Engine swaps

The easy route to more power, and therefore more speed, is to swap your weedy 1.6 M40 engine, for one with a few more cubes. In the old days, the venerable M30 was crammed into many chassis, sometimes very successfully, like the South African E30 333i factory Hot Rod, and of course the many “big block” Alpina offerings, that have graced the pages of magazines in the past. Many have tried it at home in their lock-ups, some have triumphed, others have not, but the results have nearly always been a compromise between good power and scary handling.

We have been guilty of this conversion several times in the past, again with mixed results, but these days several better options are available, especially for the E30 chassis.

Favourites at the moment are the M50 Non-VANOS 2.5 and M52 2.5 single VANOS engines from ’93-’95 E34, and E36, these give 192hp “straight from the crate”. Although requiring a little more electronic work, they are a relatively straightforward proposition, needing only a few non B.M.W. related parts to complete an installation.

Going up the Richter scale a bit is the S50 powerhouse 3ltr and 3.2 capacity units from an E36 M3,again a relatively simple swap, the physical size of the engines being identical to the non and single VANOS units mentioned previously. Additionally, for the insane among you, a complete supercharger package will be available in early ‘09 for any E30 sporting such an engine. After all, why have only 300bhp, when you can have 500!!

We have recently heard of a 3ltr V8 E21 conversion being carried out, which sounds really interesting, plus several customers have expressed more than a passing interest in dumping a 4.4ltr V8 into various chassis combinations, but no positive decisions yet !!

Down a bit from the dizzy heights, similar capacity, higher performance conversions are gaining popularity, the twin cam M42 engine has found it’s way into several unfamiliar surroundings, one being recently installed in a RHD 2002. A pair of E21’s now sport both 1.8 and 1.9 versions of the engine, whilst a few E30’s, a two door, and a couple of tourings have received similar treatment. This little engine is one of B.M’s best kept secrets, being more powerful, long-lived and economical, whilst having the virtue of keeping the balance, handling and feel of the original package, of the lower capacity cars. Things haven’t stood still even here, the introduction of plug mounted coil packs onto this engine cleans up the engine bay considerably, and the installation of the stand-alone management has brought great improvements in performance all round. In the M42 development department, a throttle body conversion set, using S50 components, is running successfully, and an S42, the BTCC version, is being built for use in an E30, using various “off the shelf” components, in an M42 block destined for “street” use.

All these conversions are of course supported by our range of exhaust manifolds and systems, many of which were especially developed with these swaps in mind. Additions to the range are being developed all the time, if you cant see what you want, please ask.  

contact us.