[Zavera97]

Hey guys,

So I have a quick question. I have a 2008 e93 335i. I was headed home for a funeral. And wrecked my car. Nothing serious just body damage and a busted radiator. But with parts and paint I'm well into the hole. I found another 335i but it's a 2011 e92 335xi that just needs a motor. My motor is perfectly fine.

Can I just take my motor out and run it on that car or do they connect differently whether it's motor mounts, transmission, etc etc?

[Antetokounmpo]

No, oil pan is totally different. Not worth it, just find rwd one.

[relative4]

Why not just swap oil pans? You should replace the gasket anyway.

[ewicky]

If you feel comfortable swapping the motor, then yes go for it. The AWD/RWD aspect is the least challenging aspect of a motor swap haha. It really is just a matter of reusing the correct oil pan and oil pickup tube for the drivetrain you have.
I swapped a RWD RHD N54 into my AWD LHD E90 a while back. It was easy. Never cracked open the valve cover, exhaust nor intake manifolds, turbos, brake lines, or anything. The only thing I "cracked open" was the aircon to pull the engine out the front of the car instead of lifting or dropping the engine. Oh, and I guess I had to drill out a couple rivets on the front crash bar as well.
Never removed the exhaust system, trans etc. Just the front. Bought all the equipment and supplies to recharge the aircon and did it myself for less than what one aircon recharge service costs from a service station.
Oh and by "it was easy" I don't really have a frame of reference; it was my first and only (so far) engine swap on any car. I just assumed it was going to be some gargantuan task requiring all kinds of skills and tools I didn't have. But I just bagged each type of bolt by function/location and took my time. The replacement motor also had an oil cooler hookup on the OFH so I "engineered a solution" (I may or may not be referring to zip ties) for an aftermarket oil cooler inside my kidneys for that.

[lwgrenier]

wouldn't the 2011 be an n55 which would make it much more difficult?

[ewicky]

Originally Posted by lwgrenier

wouldn't the 2011 be an n55 which would make it much more difficult?

Much more difficult to swap types of motors, ya. I didn't realize that's what the OP was asking haha

[relative4]

Good catch! I obviously missed that too.

[Zavera97]

Originally Posted by lwgrenier

wouldn't the 2011 be an n55 which would make it much more difficult?

yes i realized that after i asked this question. its a whole different ball park now.not many people do it. I'm trying to figure out if the n55 trans will work or not. i may just use the 2011 as a skeleton and swap everything out. My car has less miles anyway.


I find it kind of weird that they changed motors without doing a gen change though. thats what threw me off.

[nyt]

Originally Posted by Zavera97

yes i realized that after i asked this question. its a whole different ball park now.not many people do it. I'm trying to figure out if the n55 trans will work or not. i may just use the 2011 as a skeleton and swap everything out. My car has less miles anyway.


I find it kind of weird that they changed motors without doing a gen change though. thats what threw me off.

Pretty sure the n55 engines use the 8hp45, which is a different bolt pattern than the 6hp21 used on the n54.

[Zavera97]

Man. Than sucks. Imma see what I can find. I have the convertible. And every where I look it says all the parts are different then the coupe. May just go with getting the parts I need and repainting. But seriously debating changing my interior while I'm at it. I think the red interior looks amazing. But thank you guys for all y'all's help. And if y'all know a website or something to find body parts let me know please.

[Unknown_Car]

Originally Posted by Zavera97

Man. Than sucks. Imma see what I can find. I have the convertible. And every where I look it says all the parts are different then the coupe. May just go with getting the parts I need and repainting. But seriously debating changing my interior while I'm at it. I think the red interior looks amazing. But thank you guys for all y'all's help. And if y'all know a website or something to find body parts let me know please.

Check out car-part.com. or use ebay.

[nissubaru]

Don't even try it lol, you should be looking for donors from 2007-2010. Preferably 07-08, I'll explain why down below. Attempting to put an N54 into an N55 car is an awful project that really makes no sense in the first place.


As others have said, the oil pans are swappable so if you find an X-drive car and you want to throw your RWD N54 into it then you only need to swap the x-drive oil pan onto your car.

However one thing you should definitely be on the lookout for is the number of bolts on the crankshaft of the engine. In January or February of 2009 they switched over to a 6 bolt crankshaft design along with some other minor changes that don't matter here. Prior to this all N54s were 8 bolts on the crankshaft. I think you'll be okay though, if you take your 8 bolt N54 to a 6 bolt car you will just need to reuse your "flex plate" I believe. Someone with an auto please correct me if I'm wrong, I have a manual transmission so we just have to worry about the flywheel.

[anhtien]

I have an n54 33xi, and have swapped the transmission from an n55 … Granted the donor transmission was also awd. I had a transmission shop install the transmission. If anything I would assume flashing the transmission to the correct one would be enough, but take this as a grain of salt and try and do some more research.

[nyt]

Originally Posted by anhtien

I have an n54 33xi, and have swapped the transmission from an n55 … Granted the donor transmission was also awd. I had a transmission shop install the transmission. If anything I would assume flashing the transmission to the correct one would be enough, but take this as a grain of salt and try and do some more research.

They n54 and n55 both use the 6hp21, the issue is he was looking at different model engine.

[anhtien]

Originally Posted by nyt

They n54 and n55 both use the 6hp21, the issue is he was looking at different model engine.

If it works for the transmission why would it be any different than swapping an engine? You essentially have all the parts you need in the crashes 335i.

Or am I missing something?

[relative4]

Originally Posted by anhtien

If it works for the transmission why would it be any different than swapping an engine? You essentially have all the parts you need in the crashes 335i.

Or am I missing something?

Are you ever.

[anhtien]

Originally Posted by relative4

Are you ever.

Not that this conversation would make any difference... but care to elaborate?

[Everett0731]

Originally Posted by nyt

They n54 and n55 both use the 6hp21, the issue is he was looking at different model engine.

I have a question so I have a 2010 335i xdrive and want to convert it to rwd Ik I have to switch the whole front of the suspension.. would I be able to use a 3335i rwd oil pan on the 335i xdrive engine .. and would I need to switch the transmission?

[nyt]

Originally Posted by Everett0731

I have a question so I have a 2010 335i xdrive and want to convert it to rwd Ik I have to switch the whole front of the suspension.. would I be able to use a 3335i rwd oil pan on the 335i xdrive engine .. and would I need to switch the transmission?

The back of the 6hp21x on x-drive is different from the standard transmission and attaches to the transfer case.

The engines are the same, the oil pan is interchangeable, though you'll need the different subframe and all related parts.

You could just use x-delete to keep it in rwd mode. *Shrug*

[TyroneShoelaces]

Originally Posted by nyt

The back of the 6hp21x on x-drive is different from the standard transmission and attaches to the transfer case.

The engines are the same, the oil pan is interchangeable, though you'll need the different subframe and all related parts.

You could just use x-delete to keep it in rwd mode. *Shrug*

Yes you can use x drive. There is more than just subframes to go rwd from awd without using x delete. Transmission mount is different and so is the entire dsc system including hardware and software. It's been done (myself and a few others) but not for the faint of heart.