740IL stock engine swap

so i wrecked my 740 and found another. my body is wrecked but engine is fine. the one i found is fine but the motor is wrecked. so i wana drop my engine in and ride away.


Real question is

how long of a process is a remove and replace?

also
can i use a cherry picker? plus if going this rout- what els id need......

mahalo

First off, hello! Im new to the forums but i have been meaning to do some writeups on what ive done. Sadly on these wonderfully quirky cars everything has already been done. I have a link to a engine removal video with obnoxious music but i used it as a guide because most seem to include removing the transmission which im not keen on doing in my driveway.

I did the engine swap start to finish in my gravel driveway with help from a poorly used (and now somewhat damaged) trailer hitch mounted load lift and gobs of cardboard to avoid the old rock in the back. As you know a jack stand tends to sink into gravel and dirt leaving less room to work by the end of the job but luckily i managed to finish it up before being crushed.

Doing the job in my driveway with a spare car to run out for tools or parts it took me about 4 of these short winter days. If i had proper tools, a real engine lift, and a garage (concrete would be nice) im sure i could have killed it in 2 days. Its not any more troublesome than any other engine job as long as you have bandaids and rubber gloves handy. Also you will need a lift load leveler, e-torx socket set, and alot of patience. For all the rubber gaskets and coolant seals i used a thick coat of sil-glide from napa (that might not be how its spelled. I feel like it helps protect these expensive seals from exposure to oil and other chemicals. When you find yourself disconnecting hoses down the road you will be happy they arent hardened on.

Thats all i got for now. Let me know how your job went if you did it already.

I was going to guess 3 days with all the right gear (I have it all and then some). Take lots of pictures and make loads of notes. Take the best of all the fixtures and clips so your end result is the best you could get.

Did this on my 2000 740il, took a weekend with a cherrypicker. Hardest part was driver side exhaust man. You can do. Did not remove trans..

Note that with a load leveler you can remove the engine with the exhaust attached, you just have to tilt the front of the engine up around 45 degrees. Dont make the mistake i did. It slipped my mind when i was swapping stuff to the new engine and i dropped it in with the exhaust off. It then took me several hours of struggling to squeeze the exhaust in through the bottom. Be prepared to struggle for hours to get the manifolds on or off with the engine in place. The drivers side was alot worse though.