Advice/Opinions? 2.8l stroker or stay 2.5l?

[nando]

a turbo is way too much work for 200hp

[stikrz]

not without a turbo. 885 head isn't enough anyway. Just do an e to i swap and then turbo. Calleraday.

[nando]

you aren't going to get anywhere near 200/200 with an 885 head swapped onto an eta block. if you're lucky, you'll have the powerband of a stock B25 wtih the low end torque of an eta. but usually you end up with an eta that makes more power but still falls on it's face after 5000rpm. it won't make a lot of difference if it's cammed, either (the compression will be too low for an agressive cam to work well).

that leaves custom pistons, and if you're doing that, you might as well use a bigger crank (89.6mm S52/M54).

another alternative is a 2.8 using B25 pistons, eta rods, and an 84mm M52B28 crank.

or, swap..

either way I don't see that 2.7 bottom end being much use to you if you really want 200/200 hp/tq. especially if that's whp.. no way, no how.

[Spaz!]

Ok I recently acquired an 87 325is and really like the car but I wish it had a bit more kick. Something in the 200hp/200tq range would be really nice. The car came with a spare 2.7l eta block that had slipped the timing belt and bent a couple valves. The 2.5 that is in the car runs pretty good but has a bit of a knock that really concerns me (though I have driven it a fair bit and it hasnt gotten any worse) and it fouls (oil) the no. 3 plug about every week. The po told me it had a leaky valve seal and comp test supports that but I have noticed a tendency to smoke under high load even after warm up.

My question is 2 part:

1. Does anyone have any input on the knock/valve seal issue?

2. What would you guys recommend as far as engines go? What are my options with either block? I have absolutely no interest in going to forced induction.

I know that combining the eta block with the I head will get a very low CR and I have looked at pistons but they are a bit pricey new and I would prefer not to get that far into a custom build for just 200/200.