what does it take??

[WillieDee]

well a super low miles 88 IX just popped up in my area. the guy has really wanted me to buy it for the past couple months and today he dropped the price we orriginally talked about in half... he pickeded the car up with 48k on it from a doctor who babied it. he spent about 5 grand in performance parts such as polished intake, dinian chip, full performance exhaust and a few other things before he was ambushed by a deer. the body is a little banged up in the front passenger and down the side. it is a 2 door coupe with perfect cardinal interior. he only now wants 1600$ for it!! so i think im gonna snag it but i was curious what it would take to swap the motor into my 86 ES. can i use the entire ecu of the IX in my RWD? i really only want the car for the motor and the interior to replace my 225K eta and aged cardinal interior.
Any help is appreciated!!
William

[AndrewBird]

Oil pan is different but can easily be swapped. Transmission is different, but yours will bolt up. I don't think there are any other issues.

I would sell the ES though and use the money to fix up the IX. Come out better in the long run with less work.

[jlevie]

I sort of remember someone saying that the block is different on an IX (motor mount attach points). But I have no personal knowledge.

[Swanny]

Oil pan is different but can easily be swapped. Transmission is different, but yours will bolt up. I don't think there are any other issues.

I would sell the ES though and use the money to fix up the IX. Come out better in the long run with less work.

This



Clean ix e30's are becoming harder and harder to find. Fix it up and have a car that keeps gaining value over the rwd verision.

If it really is only minor damage to the car why not just fix that than spending all the time to swap over an interior and drivetrain? Is the body in that better condition on the es or do you not want to deal with the ix suspension components or whats the overall end goal for either car?

[SmokeE30]

The ix block is different so is the pan and the motor mounts and the dipstick... Fix the ix don't rob the motor out of it we have a car at the shop somebody tried to put an ix motor in and while it does run and drive, it's haggard as shit under there

[LJ851]

Main ix engine differences are the oil pan, oil pump, dip stick, and pressure relief valve. The intermediate shaft and oil pump also spin reverse from a regular M20.

The oil pumps do not interchange directly, you would need to machine the block and and have some pieces machined to fit a non ix oil pump onto an ix block (so you could use a front sump pan). Also, the intermediate shaft and oil pump drive gear need to be swapped to non ix.

You can modify an ix block to work in a non ix, but you can't modify a non ix block to work in an ix.

It's not worth the trouble in my opinion.



EDIT:

Found this, details.


BMW club Bischofswerda

Hobbyist´s tip by Stephan Ullrich

Changing a M20ix-Block to the M20 standard block




The most important changes made to the block and engine are as follows:

- Install the Oil pan of normal 6 cylinder.
- Install the Oil pump of a normal 6 cylinders.
- Drill and tap a hole into the block (next to the oil pump) for the oil pressure relief valve. Of course you have to screw the relief valve into the block, which on the IX is integrated into the pump.
- Install the drive shaft from the regular oil pump, the IX drive shaft is much shorter.
- At the same time, change the pump gears (auxiliary shaft in the block and the mating gear on the pump ) otherwise the normal 6 cylinder pump will turn in the wrong direction and won't deliver oil to the head and there will be no oil pressure! (I figured this out after the engine was running and I then got to take it apart again)
-Drill a hole into the block, which is there in the normal 6 cylinder oil pan but is not in the block. This is so that the oil pan can be screwed on in all places!
- IX engine mounts cannot be used, the holes at the block are in the same position but are larger. Drill out the holes in the mounts and then the normal 6 cylinder mounts can be used.
- Dipstick is mounted differently than normal. Plug the IX dipstick hole and drill a hole on the other side of the block. Install a bushing and then the dipstick installation should not be a problem.
- The metal part connecting the block and transmission of the normal 6 cylinder must be added as well as the lower part, which rests upon the the oil pan and which closes out the transmission.

In order to avoid the oil pump problems, you can also leave the IX pump installed. Just cut off the pumps inlet tube, shorten and weld so that it fits into the normal 6 cylinder oil pan. This also does away with the need to change the pump gears.

Otherwise, there should be no other problems.

[nando]

it's more worthwhile to fix it than part it out just for a motor. there's a billion M20B25s around that don't require the extra work to swap into your eta..

[WillieDee]

well the end goal is to have that motor in one e30 that will be a dd and ill still keep the other for a project. as of right now i would get it and most likely not be able to have the IX all fixed up untill the end of winter and busy work season. and my ES is still kicking pretty good but she had an asshole of a PO and so shes been running a little rough now being at 225k. and my biggest strugle with the IX would be getting the body pannels if need be.