m62tu44 e30 engine swap help! greatly appreciated

[kuan098760]

hi guys! i got a donor car for my e30 swap. Its a 2000 540i 6 speed. The car runs and drives. I live in California and I plan to swap over all the body harness and keys. I was just reading online about the driveshaft needs to be custom made? May i get some more info on that? The car has a 420g getrag 6 speed transmission. I will be using all the parts off the car and the mounts would be easily fabricated. What I am missing is the info on the driveshaft and engine wiring. I guess like all engine swaps, the only modification to the wiring is the one that connnects the engine to the body but since I am using the whole body harness off the e39? I would also be considering swapping all the electronic components of the car to the dashboard that way I can pass CARB with flying colors. I noticed that these engines are not that great to mantain but I am willing to do all the work myself so i will be saving a couple thousand bucks for myself. Thanks for the replies if I get any. I will update this thread as it goes on but for the time being I still need these 2 information.

1: Wiring

2: Driveshaft.

My e30 is a 1987 325is, the engine currently overheats and theres a lot of white smoke coming out of the tail pipe. I purchased the car from an insurance auto auction and the car was previously put into sale as a donor vehicule so i knew something was bad with it.

Any opinions or info will greatly help me a lot. I am new to this forum and some guidance will be 100% appreciate. God bless all of you thanks!

[Swanny]

Garagistic and Frankm e30 are your best sources for hardware and instructions

[P Arkus]

Pretty much what Swanny said. For the wiring, spend $40 and buy Franks swap guide. It should tell you everything you need to get the car wired properly. you can find it at www.macalent.com. As for the driveshaft, I heard many places wont touch BMW Driveshafts. You might be better off saving yourself some time and buying one from Garagistic. They are made specifically for these swaps so you wont have to worry about fitment and all that. Garagistic also makes all the mounts and other various hardware needed for this swap, but it sounds like you are mechanically inclined so you may or may not need to buy those things. Good luck with your swap!

[kuan098760]

Appreciate it guys! I am reading their website and I got a lot of information on it. There is a lot of detailed information on this website! Thanks a ton! u guys rock! Unfortunately I wont be able to purchase the drifeshaft! The price is the price of my car! haha I will find another route.

[jpod999]

Others have had success getting the transmission flange from the 540 welded to the E30 driveshaft with a shortened front shaft.