S54 Engine swap into E30

Hey guys, i have a 89 318i and I was wondering how hard it would be to swap in the S54B32 engine/tranny from a 05 BMW M3. If I had the whole donor car, what would be my biggest issue?

Also, would a M52 or S54 be better?

this has been covered. its a very hard swap, requires a custom made subframe and over $2000 worth of programming/harness work to get it to run. thats on top of the price of the m3.

Originally Posted by fcsteve

this has been covered. its a very hard swap, requires a custom made subframe and over $2000 worth of programming/harness work to get it to run. thats on top of the price of the m3.

Custom subframe for an s54? The m54 has the same pan bolt-pattern and fits the e30 with the proper setup.

Yes, the programing is the most expensive part aside from the s54 itself, but seeing the m54 has already been OBDI swapped by locking the exhaust cam, so could the s54. The ITB's and lack of MAF is another story. A quality standalone is less than the guys are charging for EWS delete/Alpha-N tuning from across the pond. The cams can be controlled by a signal just like the older 24v motors.

If the OP has an entire m3, for it to work "easily" all the e46 body harness, lock transponders, BCM etc would have to be transferred over to the e30 chassis.

the itb's, lack of MAF, ews, drive by wire and a couple other parts are what make the harness/getting it running so expensive. if it was as easy as you mentioned above everyone would do it. the m54 is a close relative, but still a different animal. yes you can delete vanos and make the other options work, but that puts you right back at a super expensive wiring/ecu setup.

in order to fit the proper dual sump oil pan you need a custom subframe.

Stick with the m50, m52, s50, s52

Originally Posted by fcsteve

the itb's, lack of MAF, ews, drive by wire and a couple other parts are what make the harness/getting it running so expensive. if it was as easy as you mentioned above everyone would do it. the m54 is a close relative, but still a different animal. yes you can delete vanos and make the other options work, but that puts you right back at a super expensive wiring/ecu setup.

in order to fit the proper dual sump oil pan you need a custom subframe.

Where besides in quotes did you see "easy"? Alpha_N is no stranger and any standalone is a MAP/MAF based system that can be modified to work ITB's. The dual sump can be overcome with mechanics the VANOS is still a mechanical product, even in the s54, there is a solenoid just like the m54. The dual sump is to overcome g-force of track and high-acceleration conditions, based on data at Homestead last weekend with 2 different MFGR vehicles last weekend, there's a lot to be desired in most OEM oil pickup as well as distribution.

Since the e30m3 can run ITB's, there's no reason the e36 ECU can't be used to do the same with the exception of the exhaust cam control.

What's "super expensive"? If you are spending several thousand on the engine alone for a particular swap, how is it "expensive" to add a couple g's on a tune? A $2k standalone will do all of it, a $1k standalone will work and the Euros want $2.5-3k for an EWS delete including performance tuning.

If one is willing to spend the money on purchasing an e46m3 wrecked/complete/salvaged, what makes you think they won't spend 1/4 more on making it proper in another chassis?

its a no brainer to use a Link ECU if you did that engine. either that or swap the entire E36 M3 body loom and everything into the E30 and let the car's brain know no different. that would be the cheapest albiet potentially most time consuming part

Just to bump this thread, as soon as we finish the last piece that will fully disable the MSS54 and MSS54HP DMEs from locking from excessive [sic] flashing (50-60 flashes), I'm going to finish the bits required for a fully FREE EWS delete.

More details can be found in this mega-thread.

Specific details can be found in the post I made this evening.

Enough is enough - cheers, to OPEN, community-based development and reverse engineering!

Even going the most simple way - A nice winter project. Lot and lots of hours.........

ok bottom line from what everyone is saying its really relatively simple IF and this is a huge IF you know what your doing and have the funds. Not a beginner job at all. I wanted to do it but the $$$$$ alone drove me away from it for now.