I have a 2005 forester and am looking for a new engine, I would love to put the engine of the XT in it, however there are a few modifications that would need to be made. I'm wondering if there are any differences between the XT and the base model besides just the engine i.e. transmission, suspension etc. any insight is greatly appreciated!

I moved your thread to the new gen forum. It should get some more attention there.

Here is a link to some general 2005 Forester Info that includes the XT.

 

http://www.cars101.com/subaru/forester/forester2005.html

 

It sounds like a lot of work to me.