E39 525i touring auto to 530i conversion...Done!

[Gizmo]

As some of you know I was busy with my brother's E39 525i. The number 5 piston's rings collapsed, well they were stuck in their grooves and compression was being lost after the car had warmed up. It baffled me at first and I thought it was a spark plug, coil, injector or lambda sensor as number 5 cylinder would miss-fire sometimes. After I had tried swapping all of the above there was still no luck, so the 2.5lt motor was stripped down to find the piston was damaged.
Luck had it that FordKoppie knew a guy wanting to sell a E46 330i engine, 6spd box, DME, key and EWS. The catch was that it was in a Toyota Hilux DC and the owner wanted to swap out the 3.0lt for a Lexus V8, so after a little negotiations I picked up the lot for R10k.

While I had the engine out I replaced the plastic water pipes, thermostat, water pump, main shaft seal, pulleys, belts, plugs, filters and intake piping. Cat headers were replaced with 328i headers and also I had to fit the 525i sump as the 3 series one is different. I also had to buy a 530i airbox as the MAF is larger on the 3.0lt. Anyway, with the motor fitted and buttoned up running on the 2.5lt DME it fired up for the first time today.:joy:

Just need to fit the covers back on, sort out the exhaust piping for the new headers and then take it to Budler Motorsport to chip the 2.5lt DME to run the 3.0lt perfectly.:thumbs:

 

[Philip Foglar]

Wow, that's pretty amazing! These engine and gearbox conversions are pretty cool, but I gather a heck of a lot of work! So when are you going to make an E46 M3 Touring?? raise:

Remember the one in that Epic BMW Garage vid!! :thumbs:

 

[Raybimmer]

There is an E39 540i touring around East London !!!!

 

[moranor@axis]

pics :rollsmile:

oh wait it wont really look any different...

 

[Budleigh]

Awesome! That fixes the one issue I have with the E39 Tourings they sold over here - the 2.5 is adequate, but the 3.0 must be a massive improvement.:bravo:

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

Nah you know your stuffraise:

 

[Gizmo]

There is an E39 540i touring around East London !!!!

I will be doing a 4.4lt swap to the other 525i touring in my family later this year. We like white tourings in my family. My dad has a white 2001 525iT, my brother NOW has a 2001 530iT, his wife has just bought a white 2005 e46 325iT and I have a white 2005 325iT SP.:rollsmile:

 

[abmi0000]

That's a lot of Tourings :grin:

 

[Gizmo]

pics :rollsmile:

oh wait it wont really look any different...

Hence the reason for no pics.:idea:

---

I asked him if he would like to keep the 525i badge on the back, he said he would like to. I then convinced him to de-badge it instead so that's what Im gonna do!

 

[Fordkoppie]

This is a noteworthy upgrade :thumbs:
Did you change it to manual?

 

[whattingh]

My 525iT is just needs little bit more torque. Which I had money for a 530 conversion.

 

[Gizmo]

This is a noteworthy upgrade :thumbs:
Did you change it to manual?

It stayed an auto.

 

[andsz1]

This is a noteworthy upgrade :thumbs:
Did you change it to manual?

It stayed an auto.

Howzit @Gizmo,
This is awsome, well done on your achievement!
I have an 01 525, I really love it and I intend keeping it for a while. But I have been looking for a way to boost the power a bit so I was really excited to read you post. I've thought about swapping the engine for a 530i but I imagined it would be too expensive or not feasible, I feel more determined and positive that it can be done after reading your post. Thanks a lot!
Please tell me how difficult was this whole process.
If swapping my 525 for a 530 engine will i need to change the DME and gearbox also. Or what else would i need to change?

Do update on the DME chipping as well, tell us how it goes.

 

[Hellas]

Giz, how did the 330 motor go in the Lux? Why did the owner want to swop out? I know it's a common conversion is to go V8 Lex in a Lux, so was that his only reason?

 

[Gizmo]

This is a noteworthy upgrade :thumbs:
Did you change it to manual?

It stayed an auto.

Howzit @Gizmo,
This is awsome, well done on your achievement!
I have an 01 525, I really love it and I intend keeping it for a while. But I have been looking for a way to boost the power a bit so I was really excited to read you post. I've thought about swapping the engine for a 530i but I imagined it would be too expensive or not feasible, I feel more determined and positive that it can be done after reading your post. Thanks a lot!
Please tell me how difficult was this whole process.
If swapping my 525 for a 530 engine will i need to change the DME and gearbox also. Or what else would i need to change?

Do update on the DME chipping as well, tell us how it goes.

Its pretty straight forward to swap the engines when you remove the nose for better access. You don't need to change the gearbox or DME. After the swap the 3.0lt engine starts and runs just fine on the stock 2.5lt DME. The DME will need to be chipped to get the max out of the 3.0lt motor however. This will be done on tuesday by Budler Motorsport.:thumbs:

---

Giz, how did the 330 motor go in the Lux? Why did the owner want to swop out? I know it's a common conversion is to go V8 Lex in a Lux, so was that his only reason?

The diesel engine blew in the lux so a workshop fitted a 330i motor in its place. A guy bought the lux from the garage who did the conversion and drove it a little at the farm, he complained it didn't have low-down grunt but flew on the highway. He wanted low-end grunt for farm work so thats the reason he swapped it out for a lexus v8.

 

[herr bmw]

well done gizmo,seems like you enjoy doing motor swops on bmw''s,and seems like you love your tourings.

do you still have the e36 in your signature as i like it alot:thumbs:

 

[Gizmo]

I would never sell my white e36, not for any kind of money.

Tourings are the new "IN THING", get one and you will see what I mean.:thumbs: