Need help with a 86 2.7 to a 89 2.5 swap

[eddiej89]

My 1989 325 I engine the dust and I have a 1986 325 E engine that I bought in a parts car.

I've tried to find info about the swap but I keep running into info about building stroker motors and most posts are about swapping the I head onto an E block.

Is the swap of the E motor to an I car pretty straight forward or do I need to swap out the head and intake off of my existing I motor to the E block to use my existing wiring harness and computer?

Will the 5 speed trans hook up to the E block with no problems? The E car is an automatic and my I car is a 5 speed, will the I flywheel bolt up to the E block?

Are the motor mounts the same in the 86 E and 89 I cars?

Thanks for any help you can give me

[jlevie]

If you want to use the harness and DME that is in the car, you'll need to swap over the head, intake, AFM, crank position sensor, etc. You'll be building a budget stroker and that is documented in numerous places. If you don't want to go that route, you'll have to transplant the wiring harness, DME, and ETA timing reference sensors in along with the engine. Your transmission will bolt up to the ETA engine just fine and you can swap the flywheel over. But your transmission won't have the provisions to mount the ETA timing reference sensors. Which means that if you don't build a budget stroker you are going to have to obtain and ETA 5 speed. And that will probably mean also having to switch to the sheet metal shifter.

Either way you go this won't be a trivial engine swap. I'd say that of the two ways, a budget stroker will be the cheaper, assuming that the head on the M20B25 is good.

[eddiej89]

Thanks for the info.

Yes the I head and intake are still good. The I motor is acutally still running but has a spun bearing and is knocking badly. Besides that it runs perfectly.

Do I use a head gasket for the I or E motor?

Will the timing belt be the same?

Sorry for all the questions, I've tried to search but most info is for swapping the I head into an E car. I'm swapping the E block into an I car

[jlevie]

You'll use an I head gasket. The timing belt is the same on both engines.

Before I trashed a 325 with an ETA engine I'd tear down the M20B25 and see how bad the damage is. If the crank survived, bearings and a crank polish might be all that's needed.