E53 M54 to M57 diesel engine swap (with 6-speed manual transmission) *pic heavy*

[andrewwynn]

That's a very good reason. That can be the start and end.

[vbelsky]

Originally Posted by Effduration

I have looked (briefly) at this swap and noticed that the M57 (not sure it was the upgraded M57N) was used in marine applications in the states. Yanmar diesel engines use an M57..but I didn't see a whole bunch used Yanmar engines floating around. Look like they were sold in limited quantities.

I had to look this up after you mentioned it as I was super intrigued, and you're absolutely right. The Yanmar 6BY series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=71&f...ature=youtu.be

Very obviously a BMW M57 iron block in this video. Interesting stuff. I wonder how much they modified it, what is ran for engine management, etc.

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

Why the need to swap the gauge cluster?

As wpoll mentions, the redline is a good bit lower on the diesel. It would also drive me insane to have it say "gasoline" under the fuel tank level gauge portion of the gauge cluster.

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by vbelsky

... Very obviously a BMW M57 iron block in this video. Interesting stuff. I wonder how much they modified it, what is ran for engine management, etc. ...

The M57 and M57N (M57TÜ) have a cast iron block. The M57N2 (M57TÜ2) etc. has an alloy block.

In terms of the E53 chassis, all the diesels were a cast iron block, since the M57TÜ2 wasn't used in an X5 until the E70 chassis (circa 2007).

And yeah - you DON'T want to accidentally put petrol (gasoline) into a diesel!!

[vbelsky]

Originally Posted by wpoll

The M57 and M57N (M57TÜ) have a cast iron block. The M57N2 (M57TÜ2) etc. has an alloy block.

In terms of the E53 chassis, all the diesels were a cast iron block, since the M57TÜ2 wasn't used in an X5 until the E70 chassis (circa 2007).

And yeah - you DON'T want to accidentally put petrol (gasoline) into a diesel!!

M57 and M57N share the oil pan gasket, both have solenoid injectors rather than the piezo ones found in the later N2, and they are both single turbo. Both are cast iron block, of course.

M57N and M57N2 share the bellhousing bolt pattern, and coolant thermostat. The M57N2 in the USA, however, has a compound twin turbo setup (and some lower trims of it have a single turbo if I recall correctly). I think the M57N and N2 run the same injection pressure of 1600 BAR vs 1350 BAR in the non-TU M57.

[bmw540san]

Watching this with interest.
This is quite comparable to "upgrade" of M52 to M52TU.
While M52TU is lighter due to the introduction of aluminum block (vs iron on M52) and more efficient due to several "improvements", the fact is that M52 will easily outlive M52TU and it's more reliable.
The little I know about M57 vs TU, it does seem like a similar story.

[andrewwynn]

Reminding me of the biggest "improvement" last decade in BMW engines; Valvetronic.

Amazing tech HP gains almost like a small turbo but holy crap complicated.

I was very much hoping to find our next car without it just from repair and maintenance standpoint.

It was leading me towards 35d option in 12-14 year range.

We ended up with 50i; turns out the original N63 motor, to lower complication, BMW left of Valvetronic. Woot woot.

9% less HP; I'll take that trade off still has 400.

[bmw540san]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

Reminding me of the biggest "improvement" last decade in BMW engines; Valvetronic.

Amazing tech HP gains almost like a small turbo but holy crap complicated.

I was very much hoping to find our next car without it just from repair and maintenance standpoint.

It was leading me towards 35d option in 12-14 year range.

We ended up with 50i; turns out the original N63 motor, to lower complication, BMW left of Valvetronic. Woot woot.

9% less HP; I'll take that trade off still has 400.

Interesting fact about early N63 lacking Valvetronic, didn't know that.
I totaly agree with your asesement as Valvetronic is more efficient on NA engines.

[andrewwynn]

They added to n63tu and it did bump the HP up about ten percent. Totally not worth it.

The n52 very similar to my M54 but with Valvetronic and that is like 16% HP boost no turbo. The difference is quite noticable.

The n63tu3 I forgive it for having Valvetronic; that thing is a BEAST

I didn't know no Valvetronic until we bought '12 50i X5.

I figured we just had to bite the bullet and deal with it. Imagine my happy surprise! (Tempered by the fact they used matched $300 Dirk injectors)! If you can't find a matched series you have to replace all 8 if one goes bad; literally more than changing out a turbo!

[vbelsky]

Transmission arrived yesterday from Lithuania in a small crate. Was very safely and efficiently packaged.

[bmw540san]

I've recently made a crate for E39 Diff to be shipped here in US and I pretty much used identical materials, literally the same grade plywood and 1" square wood pieces.
I'm curious, which carier arrived with?
I've done some international shipping (Europe to US) and DHL is typicaly the cheapest.