Engine swap question

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Is a 1983 533i a suitable motor for a 1975 e9 coupe? I have all the electronics it's in a running car. What about the speedometer cable? Motor mounts oil pan etc. it's also paired up to a five speed. Thanks fred
 
Others here know much better than I, but I'm pretty sure that engine will swap into an e9 so long as you use the oil pan from the motor currently in the e9.
 
That motor and trans certainly would work fine.

It would be a 3.3 Liter instead of an original 3.0 or as Stan suggests a 3.5.

Yes you would need to keep the original motor oil pan.

I doubt you would see much difference but I do know for sure that the pre 84 533i had a lighter flywheel than the later 3.5 motor.
Those flywheels are heavily sought after on mye28.com.

I own a 84 533i with 312000 miles and it's never been opened up. Runs and starts great but smokes a little in stop and go because the valve guides are worn.

Gary
 
guys, my memory tells me that the 3.3L engine is much better than the b34 engine. i had an 84 533i, and as i remember that was a b32 engine. i think it had 194hp which is better than the b34 ... but not as good as the 207 of the b35
 
I suppose it depends on what else you want to change. Stan is correct in that the "best" base block+head combo that is easy to source is the M30B35, which was in cars starting with the 88 model year. This combo will give you the best out of the box performance, with hp and torque above 200 even with the stock Zeniths.

However, if you really want to wake up the powertrain, adding the Motronic FI to the mix at the same time will make the car vastly easier to live with. It can also give you a bump in power/torque and fuel economy. There are 2 versions, 1.0 (as in the 533) and 1.3. 1.3 is the superior version and it lets you use the CS flywheel, which is much lighter than later dual-mass units.

If you want to go crazy, there are 2 more options; the M90+B35 head combo or the S38. The M90 block, with rods+pistons+B35 head can give you ~3.7L, a 9.3:1 CR, (or whatever you spec if you go with custom pistons) and an oversquare engine, which makes it happy to rev. However, M90 block are becoming rather rare, so this is not the easiest path.

In terms of the 533, the E9 oil pan will be needed, as well as the pump. (as I recall, the pickup depths were different) Motor mounts are compatible. The 5 speed will be a Getrag 260 (not bad, but not the one you want, which is the 265) which does not have a compatible speedo cable drive gear. (not too sure about that one, moved mine from the stock 4 speed to the 265)
 
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