Best Drivetrain Options E30 M3 Racecar- Cams, Oil Pan, Oil Cooler, etc.

[M-technik-3]

I think I may agree with you,,, I'd love to build a small displacement, high revving LSX (the T56 part I'm not so sure of) but we are not gonna be vintage racing that combo if thats the intent.
They probably will not even have it with any of the 6 cylinder BMW variants.

I have always said if the world runs out of S14s for my E30 M3s I'll switch to the Ford Duratec Cosworth engines.

http://www.cosworth.com/products/crate-engines/duratec-engines/

Its pretty close to a modern S14, just BMW didn't build it, Cosworth did.

The only bad thing is will it fit under hood being mounted 90 degrees vs BMW 15 degree slant?

Modern engine with great numbers and the magical question is how much are they right.

[FredK]

Ok i hear what you guys are saying. How much more weight would an s54 add comparitively?

The ETK lists the short engine (block, heads, pan, no accessories, so what we would consider a long block) at 148.5 kg for an S54.

The ETK lists a short S52 as 135.2 kg.

The difference would be 13.3 kg, or around 30 lbs, between long blocks. However, you'd have to add in a starter, thermostat housing, thermostat, water pump, harmonic damper, pulleys, wiring harness, intake, throttle bodies, and alternator. I think the accessories are slightly heavier on the S54 for each component.

[CMG]

From what I was able to find overall weight difference between the two in general would be around 100 pounds. I don't need more than 300hp. S54 would also cost more overall for install and maintenance.

[CMG]

I talked to some more people about it and I think you guys may be right about the s54. I read up a little on it and had some questions. I saw that the front subframe might have to be modified, I'm assuming that is for clearance. Think I can fit an s54 with euro s50 oil pan in there? What would I need to do on the s54 as far as setting up oil pump and oil cooler? What are the options for engine arms and mounts (oem combo or custom)? I assume that people eliminate the drive by wire. I'm looking into Vac and AKG stuff.