M54 engine replacement - final stages, hopefully! .

J

Jamie25

Member
 Gloucestershire
Sorry for the monster post but I'm contemplating/preparing for a fairly major job. My thanks in anticipation if you get through this and can enlighten me at all. Hopefully it'll help others in the future. :scratchhead:

As you'll know if you happen to have read my 'Options for a Moron' thread from a week or so ago, I've written off the M54B30 engine in my E85 by driving into a flood and then trying to start it again. I'm waiting to settle a figure with the insurance hopefully on Monday or Tuesday. I thought I'd be looking forward to getting something different and I've had a real V8 itch for a while now, but having had a proper look about I keep on coming back to the Z which I know and love. I'm not feeling the 6 series/XK/SLK etc and really don't want to break up my car so I'm heavily leaning towards a replacement engine which should be easy enough to get for £800 delivered.

I've been researching the engine swap which I'd be doing on my drive. I'm not looking to 'upgrade' the engine for the sake of ease, plus with the exception of operator error the M54 seems fairly bulletproof and I know where I am to an extent. I've found lots of info on M54 replacement in other marks but not too much on the E85. Can anyone point me in the direction of a 'how to' or video?

Having had a nose around the engine bay it seems pretty straight forward. Assuming I can get an engine out of another Z, it looks like I wouldn't even have to strip too much off to actually remove it. As far as I can tell it'll basically be:
Unplug all electrical connections (marking them up to help with reinstallation). Drain oil/coolant and release coolant hoses. Air ducting and engine covers (already off). Split the exhaust where manifold meets exhaust - this should be okay as I replaced the exhaust about 18 months ago. I'm not too sure about the aircon and power steering pumps or connections yet. Fuel supply, bit more research required.
Wire or tie stuff back out of the way. Then engine mounts and gearbox connections and hoist out.

I'm sure there's no doubt some stuff I've missed or over simplified which is why a guide would be good.

I'd then have to swap over the ancillaries to the 'new' engine. Most come as a bare engine, which I'm assuming mean no inlet or outlet manifold. Other than the obvious service type items I'd need (plugs/oil/filters/coolant etc) what else am I likely to require?
Exhaust manifold to engine gasket, injector O-rings, intake gasket? I''ll quiz a couple of engine places tomorrow when they open but it's always good to check the collective wisdom. Any specific or particular tools?

I'll likely swap the CCV pipes whilst the engine is out as I'd replaced those a couple of years ago on mine and check the Disa valve isn't about to fall off but I'll leave the OFHG/Vanos/RCG until I've had the engine running for a while and know everything is basically okay. Save the extra outlay if it all goes wrong and those bits are pretty accessible anyway.

Anything I should look at whilst I've easy access? My clutch seems good so again, not looking for any extra outlay right now. Thanks again if you got this far!
 
Tbh I don’t think reading this you’ll struggle too much. You clearly know most of whats involved, you may well get an engine with manifolds still fitted but as you’re going this far either way I’d replace the gaskets whatever. I think you’ll find your way as you go along, it’s a take off then replace job, one to the other.

Best of luck but personally I think you’ll be fine. :thumbsup:
 
Thanks john-e89.

I've got a vague idea what I'm doing after a load of research, just trying to prevent running into too many problems and make sure as best I can that I gather all the relevant parts at once so I can get up and running again.
 
ccv renewal is a sensible option. get the cold climate kit with the thicker insulation.
remove throttle body, clean and check for spurious rattles. replace if anything is heard
remove ICV and clean. test for free movement of the vanes
check for oil leaks around the oil filter housing a the back.
replace waterpump and stat
replace cam cover gasket if leaking
replace starter if on the original
check sump gasket and main seal for leaks

keep us posted of your progress. sounds interesting
:thumbsup:
 
Chris thanks for that, I'd forgotten about the water pump and stat. I'll certainly check the throttle body and ICV but as for other items I'll likely sort afterwards assuming they're not horrendous. I think the other bits you've mentioned are okay to access afterwards, an increasingly rare thing these days.

Seal3.0 said:
Hi Jamie, I've got a spare M54 engine if you're still looking one?
Click to expand...

I could be interested as I've not actually sourced one yet. Can you tell me a little about it please?
 
ph001 said:
Wouldn’t get too concerned about the latter! :roll:
Click to expand...

Giving away my naivety there! :oops: Got me wondering now why it's so much heavier to steer with no engine running when there is no power steering. Vacuum as a first guess.
 
Jamie25 said:
I could be interested as I've not actually sourced one yet. Can you tell me a little about it please?
Click to expand...

I bought it from Quarry Motors (BWM Specialist in Sheffield) in April 2018. Came from a e46 330, c76k.

We've then put it in our race car for 3 races (c5hrs run time) before swapping it out for an S54 in December 18. It was inspected and serviced after every race by our race engineers.

Appreciate you'd expect me to say this but it's be very well cared for in our hands, far better than most road cars so I really wouldn't let the above put you off.

£700

We also have the exhaust, ECU and engine loom if required.
 
Jamie25 said:
ph001 said:
Wouldn’t get too concerned about the latter! :roll:
Click to expand...

