For a beta swap, is it better to remove the old alpha engine with the trans still on or off? What about putting the new beta engine and tranny in the car?

 

i'd do it all as one unit. attached. just need a leveling bar if you are concerned with doing it as safe as possible.

 

Definitely remove and instal it as one unit, there is so much less messing around. That said, I scraped both chassis rails at the same time when I was reinstalling the beta and transmission in my LC. X3s have slightly wider engine bays.

 

Remove as 1 assembly and with the leveling bar you can get the angle needed to drop in the beta assembly as 1.