Tell me about BMW diesel engines

[fordf350camper]

Hi can you tell me about bmw 325 525 or any bmw diesel engines.Are they any good.Do you need any kind of wiring or any other bits.Are they rwd or if not what gearbox will fit.Thank you

[jrevillug]

Yes, lots of wiring - quite complex, and very few wiring guides out there as far as I know.
Yes, RWD - all BMWs are.
Yes, good - powerful and fairly economical.

[ben711200]

Also available in a Vauxhall Omega. About 130bhp I think. I have looked vaguely at them for the Volvo but I'm good at changing my mind lots

[fordf350camper]

Is there any kits to make the wiring easyer.I was thinking transit diesel but to me the bmw engine looks better,not sure if it is though.Thanks

[joem83]

What age 325 or 525's? Think they used different engines.
Only thing I know with BMW engines is, the newer they are the more wires/complex it will be.
My 2004 320d was stupidly complicated.

[jrevillug]

tinyurl.com/3xwc9jx

[rob0r]

I'm lucky enough to share workspace with the BMW guru Bodieandoyle (Edd). I know about BMWs myself but nothing compared to him! I've discussed fitting a BMW 2.5TDS engine (early 90s, as in the Omega) with him before and the wiring was never really discussed as a problem. I might be wrong, but it will be similar to typical BMW engines of that era with the engine on a seperate loom which is fairly easy to splice into any cars existing loom. Admittedly whenever I've had to wire up a later BMW engine into an earlier car, Edd's done it for me . I'm not explaining myself very well, but the point I'm getting across is that I wouldn't let the wiring stop you from going ahead with that engine choice. Unless these engines have drastically different wiring from the BMW petrol equivalents, I wouldn't worry and ask someone who knows what their doing to wire it up.

Personally I would by an MOT'd failed 325TDS or 525TDS for a few hundred and frag it to get what you need. You'll probably break even or even make profit by selling a few parts and scrapping it! 325TDS have the sump at the back, 525TDS have the sump at the front. TDS engines are more powerful than the TD equivalents, and are intercooled.

I'm sorely tempted to fit one of these engines into one of my E21s...

[conrad]

Dec 10, 2010 12:42:58 GMT joem83 said:

What age 325 or 525's? Think they used different engines.
Only thing I know with BMW engines is, the newer they are the more wires/complex it will be.
My 2004 320d was stupidly complicated.

The 90s E36 and E34 engines (Designated M51) are the same in both cars, with a lower power TD non intercooled version and the TDS version with the intercooler and 140-something bhp. THey're stil relatively simple compared to brand new stuf, so a bit of electric fiddly-ness but not insanely complex.
These and the smaller 4cyl M41 from the 318TDS (unsuitable for your application) have both done massive miles for me and maintained quite good fuel economy when driven with that in mind.

The last 525tds I had, was sold with 282,000 on it and is still going. Another one, a 525tds touring auto had somewhere aorund 320,000 on it, estimated at that after the dash display stopped working at 305k, before it finally died due to a family member running it with no coolant.

I currently have a 200k plus 318tds on the road also, so hopefully this shows they can last when looked after.


Oh and jsut a little something of note, a chip (ecu upgrade) will give a BIG increase in power, bringing it towards 170 if you want some more poke

[DavidB]

The Vauxhall Omega 2.5 diesel was a BMW engine.

[bodieanddoyle]

Fly by wire throttle is the hard part, but thats a three wire throttle pot. so moderate to easy wiring really. not put it into practice yet though, might have to one day....

[avtovaz]

conrad,i have a e36 touring, its a 1600 and I'm thinking of getting a 1900 tdi motor for it, which is best?

[surprisingskoda]

Dec 10, 2010 13:27:14 GMT rob0r said:

I'm sorely tempted to fit one of these engines into one of my E21s...

Hey! I've got patent pending on that plan!

[fordf350camper]

Right i will buy a complete car but which one a Bmw or a vauxhall omega.Thanks again

[theredone]

Think you will find that there is only the block and head in common on the omega/BMW engine.
The sump and ALL the management is different between the two.
That is why the Omega is relatively noiser than the BMW.

Buy a complete cheap BMW, you know you want too ;D

[gn3dr]

If you search back through back issues of Practical Performance Mag they featured a Scimitar that had a tds engine fitted ( I have a feling teh ngine came from an Omega). Think it was about 2 years ago.

[BenzBoy]

I would go for a TDS from a BMW rather than a TD from an Omega / 525TD. The TDS has more power due to being intercooled and having a different ECU. You can also chip it to 170 bhp easily.
Also the TDS have a stronger ZF auto gearbox (if you're using auto) whereas the Omega / 525TD has a GM 4L30E which, as I found out, is only just up to the task.

Although there's a lot of wiring it all seems pretty self-contained. When I broke my e34 diesel the whole loom came out without too much trouble and if it's all labelled properly it shouldn't be an issue, even with the drive-by-wire throttle.

I would say that if you're going for economy, this won't cut it. I was pretty disappointed with the MPG figures. But if you want lots of torque then it's great!

Also, being an IDI engine it'll drink veg oil.

[rwdrules]

WHere do people get their information??




Omega variants DO have intercoolers just mounted in a different place to the bmw

everything on the Omega is the same as the bmw except the turbo is mounted under the manifold isntead of on top,
same manifold just reversed

mine has interior controlled intercooler fan you can see the intake temps plummet when I switch it on on tech1 then it chucks more fuel in as ecu thinks the engine is cold lol its chipped as well as boost uprated,

has around 175bhp and far to much torque for the tyres,
economy is over 650miles to a tank of diesel (70litre tank) at speed around 80mph on a thousand mile plus run from england to spain and the same going the other way.,round town short journeys i get high 30,s
hell even the sump has BMW stamped on it, as said though don't use the omega auto box its pants, however the manual box is good, taken all the abuse I chuck at mine in the 5/6years and 69k ive had it,
all in all a very good engine albeit a little lardy, only downer is engine oil and filter changes at 4.5k max, many people will tell you its 10k using synthetic oil, thats cobblers!! it makes no odds what oil you put in it ,it will still be full of carbon in 4.5k!!

[BenzBoy]

Hmm, I never knew the Omega was intercooled. In that case, it's only the 525TD that's to be avoided then - 115BHP non-intercooled.

[conrad]

Dec 11, 2010 15:14:40 GMT rwdrules said:

WHere do people get their information??




Omega variants DO have intercoolers just mounted in a different place to the bmw
!

well I certainly never said that about them anyway.


i also don't see how people can't get reasonably good fuel economy from them. If you treat it like people drive a petrol bmw, foot to the floor all the time trying to achieve max rpm then your economy is going to suck but i found it perfectly achievable to get 40+ mpg from a 525tds, on a good run they'll barely sip at it on a motorway in 5th, just plodding along. Eve the little 318tds engine which people complain about when they compare it to a golf tdi etc is capable of good mpg, some idiot in a magazine said at one point that they'll only do 38mpg but i've worked mine out properly at an average of 47.1.
They have to be revved more in low gears to get them going certainly and the have kind of a peaky power band, but comparing them to a 1.9 td of similar power isnt fair they're only 1668cc but anyway that's a little bit of a tangent to the main issue