Wrecked 89 325 motor = Good donor car?

[Danny]

I've been tossing around the idea of throwing the M20b25 into my 318 and possibly turbo-ing the m42 while its out.

From what I've gathered through the search function, I can use my entire driveline and transmission but I need to run a wire for ABS since the m20 is pre-airbag.

Correct me if I am wrong, also if there is anything else I need to know.

Thanks!

Edit: Also I have not yet pulled the motor out so I'm not sure if this will happen yet, just kicking around the idea.

[norwood e30]

Thats a great idea if the motor was a strong. also you know the rules when you swap a motor. Change all top end gaskets and oil filter gasket as well. If you dont you could have a problem like i did

[Danny]

Gonna go ahead and bump this.

[Danny]

Gonna go ahead and bump this again.

[Danny]

Gonna bump this one more time

[SpecM]

Gonna bump this one more time

-Promise this is the last time? haha j/k
-I'm not sure of a correlation between the ABS and airbags...

[smonkbmw]

if youre using the stock trans from your 318 you might have issues as these are not as strong as the stock 260 trans that is in the 325.

[Republic]

I did the same swap about 7 months ago. It is pretty straight forward. '89 M20 drive-train into a '91 318i. I pulled, and put in the motor and trans together and had little complications. I can not speak to the ABS and airbag. My ABS works fine and don't really want to find out if my airbag works. As you probably already know, you will have to change out the radiator and mount your oil cooler. I don't remember seeing one (OC)on my 318. Engine bay will not be exactly the same and some ad-hoc rigging will be required for the AFM - nothing major.

Make sure to do all your PM on the engine before installation.

Good luck.