Curious about engine.
 

I know there are a lot of you who aren’t running stock internals, when it comes to intakes, exhaust, etc. but is anyone running a non stock engine? By that I mean any engine not available as a factory option like the N54, N62 or M57?


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There may be exceptions but I haven't heard of any swap that isn't some level of nightmare due to harness, ECU, exhaust etc. etc. differences. Suggests quite high level of DIY knowledge is needed. I think it is best to mod to the max the devil you know.

There was a thread some time ago where someone was swapping in a LS1 Chevy engine. Last I knew it was still in progress.

I totally agree with bcredliner, way easier to mod what’s there vs an LS swap... but it is possible, though I’ve never seen it done maintaining the all wheel drive and I love my all wheel drive.

YouTube:
https://youtu.be/0LSmgADlT6M

Couple guys on there have done it, and they do run, one dude even claims “all wheel drive” but I’m not buying it....

I mean I would be attempting the ultimate swap, because I’m a rotorhead, so I would swap mine with a 13B-REW wankel, yknow just so I can have that unique one of a kind car that I have always wanted!


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Interesting swap, not being a monster sized V8, if you could pull that off you might be the first guy that I believe kept all wheel drive.

Send pics if it happens [emoji106]

Also one other question, have any of you turboed an N54? I had concerns about cracking the block since it’s got 200k miles on it. Any ideas?


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N54 is already turbo'd. You mean N52/3?

Do you mean M54...? :dunno:

The E53 X5 never had an N54 in it... they came later...

Curious about engine.
 

Sorry I meant the M54, the 3.0i in-line 6


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Ohhh... that makes more sense. I thought you were thinking swapping in an N52/53 and then turbo'ing that. In my head I was thinking that seemed like a lot of work over just turbo'ing the M54. :)

I'm sure there is lots of M54 FI info on e46 and E39 forums.

There are a couple of kits for the E46. I don't know of one for the X5. Block should be fine if you stay around the boost on the E46 kit. If there is a problem it is more likely to be piston ring blow by, valve guides or head or intake gaskets that have deteriorated. If you purchased the kit the tubing and mounting brackets might not work as they are for an E46. It would also be necessary to have the engine custom tuned for the turbo.

Also, do all of you get your parts from Dinan? I saw the brand thrown around a few times in the forum and was wondering. Has anyone got some advice for upgrading the 3.0i, because i've been told that I might as well just blow the engine up as is, because changing anything about it will diminsh the life of it heavily

The m54 is very stout. If it's tired refreshing it will bring it back to form.

Most of the Dinan stuff is no longer available from them. Anything short of NOS or FI is going to be wasting money performance wise. Just not much to be had from intake, exhaust, and programming unfortunately.

So how would I go about forced induction without doing damage to the block and cylinders? And would it be turbo or super?

i would love to add super/turbo to the M54. love the engine, and the truck but if i had even 50 more HP i would be much happier.

I feel you would be very happy with a 4.8is.

I've driven 4.4 and the power level of 4.6 or 4.8 I'd be happy with. I HAVE (2) M54 E53. I'm very happy with the engine other than its short on torque.

Come on, you know you're not really wanting to get rid of yours are you?

Although it would keep Andrew's yin & yang color collection in order [emoji848][emoji1787]

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Andrew, you would just love the 3.0d. Same horsepower as the 3.0i with the same torque as the V8... :thumbup:

And unless you drive really fast (and as our speed limit is 100kmh, I don't) it's the best of both worlds.

But for real top-end speed.. the V8s have it in the bag, hands down.

I'm much more interested in torque v but the USA has shunned the diesel.


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^Do the E46's use the GM or a ZF trans?

OP, if you are worried about blowing the engine, FI is not for you. Buy a V8 powered e53. A lot simpler and less headache (although they come with their own set of problems) compared to building a "fast" i6 e53.

You know, it is essentially a toy now. Like that 3rd car, that sounds amazing, pulls like a raging bull, and looks 20 years younger than some new shit out there.



