Perfect (!?!?) for your 24 Hours of Lemons or other nutball project: Up for sale is the M21 turbodiesel 2.4 liter engine and 4HP22HL automatic transmission that are still in my 1985 BMW 524td. I will run one more tank of diesel and the last of my diesel lubricant additive through it before I remove the drivetrain for a gasser swap. So you still have time to come test drive it. It runs great and gets 30 mpg on my commute between Los Osos and San Luis Obispo on the CA Central Coast.
I’ve had this gray car and the white parts car since November 2017, and I have put about 30k miles on the drivetrain since its refresh. I swapped this engine and transmission from the white car to the gray car in late-2017/early-2018. The odometer shows 245k, but I don’t know the true miles because when I bought the two 524td chassis as non-running cars three gauge clusters were in a box of parts.
The engine runs great, and the turbo pushes 13psi according to the Auber boost gauge I installed. The full boost gauge setup will come with the engine. When I swapped the drivetrain between the two chassis, I replaced the water pump, thermostat, timing belt, tensioner and pulleys, fuel injector nozzles (balanced Monark – all between 2,300 and 2,400 psi), glow plugs, all gaskets (valve cover, intake, exhaust, oil cooler console, etc.), hoses, fan blade, and front/rear main seals. The alternator was also rebuilt by a local Bosch rebuilder. Miraculously, there are no oil leaks. However, there’s a slow leak at the fuel intake to the high-pressure diesel pump that’ll mark the car’s spot – it’d be easy to fix that when the engine is out. I replaced the transmission filter and resealed the pan when I swapped the drivetrain into the gray car; it shifts fine and has no known maladies.
You’ll get the engine, transmission, engine wiring harness and ECU (DME in BMW-speak). I also have a spare DME that I’ll throw in, as well as the coolant hoses, exhaust downpipe, and fuel filter console. I’ll even through in a DIY diesel injector pop tester.
I'm asking $1k on local Craigslist and Facebook listings, but I'm more budget-friendly to fellow GRM addicts. Once you pay me, I will remove the drivetrain and can forklift it into your truck or onto your trailer.
Now to finish planning the M54B30 engine and 5-speed swap from a wrecked 2001 BMW 330i...
