Funny. Having owned my 530i for a couple of years before doing the swap, I can imagine ever driving a stock car again. There's no comparison.
I just spent two days driving my '78 530i through the mountains mapping out a rally course here in the high Sierra of Central California. My friend Chris and I are organizing a two-day driving event that will central between LA and the Bay Area - ping me if you're interested in coming on the rally next October - it's going to be AMAZING.
for context, I'm really an Alfa Romeo guy and have rallied in Giulias of all varieties, a bored out Giulietta Spider, my Junior Zagato, various Spiders, a Berlina that I recently sold, etc.
My 530i(CSI) performed amazingly well. It cheerily tackled the climbs, descents, twisties and hairpin turns. The thermostat was steady throughout the entire trip, even in some pretty intense heat. It's definitely going to be my rally car moving forward. It's FAST, stable through tight corners and can handle terrain like nothing I've ever driven (we did some extensive off-road driving). The big-valve motor makes this car was it was intended to be (in the spirit of an M535i).
Having my new Recaro seats installed just added to the experience, as well. I pretty much avoided any crazy terrain knowing that I'd be sloshing around in my old comfort seats. There's nothing but gravity to hold you in one of those.
As far as the installation process, it's an interesting one and be prepared to spend money. Get a long block with all the goodies - all the fuel injection components, the FI harness, the computer, the engine harness, manifolds, etc.
As you've probably read, in '88 or so BMW moved the throttle position sensor to the front of the engine. This makes installation much easier. Definitely look for a later motor. Folks are right that the mounting bosses are a bit different, but all you need to do is get one of these:
http://www.koalamotorsport.com/proddeta ... 30r&cat=73
...and you're good to go.
The heating/cooling hoses are a bit tricky. It's better to keep the original radiator but use the later hoses. The top hose has no elbow, so you need to modify the plumbing on top of the radiator so that the hose goes straight in from the motor. It also has an integrated hose that passes coolant to the heater core. I'm not sure how you would integrate the original steel heater coolant pipe, nor would I want to.
I completely removed the AC so I know nothing about the complexity of marrying old with new here. Living in the Bay Area, you barely use it. In Wisconsin the situation is very different.
As I mentioned before, using a five speed, you'll need the right driveshaft and center cross-member. You'll also need the correct shifter linkage.
I was able to use the original power steering pump, but it would be pretty easy to have some custom pressure hoses made to adapt the newer pump to your car.
One more thing that I mentioned - make sure you have the shorter brake booster. The longer one will interfere with the intake manifold.
After I got my car running, I quickly moved on to increasing efficiency and performance. I installed a Miller MAF and chip and upgraded to 19# injectors. This made a huge difference. It was a bit tricky to get everything working correctly to get past smog, but when I did I passed with flying colors. I get really fantastic mileage if I keep the car under 3500rpm, too. 23-25mpg.
In a year or so I may start looking for an M6 motor to rebuild. Now that I'm all configured for a 3.5, it seems like it would be an easy swap. Anyone ever tried this?
cheers,
Brian
. I never got to install the lambda feed-back, I suppose that that would improve mileage and make the engine even more smooth at low load/rpm where it feels a bit jerky sometimes. But I also have some slack in the drive train (I suspect the differential) that really amplifies any irregularity.