

there's lots of available ratios, and they changed the size of the ring/pinion on the newer cars. they now have a type 174 diff instead of the old type 168. so it's possible they're lighter and stronger. the turbo cars use the same diffs as the N/A cars so it should have plenty of torque holding capability as well. the X3 came with a 3.73 which would be perfect for my Getrag 260.

[Nisse Järnet]

Does the X3 have something around 3 in the diff? But i assume those pans wont fit a M50?

[nando]

there's a 3.08 in the 535xi and 3.38 in the 325xi, but no those pans definitely won't fit an M50.