Hi, I'm new to bmw and have a 1994 E36 318i SE, I'm looking at putting a bigger engine in it. I have seen a 535 v8 cheap enough near me, would this fit, if not a 328 engine would I presume, what do people suggest?

How technical are you? What's your budget?

Sorry also to answer your question...

Both will fit, with tons of work

Im pretty technical to be fair, and i know people so id be able to do it, i dont really have a budget because itll be a project, i know that id have to replace more or less everything but was just wondering about space and mounting

The 328i engine will drop in with not a lot of modification. Putting an engine from a 328i into your 318i is absolutely pointless. You'll spend absolutely ages on it to step back when you have completed it and say "I have a big 2.8 in a 1.8/9 shell..... right" You can just buy a whole new car with that engine in it anyway. The E36 is incredibly common so they are plentiful. You would need a VERY strong emotional connection to this car in order to do such a thing.

The V8 conversion is a fantastic idea and the ONLY one worth thinking about if you have an E36 sitting in-front of you. It will not fit but you will have to MAKE it fit which is very much the point of doing such a complicated project. In other words, it's what makes it fun.

You will need custom engine mounts, transmission mounts, transmission linkage, Propshaft, cooling,,, pretty much custom everything. At my skill level at the moment, I would not attempt a V8 conversion..... Yet....

You would be silly to purchase a stand-alone engine. It is 234235234234 times wiser to buy a donor car like I did for my E28. You can hear/see it run and you can pull everything you will need from that car like the ECU, Loom, Fuel Pump, Propshaft, Mounts, Rad ETc.... Etccccccc.....

You can always do what I done "I have no idea what i'm doing so I'm ganna go out and buy a donor can and think about all this later" which.. well.. is silly BUT! it keeps you on your toes

Hope this helps,

Daz

thanks that helps alot, i do agree that dropping a 2.8 in would be a little pontless to be fair. just thinking for ease, ive seen m3 engines about too but for the price of the engine im sure you could pick up the car for that. the idea im going for really is a sleeper, fast car in a standard shell. i will look into buying a donor car in the near future so i can get started on the v8 conversion.

A donor car is defiantly the way forward mate, and a V8 in an E36 would be just s*x

This sounds amazing!! does anyone know if this is happening? id love to follow this......

This sounds amazing!! does anyone know if this is happening? id love to follow this......

I am yet to hear back from the person who wrote this thread. Maybe if you PM him, he can give you a status report.

Daz