[kb1jkn]

Hello, first time post. We have a 2013 BMW X3 M Sport with an N20 that not surprisingly spun a rod bearing. We purchased the car knowing the engine was bad with the plan to pull it out and rebuild it, or put in a used engine from a junkyard. Cost and time are both obvious factors.

As time has gone on and I have less to dedicate to it, I have decided to go with the junkyard route. The car has around 130k on it, and the cost to repair the known bad parts and still get a questionable lifetime from the engine has me concerned.

I found a local N20 out of a 2017 X3 with 29k for a price we feel comfortable sinking into the car. To find a 2013 N20 with lower miles has been very difficult, most have over 90k. Even well running, I wouldn't feel comfortable installing it without at least new main and rod bearings and updating the timing set. At that point I am well over the cost of the 2017 engine, with much higher mileage.

I have done some research on the N20 through the life of the X3 and have come up with some differences that concern me.
1 I understand the waste gate actuator was changed from vacuum to electronic. Would they be interchangeable from the older turbo to the new one?
2 Fuel injectors seem to have changed through the years. Could the new injectors work with the older computer if the trim information is updated? Or would my current injectors need to be installed into the new engine? I am unsure if they are physically different.

If there are other issues that anyone is aware of please let me know. I don't want to get stuck with an engine that wont work for my application half way through the swap.
I will plan to keep the forum updated with progress and post pictures to help with future engine swaps.

Thank you
Mike M

[383vett]

I'd go with a company that rebuilds N20 motors. Comes with a warranty. Here's one

https://www.ghassanautomotive.com/pr...bmw-n20-engine

[kb1jkn]

That seems like a very reasonable price, I will look into that option. I would still like to know if there are differences between years that would make the swap from a 2013 to 2017 difficult.
Thank you

[kb1jkn]

I wanted to update with the direction I went with the engine swap. I went back and forth about having an engine built for the car, vs getting a used engine. Dollar for dollar I was more comfortable with going the used engine route.

The 2013 engine I removed had spun a rod bearing, but when I took it apart it was clear that wasn't the full story. At some point in the cars not so distant past, someone had broken the connection for the crank case ventilation hose to the turbo inlet pipe. Because of this the car had been breathing dirty air for however long it was broken, and subsequently wasted the cylinders. The previous owner had mentioned they were adding oil from time to time, and it all added up when I found the connection broken.

Because of this, and the mileage, I had little faith in the parts that would have needed to move from the old engine onto the new rebuilt long block. So after getting the engine, a new turbo, and the other miscellaneous parts I would be financially way further into this car then I wanted.

I found an engine from a local junk yard out of a 2017 X3 with 29k for a reasonable price, but had posted on here when I was trying to figure out which way I wanted to go. I was unsure about possible differences between the two, and couldn't find a lot of information about it. What reading I did made it look like it was a possible swap with some definite differences between the two. So, I pulled the trigger and picked it up.

- I also need to add why I went with a newer model year engine. Any of the other used engines I found that matched the one I had year for year had nearly as many miles as our X3 ( around 130k) when it spun the rod bearing. I knew if I picked up a higher mileage engine I wouldn't install it without opening it up and updating the timing set and installing new bottom end bearings. At that point I would be way over the cost of the 2017 engine, with way more miles. The 2017 engine , in my mind, already has the updates that the 2013 was lacking and only had 29k on it.

So, here is the work involved to get the engine swapped over.
- Swap the harnesses from the old engine onto the new engine. This is needed because the old harness has the connection for the PWG solenoid that my 2013 needs.
-Install PWG solenoid onto the new engine
-Swap cam sensors - plugs are different from old to new
-I used the newer updated high pressure fuel pump on the 2017 engine with my old 2013 harness, so I had to install the pump connector from the 2017 harness.
-Swap the EWG for the PWG on the newer 2017 turbo. The PWG end needed to be drilled out to 10mm to fit over the waste gate pin. I then adjusted the rod length to fully seat the waste gate at the specified -6 inhg. I had to grind some material off of the adjustment end of the actuator shaft to get this to happen. The threads were bottoming out in the linkage and not allowing the waste gate to fully seat at the specified vacuum.
- Reseal and swap the fuel injectors. I looked up the part numbers on both old and new injectors and confirmed the new 2017 were EU6 and the old 2013 were EU5. I purchased the tools to remove and reseal the injectors and swapped new to old paying attention to keep them in their matched cylinders.
-Swap ECU from the old engine to the new one.
-Use the newer turbo inlet pipe from the 2017 car- the retaining stud is in a slightly different location on the newer turbo. Luckily my replacement engine came with this hose.
- Reuse the older engine cover- new one has no vacuum bottle for the PWG.
- The new engine didn't come with the front diff, so I swapped the old onto the new with new seals.

If I think of anything else I will add it to the thread, but that should be everything needed if someone is thinking of doing a job like this. The engine ran perfectly once I got the car back together, and after front to back fluid changes through the car we have around 1k on it with no issues.

[383vett]

Great job. Congrats. How much was the used engine?

[kb1jkn]

$5300, unsure on what the prices are elsewhere in the country but for the mileage it was a fair price compared to others that I found in my area.

[Westcoastrice]

Hello!

I’m doing the same swap. Curious if you removed the driveline and undid transmission mounts when pulling the engine.

[kb1jkn]

The front driveshaft was removed, I kept the transmission mounts bolted in which kept the trans from moving. I supported the bellhousing with a floor jack, then a jack stand while the engine was out. I never touched the rear driveshaft.

The engine bay has enough room that the engine can be slipped forward to clear everything if you are careful and remove the fan.

[Fredcohiba]

Wow big job. Nicely done.

[deyrag]

If someone wants to repeat this job and make some money there is a local guy selling his 2013 for $2700 with a blown engine. Located in SC