Hey all bimmer fans

i have a 1986 635 and it has a wore out motor...so i am wanting to do a motor swap with a peppier motor like a 1984 to 1986 m5. so far all the research i have found shows that this would be the best swap. does anyone have any inputs on how difficult this is gonna be and if its even possible.

and also it is currently an automatic and i would like to convert it to a standard drive.

i would like to buy a m5 that has been wrecked in the rear or something of that nature so that i can snatch the motor, tranny, ecm, harness, and etc out. so if anyone knows where i can find one please let me know because i cant find one ANY where as of right now

thanks for all the help

US M5= 1988 only.

s38 cost: 4-8k, 8-12k for a euro spec s38. By the way you can't find one because there were only ever 1200 supposed to be here in the first place. A good s38 is a hard thing to come by. Your much much much better off swaping in a good m30 and a TCD kit. That will keep you very very happy...

what he said! if you have a six, it might make it easier to open up your search for an s38 if you look for M6's and M5's. M6's are probably easier to find honestly, and if you find one for like 10k, and your thinking of buying it, you might as well just by the M6, sell the 635 and use the money from the 635 to make the M6 even better. The tranny swap is a very common thought around the auto users, and there is a walk-through for it somewhere on the web. TCD II M30 will eat up an M6, and give a new one a run for its money (seriously though, new M6 = $106k, super modded TCD II 635 = $15k if you do the suspension work yourself.)

Good luck-

-Jeff

alright i did a lil more research and was told from a bmw recycleing company that i can buy a big six out of a newer car for 1500 with harness and everything and that it SHOULD be a bolt up swap...and i can get the 5 speed tranny with conversion kit for 1200...what do yall think

alright i did a lil more research and was told from a bmw recycleing company that i can buy a big six out of a newer car for 1500 with harness and everything and that it SHOULD be a bolt up swap...and i can get the 5 speed tranny with conversion kit for 1200...what do yall think

Is that including shipping?

I got a long block M30B35 for ~900$ with shipping from BavEngine. The wiring harness can be had for 100$. The trans can be had for 500$. A driveshaft can be had for ~300$. Methinks the prices are a bit high. A local wrecker will be able to get you much better prices.

As for the bolt up part, let me put it this way, it was a bolt-up swap into a 1972 3.0CS. The M30 didn't change much over 25 years.