Giving away my naivety there! :oops: Got me wondering now why it's so much heavier to steer with no engine running when there is no power steering. Vacuum as a first guess.
Click to expand...

The reason for heavy steering is the E85/6 have electric steering (on a motor underneath the column in the dash) not hydraulic. So you've got nothing to do here. One job saved at least. :thumbsup:

(this is all assuming it's not been converted to hydraulic of course) I'm about to start my conversion on my E85 in the spring as steering motor is packing up. Should be fun. :?
 
Seal3.0 said:
I bought it from Quarry Motors (BWM Specialist in Sheffield) in April 2018. Came from a e46 330, c76k.

We've then put it in our race car for 3 races (c5hrs run time) before swapping it out for an S54 in December 18. It was inspected and serviced after every race by our race engineers.

Appreciate you'd expect me to say this but it's be very well cared for in our hands, far better than most road cars so I really wouldn't let the above put you off.

£700

We also have the exhaust, ECU and engine loom if required.
Click to expand...

I was planning on speaking with Quarry Motors tomorrow. I think ideally I'm after one out of an E85 as I understand it this should be plug and play and I can keep my existing loom and ECU. I'm okay with a spanner but I'm easily confused by electronics so I'm looking to keep that side of things as easy as possible.
I shall certainly keep you in mind though.
 
I'd have thought it would be pretty plug and play given the E85 and 46 are basically the same car with a different body, but Tbh, that's where my knowledge runs out too. That's why we have race engineers. :D

No worries and good luck. :thumbsup:
 
I think some of the ancillaries are located in the different parts of the different shaped engine bays. I'm not certain either to be honest but if I can get one out of a Zed it's one less question mark.
 
I can understand that completely.

Keep the tread going as it certainly come in handy for someone else at some point. :thumbsup:

Good luck and you can reach me if you need to.
 
Interesting. Could you purchase an insurance write off and also have a mainly-complete car for additional spares as well as the engine extras you’ll need?
EDIT: What about the N52 engine as an alternative option? Must be plenty of 3 series around with that lump going spare.
 
Seal3.0 said:
Jamie25 said:
I could be interested as I've not actually sourced one yet. Can you tell me a little about it please?
Click to expand...

I bought it from Quarry Motors (BWM Specialist in Sheffield) in April 2018. Came from a e46 330, c76k.

We've then put it in our race car for 3 races (c5hrs run time) before swapping it out for an S54 in December 18. It was inspected and serviced after every race by our race engineers.

Appreciate you'd expect me to say this but it's be very well cared for in our hands, far better than most road cars so I really wouldn't let the above put you off.

£700

We also have the exhaust, ECU and engine loom if required.
Click to expand...

For what it’s worth I’d not hesitate to buy from Quarry either, decent chaps that don’t sell knock off or scrap stuff. :thumbsup:
 
inkey$ said:
Interesting. Could you purchase an insurance write off and also have a mainly-complete car for additional spares as well as the engine extras you’ll need?
EDIT: What about the N52 engine as an alternative option? Must be plenty of 3 series around with that lump going spare.
Click to expand...
That's kind of the reverse of what I'm looking to do. I don't have room for another car. :D
As to the N52, it's tempting but I'm trying to keep it simple. Maybe next time! 8)
 
john-e89 said:
For what it’s worth I’d not hesitate to buy from Quarry either, decent chaps that don’t sell knock off or scrap stuff. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Always good to hear, thanks.
 
I got fed up waiting to hear from the insurance and decided that either way I'll be replacing the engine and keeping it or scraping it. Most likely the former. So today I spent a few hours prepping the engine for removal.

I'd got it onto axel stands yesterday ; it's lowered and I'd normally drive onto blocks to allow the jack to fit under. Plus my drive is sloped. Got there in the end.

IMG_20210105_111144.jpg

Drained oil and coolant (oil had a little water in it).
Removed all of the electrical connections save the two oxygen sensors on the down pipes which I think will be easier to remove as I lift the engine out. This actually took the majority of the time as I meticulously labelled all connections.
Removed the relevant coolant hoses.
Removed the aircon drive belt and pump and wired it out of the way.
Disconnected fuel feed and earth straps.

Also removed the headlights as they'd got a little condensation. At least one of them had it before the flood, not sure about the other. 🙄

It was all surprisingly straightforward. The only thing that broke was one of the earth wires adjacent to the coil packs which will be a simple repair.

In theory all that remains is to undo the gearbox to engine bolts, the down pipe to exhaust bolts and the two engine mount nuts.
I'm not sure if I'll have to remove the aluminium under tray to access the gearbox bolts?

I was tempted to start removing ancillaries but I think this will be easier and possibly more satisfying to do with the engines side by side.

I'll chase up the insurance company tomorrow although I don't think it'll really move me away from my gut decision which is to replace the engine. Hopefully I'll order that tomorrow as well as the other sundries. Days off from Wednesday next week, should be all systems go. I'll hire an engine hoist and I've found the following load leveller on ebay which seems okay for occasional use. Should make it much easier to do on my own.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1650lb-750kg-Engine-lifting-balancer-crane-leveler-chain-load-garage-loading-/173408678048?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Fingers crossed!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom