rough price engine swap

[danwins]

Evening all,

I Have been given an e46 320ci m sport that is immaculate, apart from the engine. rc gasket, ofh gasket, sump gasket are all leaking, there's a crack in the water reservoir, a vacuum leak and a misfire. As its only a 2ltr, rather than fixing it I have bought a low mileage (54000 miles) 3ltr and will just swap engines.

The problem is I don't have the space to pull and fit an engine so am thinking of getting a local garage to do it. I will strip it down so all they have do is unbolt the g/box and engine mounts.

Any ideas of cost to have it done?
Cheers

[330ti]

danwins said:

Evening all,

I will strip it down so all they have do is unbolt the g/box and engine mounts.


Cheers

You might as well finish the job if you think it’s so simple

[anonymous-user]

The 3 litre engines share many or more of the leaky problems,i dont think the engine electronics will work and you will need better brakes.

[8Tech]

It will be cheaper to go and buy a 330.

[WarnieV6GT]

Great snap shot of PH here. No one knows the answer but still feel inclined to post a cocky reply or tell the OP what he should do instead.

Just phone a local garage op. Or just post this in the engine/drivetrain section. You'll probably find people who have swapped an engine over in there.

Edited by WarnieV6GT on Monday 4th May 07:56

[rassi]

Is the 320i gearbox interchangeable with the 330i engine?

[Monkeylegend]

rassi said:

Is the 320i gearbox interchangeable with the 330i engine?

Presumably it is rated to take the increased power/torque as well, as are the drive shafts?

Is the exhaust a straight swap?

Not forgetting to change the V5 and tell your insurance co.

Well we might as well point out other potential issues at the same time

[anonymous-user]

Alan535 said:

i dont think the engine electronics will work and you will need better brakes.

This will almost certainly be the case. If you are going to mend it, just find a good second hand engine of the same type. Or just go buy another car that works.

If you are paying a garage £70 per hour it doesn’t take long for it to become uneconomical.

[4rephill]

Be aware that if you are going to do a legal engine swap (as in: declare the swap to the DVLA and your insurance company), the cost of insuring a modified 320 ci with a 330 engine, will be higher than the cost of an unmodified 330 ci.

(And if you don't declare it, and something goes wrong, such as crashing the car, then your insurance will be null & void in regards to your car [but not any third party claims against your insurance. The insurance company will come after you personally for any money paid out to a third party though] )

[anonymous-user]

The site for information on E46 cars i use is E46Fanatics heres a thread to help you realise the size of the project
https://e46fanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=205...
As 8Tec said it would be cheaper to buy one.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 4th May 16:53

[BFleming]

You will need the ECU from the donor car, along with the corresponding CAS and keys/locks to do it properly. There are many people though who will put a M54B30 map onto your existing M54B22's ECU (Endtuning in Birmingham for example) which would then negate the need for the CAS & keys/locks etc.. There is very little difference between either engine loom. Although tenuously relevant here, when people have done conversions from the 2.5 to the 3.0, the engine will run on the 2.5's ECU.
Rather than get the yellow pages out, try doing some research on garages who do custom work like this. There are plenty. I'd reckon a day's labour to just do the engine & gearbox swap assuming they're a straight swap. As you said, everything else you can do yourself.

[PGNSagaris]

I bought an E46 325i compact with a fked engine to fix and go racing. Replacement cost all in, with some help from friends and two good mechanics, was £1500. Engine alone was £550 off eBay. Been superb ever since after a full season racing in the BMWCC.

I also had to replace the engine in the other E46 which had a 3.0ltr after I missed a gear mid-race. WHAT A NOB. Anyway. That engine cost me £650 off eBay and all in the bill was pretty much £2000.

I then took it to Snetterton on a test day the day after it was rebuilt and by the end of the day the new engine was bust again. I should have been less aggressive perhaps but it turns out the engine was from a non marching car...so do your due diligence peeps.

Anyway, a new engine was sorted, again, and £1500 later the car is fine

Edited by PGNSagaris on Tuesday 5th May 13:40

Edited by PGNSagaris on Tuesday 5th May 16:10