It was supper funny the other day. I went to visit friends for a big BBQ. All the people in the party, pull up in some sort of Asian/Jap model of a car. All of their fam and friends. Maybe 20 or so cars in driveway and street. Not one car there was German. Wife came out and said to me, you know, I don't want to sound like a car snob at all, but none of the new cars parked here look as stunning as the 15 year old X5. Yup, i agree.



I want a new x5m so bad. I don't drive it enough though. Can't justify dropping $1k a month for something that gets 4k miles a year max.

Understand that - I meant you need to try the E70 xDrive35d one day. 198 kW & 576 N⋅m ;)

If have to import it -:(.


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No no, they sold them in the USA starting in 2009... several members here have one in the garage too. :thumbup:

When one makes the decision to do performance mods they should also expect there will be some problems, less reliability, more maintenance and at some point of improvement they will find the weakest link. That doesn't mean that any of those things will happen but go in accepting that could be the case.

In your case, start with a compression and leakdown test. If it doesn't pass don't do anything until it does. When it does, do some research on what other owners have done with the same engine. It is wise to never break new ground. Do the same mods others have done, same brands, no differences. Safest route is to research only the same model and year X5 as you have. I don't think you will find much. It is fine to research E46s and other models with the same engine but that info has to be applied to the drivetrain limits of your vehicle.

Rule of thumb is that .1 increase from 0-60 will cost $1000 or more. I always start with low restriction exhaust and cold air box. That will improve the performance of even a stock engine some. Butt dyno feels like it is more than it actually is and it improves the sound of the engine and exhaust, more fun driving it. And, other mods will want more air in and more air out anyway. Next I would research to see if someone like Turner motorsports has a plug and play tune. I would be surprised if you find one for an X5 but I expect you can for an E46. Another option is going to a local custom tuner. Stock tunes are always conservative and HP/TQ curves are aimed at efficiency more than performance so it pretty easy to bump it up. My guess is that adding 50HP with whatever TQ increase comes with it will not exceed the limits of the drivetrain even if it exceeds the BMW max spec but that's something to spend some time researching. 50HP at the crank will only be about 35HP at the wheels. I recently added 150HP to our X5M with just a plug and play tune. If I break something, oh well, s$%t happens.

If you want more than 50HP, a turbo, nitrous or a supercharger, and be safe, you would need to address the internals--that's expensive, especially if you can't DIY. You could buy a newer X5 that has more than double the performance for less than that expense.

Plug n play tune is of interest to me. I'm thinking along the lines of cold air intake and maybe an ECM reprogram for max low torque vs efficiency. Big deal if I get 14 vs 16 city.


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I agree more low end TQ is important. The tune that has the greatest HP increase will also deliver the greatest TQ increase. The tune might increase mileage. Unless, I could find verification that something else will augment the tune I wouldn't make any other changes as it will be matched to stock conditions

FYI, last I checked Dinan still offered the trans software for some models. It's well worth the price if available. It makes the shifts firmer, changes shift points to get more out of HP/TQ curves, increases the max RPM before wide open shifts and in manual it won't shift until you do so.

I'm ok with the m/s override but do like the idea of that trans program.


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ECS was advertising a plug and play tune for our X5's.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-turner-m...rain-software/

Only see for the V8 :-(


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ECS doesn't stock all the Turner motorsports tunes. Prices are always the same from Turner direct or ECS. I purchased my X5M tune directly from Turner. At least once a quarter the tunes will be on sale for 10 to 15% off. The last sale ended after the 4th. Turner tunes are easy to install and you can always go back to the stock tune. After you purchase the tune they send you a Turner install file (windows based). It checks for codes and if all OK it makes a copy of stock tune on a flash drive. Next step is to send the file to Turner via email. They review the tune and email a file of their tune. Load the tune on the flash drive and follow the turner setup. Turner tune was emailed to me the next day.

Only tunes I have seen for 3.0 engine are for E46 models. That should work but I would call source to make sure.