[Gus B]

Brought a beautiful 2011 535ix with 70k on the clock non running on craigslist. Figured the motor was toast, turned out the #3 connecting rod decided it needed looking at and made an inspection hole in the side of the block. I think the last owner was messing with the valve cover gasket, pinched it and ran out of oil.

This isn't going to be a very detailed guide since the scope of work was pretty huge. TIS was pretty helpful although there was some minor discrepancies.
This swap is 100% possible without a lift, you just need a cherry picker and jackstands.

Got all my parts from FPC euro save a few they didn't have. There was a small issue with my order and FPC were amazing solving it so shout out to them. Same goes for BMW northwest.

Some notes:

• My car had aluminum bellhousing bolts, looks like bmw switched to steel and you're supposed to replace them so use (5x) 23001222893 to replace them.
• TIS wants you to remove the trans with the motor, I didn't and it went smooth, you will need to drop the subframe ~2in.
• I used a 2012 engine, the only difference was the connector on the boost pressure gauges was updated. I ended up just splicing the wiring loom since it was already in the car and the sensors were expensive.
• Some people say you can use the tow hook to lift the engine, that was not the case for me and I had to buy bmw part number 72 15 8 108 670, It has special threads (kinda like acme but more round) so a normal bolt won't work and there's really no way around this.

Some Special Tools needed:

• E torx socket and wrench set, just get them upfront, I had never seen those fasteners before and you need the wrenches for the bellhousing bolts
• All the torx and metric sockets
• Laptop with ISTA on it to reset adaptions and other stuff

Really didn't need much else special, obviously will need a good shop for this though.

Please let me know if you have any questions!
I also have some parts from the original engine (injectors, HPFP, ect.) that should still be good and willing to sell at low prices.

[Trainwreck914]

Nice job. I plan I'm doing an engine swap also on a non running 2011 535i. Hopefully in the fall. How many hours would you say it took you?

[Gus B]

Probably around 40 hours, it was a lot of short days during quarantine.

[OnlyGerman]

Another 2011 with a bad motor

[Gus B]

Originally Posted by OnlyGerman

Another 2011 with a bad motor

That's why I got the '12, hopefully it's a better motor

[OnlyGerman]

Originally Posted by Gus B

That's why I got the '12, hopefully it's a better motor

142k on mine, I hope so

[Trainwreck914]

Yeah. 129k on mine. Knock on wood!

[Nickco43]

Originally Posted by Gus B

Brought a beautiful 2011 535ix with 70k on the clock non running on craigslist. Figured the motor was toast, turned out the #3 connecting rod decided it needed looking at and made an inspection hole in the side of the block. I think the last owner was messing with the valve cover gasket, pinched it and ran out of oil.

This isn't going to be a very detailed guide since the scope of work was pretty huge. TIS was pretty helpful although there was some minor discrepancies.
This swap is 100% possible without a lift, you just need a cherry picker and jackstands.

Got all my parts from FPC euro save a few they didn't have. There was a small issue with my order and FPC were amazing solving it so shout out to them. Same goes for BMW northwest.

Some notes:

• My car had aluminum bellhousing bolts, looks like bmw switched to steel and you're supposed to replace them so use (5x) 23001222893 to replace them.
• TIS wants you to remove the trans with the motor, I didn't and it went smooth, you will need to drop the subframe ~2in.
• I used a 2012 engine, the only difference was the connector on the boost pressure gauges was updated. I ended up just splicing the wiring loom since it was already in the car and the sensors were expensive.
• Some people say you can use the tow hook to lift the engine, that was not the case for me and I had to buy bmw part number 72 15 8 108 670, It has special threads (kinda like acme but more round) so a normal bolt won't work and there's really no way around this.

Some Special Tools needed:

• E torx socket and wrench set, just get them upfront, I had never seen those fasteners before and you need the wrenches for the bellhousing bolts
• All the torx and metric sockets
• Laptop with ISTA on it to reset adaptions and other stuff

Really didn't need much else special, obviously will need a good shop for this though.

Please let me know if you have any questions!
I also have some parts from the original engine (injectors, HPFP, ect.) that should still be good and willing to sell at low prices.

I am interested, in your opinion how well was the old engine taken care of? Was there a lot of sludge? How is the rest of the car?

[Gus B]

Originally Posted by Nickco43

I am interested, in your opinion how well was the old engine taken care of? Was there a lot of sludge? How is the rest of the car?

The car looks to have been garaged for most of its life and was in good shape. The second owner bought it a year and a half ago, they didn't treat it as good as the first. Not much sludge but they ran it into a ditch and totalled it after ripping the suspension off.

From the codes, it looks like it was having vanos issues (probably solenoids) so they took the valve cover off (no idea why), then pinched the gasket, ran it out of oil then spun the rod. Not too much sludge but the internals looks burnt, hard to say though.

[Nickco43]

Originally Posted by Gus B

The car looks to have been garaged for most of its life and was in good shape. The second owner bought it a year and a half ago, they didn't treat it as good as the first. Not much sludge but they ran it into a ditch and totalled it after ripping the suspension off.

From the codes, it looks like it was having vanos issues (probably solenoids) so they took the valve cover off (no idea why), then pinched the gasket, ran it out of oil then spun the rod. Not too much sludge but the internals looks burnt, hard to say though.

Very interesting, That seems like the case for most second and third owner of the F10. They do not take care of them at all and are shocked when something catastrophic goes wrong.